Hi everyone, finally I am back from my vacation and as I promised, I am sharing my experiences with you all. Hope you'll enjoy reading this.Please forgive me, incase I made your reading experience boring.
24th April 2010: Bangalore-Delhi
My flight was delayed for about 2+ hours. I was kinda happy, as I got some extra time to do my packing. I reachecd the airport finished all the formalities and was hesitantily waiting, as I was going alone for the first time. I got a window seat, happily enjoyed looking outside. Though the flight was delayed for so long, I enjoyed my flight journey(Nicholas Sparks gave me company).
I reached Delhi at around 10 in the nite and the moment I got off the flight, I could feel the warm weather hitting my face outside.
25th April 2010 Delhi-Agra
Taj Express, the name sounds royal.However, the sight of the train was just horrible.It was very uncomfortable to travel. We somehow managed to reach Agra. The moment we got off the train in Agra, I could feel the hot air hitting my face.My god!!! It was really hot. It was 45 degree. This was my first exposure to such a high temperature.I don't think Bangalore has ever crossed 42 degree. All thanks to my umbrella,which helped me to stay away from that heat. From there, we hired a taxi and headed towards Fatehpur Sikri, which is about 40 kms away from Agra.
Fathepur Sikri
As soon as we reached Sikri, we found a guide who took us around the fort (unfortunately gave some wrong information, that I realised when I looked up on the Internet).This historical city was built by Mughal emperor Akbar. They say Akbar built a fort to honour Salim Chisthi,who was a saint and blessed Akbar with his successor. It took 15 years for Akbar to build this fort and this fort was abandoned as there was water scarcity in the city. This city is also known as a ghost town.
As per the guide, Akbar had 3 wives from 3 different religions. He was married to a muslim,a hindu and a christian( I have never heard about the christian wife before). The fort's architecture symbolises all the 3 religions.
One tip for people who want to visit this place : Please carry lots of money, they con you every inch in this place. The only source of income for people here is tourism so they never miss any oppurtunity.
If you are planning to shop here, the best picks are carved items made of redstone and some junk jewellery.
Note:You should be good at bargaining
All in all, the monument was good and got to know about the history behind the fort. Only unfortunate thing is they have never attempted to keep the place tidy,regardless of so many visitors. Probably if Akbar was still alive, he would have regretted building this monument by seeing the sight of it now.
Finally, we finished the sight seeing and with a great disappointment headed back to Agra.
Agra Fort
We reached Agra fort,hoping to see something better.Fortunately, this place made me feel a lot better. This fort is also known as "Lal Qila" and Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son Aurangazeb in the same fort. They have attempted to keep this place tidy. Good to see that they are maintaining this place. There is an excellent view to Taj Mahal from this place.
Taj Mahal
Finally, I reached Taj Mahal which I was dying to see eversince I was a kid. Atlast my wish came true. It was one of the breathtaking moment standing infront of it.
Taj Mahal is considered to be one of the beautiful Mughal's architecture. Its truly amazing to see the beauty of Taj Mahal.It shows the passion what Shah Jahan had towards his wife Mumtaz. His uncoditinal love towards his wife has given India one of the memorable monument.
Taj Mahal is a great asset to India. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time watching the beauty of Taj Mahal. Carrying lots of wonderful memories, with a heavy heart started towards the railway station(I just wanted to sit and admire the beauty for some more time).
26th April: Delhi : Karolbagh
After a tiring trip from Agra, woke up late and ate breakfast at kamat. Woow its so nice to eat south Indian breakfast when you are actually not in south India.
That was my first day in Delhi to witness the heat. My god, its unbearable. Its so nice to be inside the AC environment.The moment you step outside, you see the true colours. It's steaming hot.
Now, I know why people are so scared about Delhi's temperature. You got to be there to even talk about it.
I was so scared of getting tanned tried hard not to get, but failed to do so.
Nothing really worked, my umbrella, sunscreen lotions, glares. Nothing really worked :-(
I really pity those Delhi girls,who are covered from head to toe to avoid getting tanned.
24th April 2010: Bangalore-Delhi
My flight was delayed for about 2+ hours. I was kinda happy, as I got some extra time to do my packing. I reachecd the airport finished all the formalities and was hesitantily waiting, as I was going alone for the first time. I got a window seat, happily enjoyed looking outside. Though the flight was delayed for so long, I enjoyed my flight journey(Nicholas Sparks gave me company).
I reached Delhi at around 10 in the nite and the moment I got off the flight, I could feel the warm weather hitting my face outside.
25th April 2010 Delhi-Agra
Taj Express, the name sounds royal.However, the sight of the train was just horrible.It was very uncomfortable to travel. We somehow managed to reach Agra. The moment we got off the train in Agra, I could feel the hot air hitting my face.My god!!! It was really hot. It was 45 degree. This was my first exposure to such a high temperature.I don't think Bangalore has ever crossed 42 degree. All thanks to my umbrella,which helped me to stay away from that heat. From there, we hired a taxi and headed towards Fatehpur Sikri, which is about 40 kms away from Agra.
Fathepur Sikri
As soon as we reached Sikri, we found a guide who took us around the fort (unfortunately gave some wrong information, that I realised when I looked up on the Internet).This historical city was built by Mughal emperor Akbar. They say Akbar built a fort to honour Salim Chisthi,who was a saint and blessed Akbar with his successor. It took 15 years for Akbar to build this fort and this fort was abandoned as there was water scarcity in the city. This city is also known as a ghost town.
As per the guide, Akbar had 3 wives from 3 different religions. He was married to a muslim,a hindu and a christian( I have never heard about the christian wife before). The fort's architecture symbolises all the 3 religions.
One tip for people who want to visit this place : Please carry lots of money, they con you every inch in this place. The only source of income for people here is tourism so they never miss any oppurtunity.
If you are planning to shop here, the best picks are carved items made of redstone and some junk jewellery.
Note:You should be good at bargaining
All in all, the monument was good and got to know about the history behind the fort. Only unfortunate thing is they have never attempted to keep the place tidy,regardless of so many visitors. Probably if Akbar was still alive, he would have regretted building this monument by seeing the sight of it now.
Finally, we finished the sight seeing and with a great disappointment headed back to Agra.
Agra Fort
We reached Agra fort,hoping to see something better.Fortunately, this place made me feel a lot better. This fort is also known as "Lal Qila" and Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son Aurangazeb in the same fort. They have attempted to keep this place tidy. Good to see that they are maintaining this place. There is an excellent view to Taj Mahal from this place.
Taj Mahal
Finally, I reached Taj Mahal which I was dying to see eversince I was a kid. Atlast my wish came true. It was one of the breathtaking moment standing infront of it.
Taj Mahal is considered to be one of the beautiful Mughal's architecture. Its truly amazing to see the beauty of Taj Mahal.It shows the passion what Shah Jahan had towards his wife Mumtaz. His uncoditinal love towards his wife has given India one of the memorable monument.
Taj Mahal is a great asset to India. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time watching the beauty of Taj Mahal. Carrying lots of wonderful memories, with a heavy heart started towards the railway station(I just wanted to sit and admire the beauty for some more time).
26th April: Delhi : Karolbagh
After a tiring trip from Agra, woke up late and ate breakfast at kamat. Woow its so nice to eat south Indian breakfast when you are actually not in south India.
That was my first day in Delhi to witness the heat. My god, its unbearable. Its so nice to be inside the AC environment.The moment you step outside, you see the true colours. It's steaming hot.
Now, I know why people are so scared about Delhi's temperature. You got to be there to even talk about it.
I was so scared of getting tanned tried hard not to get, but failed to do so.
Nothing really worked, my umbrella, sunscreen lotions, glares. Nothing really worked :-(
I really pity those Delhi girls,who are covered from head to toe to avoid getting tanned.
Delhi Metro
I got a chance to travel in Delhi Metro train. Wow!! that was really nice, one of the interesting thing in Delhi. I was really impressed to see such an intiative taken for the public transportation. It was really a good experience. Its so quick and easy to commute in that. I guess, its very much required for the people in Delhi to stay away from the heat.
Trip to Manali
I was all excited to go to Manali (totally tired of Delhi & Agra's heat).We started from the hotel around 4:30 as our bus supposed to be at 5.00 PM. We had to wait for the bus for about an hour. It was a volvo and pretty comfortable to travel. I am not very used to travelling in the bus, so it was hard to sleep in the night. It took about 15 hours for us to reach Manali.(My second longest bus journey after Munnar).
I woke up around 6.00 AM in the morning and looked outside the window, for a moment I thought I was dreaming.... It took a little while for me to realize that it wasn't a dream but the truth.
I was wonderstuck with the scenic beauty of Kullu. Its on the banks of the river Beas and the water of the river is crystal clear. Its a delight to watch it.
Finally, reached Manali around 8:00 AM and desperately waiting to get off the bus. We took an auto and headed towards the resort. That's when I actually felt the climate in Manali. It was so cold that cool breeze was hitting on my face (I wasn't even wearing a jacket).It was pretty easy to find out our resort, as Manali is full of hotels and resorts. The resort we booked was "Snow valley resorts". This is slightly far from the Manali main market. The resort looked good from outside, and I hoping to see the same inside as well. Took out our luggage and walked inside thinking I can go catch some sleep. Unfortunately, We had to wait for an hour to check-in.
As soon as I walked inside the room, I just fell in love with that place.It was so nicely decorated.The view outside our room was amazing. We had a series of deodar trees and snow covered mountains.
We went to "Van-Bihar", which is a fun park in the evening.There is a small valley inside the park, where I did river crossing. Intially I was hesistant to do that, later made up my mind and gave a try.
With the help, of the rope you will have to cross the river.Once you reach the center point, they will pull the rope downwards, where your feet touches the water. That's fun, The water is freezing cold and you cannot stay in that for long time.Thank god! the rope was pretty strong, it actually held my weight.While our way back we took some pictures with the Manali traditional wear.
Then we roamed around in the markets of Manali, did some good shopping.Though I was tired walking for about 5kms, I had all the energy for shopping.
You can see every shop selling branded jeans, t-shirts, shoes etc. Just that they are not original,everything is a look alike model. You cannot make out which one is original and which one is duplicate. Its a good place to shop the winter wears.
28th April : Snow point: Rohatang Paas
We planned to go to the snow point. I was totally excited as I have never seen Ice/snow other than the seeing it in the refrigerator. All thanks to my phone for waking me up an hour late :-(
Quickly we got ready and got into the car, collected our snow wears(Jackets, gloves, rubber boots)
The roads were very narrow and we were already late. So had to wait sometime, the vehicles were just passing one after the other. I was anxiously waiting to get off the car and play in the snow.
The first time I saw those snow covered mountains from a close point, I could not believe my eyes.
For a minute I thought I was dreaming, how on earth in the month of April can anyone see snow?
To confirm this, I actually pinched myself. lol
It was a breath taking moment for me,being a bangalorean I haven't seen Ice at all (except in my refrigerator).I was so excited that I wanted to run and play in that snow. But I realised, that it was so dirty only when I reached closer.All my excitement touched the ground, looking at that dirty thick layer of the snow :-(
I was all excited to go to Manali (totally tired of Delhi & Agra's heat).We started from the hotel around 4:30 as our bus supposed to be at 5.00 PM. We had to wait for the bus for about an hour. It was a volvo and pretty comfortable to travel. I am not very used to travelling in the bus, so it was hard to sleep in the night. It took about 15 hours for us to reach Manali.(My second longest bus journey after Munnar).
I woke up around 6.00 AM in the morning and looked outside the window, for a moment I thought I was dreaming.... It took a little while for me to realize that it wasn't a dream but the truth.
I was wonderstuck with the scenic beauty of Kullu. Its on the banks of the river Beas and the water of the river is crystal clear. Its a delight to watch it.
Finally, reached Manali around 8:00 AM and desperately waiting to get off the bus. We took an auto and headed towards the resort. That's when I actually felt the climate in Manali. It was so cold that cool breeze was hitting on my face (I wasn't even wearing a jacket).It was pretty easy to find out our resort, as Manali is full of hotels and resorts. The resort we booked was "Snow valley resorts". This is slightly far from the Manali main market. The resort looked good from outside, and I hoping to see the same inside as well. Took out our luggage and walked inside thinking I can go catch some sleep. Unfortunately, We had to wait for an hour to check-in.
As soon as I walked inside the room, I just fell in love with that place.It was so nicely decorated.The view outside our room was amazing. We had a series of deodar trees and snow covered mountains.
We went to "Van-Bihar", which is a fun park in the evening.There is a small valley inside the park, where I did river crossing. Intially I was hesistant to do that, later made up my mind and gave a try.
With the help, of the rope you will have to cross the river.Once you reach the center point, they will pull the rope downwards, where your feet touches the water. That's fun, The water is freezing cold and you cannot stay in that for long time.Thank god! the rope was pretty strong, it actually held my weight.While our way back we took some pictures with the Manali traditional wear.
Then we roamed around in the markets of Manali, did some good shopping.Though I was tired walking for about 5kms, I had all the energy for shopping.
You can see every shop selling branded jeans, t-shirts, shoes etc. Just that they are not original,everything is a look alike model. You cannot make out which one is original and which one is duplicate. Its a good place to shop the winter wears.
28th April : Snow point: Rohatang Paas
We planned to go to the snow point. I was totally excited as I have never seen Ice/snow other than the seeing it in the refrigerator. All thanks to my phone for waking me up an hour late :-(
Quickly we got ready and got into the car, collected our snow wears(Jackets, gloves, rubber boots)
The roads were very narrow and we were already late. So had to wait sometime, the vehicles were just passing one after the other. I was anxiously waiting to get off the car and play in the snow.
The first time I saw those snow covered mountains from a close point, I could not believe my eyes.
For a minute I thought I was dreaming, how on earth in the month of April can anyone see snow?
To confirm this, I actually pinched myself. lol
It was a breath taking moment for me,being a bangalorean I haven't seen Ice at all (except in my refrigerator).I was so excited that I wanted to run and play in that snow. But I realised, that it was so dirty only when I reached closer.All my excitement touched the ground, looking at that dirty thick layer of the snow :-(
Anyways, we decided to further ahead, hoping to see something better.Unfortunately, the way to Rohtang Pass was blocked. I was even more disappointment, as we could not go further and I wasn't willing to play in the dirty snow.
Then came my savior Niranjan, who some how figured out a way to fulfill my dream of playing in the snow.He found a guy who could take us to the on a shortcut road. We got off the car and I was all charged up to walk....That was the first time, I felt chillness in my spine. It was freezing cold and I felt I was sitting in the freezer. Immediately I put on my snow wear and all set to walk. I put one foot ahead... dud.. I fell...I din't know that it would be so slippery...
We decided to go on a horse ride, that was a scary experience. The entire path is so steep and bumpy, its difficult to go on those rocky mountains...It started slowly drizzling, everytime the horse slides on the rock.. I was calling out all possible gods to help me out.I really wonder how those horses are trained to walk through that path. My heart was almost in my mouth till I reached my destination.
"Hrithik" and "Sharukh" dropped us off safely... If you are a little lost and wondering, what am I talking? thats the names of the horses we rode. Well, there was a pretty tough competition between Hrithik and Sharukh there as well.
We had a spectacular view once we got off the horses and there were plenty of people busy doing lot of activites. Niranjan skied on those icy mountains. I din't want to break my legs. I was scared looking at the people who were falling on the ground. So decided to stay quiet and watch others.
It started raining and we could not walk further. The rain added more beauty to the mountains.It was a wonderful view. It cannot be described in words, one should really experience it.
It was so cold we decided to go eat something hot. For all maggie lovers, you will find that at 11,000 feet above the sea level.First time, maggies tasted so nicely I thoroughly enjoyed eating that.
btw, it was the most expensive maggie i ever had it was 120/-
Now, I had become an expert to walk..without falling on the ground.We were sliding on those snow, became kids and were playing.
We also saw a frozen waterfall and some stunts performed by professional skiers and iceboard skaters.
We also saw a guy, who had a small wooden cart and carrying people up and down.It was very funny to watch it. He convinced us and took us also on a ride.. while returning it was fun... he pushed us so fast that it was like a roller coaster ride. He dropped us till the bottom where our Hrithik and Sharukh was waiting for us.
Now, I had all the courage to ride on them reached our car without getting scared.
If you all remember, I told you earlier that the way to Rohatang Paas was blocked earlier,so we had to take the short cut road, when we came back the road was opened. I requested the driver to take us, he was a little hesitant as it was still drizzling and it wasnt safe to go on top. He threatend us by saying if there is land slide you might have to walk back 40 kms.
I was very persistent just din't give up, he took us reluctantly.
The drive thru that narrow path was amazing and exciting. As we came close to we could see those snow filled mountains clearly. Nature's creation is so good. it was treat to our eyes. I got off the car,(by then i had already removd my snow wear) I could not speak a word.. it was freezing.. It was 0 degrees in Rohtang pas.
Woow I felt extreme climate 0 in manali and 48 in Agra.
This is one memorable exp that i can never forget ever in my life.
