Posts Tagged ‘India’

  • 12 Dec

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    Be aware of touts

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    Be aware of touts or rickshaw-wallahs offering surprisingly cheap or free services. They only want to get a commission by taking you to a friend’s hotel or shop. After arriving in Agra by bus, we had to catch a rickshaw to the hotel area where we wanted to stay, as it was too early to find a local bus. The driver diverted the way to different hotels which weren’t on the route, just trying to drop us there and get a commission, which would increase the price of our room. Tell the driver to drop you off a bit further of the hotel or shop where you want to go and then continue by foot. Take extra care that they don’t follow you, as they normally do to make sure they get some extra money.

  • 11 Dec

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    Agra Fort

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    Another highlight is Agra Fort, a monument built as a military citadel by the great mughal emperor Akbar. The red sandstone fort and palace is considered the biggest in India and we can assure that it is bigger than Delhi’s one. The fort was built primarily as a military structure, but Shah Jahan upgraded it to a palace, and later it became his gilded prison for 8 years after his son Aurangzeb seized power in 1658. The funny story is that Agra’s Fort has extraordinary views of the Taj Mahal and this, we guess, should have contributed to increase Shah Jahan’s madness remembering his beloved wife while he was imprisoned.

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  • 10 Dec

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    Visiting the Taj Mahal through the back door

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    We decided not to enter to the Taj Mahal’s inner compound and to spend the 15 euros entrance fee for foreigners (for indian citizens is just 0.3 euro!!!) in travel expenses and therefore extend the length of our trip. Instead of going inside the monument, we decided to have a much more interesting and educative walk to the other side of the Yamuna river, just on the back of the Taj Mahal. It was great to admire the building in complete tranquillity, interacting with locals and with no tourist around us. We can’t compare it with the actual experience of seeing the monument at close range, although we can assure that an independent traveller like us will enjoy much more this rewarding walk.

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    The way follows the Yamuna river up to the first railway bridge, crossing to the other side of the river. It seems that very little number of tourists do this walk (everyone prefer to catch an otto or taxi rather than walk for an hour), since locals keep staring at us as if we were a cinema screen, like in the german expression “guecke ich wie ein Kino?”. The closer we get to the back side of the Taj, the poorest and less visited the area is. The friendliness and kindness of the people is overwhelming. After a while kidding and playing with children, we got to the view point where it’s possible to admire the Taj Mahal to its best. Anyway, for those wishing to enter to the Taj Mahal here is a tip: the South gate is normally not very busy and the access is faster than the East and West gates, where cueing can be longer than 1 hour!!!.

    taj-mahal.jpg

  • 09 Dec

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    Keep an eye on your lugagge

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    Use padlock and chain to secure your luggage onto train or bus racks. It is common to hear stories about luggage theft, so watch out your belongings on trains. Even indians do and there is people selling chains in many of the train stations.

  • 08 Dec

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    Agra

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    The first image that people recall when thinking about India is most probably the one of a gorgeous white marble building, which is said to be the most extravagant monument ever built for love. Everyone knows the Taj Mahal, a World Heritage mausoleum built between 1631 and 1653 by the grief stricken Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their fourteenth child. Such was the love that he felt for her that the emperor decided to perpetuate it and leave testimony forever. You can admire and take pictures of the entire monument (including the surrounding walls and gates) from many of the hotel’s roof top restaurants in Taj Ganj area, which is the place preferred by backpackers because of the cheap hotels and proximity to the Taj Mahal. The views are superb, although a bit far and quite foggy in the morning.

    vista-del-taj-desde-roof-top.jpg

  • 05 Dec

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    Back in Delhi

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    The reason to go back to Delhi was more a necessity to sort out certain things than a real desire to visit the city, although it was nice to be hosted at our friends’ place and spend time with them again. They are real travelers and it was good to exchange travel experiences with them. Our stay it’s been longer than planned this time and it helped us to get to know some “off the beaten track” places in the city that more tourist don’t get to visit, although we have left the most touristy routes for another time (if there’s a third one). We have been able to rest properly, watch films and satellite TV, go out, eat and also to update the Smartnest backpackers travel blog… we even cooked again after 2 months dreaming about it!!! Our spanish omelette and spaghetti were our friend’s delight. After a week we finally succeeded to get a train ticket to Agra and left Delhi early in the morning.

  • 03 Dec

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    Sleeper trains

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    Travelling at night in a sleeper train is a good way to avoid the long hours sitting in packed carriages, they are more comfortable than you may think and time passes faster. Don’t dream about travel, travel and dream at the same time!!
    We could not always catch an sleeper train due to bad schedule from our side or to non availability, so we had to travel during the day and share not only words but also our seats with a bunch of young indian people, who were too curious and stared at us during the whole trip. A whole carriage staring at you during several hours can be very annoying, believe us!! We thought we would never get to the station…

    sleeper trains

  • 30 Nov

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    Travel by train

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    Try to travel by train, it is safer and more comfortable than buses. They are frequent on the main destinations and it is by far the cheapest way to travel in India. Once we arrived in Gorakhpur after crossing the border from Nepal to India, there were both buses and trains heading to Varanasi, the first one was 250 rupees while travelling by train cost around 120 rupees.

  • 29 Nov

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    Varanasi

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    Varanasi’s history dates back to 1400 BC and claims to be one of the oldest living cities in the world. It is also called the “City of Life” (Kashi) and paradoxically it has always been an auspicious place to die, hosting still nowadays numerous people awaiting to their death. It’s the city of Shiva, the destroyer, without whom creation couldn’t occur. And the Ganges, or Great Mother as it is know to Hindus, spreads out life by the flow of its Holy Water. This is why Varanasi’s (Benares) mystic and charm are still alive, since it posses both death and life and it has always been the place to pilgrim if you are newborn, adult or about to die.

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    There are different areas in town where hotels and restaurants concentrate but it is by the Ghats where the holy atmosphere of Varanasi can be breath. This part of the city is amazing. Something that provides an older, quieter and cosier aspect to it, is the total absence of 3 and 4 wheelers beyond one point. From there on, only bikes and people can fit in the colourful labyrinth of alleys which is Godaulia, the old town. This is the best place to stay for backpackers, very cheap and full of travellers. Time stops in Varanasi and it doesn’t matter if it has been hours, days or weeks what you have been spending there, the Ghats are simply magic and will always enchant you. Life and Death occur by the western side of the Ganges and the ghats are a constant flow of people willing to wash away all their sins in the river. Varanasi has been to us a great and delightful experience, like if we were inside a bubble and time would have stopped.

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  • 28 Nov

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    Slow travel

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    Travel in India can be long, hard and tiring. Avoid any rush, stress or having an important date which you shouldn’t miss. You won’t be the first traveller missing his plain back home or a train transfer in the station due to delays.

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