Chandni Chowk

Chandni Chowk is the main market area in Old Delhi, and is what Nigel calls "Working Delhi." It’s a bustling busy place of crowded people, confused smells and dark canyon-alleys of shops. If you know where to look, I got the sense that you could buy anything there. I certainly saw things I'd never seen before.

I'm going to be lazy and use Shannon's description again:

Nigel took us through a series of markets, beginning with the chemical market (otherwise known as "lane of death") where we saw for sale: lye flakes, hydrochloric and sulphuric acid, mercury (we lifted a small bottle, probably about 6 fl. oz., which weighed about 5 pounds - who knew mercury was so heavy!), dynamite (supposedly not stored on the premises and available only to people with papers proving they own a mine), and chunks of arsenic. We also saw the largest spice market in... Delhi? India? the world? - which is a haphazard structure of stalls completely filling the large courtyard of a once-grand private mansion. We climbed up pitch black stairs to the second floor of the mansion, where you can look down below and also walk through the chili pepper storage area - coughing all the way - to get a look out the window at the bustling street outside.

Here are some pictures!