first leg of the incredible india trip – part I
it took me close to a week to edit over 40 photos (and still counting) i took in india. i’m not good in travel journals and will let the pictures do the talking instead, of course, with some narration.
day 1 (bangalore)
spending the night in the domestic airport brought back memories of my backpacking trip to europe years ago. back then, there were 3 of us, and none of us had a pillow nor chain to secure our belongings. as there were only 2 of us and chances of both falling asleep is very high, i bought wrapsafe from pacsafe, to bind our luggages together and secure them to our seats.
i smuggled a pillow but would gladly trade it for a more comfortable traveler pillow with better neck support. it was particularly cold at night, not due to the air conditioning, but the air from outside the terminal. the wait was finally over after 2 to 3 hours of sleep, where we checked in our bags and await for the earliest kingfisher departure to delhi.
day 2 (delhi)
2 hours 35 minutes – that’s the total time travelled from bangalore to delhi (singapore to bangkok is less than 2 hours), so one can imagine how large india is. while the weather in bangalore was cool and welcoming, it was hot and dry in delhi. the heat was intense and we couldn’t stand any longer in the bus transfer from the plane to the main airport building.
i have to admit the trip was ill-prepared, except for the hotel bookings. we waited for a while outside the airport for the complimentary shuttle service to the hotel, because i did not arrange for one in advanced. if not for the staff from the same hotel we met in the waiting area, we would ended up taking the taxi instead.
it was close to 2 pm when we had settled down and washed up for our sightseeing trip. we confirmed our driver for the agra and jaipur trip in the ambassador taxi, which we bargained to 1200 rupees for a 4-hour tour around delhi. after our quick lunch of biryani and curry with naan, around the vicinity of connaught place, we headed to our first destination – the red fort. jain temple (one of the amazing race session 13 detour stop) was sighted and again we gave that place a miss.
it was purely a drive-by as we intended to cover as much places as possible before we were trapped in the heavy traffic and to reach our intended destinations before the closing hours.
the 47 metres high india gate, almost similar to Arc-de-Triomphe in Paris, is constructed as a memorial to commemorate the 90,000 soldiers who laid down their lives for the British during world war I.
the photos of jain temple and qutar minar don’t turn out well due to overexposure. it’s a pity though but there is always a next trip. the shutter count for delhi is low and i could salvage only very few pictures.
day 3 (delhi – agra – jaipur)
the first guest to have breakfast and the entire cafe to ourselves. warm food is served at 7 am and we had our light breakfast of bread, cheese and fruits before heading out north to agar and jaipur, within a day.
* to be continued…
