[sami316]

Hello guys,

Sorry for the delay. Internet issues. Would be updating the Day 6 logs shortly.

[sami316]

Hi,

Will update Day 6 Tomorrow evening...Internet problems again!

[sami316]

Day 6.

Had a really good sleep as we were all tired from the Gulmarg Visit. The flight tomorrow was at 1.10PM and we had to be at the airport before 11AM. We had a delectable serving of the Harisa, a traditional spicy mutton porridge with Tandoori Rotis. It was really awesome. The grooms family had invited us before we left for the airport. After having breakfast we went straight to their place. Had some Kava tea and spent around 30 mins there. It was already 10.30. Left for the hotel to pickup our bags and then went straight to the Airport with a heavy heart.

The trip to Srinagar will always be etched in our memory for a long time. The only regret we had was, that, we came here for just two days. We missed out on a lot of things. We couldn't go on a Shikara ride on the Dal Lake, didn't see the wonderful Nishat and Chashme Shahi gardens and believe it or not we didn't shop at all. It was a classic case of bad planning on my part assuming everything will be covered in the two days. But on the first day, there was a curfew, 2nd day we were in Gulmarg the whole day and the last day we had to leave early. Will try to make up for this and plan another trip to Srinagar later this year to enjoy this heaven to its fullest.

Coming back to the proceedings, the flight got delayed and we finally left Srinagar at 2PM and reached Delhi at 4PM. The taxi fares were really high and they informed that we had to take two taxis. Me and my cousin went to take the car whereas the other 3 waited for us at the airport. Got back at around 6PM and picked them up and wanted to go straight to Karim's to have our Dinner as we were all starving. Called up my friend Prakash who was a Delhi-ite for directions to Karims. Took a long time to reach there as we missed a few turns. Finally reached there at around 8PM. Parked the car just before the Jama Masjid Area and then walked to Karims. It is actually located inside a small gali like passage. We had heard so much about it, felt good to be there at last, as we were feeling even more hungry now.

Immediately ordered Mutton Burra, Chicken Jehangiri with Tandoori Rotis and then had Mutton Biriyani. The Biriyani was strictly OK but the Mutton Burra was lip-smackingly awesome. We were so hungry that we forgot to take the snaps of the dishes. Anyways after dinner we went to look for a hotel and got a single room for all 5 of us for 800 bucks very close to gate no. 1 of Jama Masjid. There was a paid parking just nearby, parked the car there and then went to bed around 11PM, as we had to get up early to go to Jama Masjid for the morning prayers.

Please find the snaps below of Day 6:

Pics from the Eatery where we had our breakfast:


This Dish is called Harisa:


Pics with the cute Huda:


Pics at the Delhi Airport


Pics at Karims


Our Room

[sami316]

Hi,

Will update Day 7 shortly...

[ranjith.rajaram]

Originally Posted by sami316

Hi,

Will update Day 7 shortly...

Hey Sam,
WOW, man you're lucky. You gave the pleasure of reading your experiences atleast

[sami316]

Day 7.

Got up at 6 AM and then got ready to offer prayers at one of the greatest mosques in the world, the Jama Masjid. It was a really good feeling to be there, considering that this is a Historic Mosque, more than 300 years old and which we had only seen on TV or in movies. Really loved the architecture of the mosque. After offering the prayers just roamed around inside the mosque area for a few mins and took some snaps. Some of the snaps didn't come out good due to poor light early in the morning. We then had some tea from a roadside shop and then went to our hotel room and got freshened up to start our day.

Went to some hotel opposite the Jama Masjid gate 1 and had breakfast - Poori and Omlette at around 8.30AM. Went back and checked out from the hotel at 9.30AM. Paid 75 bucks for the Car Parking. We had planned to only visit, India gate and Qutub Minar as we had to reach Agra by evening. Saw the red fort from the outside and then headed towards India Gate. It was a very proud moment to stand near the Amar Jawan Jyoti. Saluted the martyrs and then headed towards Qutub Minar. Reached there in the afternoon. We were again spellbound by the magnificence of this Minar. The architecture was amazing and really loved the way the Arabic verses were carved on the minar. Took a few snaps here and then offered the afternoon prayers at the old masjid near the Qutub Minar enterance and then left for Agra as we had to reach by evening.

Took the Mehrauli Gurgaon road and came to the Badarpur T Point and then took a right towards Agra via Faridabad and Ballabhgarh. As expected, the truck traffic was really high and slowed us down considerably. On the way we had lunch at a roadside dhaba after Ballabhgarh at around 3PM. Had Tandoori rotis with Dal Makhani and Chana Masala, which was really good. The road was good with trees on both the sides. It was a good feeling driving through trees and green fields on both the sides. Stopped at Mathura and had some sugarcane juice. Reached Agra at around 7PM and checked into a hotel called Viren International for 1000Rs with Car Parking. Kept the luggage, got fresh and went out for Dinner. Had Roomali rotis with Dal Makhani with Chicken Afghani and then had Mutton Biriyani. The Dal Makhani was not that good but the chicken was amazing.

At the Jama masjid:



At the Tea Shop:



At the hotel room:


Saw this cutie outside the hotel:


Having breakfast:


Having tea after the breakfast:


With the Rickshaw Wala:


Lal Qila:


At the India Gate:


At the Qutub Minar:

[ranjith.rajaram]

Awesome pics mate ... but still feeling greedy …Waiting for Taj pics …

[MX6]

The superman t-shirt is very striking.

[sami316]

Hello Everyone,

Thanks Ranjith for all your comments. The Taj pics would be coming up soon.

MX6: Couldn't agree more about the Superman T Shirt. It was so striking that I borrowed it from my brother and you would be seeing me wearing that in our Fatehpur Sikri Trip.


Some more pics of Qutub Minar and the journey to Agra:

Ancient inscription on the Iron Pillar. According to Wikipedia, the pillar, almost seven meters high and weighing more than six tons, was erected by Chandragupta II Vikramaditya. A fence was erected around the pillar in 1997 in response to damage caused by visitors. There is a popular tradition that it was considered good luck if you could stand with your back to the pillar and make your hands meet behind it. There is a scene with this Pillar picturised on the Big B in the movie Cheeni Kum:


Good to see parrots for a change:


Snaps from the other structures around Qutub Minar:


Snaps taken near the unfinished Alai Minar. The then ruler, Alauddin Khilji was planning to build this minar. He had conceived this tower to be two times higher than Qutub Minar. The construction was however abandoned after his death. Source: Wikipedia again:


The Qutub Complex plan:


Very tired after the Qutub Minar visit.


On the way to Agra:


Had some really good Lunch at this Dhabha and then had some Sugarcane juice near Mathura


At the hotel in Agra:


Check out the spellings of the beer shop:


At a small mosque near the hotel:


Doing some footwear shopping:


Finally called it a day and retired to bed. At the hotel room:



Coming up shortly, the Taj Mahal Snaps. Cheers

[harishnayak]

Nice TL there..i enjoyed the pics although did not read too much. I like the bonding amongst you guys..Keep it up.

[MX6]

I'd seen the child beer photo sent as attachment from friends. So finally some one has actually been to that place and taken the photo! Cool.Having found the Child Beer shop, the next task would be to find out where the Child Bear shop is.

[sami316]

Day 8:

Got up early again as we had planned to visit the Taj before 9AM. I and my bro have visited Taj twice i.e, in 2006 and 2007 but we were still looking forward to see it again. Whereas Chachaji, my cuz and my friend were all excited as it was their first visit.

Well, words cannot describe the beauty of this monument, you gotta see it to believe it. It looks more beautiful and awesome when you see it upfront compared to the photographs. The grandeur of the Taj, the architecture, the beautiful craftsmanship is really amazing. Especially when you consider that it was built more than 350 years ago. Its

We went in around 8 AM and spent at least a couple of hours here and took a lot of snaps around the Taj Complex. We then had breakfast - Aloo paratha with curds which was quite good, and then left for Fatehpur Sikri around 10.30AM. We reached Fatehpur Sikri around noon as the route we had taken was full of traffic. Just before Fatehpur Sikri, we were stopped by a group of guys who asked us to pay 25Rs as a toll to enter the city.
I asked him where the office was, to which they said it is other side of the road. I knew they were bluffing and told them that I wont be paying a single penny and asked them to move aside. When we entered the city, we were again stopped by a similar gang who literally jumped in front of the car. I lost my cool and gave them a some of the choicest expletives in Hindi. They were really shocked, the way I shouted at them and just moved aside.

We then parked the car and took a bus to reach Fatehpur Sikri as private cars were not allowed to go further. We were again swarmed by lots of Guides offering a guided tour, but we politely declined them. Fatehpur Sikri again was an example of the Mughal Architecture with the Majestic Buland Darwaza and the shrine of Salim Chisti. It was here that I borrowed the Superman T Shirt from my cuz and posed away for a lot of snaps. After spending an hour or so, we left for Ajmer. Had lunch at a town called Dausa in Rajasthan. Here we again had our favorite Veg Food - Tandoori Rotis with Dal Makhani and Chana Masala.

This is the same day when Sachin scored his Double Century. We were desperately trying to search for a Dhabha with a TV to watch the match as we were near Ajmer. Unfortunately we couldn't see him make history but were getting the live commentary on our phones from our Bangalore friends.
We were getting really impatient as we were getting updates that Sachin was not getting the strike and were cursing the non-striker Dhoni. And then all of a sudden, my bro and cuz went berserk in the car as soon as we got the news that finally he reached the magical milestone. All of us whistled and danced in the moving car with the exception of my Chacha who was at the wheel. We will never forget this moment our entire lives. Someone rightly said that we will always remember where we were and what we were doing, when Sachin scored the Double Century.

We finally reached Ajmer around 6.30-7 PM and the took a couple of Rooms for 500Rs each in a Hotel called Regal approx a km away from the Dargah. The hotel was pretty good as we also got the Car parking in the basement. We got freshened up and then left to have some good Non-veg food available near the Dargah area. Came back to the hotel and found a small hair cutting salon. Me and my cuz went in for a shave. The salon had a old world charm to it with posters of yesteryear stars like Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini and Zeenat Aman. But there was one snap of Pran with his Zanjeer getup which was really striking. Unfortunately, didnt have the camera at that time. We then went into our room and watched the highlights of Sachin's innings. Really felt proud that day that it was an Indian who scored the double hundred first. The next day we planned to go to the Dargah in the morning and so that we could reach Jodhpur by afternoon. But sometimes everything doesn't go as planned.

Check out the most awaited snaps of the Taj Mahal.

Getting ready to leave for the Taj:


At the enterance of Taj:


One of the gates:


In front of the Taj Entrance:


The first full look of the Taj as we enter:


Taj in its full glory:


Photo session with the Taj as background:


Some more photos from the pedestal in front of the Taj:


The Yamuna river at the back:


Relaxing for a few mins:


We pose in front of one of the Minars:


In front of the mosque on the left side of the Taj:

[cLJ]

Very good photos and nice travelogues. How was the child and cheeld beer??

Look at the photos of Indian highways; we can now safely say one of the best, though lot of improvements are still required. During the last 10 years we have made day/night changes.

By the way, Harisa (arees) is an arabic dish (very famous and tasty).

CLJ

[sami316]

Hi Guys,

More pics from Day 8 coming up.

Remaining pics at the Taj:


The ceiling inside the mosque:


View of the Taj from the Mosque:


The Yamuna river:


Time to leave, final pics of the Taj:


Purchased some Pethas from a Sweet shop outside the Taj:


On the way to Fatehpur Sikri:


Map of Fatehpur Sikri:


I wore the Superman T-shirt at Fatehpur Sikri:


The tomb of Salim Chishti:

[sami316]

The remaining pics of Day 8:

At Fatehpur Sikri:


Inside the Mosque:


Couple of Qawwals singing a qawwali outside the Dargah of Salim Chishti:


Final Pics before leaving Fatehpur Sikri:

On the way to Ajmer:


The roads were awesome:


Pics taken at the Dhabha:


Back on the road:


Some rocket was test fired I believe:


The sunset on Day 8. It was much more beautiful in real time than in the pic:


The Ajmer Dargah at night:


Waiting for the Dinner to be served: