If words are not your forte, please move here for pictures. Kashmir Photos
It started as a thought when I was changing my job in May. The idea was I will take an off of a week or two in between. The short list? It varied from Bangalore sight-seeing to Timbuktu. Singapore, North India, South India in car, Mauritius etc. were in between and feasible. But then the off happened to be in July and only I am free and couldn’t afford that many days. What’s the solution? Look at son’s school holidays and decide a place for the season.
The guideline is setup and that’s half the job done. I went ahead joined new place, got settled blah..blah. Now the million dollar question of where to go. Car trip was ruled out as options will be limited, Rajasthan/Ladakh (It is in the list, a drive) ruled out for lack of “that many” days. The idea centered more on Kulu/Manali and Nainital and the like. In this meanwhile Delhi was fixed as we had my wife’s friend Mrs. SJ there, who told she will get a pass for us to Parliament and Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
Then the research bit when I went through travel agents and asked for the itinerary, myriad travel blogs, trying to understand the weather. Then came the best help, when I talked to Mr. JV who is from Delhi and my new colleague Mr. DB who is from Nainital (Thanks PI for making me know of this fact). Few iterations of talk with them and the suggestion was why not Kashmir? The rationale was Kulu/Manali is much commercialized and full of tourists in this season. Nainital is not that great for spending that lot effort from Bangalore. Kashmir will fit all the bills of snow, House Boat, Boat ride (Shikara), Cable car at Gulmarg, Himalayas, nice places and add to that the fact of farthest point in India.
The place is selected and our research was now focused to people who travelled there. Had a discussion with Mr.SP and got to know about the places and one more round of Travel Blogs and getting itinerary from travel agents. Decided against Vaishnodevi as it will be a hectic itinerary and the rush during Navarathri. Final decision was to book tickets on our own to be able to finalize the dates and book through Make My Trip for Kashmir. The tentative dates were 20th October to 28th or 29th October as son’s holidays were from 20th October to 1st November. It was Delhi and then Srinagar as we needed to visit Parliament and Rashtrapathi Bhavan on either a Monday or a Wednesday.
We wanted to spend the most in Kashmir and a 7 day package was decided with the places Srinagar, Gulmarg, Sonmarg and Pahalgam. Then Delhi/Agra needed 3-4 days for all that we wanted to see. The dates were finalized as starting on 19th October, flying to Srinagar on 23rd and starting back and reaching on 29th.
The flight (Indigo Airbus A320) was at 6AM and we were in Delhi by 8:45AM. While getting down from the plane, we were the last ones and my son was invited to cockpit by the Airhostess. As usual my son had zillion questions on zillion plus instruments/switches in the cockpit. (From then on he was invited to cockpit other times as well but he was not interested as he knew it all). We were in Karnataka Bhavan (KB) at Ansal Plaza (Thanks to Mrs. SJ) by 9:30AM. Initial plan was to take it easy and just go to Akshardham. But the dozing off in plane and the rejuvenating breakfast of idly/vada (2nd time for the day) at KB made us realize we have a full day at hand. My wife met her College Principal there who was on a visit to AICTE. We don’t see much of him in my wife’s place where he is few streets away.
Talked to the taxi operator at KB and decided for a full day trip in Delhi for the day and Agra/Mathura for the next day. We were able to cover Qutub Minar, Lotus Temple, Red Fort, Akshardham, India Gate. Lunch was at Haldiram’s in Lajpat Nagar after Lotus Temple. This was on the insistent of wifey, who was told by her colleague Mrs. SS that you get the best Kachori’s there. It may not be the best, but food at Haldiram’s was good and start of our culinary delight for the days to come by.
I always thought Qutub Minar to be small and the actual was a big surprise. Lotus temple was an Architects delight. Our driver told Red fort was taken over by CRPF and my thought was we will finish it in 30-45 minutes. But it was huge with a big H and the walking around made my son sleep in the car after Red fort till Akshardham. We waited for son to get up and then stood in the queue for Akshardham. It was an hour long wait and we needed to deposit camera/phone etc. Only money and water bottle allowed inside. We were in by 6:30PM and late for the Movie and sound shows inside. We did watch the Swaminarayan temple, musical fountain which was good. On the way back, visited India Gate. Had dinner at KB which was little spicy but good.
Brindavan was the next stop and our driver told us to just visit Banke Bihari temple and come back and not to talk to any tout. We didn’t understand much at first and then through the gullies to temple, we realized that the whole town is full of touts who will show you 5/10/100 temples. The temple finished in 30 minutes, we were off to Mathura. At this point, I really didn’t want to go there but the driver told the Mathura Temple (Birth place of Krishna) is under CRPF. Yes, it was under CRPF and hence no touts!!! At that point I wanted to plead the Govt. of India to get all places of public interest under CRPF. At Mathura at the place of Krishna’s birth, we met our layout neighbor. We were wondering whom are we meeting tomorrow, but meeting known people stopped here.
In Agra we hired a guide who was known to our driver. He took very good pictures, but that’s about him. Better to read on net and go about on your own than hire a guide. Only good thing he showed was the semi-precious stones set in marble. I have a rather strong opinion on Taj Mahal being built out of blood for a ruler’s whims and fancies out of tax money, but the structure makes you go “Wah”. No wonder it’s one of the “Wonders of the world”. Our guide denied marble being a little pale now, but it’s definitely pale with all the industries that were there before. The guide told us there is a Rs. 500 entry on Full Moon day to see the Taj in moonlight. He was also telling they let you see only half portion, as, if you stand there for long, you will become blind because of reflections (This is a pure folklore). Yamuna is dried and dead, there is no romance left in that anymore. So much for the callousness we and our present day Badshah’s show for the environment.
After a quick lunch at a hotel not too great (shown by the guide, he would have got his part) but good enough, the guide took us to a government shop and wasted 20-30 minutes there.
Next stop was Agra fort which again is now under CRPF and we were late by 2 minutes. Ticket counter was closed and as always touts were there with tickets for Rs. 200 (instead of 25 for three of us). After a bit of talking/pleading to the security guards there, a CRPF Jawan Mr. Rajat Singh saw us talked to the security and took us with him (literally escorted us till inside).
We started back at about 6:30PM, bought some Agra Peta on the way (1 Kg of it, finished by next 1.5 days). The softer ones which stay for a week are the best and the yummiest. There is a Peta shop every 10 meters and there is no point searching for the authentic. I guess it’s more Mass Market Product now. We hit the Yamuna Express way at 7:00PM and were at the end of it by 9PM. That is 200 KMs covered in 2 hours on a Maruti Ecco. Apart from a minor incident at the start when someone threw stone at the car, which hit at the back; the ride was peaceful and perfect. Dinner at KB for me and then a peaceful sleep.
TIP: Taj is closed on Friday. Enter Taj from the south gate / worker’s gate / worker colony gate (if on a Saturday when there is lot of rush because of the closure on Friday. Auto to that place will cost Rs. 30-40) which is usually less crowded. No need to wear the white socks (Rs. 10 per pair) over shoes; you can conveniently take off the shoes before going for the tomb inside. The fort entry closes at 5:30PM and then they allow around 6:30 for a light show.
The plan was to see the left over places in Delhi and try Metro and then the much needed shopping therapy. We started to Humayun’s tomb which was around 3-4 KMs from KB and took an Auto as going to Metro station and then taking a Metro will be more tedious. This fact was also validated by the Sardar Auto Driver who suggested taking Metro only when it’s more than 5-6 KMs or in a crowded area. Our own experience later was for 3 people it is lot slower to go in Metro if the next point is nearby.
Back to the places of interest, we did Humayun’s Tomb (Humayun’s tomb has a Sauna like bath tub which amazed us), Purana Quila (Old Fort), Boat Ride near Purana Quila and Akshardham (to complete the movie stuff). The movie experience was good in Akshardham and worth it for the idea and the pain taken to maintain things. (Note: It’s about Swami Narayan and the heritage of India). Akshardham was done in Metro and it’s faster as the place is little far from South Delhi. One will appreciate Metro at this point when it’s faster to reach places like this. Again a losing feel, our politicians didn’t want the service of Sridharan; Bangalore Metro or Monorail as suggested by him would have been different.
Then it was shopping time at Sarojini Nagar market. It’s a nice place for the ones who are into street shopping (I am not into shopping itself). The place is Chikpet, Commercial Street, Gandhi Bazar clubbed into one and crowded. My take for this place is you will find things at cheap that you don’t need; need is created here.
Half of Delhi (or more than that) is closed on Monday. Except for Janpath Market and Dilli Haat (Not my research, its courtesy other half), all shopping places are closed. We started little late as the program was only to cover RB and Parliament. We had a VIP Pass (can get from an MP) courtesy Mrs. SJ.
What I expected was to get in and have a look around. What was in store was better than expected. Both the places we got security officer’s in the role of a guide.
RB was 200+ acres of real estate for a guy (as said by Mr. JV) and huge but not well maintained. The museum in RB was amazing (gifts received by previous Presidents from other countries). The Durbar Hall and Ashoka Hall were magnificent but not clean. We also had a look of Mughal Garden, which was void of its splendor because of autumn. Mr. President was away that day and hence no flag hoisted on RB.
The next step was parliament. The kids (mine and Mrs. SJ’s daughter) were hungry and with them we got the permission to use the Parliament canteen. (Rs. 18/meal, Rs. 1/extra Roti, awesome) We were shown the LS hall, RS hall, and Common hall for joint sessions. There was a net in ceiling of LS hall and the reason for that is….the ceiling is little weak now, and few pieces have fallen off sometime hitting MPs. So, instead of making any change to the structure, they have put a net. The guide told us that after the attack to parliament, the security here is tight (2500+ people). As per him, we were at the second safest place in India after the atomic research centers.
A quick light moment: A kid was leaning against the gallery and our guide told “The structure is 90 year old and anything may break any time. If you fall off, as the sessions are not going on, to get the key to the hall, it may take 2+ hours after all clearance….(and he doesn’t know that protocol)”
Janpath market was next and nothing much to talk about. Dilli Haat was for the evening shopping and its little upmarket. The stores/food courts from all over the country are located here in a neatly laid out format. It’s not too crowded but a little costlier. You can still bargain here at some shops. Thumb rule is start at 50% of the ask and you will know the shop owners appetite for bargaining.
A hearty dinner at Mr.SJ’s house, 2 hours of chit chat for my wife with Mrs. SJ and the day ended with excitement.
Day 5 started late, with a bit of re-arranged packing and we were waiting for the Cab. The flight was at 11:30 (Go Air, again a A320) and we were in Srinagar at 12:45.
Srinagar in next post…….
It started as a thought when I was changing my job in May. The idea was I will take an off of a week or two in between. The short list? It varied from Bangalore sight-seeing to Timbuktu. Singapore, North India, South India in car, Mauritius etc. were in between and feasible. But then the off happened to be in July and only I am free and couldn’t afford that many days. What’s the solution? Look at son’s school holidays and decide a place for the season.
The guideline is setup and that’s half the job done. I went ahead joined new place, got settled blah..blah. Now the million dollar question of where to go. Car trip was ruled out as options will be limited, Rajasthan/Ladakh (It is in the list, a drive) ruled out for lack of “that many” days. The idea centered more on Kulu/Manali and Nainital and the like. In this meanwhile Delhi was fixed as we had my wife’s friend Mrs. SJ there, who told she will get a pass for us to Parliament and Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
Then the research bit when I went through travel agents and asked for the itinerary, myriad travel blogs, trying to understand the weather. Then came the best help, when I talked to Mr. JV who is from Delhi and my new colleague Mr. DB who is from Nainital (Thanks PI for making me know of this fact). Few iterations of talk with them and the suggestion was why not Kashmir? The rationale was Kulu/Manali is much commercialized and full of tourists in this season. Nainital is not that great for spending that lot effort from Bangalore. Kashmir will fit all the bills of snow, House Boat, Boat ride (Shikara), Cable car at Gulmarg, Himalayas, nice places and add to that the fact of farthest point in India.
The place is selected and our research was now focused to people who travelled there. Had a discussion with Mr.SP and got to know about the places and one more round of Travel Blogs and getting itinerary from travel agents. Decided against Vaishnodevi as it will be a hectic itinerary and the rush during Navarathri. Final decision was to book tickets on our own to be able to finalize the dates and book through Make My Trip for Kashmir. The tentative dates were 20th October to 28th or 29th October as son’s holidays were from 20th October to 1st November. It was Delhi and then Srinagar as we needed to visit Parliament and Rashtrapathi Bhavan on either a Monday or a Wednesday.
We wanted to spend the most in Kashmir and a 7 day package was decided with the places Srinagar, Gulmarg, Sonmarg and Pahalgam. Then Delhi/Agra needed 3-4 days for all that we wanted to see. The dates were finalized as starting on 19th October, flying to Srinagar on 23rd and starting back and reaching on 29th.
Day1 (Friday, 19th October): Delhi Local Sightseeing
The flight (Indigo Airbus A320) was at 6AM and we were in Delhi by 8:45AM. While getting down from the plane, we were the last ones and my son was invited to cockpit by the Airhostess. As usual my son had zillion questions on zillion plus instruments/switches in the cockpit. (From then on he was invited to cockpit other times as well but he was not interested as he knew it all). We were in Karnataka Bhavan (KB) at Ansal Plaza (Thanks to Mrs. SJ) by 9:30AM. Initial plan was to take it easy and just go to Akshardham. But the dozing off in plane and the rejuvenating breakfast of idly/vada (2nd time for the day) at KB made us realize we have a full day at hand. My wife met her College Principal there who was on a visit to AICTE. We don’t see much of him in my wife’s place where he is few streets away.
Talked to the taxi operator at KB and decided for a full day trip in Delhi for the day and Agra/Mathura for the next day. We were able to cover Qutub Minar, Lotus Temple, Red Fort, Akshardham, India Gate. Lunch was at Haldiram’s in Lajpat Nagar after Lotus Temple. This was on the insistent of wifey, who was told by her colleague Mrs. SS that you get the best Kachori’s there. It may not be the best, but food at Haldiram’s was good and start of our culinary delight for the days to come by.
I always thought Qutub Minar to be small and the actual was a big surprise. Lotus temple was an Architects delight. Our driver told Red fort was taken over by CRPF and my thought was we will finish it in 30-45 minutes. But it was huge with a big H and the walking around made my son sleep in the car after Red fort till Akshardham. We waited for son to get up and then stood in the queue for Akshardham. It was an hour long wait and we needed to deposit camera/phone etc. Only money and water bottle allowed inside. We were in by 6:30PM and late for the Movie and sound shows inside. We did watch the Swaminarayan temple, musical fountain which was good. On the way back, visited India Gate. Had dinner at KB which was little spicy but good.
Day2: Brindavan/ Mathura/Agra
The day was supposed to start at 5AM to avoid traffic to Agra, but after a little confusion started at 6AM. The National Highway to Agra is a chaos with everyone coming from everyway and our driver was one of them. For breakfast we stopped at a Dhaba near UP (Ulta Pradesh according to our driver who was from Jharkhand) border. There we had one of the best Parota’s which was dolloped with a lot of butter. These Parota’s at 8:30AM carried us till 4:30PM and that became the norm throughout our journey.
Brindavan was the next stop and our driver told us to just visit Banke Bihari temple and come back and not to talk to any tout. We didn’t understand much at first and then through the gullies to temple, we realized that the whole town is full of touts who will show you 5/10/100 temples. The temple finished in 30 minutes, we were off to Mathura. At this point, I really didn’t want to go there but the driver told the Mathura Temple (Birth place of Krishna) is under CRPF. Yes, it was under CRPF and hence no touts!!! At that point I wanted to plead the Govt. of India to get all places of public interest under CRPF. At Mathura at the place of Krishna’s birth, we met our layout neighbor. We were wondering whom are we meeting tomorrow, but meeting known people stopped here.
In Agra we hired a guide who was known to our driver. He took very good pictures, but that’s about him. Better to read on net and go about on your own than hire a guide. Only good thing he showed was the semi-precious stones set in marble. I have a rather strong opinion on Taj Mahal being built out of blood for a ruler’s whims and fancies out of tax money, but the structure makes you go “Wah”. No wonder it’s one of the “Wonders of the world”. Our guide denied marble being a little pale now, but it’s definitely pale with all the industries that were there before. The guide told us there is a Rs. 500 entry on Full Moon day to see the Taj in moonlight. He was also telling they let you see only half portion, as, if you stand there for long, you will become blind because of reflections (This is a pure folklore). Yamuna is dried and dead, there is no romance left in that anymore. So much for the callousness we and our present day Badshah’s show for the environment.
After a quick lunch at a hotel not too great (shown by the guide, he would have got his part) but good enough, the guide took us to a government shop and wasted 20-30 minutes there.
Next stop was Agra fort which again is now under CRPF and we were late by 2 minutes. Ticket counter was closed and as always touts were there with tickets for Rs. 200 (instead of 25 for three of us). After a bit of talking/pleading to the security guards there, a CRPF Jawan Mr. Rajat Singh saw us talked to the security and took us with him (literally escorted us till inside).
We started back at about 6:30PM, bought some Agra Peta on the way (1 Kg of it, finished by next 1.5 days). The softer ones which stay for a week are the best and the yummiest. There is a Peta shop every 10 meters and there is no point searching for the authentic. I guess it’s more Mass Market Product now. We hit the Yamuna Express way at 7:00PM and were at the end of it by 9PM. That is 200 KMs covered in 2 hours on a Maruti Ecco. Apart from a minor incident at the start when someone threw stone at the car, which hit at the back; the ride was peaceful and perfect. Dinner at KB for me and then a peaceful sleep.
TIP: Taj is closed on Friday. Enter Taj from the south gate / worker’s gate / worker colony gate (if on a Saturday when there is lot of rush because of the closure on Friday. Auto to that place will cost Rs. 30-40) which is usually less crowded. No need to wear the white socks (Rs. 10 per pair) over shoes; you can conveniently take off the shoes before going for the tomb inside. The fort entry closes at 5:30PM and then they allow around 6:30 for a light show.
Day3: Delhi Again
The plan was to see the left over places in Delhi and try Metro and then the much needed shopping therapy. We started to Humayun’s tomb which was around 3-4 KMs from KB and took an Auto as going to Metro station and then taking a Metro will be more tedious. This fact was also validated by the Sardar Auto Driver who suggested taking Metro only when it’s more than 5-6 KMs or in a crowded area. Our own experience later was for 3 people it is lot slower to go in Metro if the next point is nearby.
Back to the places of interest, we did Humayun’s Tomb (Humayun’s tomb has a Sauna like bath tub which amazed us), Purana Quila (Old Fort), Boat Ride near Purana Quila and Akshardham (to complete the movie stuff). The movie experience was good in Akshardham and worth it for the idea and the pain taken to maintain things. (Note: It’s about Swami Narayan and the heritage of India). Akshardham was done in Metro and it’s faster as the place is little far from South Delhi. One will appreciate Metro at this point when it’s faster to reach places like this. Again a losing feel, our politicians didn’t want the service of Sridharan; Bangalore Metro or Monorail as suggested by him would have been different.
Then it was shopping time at Sarojini Nagar market. It’s a nice place for the ones who are into street shopping (I am not into shopping itself). The place is Chikpet, Commercial Street, Gandhi Bazar clubbed into one and crowded. My take for this place is you will find things at cheap that you don’t need; need is created here.
Day4: Rashtrapathi Bhavan/Parliament/Shoppin
Half of Delhi (or more than that) is closed on Monday. Except for Janpath Market and Dilli Haat (Not my research, its courtesy other half), all shopping places are closed. We started little late as the program was only to cover RB and Parliament. We had a VIP Pass (can get from an MP) courtesy Mrs. SJ.
What I expected was to get in and have a look around. What was in store was better than expected. Both the places we got security officer’s in the role of a guide.
RB was 200+ acres of real estate for a guy (as said by Mr. JV) and huge but not well maintained. The museum in RB was amazing (gifts received by previous Presidents from other countries). The Durbar Hall and Ashoka Hall were magnificent but not clean. We also had a look of Mughal Garden, which was void of its splendor because of autumn. Mr. President was away that day and hence no flag hoisted on RB.
The next step was parliament. The kids (mine and Mrs. SJ’s daughter) were hungry and with them we got the permission to use the Parliament canteen. (Rs. 18/meal, Rs. 1/extra Roti, awesome) We were shown the LS hall, RS hall, and Common hall for joint sessions. There was a net in ceiling of LS hall and the reason for that is….the ceiling is little weak now, and few pieces have fallen off sometime hitting MPs. So, instead of making any change to the structure, they have put a net. The guide told us that after the attack to parliament, the security here is tight (2500+ people). As per him, we were at the second safest place in India after the atomic research centers.
A quick light moment: A kid was leaning against the gallery and our guide told “The structure is 90 year old and anything may break any time. If you fall off, as the sessions are not going on, to get the key to the hall, it may take 2+ hours after all clearance….(and he doesn’t know that protocol)”
Janpath market was next and nothing much to talk about. Dilli Haat was for the evening shopping and its little upmarket. The stores/food courts from all over the country are located here in a neatly laid out format. It’s not too crowded but a little costlier. You can still bargain here at some shops. Thumb rule is start at 50% of the ask and you will know the shop owners appetite for bargaining.
A hearty dinner at Mr.SJ’s house, 2 hours of chit chat for my wife with Mrs. SJ and the day ended with excitement.
Day5: End of Delhi and start to Srinagar
Day 5 started late, with a bit of re-arranged packing and we were waiting for the Cab. The flight was at 11:30 (Go Air, again a A320) and we were in Srinagar at 12:45.
Srinagar in next post…….
