Thursdat 30th October
I am off on some travels again, with my mate and travelling buddy, Jim Lewars in tow. Glasgow Airport was our destination this morning, Jim’s son, Alastair did the honours by dropping us off, and we got checked in and through security with no problems, this was made easier by us going through the priority security section courtesy of Lesley, one of our Scotia friends, all we had to do was wait by the gate for our flight to Dubai. Despite it being a bit tempting, we decided to miss out on the early morning airport pint. Jim was a bit disappointed that the Wetherspoons did not have a carpet to add to his growing collection of ‘Spoons carpet photographs.
The flight to Dubai went well, and it was a pleasure to meet up with Cheryl, one of our companions from our Moroccan tour last year. She was on her way to an Intrepid tour of Vietnam, and her flight from Dublin arrived in Dubai around the same time as ours, a nice chat over a beer certainly helped pass the time. We promised to meet again soon, a little closer to home.
The final leg also went to schedule and we arrived in Delhi , hot through immigration and customs before being met by our driver to take us to our hotel.
Hotel Singh Sahib in the Karol Bagh district is a bit basic, but appeared to be sufficient for our needs over the few days we would be staying there, we especially liked the notice on the bathroom door asking us to ring reception when we wanted the boiler turned on for hot water.
We took a short nap before heading out firstly to a ATM for some cash. A trip on the Metro followed by a stroll through the city took us to the India Gate, a spectacular monument to Indian forces lost in both world wars. It being the festival of Diwali, the gate was illuminated with the national colours, which brought out large groups of people. We made our way back to the hotel, stopping off for a beer in a local bar, before retiring for the night tired but excited to be in an interesting country.
Friday 1st November
Today, with help from Shakti, our Intrepid tour guide, we hired a car and driver, Arun, to take us round many of Delhi’s monuments, this was a great idea, enabling us to see many places without the hassle of finding suitable transport.
Our first stop was at the Lotus Temple a stunning piece of modern architecture, similar in some way to Sydney’s Opera House. It was interesting to hear and to read about the Baha’i movement, something we really weren’t aware of. The building, set in beautiful gardens was an oasis of calm in the chaotic and hectic city. We were urged into single file on the approach to the temple, inching closer to the spectacular giant white petals of marble, forming the shape of an unfolding lotus, springing from nine pools, to symbolize the nine unifying spiritual paths of the Baha’í faith. We were asked to remove our shoes then allowed into the building in bursts and told to keep silent, though we could have stay inside for as long as we wanted, we stopped off for a few minutes to reflect before leaving and wandering through the well-maintained gardens, until it was time to leave and return to Arun and the car.
Next on our list of stops was Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi’s first Mughal mausoleum, constructed to house the remains of the second Mughal emperor, Humayun, which was built in 1570, under the critical eye of Haji Begum, his senior widow (and mother of Akbar), she camped here for the duration of the build, to ensure the construction of red sandstone, inlaid with black and white marble, met her exacting standards. This tomb, is of particular cultural significance as it was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent. inspiring several major architectural innovations, culminating in the construction of the Taj Mahal.
There was more than one tomb here to visit, our visit to Isa Khan’s tomb was made special by the interest shown by an old local guy who took the time to explain things to me and to show me the best spots to take photographs, the kindness of the people here and their willingness to help tourists is truly amazing.
Leaving the tomb complex behind, we travelled to the Pandara Road market area to have lunch in the Chicken Inn, a typical restaurant serving the tourist trade, that said the Butter Chicken curry we both had was sublime and the service was very good. Unfortunately Arun, our driver, had a different tale to tell as he experienced a puncture whilst we were enjoying lunch and had to change the wheel for a spare.
Lunch over, we then moved on to the Gandhi Smitri, a museum set in the house, formerly known as Birla House or Birla Bhavan, which is dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi and is the location where Gandhi spent the last 144 days of his life and where he was assassinated on 30 January 1948. Again this was a very peaceful and reflective place to visit, I especially liked the display of dioramas highlighting the life of Gandhi showing his life in South Africa and London before his return to India.
Whilst visiting the museum we also seen the magnificent World Peace Gong that stands in the grounds, it is stated that this is intended to remind the world to live in harmony with one another.
Our next stop, after the tyre change, was to the Agrasen ki Baoli which, hands down, is one of the most famous stepwells in Delhi and even India. This breathtaking 1000 year old Baoli stands 60 metres. long and 15 metres wide with an assorted set of 103 step stones leading down into the well. The environment attracts many tourists and Instagrammers, but at this late stage in the day, we were quite happy to stay at the top and look down into the well, the thought of climbing back up was beyond us at that point.
We returned to the hotel and said our goodbyes and thanks to Arun for giving us a great day and an insight into some of Delhi’s most famous monuments and an appreciation of the daily life of a driver in this wonderful city.
In the evening we took the metro from out local station to Connaught Place, where we were met with Delhi’s version of the European shops with plenty of bars and restaurants. We initially visited Excuse me Boss. This much-touted bar looked interesting but due to the early hour it was quite quiet when we visited, in fact, we were outnumbered by the staff. Leaving the bar behind we popped into the nearby Starbucks to complete ”Dan’s challenge”, before moving on to the Junkyard Cafe, which was much more to our liking, a friendlier atmosphere and good beer finished off a really good day for us.
Saturday 2nd November
This morning we went round the corner from our hotel to breakfast in Haldiram’s, what I would describe as an Indian cross between Macdonalds and Greggs, the choices there were very interesting indeed. We decided to visit the Red Fort today, after much negotiations with the local Tuk-Tuk driver, we eventually reached an agreeable price and off we went on our white knuckle ride through the city
The largest of Old Delhi’s monuments is Lal Qila, known in English as the Red Fort because of the red sandstone from which it was built. It was commissioned by Shah Jahan to be his residence and modelled on the fort at Agra. Work started in 1638, and the emperor moved in ten years later. The fort contains all the trappings we expected at the centre of the Mughal government. We entered through the Lahori Gate to the west, which remains an impressive testimony to Mughal grandeur. It has been a symbol of power, has witnessed the change in Indian history to British rule, and was the place where Indian independence was first celebrated, we spent most of the day exploring the various buildings and museums, however, we were both rather uncomfortable about the treatment of the Indian people by the British colonial rule, we decided to miss out on the remaining museums. Jim was delighted to find a philately museum where he purchased some memorial stamps to add to his collection.
When it was time to leave, we exited via the Lahori gate into Old Delhi to find our way to the Metro station, to say that this area is hectic and chaotic would be an understatement, and we were glad to reach the Metro for a ride into town where we revisited the Junkyard Cafe for some food and a beer, before it was time to return to the hotel for our 6:00 Intrepid meeting.
I was really pleased that we decided to have a couple of days in Delhi before joining the Intrepid group, it gave us the chance to explore on our own, to visit sights not included in our tour and to just do our thing of finding places that suit us. One of the things that interested me was the power system in India, especially in Delhi. No matter where you looked cables were running overhead in a tangled mess, there did not seem to be any order to it all, it really was frightening to see. At times when trying to charge my phone, it appeared to me that I was feeding the Indian National Grid as my power levels were going down instead of up.
On returning to the hotel, we met with Shakti and the other group members to hear about the plans for the week before visiting a local restaurant for a nice meal, which allowed us the chance to get to know each other.
Intrepid’s Golden Triangle Tour – Our Route and the Group
Sunday 3rd November.
The group assembled early this morning to leave for a nearby hotel for breakfast, before hitting the Metro for a trip into Old Delhi for a visit to the Jama Masjid Mosque, one of the largest in India, capable of holding 25,000 people, the mosque stands on an elevated site 10 metres above the street. It certainly is an impressive sight, with its grand courtyard, and many intricate carvings of marble and the red sandstone of the area.
On returning to the streets of Old Delhi, Shakti took us through the narrow lanes and alleyways of Chandni Chowk, the bazaar and the old spice market, we were hit with the sight, sounds, and more importantly, the smells of the many spices, some of the group found the scent of the red chillies to be overpowering. Despite it being the Diwali holiday season, a good quantity of the shops and stalls were open, giving us a real feel for the area, I especially liked the market trolleys hand painted for Diwali.
To really get a feeling for the area, Shakti negotiated for a fleet cycle rickshaw to take us down Chandni Chowk Road towards the Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib Sikh Temple, again, this was a fascinating place to visit. After a short briefing about the customs to be observed, we removed our shoes and socks, covered our heads then entered the temple to hear the prayers being carried out. Following that part of the process we then visited the kitchen where volunteers were performing a service, by preparing and cooking vast amounts of food – pumpkin, dal, and roti for anyone who wanted to enter the temple to eat, the pots and pans making Dahl were enormous, and the bakers and women making the roti were working continuously. With a culture like that, no one ever needs to go hungry, which is surprising when you see beggars on the streets asking for money for food.
After we visited the Temple, the group split up, with the majority of us deciding to visit India’s largest Hindu temple, Akshardham. This was truly a spectacular visit, the site is enormous. Consecrated in 2005, the temple with its ancient style, and ornate carvings took 5 years to build by 11,000 artisans, the temple stands on a plinth containing 148 stone carvings of elephants portraying stories from legends and folklore. There was so much to see and do, there were 3 exhibitions on offer, but due to time constraints, we could only do 2 of them, we watched a large IMAX-type movie showing the story of Swaminarayan, the guru, growing in influence on his pilgrimage through India. This was followed by a virtual boat trip which through the use of sound and dioramas, highlighted the growth of India and its influence on the world. Unfortunately we missed out on the evenings multimedia water show, which can be seen in this video showing highlights of the temple https://www.youtube.com/embed/DwsYVv36Vo0
It was not permitted to take cameras or mobile phones into the complex, so I have no photographs to show, however, the linked video captures the place perfectly.
A return to the hotel via the metro and a late dinner finished off yet another busy day in Delhi.
Monday 4th November
To avoid the early morning rush hour, we departed early for our journey to Jaipur, which was estimated to take around 6-7 hours. The journey was interesting, as we saw many different towns and villages along the way. We stopped off for breakfast at a roadhouse on the way, then continued to Jaipur. We arrived at the hotel, the Arya Niwas, a quaint, colonial-style place, in time for a late lunch.
After lunch, we went, as a group, on a walking tour of the city, with Shakti pointing out the sights of the Pink City and its beautiful terracotta city walls and gates, One of the highlights of the city is the Hawa Mahal, aka the Palace of Winds. Still in the city, we were taken through the bazaars and busy markets, our trip was interesting watching the snake charmers and high-wire acrobats performing, plus a passing visit to the many local undertakers added to the experience. before taking a Tuk-Tuk ride to a gemstone factory, this collective, which supports rural village workers was a fascinating place, showing us how precious and semi-precious stones are cut and polished. Jim, amongst some others from the group, made some purchases. Following this we went to Dagla, a rooftop bar and restaurant for dinner, it was nice to see and hear all the Diwali lights and fireworks.
Tuesday 5th November
In the morning we got on our bus and headed up into the hills to visit the Amber Fort. Amber’s Fort’s buildings are less impressive than those at Jaipur, but the natural setting is unforgettable. We visited Amber early in the day mainly to avoid the big coach parties; but we missed the evening sound-and-light show from the lakeside Kesar Kiyari complex in Maotha Lake, below the fort.
Returning to Jaipur, we visited Ganesham Textile and Handicraft store, again, this is a cooperative supported by Intrepid where village workers, increasingly women, hand block print fabrics using natural material and dyes, this was an interesting visit, after the presentation we were offered to opportunity to purchase some goods, many of the women in our group took advantage of this getting garments manufactured for them to be delivered to our hotel later that night.
In the evening, 5 of us, Jim, Jade, the 2 Vicky’s and myself, decided to take up the option of a night jeep safari. This safari was designed to show us the sights of Jaipur and the surrounding area when lit up at night, this was fun, but we all agreed that the best part of the night was the experience of driving through the streets of the city. Being up close to the millions of manic drivers of cars, motorcycles, cycles, Tuk-Tuks, and rickshaws was certainly hair-raising, to say the least, this is something that will stay in our memories I’m sure. Jim’s video from the front seat of the jeep will give you a taste of our journey through the city.
Wednesday 6th November
Leaving Jaipur behind we drove eastwards towards the village of Karauli, after the usual stops on the way, we eventually arrived at Suroth Mahal, a stunning heritage property (a Mahal is defined as a mansion or palace, and this one certainly was). Everyone in the group was blown away by the opulence of the bedrooms we were allocated, this was the only accommodation where we all wanted to see each other’s rooms, they were all so very different, We had a huge room with an enormous bathroom. After checking in and getting ourselves sorted, we walked around the friendly village, before returning to the hotel to enjoy drinks on the rooftop. We all had a bit of fun before dinner by being dressed in local costumes. After dinner we were entertained by a pair of local dancers, who encouraged us all to join in, we all thought it was great fun.
During our walk around the village we could see how the local people lived, the village appeared to be a typical rural village with around 14000 inhabitants. From what we could see on our short walk were friendly happy people, however, the contrast between their housing and the mahal was quite striking, I especially liked the milkman’s delivery bike.
Thursday 7th November
Our final destination for today was Agra, but we stopped en route at the one-time capital of the Mughal empire, Fatehpur Sikri. Behind its massive entrance is a stunning mosque displaying both Persian and Hindu designs, set in beautiful gardens. Our local guide, took us back in time to when the palace was built, speaking with great enthusiasm about the lives and times of the Mughal emperor and his many wives and concubines.
Once we reached Agra, we went to Sheroes Hangout for lunch, this initiative supported by Intrepid, provides a support network for women affected by acid attacks, while it was a nice place for lunch, once we watched a documentary about some of its women workers, we all left feeling a bit emotional.
We went to our hotel for the night, the hotel Pushp Villa, to freshen up in preparation for out trip to visit the Taj Mahal. This mausoleum, built in the 1640s as a memorial to the wife of Emperor Shah Jahan, is truly stunning, the many pictures and movies we have seen of it in the past did not do it justice. The size and scale of it is immense, everywhere you turn there is something to take your breath away. It was very busy when we were there, mainly due to many locals being on holiday for Diwali, but despite the crowds, it was still a very special visit.
Keeping the inlaid marble theme going, we paid a visit to Arts and Life a company doing such traditional works, after a demonstration of how the work is done we were invited Into their showroom to see the many pieces available. We had dinner in the Salt Cafe, a nice restaurant in the same building as the marble company, before returning to the hotel for an early night.
Friday 8th November
Before leaving Agra, we paid a visit to the Agra Fort, this impressive Moghal fort was built between 1565 and 1573, as the stronghold of the Mughal Empire. Akbar commissioned the walls and, his grandson, Shah Jahan, had most of the principal buildings erected, and Aurangzeb, the last great emperor, was responsible for the ramparts. The curved sandstone bastions reach a height of over 20m and stretch for around two and a half kilometres, punctuated by a sequence of massive gates. Our local tour guide, Mr Selim, was most entertaining and informative as he took us on a tour of the sights, he was also a good photographer, taking some special pictures of the ladies in our group. It was very misty when we were there, we should have been able to see the Taj Mahal in the distance but it was fully obscured. Fortunately, the mist cleared for us on our visit the day before.
During our tour of this part of India, we visited many of the Mughal Empire’s building complexes, plenty of temples and mosques, and to be honest, they all seemed to merge into each other, there were a few stand-out ones like the Taj Mahal and Akshardham, India’s largest Hindu temple in New Delhi. We were reminded of many of them on a sheet of postage stamps Jim bought when we visited the Red Fort in Delhi at the start of our trip..
Our next stop was to a knotted carpet-making cooperative, again, this organisation supports village people by providing looms and the materials to produce spectacular carpets, a tour of the showroom followed by a demonstration of the methods used to create beautiful carpets, some taking families many months or years to make. As you can imagine, the quality was very high with a price tag to match.
Visits over, it was time to hit the road for our final journey back to Delhi, stopping on the way for lunch at the Indian version of a motorway service station, apart from the type of food on offer, it really wasn’t very different.
We returned to hotel Singh Sahib again, checked in, and then after a nice dinner in Rhaas, a restaurant we had visited previously, before returning to the hotel to say farewell to our group at the end of a wonderful and enjoyable tour.
Saturday 9th November
Our adventures in India did not end there, Michelle, our travel agent had contacted us earlier to say that she couldn’t check us into our Air India flight to Colombo, could we do it ourselves? I tried but received a message stating that boarding passes or e-tickets were not available for download or printing, no problem we thought, it could all be done at the airport. We were collected from the hotel earlier than expected in the morning and headed off to the international terminal, and that’s when the fun began. Delhi International Airport has 8 doors into the terminal, each guarded by armed soldiers, and according to them you cannot enter without a boarding pass or e-ticket, none of which we had, there was no way they would let us in. Eventually, I found the message from Air India about the not being available to print, fortunately this had a reference number and my name, so I was allowed in while Jim was held by the guards. Once in the terminal, and after much searching, I found a desk which printed our e-tickets, this allowed Jim in and we were then able to check into our flight, it was just as well we left earlier than expected. My advice to anyone flying from Delhi International Airport is to ensure you have obtained all possible documentation before going there.
Jim's travels 