Blogs from National Capital Territory, India, Asia - page 2

Two thirds of the way there, and what exactly was 'just around the corner'? - the city of Agra and The Taj Mahal, in all its elemental splendour, surely a travel experience which should at very least be on every traveller's bucket list, if not already ticked off that list. The choice of hotel, the Seven Hills Tower, proved to be a fine strategy, given that the location was safe and tranquil, easily accessible to main sights and eateries, and the hotel itself ranks above par when it comes to overall facilities. A walk from the hotel to the Taj Mahal, with GPS leading the way, led this traveller through a labyrinth of run-down residential areas with one or two commercial options, which became a more frequent sighting the more one approached India's most revered building. ... read more

I toured Delhi today with a guide and a driver and I got to see quite a few sights. When I was planning this trip, I considered trying to sightsee on my own, but I’m glad now that I didn’t do that. Everything here sees so disorganized, at least to me, as an outsider. There are few foreign tourists, even at the busiest sights. Most of the people there are Indian tourists. I went to the memorial where Gandhi was cremated and the workers there were replacing the flower garlands in front of the eternal flame. The next stop was the Red Fort which has become a nationalist symbol ever since 1947 when India’s independence was declared from the balcony where the flag is. Another place we visited is Lodhi Gardens where several ancient tombs can ... read more

This morning we headed over to the Red Fort to have a look around. Built from red sandstone between 1638 and 1648 by Shah Jahan (same man who built the Taj Mahal) to protect his new city of ShahJahanabad (ie Delhi) this magnificent fort was later converted into barracks by the British. Unfortunately it has been ransacked multiple times over its history and so the semi-precious stones that inlaid the marble halls have all gone, as have the gold and silver ceilings, copper doors & fittings and the ornate Peacock Throne. Today is a bank holiday in Delhi and so the crowds were huge (they got much bigger by the time we left). Slightly strangely tourists don’t have to queue and after buying a ticket at the separate tourist counter you can walk past the long ... read more

Our hostel has the advantage of being right next to Delhi Gate tube station so after a quick breakfast we went to get the metro across to New Delhi. The wonderful thing about metro systems is that they’re fairly similar world wide and so it was easy to buy a ticket and find our platform. And it’s air conditioned. It’s so similar to home there was even a WHSmith inside the station! Alighting the tube we walked to Hazrat Nizam-ud-din Dargah. This is the mausoleum of a Muslim Sulfi saint who died in 1325 (Nizam-ud-din). There are a number of later kings and nobles whose tombs are nearby. The shrine is in a bazaar and down narrow lanes past people selling offerings. On the way you see the Baoli, a step well. To enter the shrine ... read more

The past couple of days in Delhi have been fairly mad, the city just doesn’t stop! Wikipedia tells me it has a population of 16 million to just slightly more than Hangzhou and about 1/3 that of Shanghai but it honestly is such a sprawling metropolis that it feels much bigger than any city in China. On Saturday, my first full day here, after sleeping for 13 hours I took a Tuk Tuk to the Red Fort. The ride itself was an experience- I don’t think I’ve ever seen the underside of so many trucks so close up! We did get there much faster than any metro though and, as it was school time, the traffic in the city was bad so we went the long way and through the President’s area with some beautiful gardens. ... read more