Fly to Delhi-Agra
Bak after a looong gap and this tym with a travelogue..
My ex-roommate was getting married and that called for a trip to the capital city..yes Delhi..It was one of my desires to take part in a north indian marriage. The marriage was on Thursday night, at a place called Bah, which is about 65 km from Agra. We, my husband, my friend and myself started our journey on thursday morning from Bangalore and reached Delhi at around 11 am. The first issue..we dint book the taxi to go to Agra early. So had to wait for an hour before we got one. Our main aim was to reach Agra by 4pm so that we can cover Taj Mahal the same day as the monument was closed for visitors on Friday. The climate in Delhi was pleasant with a little chill in the air which made our journey less tiring. It was around 2 pm and we stopped in front of a Dhaba for tea. It was somewhere in UP near to Mathura. All the shops beared the name of Krishna in various forms..there were saffron flags waving over most of the structures which looked like temples. We passed through Mathura Refinery and by the time we reached Agra it was 5pm. The driver told us there was no way we reach Taj Mahal by 5.30 (the time wen they stop issuing tickets to get inside), we were being very optimistic. Atlast after lots of traffic jams and inevitable delays we reached the monument at 5.45. People had thronged in front of that huge gate with a meagre hope to get inside. But the guards were very strict. We could hear them telling to someone that even tourists who came from abroad were not allowed inside and we were from india.We could come again to visit. So there was not a single chance to atleast get a glimpse of it from the gate. Slowly we started walking towards the parking lot thinking of other possibilities to see it, but in vain. We settled for a trip next year to Agra and Jaipur. We made our way to the marriage.
The next day we started our sight seeing with Agra Fort. When we were about to get in, we were flocked with guides. I had never visited any place till now with a guide. But the fort looked quite huge and after some bargainig on the peice, we took a guide for 150 rupees. When he started telling the history about Akbar,Jahangir, Shah Jahan and so on, i had very little expectation. We saw the palaces built by Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan..the stories behind that..the masterpieces of architecture and some mind blowing ideas..He explained everything so beautifully that it reminded me of my history classes..only difference being able to see the places in reality. We even got to see a glimpse of Taj Mahal from a distance and that made us yearn more to see it.
Then we went to see Fatehpur Sikhri and when there also some guides approached we happily agreed. We went through the Bulund darwaza from where mango people (aam junta) used to enter at those times. There was a dargah there and as per history Akbar came there to pray for a son and after going bak from there he was blessed with one. So he made the palace there. In stark contrast to our experience with the Agra Fort guide, this one was a complete waste. On top of that he made us shell out 1600 rupees for a "chaadar"(sheet) which we spread on the dargah.Later we found out that there were other people who sold it for 100 rupees also. We then tied the "dhaga"(thread) and asked for three wishes. I hope atleast those wishes will come true. We were very much agitated with this that we left there in a bitter mood to Mathura.
We reached Mathura around 5 pm and went to see Shree Krishna Janmabhoomi (birth place of Krishna). There was strict security and we were not allowed to carry mobile,cameras and not even chargers. There were armed security personnels everywhere. There were 3-4 temples there, one mosque. We were surprised to see the mosque inside that and learned from there that it was built by Aurangazeb and that namaz happens there only twice in a year. We paid visit to ISKCON temple in Vrindavan also and then started our journey towards Delhi. We reached Delhi at night 11 pm.
On saturday morning we started our Delhi sightseeing by taking a daily pass of 100 rupees in Metro and that proved to be a wise decsion. We were able to save both money and time. There were metro stations near almost all the places where we wanted to go. Qutub Minar was our first touch point. Even though a huge crowd was there, we were busy clicking snaps from almost all angles. Then we went to see Lotus Temple. The prayer room inside was so silent and pure. I felt like I could just sit there and relax. Then we moved on to see Akshardham. Weekend played culprit there. There was a long queue waiting to enter and the whole place was sprawled across like a giant. It could have taken more than an hour to get in, another 2 hrs to atleast run around and see the whole thing and we were in short of time. So like Taj Mahal, we skipped this also. We went to Karol Bagh and Connaught Place for soem shopping which is inevitable as 2 out of 3 in our group were gals. Then finally around 8.30 we visited India Gate. It was looking superb with the lightings and I was shivering even after wearing my sweater.
The last day at Delhi started with a quick visit to Red fort. Then some more shopping around Connaught place and Palika Bazar and finally at 7pm we reached airport to fly bak.
As a whole the trip was good, except that our lack of planning in terms of time cost us the sight of Taj Mahal. Delhi was looking her best, thanks to the Common Wealth Games and also the weather. To add to that, had a good stay at my aunt's place with some tasty food to satiate our apetite.
So Delhi, we will be bak next year, same time but with better planning :)
My ex-roommate was getting married and that called for a trip to the capital city..yes Delhi..It was one of my desires to take part in a north indian marriage. The marriage was on Thursday night, at a place called Bah, which is about 65 km from Agra. We, my husband, my friend and myself started our journey on thursday morning from Bangalore and reached Delhi at around 11 am. The first issue..we dint book the taxi to go to Agra early. So had to wait for an hour before we got one. Our main aim was to reach Agra by 4pm so that we can cover Taj Mahal the same day as the monument was closed for visitors on Friday. The climate in Delhi was pleasant with a little chill in the air which made our journey less tiring. It was around 2 pm and we stopped in front of a Dhaba for tea. It was somewhere in UP near to Mathura. All the shops beared the name of Krishna in various forms..there were saffron flags waving over most of the structures which looked like temples. We passed through Mathura Refinery and by the time we reached Agra it was 5pm. The driver told us there was no way we reach Taj Mahal by 5.30 (the time wen they stop issuing tickets to get inside), we were being very optimistic. Atlast after lots of traffic jams and inevitable delays we reached the monument at 5.45. People had thronged in front of that huge gate with a meagre hope to get inside. But the guards were very strict. We could hear them telling to someone that even tourists who came from abroad were not allowed inside and we were from india.We could come again to visit. So there was not a single chance to atleast get a glimpse of it from the gate. Slowly we started walking towards the parking lot thinking of other possibilities to see it, but in vain. We settled for a trip next year to Agra and Jaipur. We made our way to the marriage.
The next day we started our sight seeing with Agra Fort. When we were about to get in, we were flocked with guides. I had never visited any place till now with a guide. But the fort looked quite huge and after some bargainig on the peice, we took a guide for 150 rupees. When he started telling the history about Akbar,Jahangir, Shah Jahan and so on, i had very little expectation. We saw the palaces built by Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan..the stories behind that..the masterpieces of architecture and some mind blowing ideas..He explained everything so beautifully that it reminded me of my history classes..only difference being able to see the places in reality. We even got to see a glimpse of Taj Mahal from a distance and that made us yearn more to see it.
Then we went to see Fatehpur Sikhri and when there also some guides approached we happily agreed. We went through the Bulund darwaza from where mango people (aam junta) used to enter at those times. There was a dargah there and as per history Akbar came there to pray for a son and after going bak from there he was blessed with one. So he made the palace there. In stark contrast to our experience with the Agra Fort guide, this one was a complete waste. On top of that he made us shell out 1600 rupees for a "chaadar"(sheet) which we spread on the dargah.Later we found out that there were other people who sold it for 100 rupees also. We then tied the "dhaga"(thread) and asked for three wishes. I hope atleast those wishes will come true. We were very much agitated with this that we left there in a bitter mood to Mathura.
We reached Mathura around 5 pm and went to see Shree Krishna Janmabhoomi (birth place of Krishna). There was strict security and we were not allowed to carry mobile,cameras and not even chargers. There were armed security personnels everywhere. There were 3-4 temples there, one mosque. We were surprised to see the mosque inside that and learned from there that it was built by Aurangazeb and that namaz happens there only twice in a year. We paid visit to ISKCON temple in Vrindavan also and then started our journey towards Delhi. We reached Delhi at night 11 pm.
On saturday morning we started our Delhi sightseeing by taking a daily pass of 100 rupees in Metro and that proved to be a wise decsion. We were able to save both money and time. There were metro stations near almost all the places where we wanted to go. Qutub Minar was our first touch point. Even though a huge crowd was there, we were busy clicking snaps from almost all angles. Then we went to see Lotus Temple. The prayer room inside was so silent and pure. I felt like I could just sit there and relax. Then we moved on to see Akshardham. Weekend played culprit there. There was a long queue waiting to enter and the whole place was sprawled across like a giant. It could have taken more than an hour to get in, another 2 hrs to atleast run around and see the whole thing and we were in short of time. So like Taj Mahal, we skipped this also. We went to Karol Bagh and Connaught Place for soem shopping which is inevitable as 2 out of 3 in our group were gals. Then finally around 8.30 we visited India Gate. It was looking superb with the lightings and I was shivering even after wearing my sweater.
The last day at Delhi started with a quick visit to Red fort. Then some more shopping around Connaught place and Palika Bazar and finally at 7pm we reached airport to fly bak.
As a whole the trip was good, except that our lack of planning in terms of time cost us the sight of Taj Mahal. Delhi was looking her best, thanks to the Common Wealth Games and also the weather. To add to that, had a good stay at my aunt's place with some tasty food to satiate our apetite.
So Delhi, we will be bak next year, same time but with better planning :)
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