Our first stop in the Golden Triangle was Delhi. After landing late at Indira Gandhi International, we met our tour guide for the next 5 days and headed straight to our hotel in Connaught Place. The CP, as it's called, was alive on this Saturday night with locals hitting the town. The unfortunate side effect of this was tremendous street noise audible from our hotel room - which, in combination with lingering jet lag, meant a restless night of sleep.

Nevertheless, we rose early the next morning to see the sights in Old Delhi. First up was the Red Fort, which was residence of the Mughal emperors during the 17th and 18th centuries. The name comes from the distinctive red standstone used in the outer walls and many of the interior buildings.

Next we headed to Chandni Chowk, one of the oldest markets in Old Delhi. Given the suffocating heat and the dense crowd of people, we quickly decided that we could cover more ground in a rickshaw. Fortunately, we were able to find a driver who spoke English well and could describe the different areas of this enormous market.

The sights, sounds and smells of Chandni Chowk were intense, and near impossible to describe in words. I snapped a short video from our rickshaw, but it still does not do the experience justice:

Our driver took us through many different sections of Chandni Chowk, including a flower market and the spice market (Asia's largest). In addition to all the people, there were many animals on the road, including dogs, horses, cows, and oxen. We even glimpsed a snake charmer in an alley.

Our last stop before leaving Chandni Chowk and heading to Agra was a traditional saree shop. Ashley picked out a few beautiful garments and got a lesson in draping them. Fortunately the sarees we purchased also came with an instruction manual for future reference.