Well, when I was a child, I went to many places with my dad. But I never got a chance to go-to our capital city. My dad went to Delhi when he was on his training and he got some picture booklets and I always used to fantacise the world of kings and queens as there were many pictures of the old palaces and ruins that we have in Delhi. Finally, I got a chance to visit Delhi. My husband was on an official trip to Delhi and he asked me to join him after his official work was over. My Brother-in-law(Guddu) was also there in Delhi at the same time for his official work. And hence three of us thought of pulling off our Delhi trip, finally, even though they both had been to Delhi. In fact, they lived there.
Before starting the trip, I inquired with my ex-colleague about the special attractions in Delhi except the famous ones. He suggested me to go to Akshardham Temple and witness the light and sound show. He also asked me to take the whole day tour buses which would take to all main attractions and to meet foreigners. Then I started digging and found that there are agencies who offer one day trip to Agra, Mathura and Vrindavan, which is when I got the idea to cover all these places as well. I checked with my husband and he suggested to book a cab instead for the same trip, so that we can go by our own convenience and our choice of places. And luckily my parents also visited Delhi in 2017 and hence I got some tips from them as well.
So, I flew to Delhi from Bangalore a day before. I had booked the hotel in the notorious place in Delhi, i.e. Paharganj. But, I was not aware of the shady side of Paharganj while booking the hotel. I just found the area to be budget friendly and in city center and hence I booked the hotel. It was Hotel Shelton, where we got two rooms in 7k for 3 nights, with breakfast. Here you will find everything you want and this place is famous among foreigners too. This was the first time when I stayed in such a place. The lanes were so narrow that the cabs were unable to come inside. This is the first reason why the trip was memorable for me.
Red fort-> Chandni chowk-> Gali Paranthe wali -> Lotus Temple -> Akshardham
We started our day with Red fort. The entree fee is Rs.35/- per person. It was a sunny day and Delhi ki Garmi(Uff). There is nothing much to see in Red fort as it's all ruins, except the front side where the Prime Minister hoists the flag on our Independence day. This is the place where Mughals used to live. So, there are separate sections for everything like, sleeping, meetings, bathing, praying, eating etc. We got little more curious and went to a corner of the fort, where no one goes as it was far from the main fort. There was a small museum out there, where there were pictures of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose during Azad Hind troop formation. After walking that far, we were dead tired and when we entered inside, Alas.. it was an A/C museum. We felt like we have found paradise. We rested there for a while and again started back. I got some necklaces in very cheap rate near the entrance to add to my collection.
Lotus temple has a splendid Architecture as one can see from outside, but inside is an empty hall where people of Bahai Religion come to offer prayer. But, one good thing about this place was that there was drinking water available inside the premises.
Then, we thought of taking a walk in the 'galis' of Chandni Chowk. We went to Gali Paranthe Wali to have the famous Parathas. It was a narrow lane with small small stalls on both the sides. We chose one and went and sat inside. They had pictures of all visiting Bollywood celebrities with stall owner posted on their wall . Basically what I found was, those are not paranthas but deep fried pooris with your choice of stuffing. They had many varieties, we took Rabdi Parantha, Lemon Parantha, Mixed veg Parantha and Paneer Parantha. This was enough for three of us as these were too oily. It was too sunny outside. So, we decided to spend some time in the cab to relax and hence chose to go to Lotus temple next.
Our next destination was Akshardham Temple. It is a temple dedicated to a sage named Swaminarayan. To enter the Temple premises, you have submit all your phones,cameras, bags outside. So, no pictures inside basically. The main temple entry is for free. However, they have tickets available for three things which they call as Exhibition(Rs.170/- per person).
Sahajanand Darshan – Hall of Values(Immersive projections, 3-D dioramas, audio‐animatronic figures have been used to depict the ideals of nonviolence, honesty, family harmony, and spirituality.
Neelkanth Darshan – Movie about Swaminarayan's life
Sanskruti Darshan – Cultural Boat Ride ( This is a sail across sets presenting a glimpse into the ancient Indian lifestyle and advancements like the game of chess, Advanced surgery and medicinal treatments, The classrooms of Takshashila etc.) This boat ride was really good. I was able to envision the ancient India.
Then we took tickets for the Light and sound show which costed Rs.80/- per person and went to the main temple as we had some time left before the show would have started. We came back and grabbed a nice place and then started the Ultimate show. It was really amazing. We enjoyed watching the show. It was based on a story on "how love trumps hate". By the time it got over, it was 8. Then we called it a day and headed back to our hotel.
Qutub Minar-> Humayun's Tomb-> India Gate
We started little late as I got severe headache the previous day due to the heat of Delhi. Trust me, it's really painful. Whenever one is planning for a trip to Delhi, then the must considerable factor is the Sun and heat. This is the Second reason which makes the trip memorable (for wrong reason) for me. I have been to many places, but the sun here was intolerable.
Qutub Minar: This is located at Mehrouli. The nearest Metro station is Qutub Minar, which is 6 mins drive from this place. It's a UNESCO world heritage site. It is an architectural marvel of ancient India. It is red and buff sandstone and the highest tower in India. The complex has a number of other important monuments such as the gateway built in 1310, the Alai Darwaza, Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque; the tombs of Altamish, Ala-ud-din Khalji and Imam Zamin; the Alai Minar, a 7m high Iron Pillar, etc.
The entry fee is Rs.35/-.
Humayun's tomb: This one is located in Nizamuddin, East Dehli. This is one of the famous architecture in Delhi. Easily accessible through Metro and bus, nearest Metro stations are, Jorbagh and Race Course stations (both on the Yellow line) are the nearest. The splendid mausoleum was built in the memory of Emperor Humayun. This was the first garden-tomb made on the Indian subcontinent, which inspired several major architectural innovations, culminating in the construction of the Taj Mahal. This was declared a UNESCO heritage site in 1993.
The entry fee is Rs.35/-.
It was lunch time almost and we were tired and hence thought of taking rest for sometime and then continue the exploration. Again we started by 5 in the evening and went to India gate.
India Gate: This is located at the center of the city making it easily accessible for everyone. The nearest metro station is Central Secretariat on the yellow and violet line junction. This is located towards one of the end of ceremonial boulevard, popularly known as Rajpath. This is a war memorial initially made by the Britishers in the memories of the soldiers who died in the 1st world war. In fact, it holds inscription of names of 13,300 soldiers. Later, the small structure of Amar Jawan Jyoti was build with reversed rifle holding a war helmet on top. The view is amazing when the evening, when lights are on. They reflect the tricolor national flag.
Then we went to Khan market to have dinner at Khan cha cha. This was a recommendation by my dear husband. The Malai tikka roll which we had was just delicious. The chicken was so soft that it just melted in my mouth. This makes it the Third reason which makes the trip memorable for me as a foodie as I still remember the taste of that juicy chicken.
Vrindavan->Mathura-> Agra
We started by 6 in the morning as we had to cover a lot in a day. We booked a taxi for this day which costed us Rs.6000/- for the entire day trip. We took the Yamuna Expressway. The road was excellent, with bathroom and food stops in between. We need more of such highways with all the facilities all over our country.
Well, our first stop was Vrindavan. First we went to the Bankebihari temple. This is situated in one of the old galis of Vrindavan. There were lots of monkeys around the temple. Everybody warned us to be careful with our glasses as monkeys snatch the glasses here. This is a very old holy temple of Lord Krishna. The temple premise has it's own aura. I felt very positive after visiting there. We tried some Rabdi there in the local shop. It was yummy. Then we went to the Prem mandir. It is a beautiful temple. They have statues of Radha-Krishna and Ram-Sita in two floors. These statues are so beautiful that you feel like you are in front of God. They also have Krishna leela demonstration in different stalls all around the campus like Putana Vadh, Giri Govardhan leela etc. The temple had positive aura which could be felt.
Next we went to Mathura which is just 14 KM away from Vrindavan. We went to Sri Krishna Janmabhumi temple. One has to submit the phone and camera outside before entering the temple. There are a no of temples placed in one campus. This is considered to be the place where Lord Krishna was born as the name suggests. We saw the jail where the lord was born and many more temples.
Then, we left for Agra, which is almost 60km from Mathura. We reached and had lunch and then headed to the obvious destination, The Taj Mahal. There is no word to describe this magnificent edifice. We parked the vehicle in the parking area and went to the entrance by battery operated vehicle. They have made this arrangement to preserve the beauty from Pollution. The pollution is damaging the Marble and hence these days they have restricted on the no of tourists to be visited per day. The place was simply amazing. But due to the reflection of sun from the white marble, it was very difficult to tolerate the sun. But, everyone must visit this beauty once in a life time.
Then we visited the Agra fort. This place is almost closed and only 30% of it is allowed for public. From here one can clearly see the Taj Mahal. We saw the room where Sahajahan was kept during his last days. This is where the Mughals used to live. When you visit this, you go to the Mughal era. I started imagining on how they must be living. This place just took me to the Mughal era and I started recalling the events which I read in history and how and where, what would have been taken place. This was better than Lal Killa. It has been preserved and well maintained. This made it the Fourth reason why this trip is memorable for me. It took me to the historic era of the Mughals in India. It took me to the childhood days as well as I was good in history.
Then we got some Agra ka Petha and headed back to Delhi.
Agrasen ki Bauli->Jantar Mantar-> Sarojini Market
This day we had kept it short as we had the flight back home in the evening. First we visited Sultan and PK movie fame Agrasen ki Bowli, the steps where Sultan would come running and keep his heap of bricks as part of his exercise routine and where PK used to sit when he was sad. This is a good place to take pics. This is located near Cannaught place.
Then we went to Jantar Mantar. I could not understand much about this place, but was good for pics. There were structures which were being used in the ancient days to calculate time of the day based on Sun's position.This is also located near Cannaught place.
Then we went to the famous Sarojini Market for some shopping. It was really good. You get everything cheap there and bargain as much as you can. This place was heaven for a shopping freak like me. I enjoyed shopping so much here that this was the Fifth reason to make the trip memorable for me. I did not even realise how the time passed there by roaming in the streets and buying stuffs. I got so many things for everyone from here.
As all good things come to an end, this as the last leg of our trip and time had come to say bye-bye to Delhi. I understood why Delhites keep praising Delhi so much. This place is worth praising for. We took our flight back home and we were in such a good mood that we made our next trip plan during our flight it self and executed the plan successfully as well. :)
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