Delhi + Agra – Cold feet under grey clouds

31. December 2025 + 1. January 2026

 

 

We landed in Delhi as scheduled on December 30, drove to the hotel, were allowed to check in early—and then the group had free time. This day is always planned as a buffer day in case the flight from Leh gets canceled (which does happen, especially in winter), so there are no program cancellation costs. Everyone did their own thing and was happy that, although there was thick fog with unbelievably poor air quality in the morning, the fog lifted in the afternoon. The bad air, however, remained.

 

The following day we had arranged a city tour with a few special sights. I was allowed to decide where we would go. It was very foggy again—and this time, unfortunately, the clouds did not lift. We headed first to Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, the largest Sikh temple in Delhi. There you have to cover your head and take off your shoes and socks. Unfortunately, it was quite cold on our feet, so we didn’t stay as long as we might have with warmer feet. It was a lovely place, though.

 

 

I didn’t take any photos from the outside, as I had already done that on a previous visit. But we also went into the kitchen, which I hadn’t seen before, and there I took a few photos in addition to some video clips.

 

 

 

 

 

What is so beautiful about the Sikhs is that the prayer chanting creates a sense of peace, and they are very friendly, generous, and community-oriented. Enormous quantities of food are constantly donated to the gurdwara, and from this, vast amounts of meals are cooked every day and distributed to anyone who would like some. There are permanent staff, but also many volunteers helping out. Beautiful!

 

 

After that, we paid a short visit to a stepwell

 

 

and drove by the government buildings.

 

 

The next destination was the Lodhi Gardens. It’s always lovely there, with a varied mix of plants, old ruins and relaxed people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we continued and watched the life on the sidewalks.

 

 

We visited Mehrauli Park. Many years ago I once did a heritage walk there and liked it a lot. In the meantime, much more of the area is fenced off and requires an entrance fee, and with the weather it wasn’t quite as attractive. But only now did it really dawn on me that it is essentially part of the adjacent Qutub Minar complex, which made everything feel a bit more coherent.

 

 

 

 

And to finish, we went to Qutub Minar, Delhi’s only truly great landmark. A huge minaret, lots of ancient stones and intricate patterns – and, of course, quite a lot of people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was New Year’s Eve, and we went out for a fine dinner with far too many dishes, all of them slightly different from what we had eaten before. I spent midnight with just four of the travelers in my room (the others had already disappeared) on the 5th floor, which offered a good view. However, a) it was foggy and b) there was no fireworks to be seen anywhere. I had suspected as much, but it still felt a bit strange. So we simply raised a toast and then headed off to bed as well.

 

Because for the first day of the new year there was supposed to be a highlight: the Taj Mahal. On my last visit, I had already felt rather disillusioned by the crowds, and the building’s true magic had eluded me. Still, the other travelers at the time had been impressed. This time, too, it missed its mark for some of the group. There were even more people around, with quite a lot of pushing and jostling everywhere. On top of that, the sky was gray, and just as we got back onto the bus, a few raindrops began to fall.

 

 

 

We then drove back to Delhi, had a shared farewell dinner, and that was the end of the group trip. I was alone again, back in what has become my regular hotel. A slightly gray ending to an otherwise very diverse journey.

 

And how things continued after that is something I’ll tell in my blog about Rajasthan 2026!