India 2010 Part 2 - Delhi to Dehradun - IgoUgo Delhi Journal

The Qutab Minar Complex (Qutb Minar)

Attraction | "Delhi's Iconic Tower"

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Delhi is a city of spectacular buildings but if one single building could be considered the city's icon, it would probably be the Qutab Minar tower. Others may disagree with me, citing the Lotus Temple or the Red Fort as contenders for that crown but for me the world's tallest brick minaret takes a bit of beating. I've been to the Qutab Minar three times now. The first visit was on my first day of my first visit to India nearly 15 years ago. The second was four years ago with some friends and for my sister and her girlfriend's first visit to India, it seemed appropriate to make the Qutab Minar their first big destination. The Qutab Minar is one India's best known UNESCO World Heritage Site...Read More

Delhi is a city of spectacular buildings but if one single building could be considered the city's icon, it would probably be the Qutab Minar tower. Others may disagree with me, citing the Lotus Temple or the Red Fort as contenders for that crown but for me the world's tallest brick minaret takes a bit of beating. I've been to the Qutab Minar three times now. The first visit was on my first day of my first visit to India nearly 15 years ago. The second was four years ago with some friends and for my sister and her girlfriend's first visit to India, it seemed appropriate to make the Qutab Minar their first big destination.

The Qutab Minar is one India's best known UNESCO World Heritage Sites but it used to be rather difficult to get to. It's in the far south of the city and was a long and time-consuming drive. With the opening of the Yellow line on the Metro it's now a lot more accessible. Since we were staying only one stop away on the Metro, it was particularly easy for us. We hopped on the Metro and off again just a few minutes later. The Metro isn't exactly on the doorstep and despite going over first thing in the morning, the day was very hot and sweaty. We picked up two auto-rickshaws for 40 rupees each and were dropped outside the entrance just a few minutes later. Grab a big bottle of water before you go in as there's nowhere to get drinks once you enter.

Tickets are bought from a booth on the opposite side of the road from the entrance. The line for locals was very busy but the line for foreigners was very short. Don't feel guilty about your good fortune – you're paying 250 rupees to go in compared to 10 rupees for locals so you've earned a bit of queue jumping as well as a prettier ticket stub. We handed over 1000 rupees to cover the four tickets and then went to the entrance. Before joining the queue for security checks we picked up two audio guides (100 rupees each) as a good way of avoiding being nobbled by any of the many official guides. We told the ones who approached us that we'd been before, didn't want a guide, didn't care that they thought that we'd miss out by not taking their services, and ploughed on leaving them in our wake.

Guides at big Indian attractions can be a real nuisance. A few are fantastic and can make the whole place come alive with their historical insights, their wit and their knowledge of the things that you'd otherwise miss. Most though are intensely irritating bullies and the worst are almost impossible to understand. My husband has the concentration of a goldfish and loves to leave me tearing my hair out trying to make sense of some barely understandable charlatan. The audio guides are therefore a lovely alternative – especially for visitors who aren't native English speakers and are therefore even more likely to struggle to understand a guide. There's a good choice of languages to choose for and the audio guide gives you the chance to take the place at your own speed and in the order that you want.

India is very security conscious country so you and your bags can expect to be searched on the way in. There's a small bookshop near the entrance that sells a very detailed guide to the site but personally I find these official guide books quite difficult to follow and rather dry to read. Close to the shop are several small stone pillars which people were queueing to stand on. This is the best place on the site from which to attempt a cheesy photograph of yourself pretending to touch the top of the tower.

I switched on my audio guide and got stuck in to the tour. The guide is narrated by several characters – a young local girl, a Sufi saint called Qutab Shahi and various people involved in the long history of the site. There's a small map provided that we followed more or less (although sometimes we were in completely the wrong part of the site and my sister did get totally confused at one point. The Qutab Minar is the main attraction – a giant tower that stands 238 feet tall and was built as a minaret to call the faithful to prayer at the nearby mosque. At the base it's 40 feet in diameter and just 9 feet at the top and there are spiral staircases going up the inside of the tower. Building work started in 1199 and was allegedly intended to celebrate a Muslim victory over the Rajputs a few years ealier. It took more than 150 years to build and three rulers were involved, each adding their own style to the successive levels. The outside is decorated with carvings and calligraphy.

Whilst the tower is the main attraction it's only one of many buildings on the site. There are several interesting tombs, some artefacts from the days of British rule including a sun-dial and Smith's Folly – a strange pink canopy that was once placed on top of the Minar, a large mosque and the base of a second giant minar whose construction was abandoned. The mosque dates to the same period as the minaret and is said to have been the first mosque built in Delhi. I pointed out to my husband how much the pillars looked like ones we'd seen in Hindu temples in Hampi the year before and somewhat reassuringly, my audioguide confirmed a few minutes later that many of the pillars had been plundered from up to 27 Hindu temples that had been destroyed in the area and that even those that weren't stolen, were probably made by local builders who only really knew how to do that style of pillar.

A later part of the mosque construction is the giant wall of arches which is decorated in Koranic verses. This faces Mecca and was originally the Qibla wall of the mosque. In front of it stands one of the mysterious iron pillars that never rust. Apparently there are several of these in the Delhi area and they are much older than the rest of the site. The pillar carries an inscription dedicating it to the god Vishnu and to Chandragupta the second, a 4th Century leader. On my first visit 14 years ago it was still possible to touch the pillar and superstition said that if visitors make a wish it will come true if they can reach their hands round behind their backs and clasp them together. For many years now the pillar has been fenced off and this is no longer possible.

In amongst these architectural marvels there's a salutary lesson about pride and ambition. Alau'd din Khalji wanted to make a second minar that would be twice as high as the Qutab Minar. As the architect of the second great Delhi city, known as Siri, he perhaps got a bit carried away with his ambition to make a tower from which you could see all the way to the Arabian sea. Unfortunately he got sick and his supporters and successors didn't share his vision for the bigger minar and all that stands today is the unfinished base part which is absolutely enormous. Each time I see this I hope I can be forgiven for mixing up my religions and being reminded of the Old Testament story of the Tower of Babel.

Of the two tombs we visited, the tomb of Sultan Iltutmish is the larger, less conventional and more impressive. He was the first ruler of Delhi to build his tomb inside the city and was the father of the first and only Sultana who ruled the city. The tomb has no roof which is unusual but the experts aren't sure if there once was one that's now lost or if it was always open. The other tomb is of Imam Zamin and was built 3 centuries later than the other, dating to the 1500s. It's pretty with stone jaali screening and a small domed roof. Next to the Imam Zamin tomb is the Alai Darwaza, the only remaining gateway to the Qutab Minar.

It took us a couple of hours to see the Qutab Minar site and no matter how many times I go back, I still do the full tour because there's so much to see. Generally I also learn a bit more about Indian history between each visit and find new things to inspire and intrigue me. I see no reason not to keep going back whenever I can. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on November 7, 2025

The Qutab Minar Complex (Qutb Minar)
Mehrauli
Delhi, India

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New Delhi Railway Station

Attraction | "Training Yourself for Trains in India"

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If you want to see humanity raw in tooth and claw then not too much beats an Indian railway station. The first time my husband went to India he stood on one of the platforms of Delhi station and stared open mouthed at the line of locals peeing and pooing onto the rail tracks. He headed off to the public toilets, glad of his waterproof walking boots which protected him from the pool of urine that covered the entire room. Suddenly it all made sense that crapping on the line wasn't such an odd thing to do.On other visits we've found ourselves surrounded by what we uncharitably refer to as the 'devil children' – the saddest and poorest and allegedly most abused children in India. Nightfall in ...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on November 7, 2025

New Delhi Railway Station
Connaught Place
New Delhi, India

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The Train to Dehra Dun

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We found our carriage. We checked our names were on the manifest. We checked the numbers on the side of the carriage – 1 to 72. We assumed that 1 was at the left end of the carriage and 72 at the far right. So did everyone else. We all piled onto the train to find that the absolute opposite was the case. 72 people - almost all of them at the wrong end of the carriage - most laden with big bags, then tried to rearrange themselves into the right configuration. It wouldn't be all that easy anywhere but in India you can start a war out of something like this.We were looking for seats 10-13 which were three rows in from the far end. Coming towards us were all the people looking to reach the hig...Read More

We found our carriage. We checked our names were on the manifest. We checked the numbers on the side of the carriage – 1 to 72. We assumed that 1 was at the left end of the carriage and 72 at the far right. So did everyone else. We all piled onto the train to find that the absolute opposite was the case. 72 people - almost all of them at the wrong end of the carriage - most laden with big bags, then tried to rearrange themselves into the right configuration. It wouldn't be all that easy anywhere but in India you can start a war out of something like this.

We were looking for seats 10-13 which were three rows in from the far end. Coming towards us were all the people looking to reach the higher numbers. We shuffled, squeezed, lifted and prodded and slowly made our way down the carriage. A party of European schoolgirls and their teacher were accompanied by several local guys from an adventure tourism company, dressed in matching green T-shirts. All the girls and their teacher were randomly spread through the train with only a scrap of paper with the seat numbers to help them.

At the mid-point of the carriage are a set of facing seats with a long table between them. I suspect these are much prized by family groups as the best seats in the carriage. They're perfect for spreading out the picnic that mother or grandmother has prepared and giving the kids space to bounce around. You can't book these since the train booking system means you get what you're given, but it was clear that the man who'd got them was determined not to lose them. The girls from the school party had all shuffled into the space around these tables to make space for people to pass them.

An angry voice was bellowing down the train. "That's MY seat – how dare you. Get out of my seat". The girls tried to explain they weren't stealing his seats, they were just letting people pass. "Get out of my seats NOW" he hollered. My sister and her partner were caught between the mad man and the girls. They tried to intervene, explaining that the girls were just letting people pass, not stealing his seats. They asked him to try to calm down "WHY SHOULD I?" he shouted. Eyebrows were raised up and down the carriage. Losing your rag in India just isn't the done thing and this guy was making a real exhibition of himself.

By this time we had our bags on our heads and were nearing our destination. The luggage racks were already full and our only hope was to stuff the bags under the seats. We brushed aside a few small cockroaches to make space and squeeze them in. My sister was still shuffling down, tutting to herself like a true Brit, and rolling her eyes at fellow travellers. Mr Gobby was still sounding off about his seats, the school girls were looking totally baffled at such rudeness in such a normally polite country and their poor teacher was counting her flock to make sure nobody was lost. Eventually we all had our seats and were ready to do battle with the chap in front who wanted the blind down when we wanted it up and to try to keep the over-friendly cockroach out of my bag.

The train departed on time and rolled through the city – not that we could see any of it but we knew it was out there. This was one of the Shatabdi trains which are supposed to be the faster and more luxurious options. It was painfully slow and far from luxury. A few years ago we actually got a nice train in southern India running between Mysore and Chennai. It was fabulous. The seats were comfortable, the tickets included food and the staff fed us repeatedly on the smoothest train line in India. Ever since that journey, we've had nothing but disappointment on all the other carriers.

This carriage was so-called AC Chair Class. The seats are all pre-booked and there's no 1st class on this particular train. This bedlam of fighting and pushing was in the highest level carriage on the train. One man with a bad attitude had spoiled the beginning of the journey for dozens of travellers.

Guide books will often tell you to take day trains rather than night trains. They tell you that they give you a great chance to see the countryside. Fact is that the windows of most trains are so filthy that you'll see India through a thick film of dirt. The only way to see better is to go out in the space between the carriages and look out the windows on the doors. It's best to do this before the train has been going for too long and before the toilets get too stinky. More often than not, the carriage doors will not be closed so you can look through the open door at the world outside. This is not a land that employs too many people in the Health and Safety industry. My sister was horrified at the idea that someone might fall out.

Soon after departure the food service started. You cannot go hungry on an Indian train because there's an almost constant stream of people trying to sell you food. On this train the salesmen were employees of the train company but in some parts of India they are just random locals who hop on and off the train. Trying to guess what's on offer is part of the fun. "Sheeps sheeps" turned out to be potato crisps, "dreenks" were obviously drinks but it took some time before we sussed that "Vesh peasah" was vegetable pizza (and very delicious they were too).

People did hop on and off during the stops. We had a leper with no nose (cue my sister's bad joke "My leper's got no nose. How does he smell? AWFUL" which may sound callous but is a survival instinct in a country with so many badly deformed beggars). Another chap with no legs propelled himself from one end of the carriage to the other with his hand outstretched completing the journey within the time taken to stop at a station.

Occasional glances through the window showed us a lush green countryside of tall sugar cane, something green and low to the ground that was popular with the little white egrets, a village full of boys flying kites off their rooftops and a set of three large effigies about to be burned for the annual Dessurah festival. The only other evidence of the festivities that we saw was a single loud, bright explosion of fireworks. My husband said he thought we'd hit a buffalo.

We eventually rolled into Dehradun about half an hour behind schedule with only about a third of the travellers we'd started with. Getting off the train proved a lot easier than getting on had been. This 6 hour journey had covered a crazily short distance of just 240 km but despite the fuss and the frenzy, a trip to India is incomplete without at least one or two journeys by rail. Read Less

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Hotel Doon Castle

Hotel | "The Castle of Doon Part 1"

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For my sister's first visit to India, I wanted to make sure that she and her girlfriend got to see the mountains and went away with an image of a cleaner fresher side of India than they would get in the cities. Getting to the mountains in India is always a bit of a challenge. We'd been to Shimla three years ago and had pretty much covered all there was to do there. Then two years ago we'd gone to Darjeeling – one of the most fantastic cities on earth but expensive to get to and quite time consuming. I checked my guidebook for Himalayan India went for the easy option and booked trains to Dehradun. It's not actually 'in' the Himalayas but a good jumping off point from which to access the hill station of...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on November 7, 2025

Hotel Doon Castle
Patel Nagar, Niranjanpur, Saharanpur Rd
Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001

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Hotel Doon Castle

Hotel | "The Castle of Doon Part 2"

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~Damp, Damned Damp~The hotel has a big problem on the 2nd floor especially on the even-numbered rooms. Luckily we had room 201 and although we could pick up a slightly damp smell (what I think of as the 'smell of India' since it was pretty much all I smelled on my first visit to the country 14 years ago) it wasn't enough to really impact on our ability to be in the room. My sister's room – 202 - was awful. It really did stink and even the bedding felt moist. The menu that had been left on the coffee table have visible dampness on it and the cupboard in the corner of the room had both black mould (which was on a lot of the walls) and even MUSHROOMS growing inside. After we'd had our dinner...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on November 7, 2025

Hotel Doon Castle
Patel Nagar, Niranjanpur, Saharanpur Rd
Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001

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India 2010 Part 2 - Delhi to Dehradun

The Qutab Minar Complex (Qutb Minar)

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The Train to Dehra Dun

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