Jo and Sarah arrived. I was surprised to see them as I had thought they were setting off very early for some sight seeing. They had decided to have a leisurely start to the day as well. We joined forces and set off for the Jama Masjid mosque. It is the biggest mosque in India.
It was very cold only 2 to 3 degrees and foggy.There was a chilly breeze as well. We strolled around. Having arrived a 8.45 we had the place pretty much to ourselves. We found the minaret which it is possible to climb for a fantastic view across the city. We had to be accompanied by a man, women cannot go on their own. Luckily an obliging fellow and his girlfriend turned up to go with us. It was a very steep climb up narrow winding stairs and by now the cold was beginning to trigger the mild asthma which I have and I was feeling very chesty. I got to the top after one rest stop and despite the cold and the mist it was an amazing view and I could see the Red Fort which was the place that I wanted to visit next. 
When we got back down I said goodbye to Jo and Sarah who were off to get their flight to Goa for a couple of days in the sunI walked on my own down through a market and found the entrance to the Red Fort. I had to fight off the attentions of the touts. They constantly pester to give you a tour in their rickshaw or to be your guide or for you to visit their shop. I was getting more and more rude and said no very brusquely. I got my entrance ticket and then decided to go to the toilet. This was the first bad toilet I had found. The pipe to the flush did not connect to the pan so the water flooded the floor and the pan was dirty. Luckily it was usable as it was still fairly early in the morning. There was an Indian girl with her mother in front of me and they did not want to use the toilet. They helped me by holding my bag and kitted with my own paper I went in . I returned the favour for them.
I then went into the Red Fort. The entrance had much tighter security than the other Forts and Palaces I had visited. They had very cursory checks often involving walking through a security gate with sensors which beeped which were ignored by the security guards. Here it was like an airport and I was frisked and my bag was searched. There were also several military gunposts staffed by soldiers with machine guns. I read the plaques which said that this was a base for the Indian Army and had been since the time of British rule.
The Fort itself was lovely and the sun had come out. There were plenty of tourists mostly Indians and a few westerners. Again the atmosphere was calm after the hustle and bustle of the streets outside and there were no hawkers or touts. Each building had a very informative plaque explaining the origin and function of the buildings. The themes of the other Mughal Forts were repeated.
Outer public audience hall, inner public audience hall, constructed in red sandstone, then palaces for the Maharaja, separate ones for the wives, faced in white marble with inlaid precious stones. 
There was also a mosque and hamman. There had been some damage by looters and the British who used one palace as a prison, but it was still glorious.
I consulted my Lonely Planet guide and decided to walk down the main road, called Chandni Chowk , opposite the Red Fort which went past a Jainist Temple and led down to another Mosque at the end. To the side of this mosque is the legendary spice market. It was a fascinating street to stroll along. There were loads of touts but I just ignored them. I found a stall selling fresh fried samosas. I bought two. They were placed in a small bowl made of leaves glued together. The samosas were smothered in mint sauce. They were delicious. I meandered the full length of the street and found the spice market.
This was a sight to behold. Firstly stalls selling nuts or spices or dried fruits all piled high in fantastic and artistic arrangements. The specialisms changed further down the street and became rice and pasta stall and finally cheese specialists.
There were also stretches where there were barbers/hairdressers. Some had shops which opened onto the streets others had just set up stalls on the pavements. There was also a woman doing ironing and several times I saw people with sewing machines offering their services. 
The man below is making paan. Something I really liked about India was the absence of people smoking. Instead people chew paan. They can also buy sachets with a powder in which seems to be a modern substitute. I struggled to get used to people spitting out the juice. In addition perhaps because of the bad weather and poor air quality there was a lot of hawking and spitting as well.I then took an auto-rickshaw back to the Pooja Palace Hotel and waited for while to see if Yaddu would arrive with news of my trip to Varanasi. After a while I phoned and left and message for him and went off to find my new hotel. I had booked the Wood Castle Hostel online. I was directed to walk down the street to Channa Market area. After a few wrong turns and few encounters with persistant rickshaw men wanting to be my guide I found it.
It was in a very contrasting quarter as the house were all new build. In fact some were in the process of being built. Some were still holes in the ground. One of the sites provided a temporary home for the family of a construction worker who had made a makehift tent/lean to out of wood, plastic sheeting and tarpaulin. The whole thing was on top of a pile of sand on the site and leaned against the wall of a new house. He his wife and two or three children lived in this. They had a wood fire burning all the time to stave of the very low temperatures Northern India had been experiencing - only just above freezing most nights. The neighbourhood was also very quiet. There were no shops and traders or much through traffic. The hotel turned out to be very nice. New and clean. I received and friendly welcome and this did not fade when I explained that my plans had changed and that I would be going to Varanasi for a couple of days so did not need the room for all the nights I had originally reserved. I agreed to pay for an extra night in lieu of short notice and all was fine.
I then retraced my steps to the Pooja Palace, where I met Yaddu. He explained that he had been busy all day with another excursion and would come to my new hotel later with news of my Varanasi hotel booking. He was going back to his office to finalise it all. I collected my bags and said farewell to the staff. I then went off with my bags and engaged a cycle rickshaw to take me down to the Wood Castle. The cycle rickshaw man spoke no English and did not really know where he was going so I kept tapping him on the back and giving him hand signal directions. The cycle rickshaw men work incredibly hard.
I was a relatively light load, myself and two smallish bags. I have seen them laden with whole families and their shopping! Even so he had to cycle standing up and struggle where the road was uneven. The worst for them was if they had to stop altogether because of some blockage on the road. Getting going again was hard. I was so impressed I gave him double the money he had asked for.I settled into Wood Castle and enjoyed a Kingfisher beer. Watched a bit of cricket on the TV in the lounge. India were playing South Africa and it had been headline news whilst I was there as had England's progess in Australia. I got a phone message from Yaddu to say that he would not make it to see me that evening but would arrive in the morning with the final arrangements for my trip. I did some more work on my blog and then ordered an evening meal. Kandi Chicken with mixed vegetable and a naan bread. Delicious and then off to bed.
