A day, in Delhi. It’s India day, five or six, anyway it’s breakfast and it’s India.
Good morning, happy Diwali, I want to get to India Gate, yes, and how much? hundred rupees, and I’m in. Delhi in the day, so I’ve got my auto rickshaw, it is called, and this gentleman here the driver, is called the rickshaw wallah or the driver, rickshaw wallah, rickshaw wallah, is him here. What’s your name? Rajesh, Rajesh, thank you Rajesh, he’s driving me to the India Gate, which is the first thing I’m going to see, this morning, on my day in Delhi.
Sightseeing in Delhi Executive Class Train Delhi to Jaipur Junction Tour of Jaipur Amber Fort Photo Gallery
So I’m going to do India Gate, the tomb, the Lotus Temple, I’ll see what I can do in, now for getting rounds to see all these sights, it’s, fairly easy but it can be a bit of a hassle, there is a hop-on hop-off, hop bus which I think is seven hundred rupees for one day, and it goes around all the major places of the city, the problem is, it doesn’t really have a fixed schedule of like every half hour, every hour, so it turns up, when it turns up, it’s partly to do with traffic and organisation, so it’s a bit tricky, because you might be standing around to go and see a monument and then you wait for an hour before the next bus comes along, so I’m doing the next best thing, which is hopping on and off rickshaws. Now the pain with that means that every time you have to find a rickshaw which is very easy to find, they are always waiting for you, the biggest thing is negotiating a price, knowing what price it should be between different destinations, so it’s, what I do, is I go to my hotel and make friends with receptionist’s and the people there, and then I ask them what the prices should be, between different places, and then I’ve got an idea, so when I go to the rickshaw, driver if he’s in the right ballpark that’s fine, if he’s too high, I don’t even bother arguing, I just walk away, there’s always another rickshaw. So it’s,usually they’ll chase you down the street, with the price going down down, down but I don’t like to encourage dishonest ones, so I find another one, that gives me a good price first time, and, that way I know, you know, trying to keep them honest.
I know sometimes it seems like you’re arguing about a small amount of money, but it’s the principle and the fact that they feel they can rip off tour tourists, just because we’re foreigners, we might have a bit more money, but we’ve still got to make that money go a long way. So, for my first fare today, from fairly central and close to the old Delhi area, going to India Gate, one hundred rupees. Getting to India Gate, without getting run over, might be easier said than done.
Go, okay. And first stop, is India Gate, which is, like a big version of the Arc de Triomphe in the middle of New Delhi. What’s it like? Well have a look for yourself there you go.
There we are, the India memorial, to the dead of the Indian armies who fell and are honored in the near and the far east, and it’s sacred memory of those, whose names are here, recorded, who fell, in India, on the North-West Frontier, and during, the third Afghan war. So, essentially, it’s a war memorial, to the brave soldiers who fought and died in battle. No, no, good price, no, hundred okay, no hundred, nothing thank you, three, okay four, no, four bangles, no happy Diwali, happy Diwali here four, no, none, please, no hungry life, sorry.
Hi, how are you? hey good, thank you, how are you? I’m also fine. Now I’ve started my day quite early, partly because it gets hot during the day, and secondly, believe it or not from what you’ve just seen, there’s less cloud, crowds, earlier in the day than later. Now, where did I leave my tuk-tuk driver, he said he’d wait for me, let’s see if he has, if not have to get new tuk-tuk driver, onto the next spot, come on let’s go.
Okay, I have a tuk-tuk, you go there, around, I’m looking for my tuk-tuk, which I left somewhere, no he may have gone yeah, yes so you come with me, I go there, no it’s okay thank you very much, thank you. Humayun’s Tomb, Humayun’s Tomb, Humayun’s Tomb, come, how much? hundred rupee, okay come on. Next tuk-tuk, next visit is, Humayun’s Tomb, let’s go, yeah, Humayun’s Tomb, Humayun’s Tomb, thank you sir.
Is it recording?, yes, it is recording. Humayun’s Tomb, now just took a tuk-tuk from the India Gates to here, one hundred rupees, I think it’s fair, it’s really difficult to tell, I’m not sure what Humayun’s Tomb is. Well apart from a tomb or what it looks like or anything and as you can see there’s these, huge blue, wall, car park this side, walking down the path, let’s go see.
Thank you very much have a lovely day, and here’s my ticket, for Humayun’s Tomb and here, in for inspection, good morning, good morning, how are you? thank you, good thank you, happy Diwali. Wow it’s quite beautiful here, it’s amazing that in the heart of Delhi, there’s so many of these beautiful green areas tucked away, it’s a little bit cool to get away from the hustle and bustle, yesterday was the Red Fort, again the same huge gardens here, I’m at Hanuma, Hanuwan’s, Humayun’s Tomb, I do apologize if I’ve just, massacred how to say that, and again you’ve got these beautiful gardens, walled areas, as well as obviously the tomb itself. It is quite beautiful, it’s like a precursor to the Taj Mahal, it’s beautiful gardens and as you can see, amazing architecture, but it’s now midday, the sun is, blazing down, it’s time to find some shade, find a drink, find something to eat time to taste some more Indian food.
First of all I got to find somewhere to eat. It’s strange that near a lot of the big sites there’s not actually that much to eat, and then you go to these other areas, random areas, an there’s eateries everywhere, but here we are, we are enjoying, Delhi, we are having a fantastic time, even though, I must admit, the temperature is getting a bit hot, it can be a bit crowded in some places, whoa that’s better in the shade, but it’s beautiful, I mean look at that, that is fantastic, hey, okay, let’s get something to eat and do some more exploring. Time to take a break, get a cold drink, before we carry on with our, day in Delhi, water as well, drink plenty, plenty, plenty as you go around.
If you go to a little stall like this one here, they keep it tucked away cold, just be careful on the price, in the touristy areas they go about, this should be about twenty rupees, that’s about, can’t remember, thirty five, I think, so. And here they’ve I think, and your tickets, now I’m very lucky as a foreign tourist, I pay more, but I don’t have to queue, five hundred, thank you very much, there’s two counters, one for the local Indians, and they only pay thirty rupees, and one for the foreign tourists, but I paid five hundred, so I think I paid for the privilege of not having to queue, I could queue for thirty rupees, anyway let’s wander over and see the, well let’s see if I can pronounce this correctly, there this way, the Qutub Minar, let’s go and have a look at it and see what it’s like. Are you here on holiday? yeah, oh and are you enjoying Delhi? yes we are.
I hope you’ve enjoyed our day in Delhi, and I hope you’re enjoying our trip to India, remember to give us a thumbs up if you like it, and if you want to see more of these posts, of my travels around India and around the world, remember to comment, hit the button below, and you’ll be able to catch up with me, three times a week at the moment, Monday Wednesday, Friday, when I upload my posts of my travels, also if you’ve got comments and suggestions, about where to go, what to see or just questions you’ve got about my travels, put them in the comments below, I’ll get back to you as soon as I’ve got internet that allows me to, so that’s it for now, I’m going to find my tuk-tuk, find some supper, and see what Delhi holds for me tonight, so thanks for joining me, hope you’re having as much fun doing this as I am, closing, thank you and it’s closing time, so I gotta go otherwise I’m gonna be locked in for the night and eaten by mosquitoes, which I really don’t want, so catch you later. Mustn’t lay down and go to sleep, and even the chair is comfy, so, : a.m.
Wake up, tuk tuk, to New Delhi Railway Station and then, after finding my train, which I’ll explain in a little while, a nice slow train, I think only about a hundred and sixty eight kilometres, I took four and a half hours, to the Pink City of Jaipur. Now, I booked executive class on the train, I had no idea, it’s the first train I’ve been on in India, very nice experience with my first train, no being shoved in second class, which I did see, it was woahhh, but executive class, I think is above first class in India, okay I’ll try and do a post to explain them, when I’ve got a bit more experience on Indian trains which I’ll have in a couple of weeks, I’ll be traveling on a few soon, anyway so on executive class, nice big seats, only four seats, plenty room, recline so you could almost go back sleep again, and they fed you so well, I had two cups of tea, I had an omelette, I had cornflakes, I had some bread and butter, I had a banana, I was given this, cool and refreshing drink which I haven’t drunk yet, which is actually, chakalaka masala spiced buttermilk, I’m not entirely sure on that, anyway I’ll try that, what else did I have? yes, I did, but yeah fed very well through, helped the journey pass by, so all my snacks, that I bought and prepared yesterday, well I say prepared, I bought them, someone else prepared them, and I tucked away my water, my, oh I was given a bottle of water as well, big litre bottle, my crisps, my muffins, my croissant still got them, what’s left of my very, now flattened croissant which got squashed by a couple of litres of water, on the journey, so, I’m now gonna have, a room picnic. How long have you been in India?, oh my first week, one week, and which other places are you visiting?, Varanasi, Mumbai and Delhi.
We have arrived at the station here, which hotel are you going? If you need prepaid tuk-tuk. Taxi. If you need tell me in the hotel.
If you need rickshaw I have, if you need taxi also. Which place you go?. If you need tuk-tuk, go to tuk-tuk, less prices, where do you want to go?.
Yes I need business, okay, I know do business, later no problem, I will say right now, you go with me later, no problem, you do, we everything, yep and there is a green one, my tuk-tuk, you know great green one?, They’re all green, yeah no, this is a, too big, second is one, not too big is one big, the green and blue? yeah, okay. Okay, so after an early start, : a.m.
Struggled to the railway station in Delhi half asleep, did manage to get a tuk-tuk thankfully, so that was quite nice and easy, nice, easy journey to Jaipur, Jaipur Junction, and I was in the executive class, which means you’ve got lots of space and they fed you lots of food I had breakfast, had cornflakes I had omelette, I had a banana, I had two cups of tea all included in the price, so really, very comfortable, gentle, slow journey to, Jaipur, it sort of changed when I got off the train, as soon as you get off the train, usual thing you get the tuk-tuk drivers and things harassing you for a taxi or a tuk-tuk, they won’t leave you alone or give you any space to sort things out and do what you need to do, so you can decide what you want to do. We are now, in Jaipur, the Pink City, there’s plenty to see here, so let’s go and explore, Jaipur. Good morning sir, good morning, how are you doing? TV, fridge, tea and coffee, some water, a fan, aircon, don’t forget a nice big comfy bed of course, there’s the aircon unit, the bathroom is through here, and there’s the bathroom, toilet, and wash hand basin, and shower, very nice.
Nice clean, looks clean, looks nice and welcoming, which is more than the receptionist down floor but you know, maybe grunts are their main way of communicating. Okay, so I found, the hotels have stayed in so far, the first night, I stayed in a, reasonable budget hotel and the staff were exceptionally friendly, really good, since then I’ve stayed in, slightly better, I’d say mid to upper range hotels, still not expensive, we’re talking twenty, thirty US dollars a night, but a bit more upscale compared to, the first place, I stayed and the places have been really nice, the facilities, the rooms have been clean, but the reception staff, so rude it sucks, I mean it just, just meh, you know, no sort of welcome to the hotel or anything like that, which you know is very strange for India because usually people are so well, the strangers and more welcoming than the reception staff, you know, it’s really is strange, it’s sort of like you do feel sometimes, you’ve inconvenienced them by turning up at their hotel, which is a shame, very unusual for, Indians and the hotel as you can see from the room, is really nice, you know so I have no complaints on there, I mean look at that, beautiful hey, let’s hope that bed is as comfy as it looks although it’s got some strange, there’s this strange, you see this, oh it’s a blanket laid under, that square object isn’t the bed, it’s actually a blanket folded up, laid under the bed. Okay, Jaipur, the Pink City.
Good morning Jaipur, I’ve had my breakfast and now, I’m out to explore, the Pink City, on India day, five, day, day, welcome to India, I may have been here a week, doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun, anyway, let’s go and explore the Pink City of Jaipur. Morning sir, morning, good morning, morning, key that’s to leave, and also could you tell me how much, the rickshaw should be to the Amber Fort, about hundred and fifty rupees, hundred and fifty rupees, thank you very much, have a great day. and I see rickshaw drivers already approaching, number one, morning, morning, how much for the Amber Fort? go and back? no just there, okay come, how much? three hundred rupees, three hundred way too much, let’s find a better driver.
I’ll do one eighty, one eighty come on. Oh, oh it’s like we’re too fat and heavy to the rickshaw, and we’ve got, a puncture. The rickshaw repairs are in progress, currently we’re in the old city, where by law everything has to be painted pink, so all the buildings are, one, shade of pink, and we had to make a pit stop because my rickshaw got a puncture, so obviously I was too heavy, maybe I ate too much breakfast but anyway, we’re just getting that repaired and then we’ll carry on, to the Amber Fort.
In the meantime, I can harass and film, passing people, and maybe I can take this opportunity to show you what things are, this is a man pushing a cart, he is a delivery man, hello, how are you? hello, how are you? I’m fine, good, thank you, and you are from? England, okay, thank you. That’s a friendly local, most people are really friendly, they want to know where you come from, say hello and off they go, unless they’re trying to sell you something and usually a tip is, if they have excellent English and really and you know really engage you in conversations, they want to sell you something, so be warned, okay other thing, another delivery man, he’s delivering rugs, coach, saying hello, and waving, okay, now we have coming up, this is what is called, an auto rickshaw, this one here, and that one, that’s the one I’ve got this morning, basically a three wheeler, specialist vehicle for carrying passengers round. So that’s a rickshaw or an auto rickshaw, here we go, and these are, the simplest, cheapest way of getting around the city, from point to point they don’t do long distance, they can, you know they’ll do eight to ten kilometres or across the city quite easily, they can be quite bumpy.
Now, I haven’t see any pedicab, yet, I found a pedicab, now this one is loaded with goods, they are often used for cheap deliveries, but you can get rides in the back of these as well, this is a pedicab where basically, the man, peddling as in pedi a cab, a bicycle, with all the stuff in the back. I would not like that job, especially when it gets hot, and the tyre is now back, on, hopefully all fixed. we’ll be on our way again And, we’re at the Amber Fort, now I can see, it is a long trek up, and I can see people getting up on elephants, which I’m not too keen on doing, but let’s go, up there.
Oh, oh fell down a step, and although I’ve come here early, and it’s already hot, thankfully today, I remembered my hat, and my sunglasses, no thank you, namaste, so I don’t need to buy one, but if you forget one, this guy will show you a nice hat, how much will you sell your hats for? how much? one thousand, one thousand? oh my goodness! I wouldn’t pay a thousand just for the record, but let’s go up and see the fort without going on an elephant. Elephant, yep, you heard me correctly and you probably can’t, you should smell me correctly, elephants, and even if I had an elephant, you’re not safe from being assaulted, I wonder if you can Uber an elephant, yes I’d like to uber an elephant to, the Amber Palace, please. Do I have to follow them? Oh no there’s an elephant road, and there’s a non elephant road, guess which one I’m going to take? as soon as the traffic clears.
You stay nice and calm, you can walk to my pace he’s coming faster now, and into the fort. A random musical instrument surely, you want to buy all these things, oh, buy this, buy this, buy a postcard of a place you’ve just been and taking a selfie. oops sorry oh, buy this one.
Composite ticket you go in here, and there’s the desks, where you’re buy your ticket. And up there overlooking the courtyard, there and there, was built, specifically, so the ladies of the court, could peer out into the courtyard and see what was going on without being observed, like a secret peepery. I’m not sure whether it’s to hide the ladies from the men, or so the ladies could peep at the men without being seen, peeping.
So much to see here as usual, spending longer than I planned so, I’m not gonna squeeze as much in a day here, as I thought I was going to do, as you can see around you, quite fantastic, great moments for photographs, and beautiful views, out over the various places and the valley as you can see, hopefully I’ll find a nice view point for sunset, for later in the day because above this fort I can see, there’s another fort, like a guard fort, so I should be going up there for the late afternoon, check out the light there, in the meantime, let’s go and see some more of the Amber Fort, there’s no real direction here, it’s sort of bit like doors everywhere, and there’s a door over there, there’s a door there, I don’t know where to go, anyway really enjoying it, wandering around, a bit busy and crowded, it’s a managed to make it a : and it’s getting hot and sunny it’s a beautiful day. Wow, look at these beautiful gardens, look at that. This, is where the ladies used to peep into the courtyard without being seen, as you can see, there’s still lot’s of ladies here.
Nothing like a few children to scare the pigeons, obedient kids, look at that, oh well that serves him right, fall on your ass kid. There’s a camera, camera, camera, it’s photo time, selfie. Selfie time, selfie time, thank you sir, no problem take care.
Welcome to Jaipur, how’re doing? Pleasure to meet you, you’re saying goodbye? oh bye. The people are reading me again, they’re staring at me again, ging in India, it’s gonna break you, anyway things to do in Jaipur, the Monkey Temple. It’s a little bit out of town, and it’s a little bit of a walk up and down but it’s out of the city and in some lush, green forests and hills quite beautiful, I recommend going early in the morning, there is a lot of monkeys and you get on the right day there’s a lot of people as well, as the heat of the day wears on, you get less people, I went down there, lots of people bathing in the water, they believe to be holy, very interesting sight.
Up here, look over up here into, there the stepwell. We’re here at the stepwell, a little bit off the beaten track, but quite an amazing thing, looks up like something from an Escher, drawing, which if you don’t know, he drew those steps, he went up and down stairs with all contradictory, but this is just steps to make it easy to go up and down to a water well, so it’s free to come and see the step well, but the guards will still do all they can to get some money from you, like if your camera’s on a selfie, a selfie stick or a stabilized like mine was, although five hundred rupees for bringing that in, so I took it off. And then if you want to go down into the steps, we can go down for five hundred rupee, take excellent photos down there.
Next on the list of places, City Palace, right in the middle of old Jaipur, there’s two parts to it, there’s the City Palace Museum, which costs you five hundred rupees entrance and gives you all this? Then there’s entrance into the City Palace which is, two thousand, five hundred rupee and everyone I spoke to says, don’t bother unless you really like museums. I like museums but, yeah, and lots of areas when you go to the museum areas you can’t take the camera anyway, so I can’t show you any of that. I’ve got some good news, a ticket I bought earlier, does also cover, the Hawa Mahal, which is a temple of winds, which is good, but that means I can actually don’t have to queue in that long queue, I can go into the temple which is, right, there, without the queue for a ticket, because I got this.
It’s been another hot, but beautiful day in India, been touring Jaipur, the Pink City, I’ve got around, oh so many things, it’s been great, and I’m flagging a bit now, I’ve had plenty plenty to drink, but I still need to drink more, and I’ve still got hopefully, let me check on the sun, where’s the sun? hold on I may have to, I want to go to Tiger Fort for the sunset, which is quite a drive away, plus I’ve got, one other temple just around the corner from here that only opens after four o’clock, so it’s open now, can I do both? let’s find out. Well, carrying on our tour of, Jaipur things to do in Jaipur, I’m at the gavinja temple? I’ll try to find out how to pronounce that correctly, buy a helicopter?, no I’m okay, I’m just waiting to go into the temple. Next up, Tiger Fort, I should have time to, oh there he is, get there for sunset, and here’s my tuk-tuk driver waiting, let’s go.
Take a walk, up to the Tiger Fort, you can cheat and get a car around the back side or a tuk-tuk around the back side, but it’s quite a long drive, so I’ve decided to take the healthy option, I think it’s healthy in this heat, I’m not sure if dehydration counts as healthy, anyway take a walk, up here from the old town, to the Tiger Fort, let’s get going. I’ve reached the Tiger Fort, doesn’t look like it’s well defended at anytime, walls within walls, and that water right down there, we can’t see it down, is a dam with water which would have been, the forts water supply. And, we are, at the top, not too bad, what an amazing view that’s the fort dam, if you drive up there’s the car park, over there, the rest of the fort is behind us over there, the view over Jaipur, is right there.
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