2 Months and A Half Off (Part 4)

This series of posts is a day by day account of my two-month-and-a-half trip that begins with a stay in Bangkok, followed by a train ride Amritsar, a bike trip from Leh to Manali and a yoga teacher training in Kullu Valley, the end of the habitable world.

Day 7 (PM): Humayun's Tomb and Jama Masjid

After lunch, I did some research and found out that the Nizammudin Train Station where our train to Agra will be departing from is opposite Humayun's Tomb. Since we wanted to find out how far we were from the train station, we hopped on an auto-rickshaw headed for the tomb.

Humayun's Tomb (opposite the Nizammudin Train Station, entrance fee: 250 Rs.)

Built in the sixteenth century for the Mughal emperor Humayun, this sandstone and marble structure was the first garden tomb in West Asia. The tomb took eight years to build. 

Let sleeping dogs lie.

Jama Masjid (opposite the Red Fort)

From Hayuman's Tomb, we took an auto rickshaw to the Jama Masjid mosque since the Red Fort was closed to the public. In front of the Jama Masjid entrance, is a market filled with stalls and people. From the non-stop pleas from hard-selling hawkers to the rickshaws passing through the narrow road, this area can overwhelm your senses. 

In an empty space between two stalls, a man stood beside a tiny dead cobra. He was yelling at the crowd before him. We thought he was going to make the cobra come to life. Instead, he performed some cheap magic trick with a matchbox and continued to yell at the people. A bit disappointed, we left and continued our walk towards the mosque.

Unfortunately, the mosque wasn't open to public either. There was some religious ceremony going on and we ended up sitting on the steps by the mosque's entrance.

Luck!

Mother And Child

Mosque Goers

A discussion...

The trip ended with a rickshaw ride back to the Paharganj area where we snacked on potato cakes topped with different sauces.

Fried Mashed Potatos

2 Months And A Half Off (Part 3)

This series of posts is a day by day account of my two-month-and-a-half trip that begins with a stay in Bangkok, followed by a train ride Amritsar, a bike trip from Leh to Manali and a yoga teacher training in Kullu Valley, the end of the habitable world.

Day 6: Delhi
Since unreasonable AirAsia wouldn't let us rebook our flights, we decided to book new flights with Indigo and head to Delhi instead of the original plan of going to Kolkata and taking the train to Varanasi. Good travelers are always flexible and make the most of their trip.

In Delhi airport, an unexpected surprise awaited me. I found some of my favorite snacks from home in one of the airport's stores -- Chippy and Piatos. I'm definitely making some space in my hand carry bag for these goodies.

The Metropolis (Paharganj Area)
While we were on the plane, we picked a random hotel from Lonely Planet for our arrival cards. We copied the address of the Metropolis Hotel so we got a pre-paid taxi (You can pay for it in a booth at the very end of the first floor marked "Taxi and Police Station.") to this hotel which is located in the Pharganj Area.

Pre-paid Taxis

It was a bit over our budget -- 1,500 Rupees per night. So, I stayed in their restaurant while my boyfriend looked for a place to stay. The waiters were really accommodating and friendly. They helped us with our bags and gave us tips on where to stay for the night. One of them even gave me a free cup of chai.

Since the place is more of a high end hotel and restaurant, the dishes were slightly more expensive than the other restaurants in the area. But, since it was our first night, we decided to dig into their papadams, malai kofta and butter garlic nan.

Malai Kofta and Butter Garlic Nan (The Metropolis)

Ajay Guesthouse (Paharganj Area, Delhi)

We stayed in the Ajay Guesthouse which was tucked in a tiny alley in the Paharganj Area which is near the New Delhi Train Station. It had a nice rooftop area where films are shown, a bakery and a 24-hour internet cafe. For a small price, you can also get some credit in order to use their wi-fi. And, the guesthouse also supports a charity for empowering women.

For 800 rupees, the room was really sweet. It's got a comfortable bed, a shared terrace and clean and tiny bathroom with orange and white tiles with a Winnie The Pooh and friends theme. The bathroom came with toiletries that you usually find in posh hotels. And, another huge plus was the powerful A/C which will cool you down after climbing four flights of stairs to get to your room. 

Day 7 (AM): Paharganj Area
We spent the morning roaming around the Paharaganj Area, taking photos. With the old structures interspersed with the new buildings and the streets slowly coming to life, it was a bit of a challenge to capture the intensity of this area in still life. I was also a bit scared of taking pictures of people. I don't mind being told No, but I do mind being harassed to buy something.

Hooch Mafia

Rickshaw

Masala Chai

Auto Rickshaw

The driver harassing me to go to Connaught Place after taking the picture above!

After our walk, we headed to a restaurant opposite the train station for some breakfast. From the second floor of the restaurant, I got to take some more pictures without being noticed by my subjects.

Paneer

Overly friendly people at the restaurant

Breakfast

Crazy Delhi

The Railway Station

Rickshaw Man waiting for a passenger

Where We Had Breakfast

After breakfast, we got our tickets to Agra for the next day and our tickets to Amritsar the day after. We paid a thousand rupees for all our tickets. It was quite easy since there are tickets allotted for foreigners and the information guy was really friendly even though I thought it was quite odd that he wanted my picture.