INCREDIBLE INDIA 2011

THE TRAVELER'S MONOLOGUE:-

I remember those days when I said to my friends: “Girls, I’m about to book Air Asia flight ticket again!!”.. They asked me : “So where is your next destination Eyda?” Me : “I’m going to India this time!! Yeay”.. Despite the excitement that I expressed to them, they gave me a puzzled look & some responded like this: “Why India? I mean of all places on the globe, why did you choose India, Eyda? India kan kotor, ramai orang kencing merata-rata, bau badan orang India hapak, ramai yang makan makanan kat sana cirit-birit, ramai peminta sedekah, ramai pencopet bla bla bla”.. Dari kau pergi India, baik kau pergi negara omputih je.. Wahhh, semua bagi bad remarks nampak, although they had never been there!! Huhu.. Well, for a frequent traveller like me, I prefer to feel different environment, to see different culture & who knows maybe I can meet my favourite bollywood actors & actresses in person.. Masa tu, memang terasa nak feeling2 Kajol / Rani Mukherjee / Kareena Kapoor..  & kalau bernasib baik manalah tau kalau-kalau boleh

terjumpa Shah Rukh Khan / Arjun Rampal / Hrithik Roshan ke.. Hehe.. But, the actual fact why I really wanted to visit India was I want to see the magnificent Taj Mahal.. & surprisingly, India was really incredible!! 1 of my favourite destinations that I’ve travelled so far.. Memang betul la kata orang : “Tak kenal maka tak cinta.. Dah kenal, baru jatuh cinta”.. So the same concept applies here, if you had never been to a place before, never downgrade that place because how can you give opinions without ever been to that place right? Maka, kalau nak tanya saya pasal India, just drop me an email.. Hehe..

DAY 01 (4 Jan)  DELHI
Met our travel agent on arrival & transferred to Hotel Bharat Continental. Since we arrived Delhi at night, we just had our Dinner & rested at the Hotel.

BELOW: Our dinner for the first day. Yummilicious!!!

DAY 02 (5 Jan)  DELHI

Jama Mosque - India’s largest mosque in Delhi

Here, my friend & I (both free hair) had to wear baju macam jubah untuk menghormati masjid. But, a bit weird because we were not asked to wear scarfts.

Terasa macam berada di Trafalgar Square, London pulak sebab banyak Pigeons kat sini. Macam scene dalam filem "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" pun ade (scene yang ayah Kajol bagi Pigeons makan tu.. Kur.. Kur..). Hehehe.

Qutub Minar - is the pride of Delhi 


An example of Indo-Islamic Afghan architecture / a great masterpiece of Mughal architecture

Thou' I'm not really an architecture lover, the designs of the buildings in the Qutub Minar area somehow caught my attention.

Here are more of Qutub Minar for your view:-




India Gate - is the national monument of India











Raj Ghat - is the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi
Next stop, we visited Raj Ghat where father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi was cremated.

DAY 03 (6 Jan)  DELHI - JAIPUR
After breakfast drive to Jaipur (our driver told us that the journey will take roughly about 5 hours). Hearing that, I was thinking to sleep the whole journey. However, there were many exciting things to see which had stopped me from doing so.

Things that caught my attention:-

The yellow crops look-alike the rapeseed in Jeju Island, Korea. We stopped for a while to take some pictures with the crops. The crops are called mustard crops.


Camel on the road as 1 of the medium of transporting goods in Jaipur. It seems like India masih ketinggalan lagi dari segi teknologi cuz benda2 ni masih wujud lagi di zaman ini. But, it's unique.. I like.. Baru la lengkap my India trip ni.. Semua benda I nampak.. ;)



Few kms ahead, saw elephant as the medium of transportation.



Boy selling something. The look on his face thou' he was smiling expressed  the hardship that he's facing for a living. Instead of buying that thing, I decided to give him rupee through the window (masa to masih dermawan lagi, almaklumlah duit nak shopping masa banyak lagi! Hehehe..). Tapi rupanya budak2 muka innocent ni memang banyak di tengah2 jalan. Pujian depa kepada tourists memang first class (such as Good afternoon beautiful madam, where are you from? How old are you? Owh really, but you look like 18?). Hehehe.. Agak2la kan.. Pandai betul depa punya selling skills ni! I pun kalah uols! ;) Kesian memang kesian, tapi too much of beggars & those who asked for tippings amatlah memeningkan kepala. Seperti biasa, drama standard yang biasa I lakonkan adalah "I'm really sorry.. I don't have small notes / coins.. + buat muke innocent balik" Huhuhu.



On arrival, checked-in at Hotel K.K. Royal. Lunch & dinner at Hotel.

:: The Hotel ::

:: The Security Guard ::

:: The Bed :: 

:: The Buffet ::


DAY 04 (7 Jan)  JAIPUR

Amber Fort - Elephant Ride


This was my first time riding elephant & memang I dah masukkan dalam my THINGS-TO-DO list yang I mesti buat for this trip. Well, it was a very superb experience I tell ya! So, for those who haven't experience elephant ride, you better try once, paling2 pun kat Bukit Gambang, Malaysia pun ade.. Hehehe.. For Bollywood fans out there, kalau u all perasan, di sini la shooting film location for "Hum Saath Saath Hain"... ;p

ABOVE: We were very lucky that day because we had the chance to see a film shooting session when we were about to take the elephant ride. From far, we tried to spot if Shah Rukh Khan, Arjun Rampal, Kajol & Kareena Kapoor were in the shooting session. Was thinking to get their signature after the shooting. Hehehe. But when we moved few steps closer, the shooting wasn't meant for Hindustan movie, but for Tamil movie instead. We got frustrated and continued to the top for elephant ride as planned. Hahaha


:: The Architecture ::



:: The Tourists ::

Hawa Mahal - the palace of Winds 

Hmmm, how to tell you guys about this building ya? I already forgot about this place because I didn't concentrate on the tour guide's explanation. I could just recall that at that moment, we just stopped by & captured few photos before we continued our journey. All I can say is just that it is one of the most photographed monuments in Jaipur. If you wanna know about it, try search from Mr. Google ya. =)

Jantar Mantar - Jantar means Instrument. Mantar means Calculation. Therefore Jantar Mantar is a collection of "architectural astronomical instruments".

:: Instrument to calculate time ::



DAY 05 (8 Jan)  JAIPUR - AGRA
After breakfast drive to Agra (Etimated time of arrival : roughly about 5 hrs 30 mins). The distance between these 2 cities is about the same as per the journey from Delhi to Jaipur. But before we reached Agra, in the midst of the journey we stopped by Fatehpuri Sikri & other places of interest as per the itinerary.

Fatehpuri Sikri



:: The Entrance ::

BELOW: Wonder what these 2 ladies were doing? Actually, kepercayaan karut kat sini kata for those who are still single, pasangkan benang2 kat celah2 lubang tu, dalam masa terdekat InsyaAllah anda akan bertemu Jodoh anda.. I guess kepercayaan karut tu memang tak boleh diterima akal sebab sampai skang mereka berdua masih belum bertemu jodoh or could it be dat benang2 itu telah rapuh & jatuh terlerai?? Something to think about.. ;p

Who are they? They are the bride & bridegroom to be.. They both prayed for a successful marriage & hoped that they will live happily ever after..

Unfortunately, I could not the same, but just looked at them and wondered when will my turn come.. Huhu.. Well, I strongly believe God has created someone for me, but till now my Jodoh that has been written in "Luh Mahfuz" hasn't come to claim for my love.. ;p

& to wait for that moment, I guess I have to keep on traveling to other places to look after my Jodoh.. ;p   

At Fatehpuri Sikri, Muslims can also perform their prayers.

LEFT: The visitors performed Zuhur prayer.

Done with the places of interest above, we went shopping again!! While my dad looking for Masala, I searched for Henna.. Hehehe..

:: Hands painted with Henna ::

DAY 06 (9 Jan)  AGRA

Taj Mahal - symbolises L.O.V.E.

Outside

Finally, I had the chance to see the magnificent Taj Mahal.. From the outside, you can see the beautifulness of the monument.. Bukti cinta Shah Jahan kepada Mumtaznya seperti bait-bait lagu yang dinyanyikan oleh Nubhan AF : “Akan ku kota janji kita.. Mendirikan Taj mahal cinta.. Seteguh kasih Shah Jahan kepada Mumtaznya.." At last, I have conquered 1 of the 7 wonders of the world.. Hehe..

 Taj Mahal from the eyes of the Blogger... ;p

  1 exclusive shot of me with Taj Mahal background as a proof... Hehehe..

Inside

The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan for his queen Mumtaz Mahal to enshrine her mortal remains. From the picture above, you can see her coffin inside the monument. (Sangat romantis kan!! Tapi di zaman sekarang ni, macam dah tade je lelaki macam tu? Kalau ade pun 1 dalam sejuta.. Haha.. Oppssss, sorry jika kedengaran agak sensitiviti gender di sini.. ;p)

** Travel Tips:

Operating days : Everyday, but closed on Friday.. So, for backpackers / free & easy travellers, please don't come here on Friday, if you don't wanna get frustrated.. ;p

Agra Fort

Brief description :

● It witnessed the splendor and the fall of the Mughals, British rule, and finally the dawn of Indian Independence.

:: Me with squirrel ::



  

DAY 07 (10 Jan)  AGRA - DELHI
After breakfast, drive to Delhi.


Went to the supermarket in Delhi to buy these things. Dunno what's the purpose of buying these items. But, ayah mentioned that the price're far cheaper than those found in Malaysia. Ape lagi.. time to pawwww Ayah! Hehehe..

There're lots of ladoo here and there. But, none attracted me cuz I don't really like sweet foods..

Close up pic for "SHAM LADOO".. Yummyyy!!


Singgah sebentar untuk membeli kacang goreng di tengah jalan.. Nasib baik perut i strong tak memulas k.. Thank God made my stomach boleh terima banyak jenis makanan.. ;p

On arrival, lunch at Moksh Restaurant and some free time for shopping followed by Indian dinner at Lazeez Affaire. Then, checked-in at Hotel.

DAY 08 (11 Jan)  DELHI / KL
Our last day in India. After noon checked-out from hotel. There's nothing much to do, so we just browsed through some shops, supermarkets & stalls around the city and captured a lot of photos per below:-

After dinner transferred to airport.