This is a long pending post... sitting in my drafts for months. Finally her!!
We had gone for an 8 day family trip to North India covering Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Jodhpur. We had covered a lot of places, had awesome food and visited all the historic places in India. This was my first time to Delhi - our Capital city!! I have a lot of experiences to share but no time to write it in detail... and it might become a very long story!! So let's look at the picture story of the trip. I have a lot of pics to share, so I shall write it in 2 parts. First part about my Delhi and Agra Experience. We covered most of the must visit places in Delhi in one and half day.
Day 1: Akshardham Temple
It's an embodiment of Indian culture and architecture. I was amazed by the structure and the vast area covered by this temple. More than spirituality, it was more of a commercial space or a tourist spot. They have 3D shows, animated shows, indoor boat ride, big screen movie - all of them showing the life story of Swaminarayan. We were not allowed to take pics inside the temple. So I could show it to you only from a distant view.
We had gone for an 8 day family trip to North India covering Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Jodhpur. We had covered a lot of places, had awesome food and visited all the historic places in India. This was my first time to Delhi - our Capital city!! I have a lot of experiences to share but no time to write it in detail... and it might become a very long story!! So let's look at the picture story of the trip. I have a lot of pics to share, so I shall write it in 2 parts. First part about my Delhi and Agra Experience. We covered most of the must visit places in Delhi in one and half day.
Day 1: Akshardham Temple
It's an embodiment of Indian culture and architecture. I was amazed by the structure and the vast area covered by this temple. More than spirituality, it was more of a commercial space or a tourist spot. They have 3D shows, animated shows, indoor boat ride, big screen movie - all of them showing the life story of Swaminarayan. We were not allowed to take pics inside the temple. So I could show it to you only from a distant view.
Had awesome food at the famous Haldiram's Restaurant.... Pav Bhaji, Chats, Chenna Bhatura, roti and yummy gravies!!! :P
The vegetable vendor outside my hotel window, I loved the colors on his vegetable cart... fresh and colorful.
Next we went to the Chor Bazaar - which is actually stolen items sold on roads. Too crowded and looked a bit scary :(
Next pit stop was Jamma Masjid in Old Delhi - very narrow roads and clogged with vehicles. You can see a lot of rikshaws ferrying people here. It is near the famous Chandni Chowk Market. After visiting Jamma Masjid, we went on a round trip in a rikshaw around the Chandni Chowk streets. Had yummy stuffed parathas, gol gappe and other street eats. After this we had been to the Raj Ghat - samadhi of Gandhi and other eminent people. It's a huge area just for the samadhis.
Next was again an eat stop - to have the famous chicken shawarma rolls from Al-Bake shop. We went in search of this shop :)
Next was the Humayun's Tomb... Magnificent and almost similar in architecture to the Taj Mahal.
We left from Delhi to reach Agra to see the great Taj Mahal - one of the seven wonders of the world. On the way to Agra, we stopped to see the Tomb of Akbar in Sikandra.
The we headed to visit the Agra fort, which is a must visit place before you see the Taj Mahal. There are a lot of stories/tales to know about the Agra Fort. It is a place which has seen generations and their tales. I loved this place than any other monument because i love Hrithik Roshan's Jodha Akbar movie and it was shot by recreating this fort. This is a place where Akbar lived and the scenes of the movie flashed in front of me wherever i saw. This place looked somewaht familiar and had some vibrations in me. Half of it is built in red brick and the other half in marble. Combines both Hindu and Muslim architecture.
Next was the most awaited visit to Taj Mahal, it was a little crowded that day. It was so beautiful and soothing to the eyes. It was not so white as people said, may be because of time and pollution. But brilliant architecture, the planning and design which went behind building it is so amazing. So symmetrical in design. Wonder why we dont plan so much now :( Each and every bit of the monument is designed to perfection.
Wonderful memories.... would like to visit these places again :)
Finishing of this part of the travelogue with a colorful picture.
Finishing of this part of the travelogue with a colorful picture.