Our Golden Triangle Trip - Agra (2)

A road sign at the start of the highway had shown the distance to Agra as 184km and I was thinking why did our driver say that the journey would take 4-4.5 hrs? If we travel at a conservative speed of 90km/h, it should take like 2 hours tops.

The answer?
What we understand as a highway does not apply here. This highway is not a dedicated road with marked exits at regulated distances. It's more like a two lane road that passes through townships and industrial areas.

As we approach the townships, the car speed drops to around 30km/h and other times, the car is more likely to be trailing behind large container trucks who cannot keep left. Most times, the car was travelling around 60-70km/h.

Second Stop: Agra
Main attraction of Agra is of course the Taj Mahal. Before the trip, I often wondered if this is worth the long car ride from Delhi and if my expectations of it would be too high having read and heard so much about it. Well, I can tell you now that it is all worth it!

Nothing can really prepare you for the sight. No matter how many pictures you might have seen before of this place, to see it for yourself is really a visual feast. The marble white building set against a clear sky and the symmetry of the Taj really is awesome. I am not sure if a person can get tired of looking at it. 

We were lucky that there was no queue that day and we were able to just walk inside Taj Mahal. Our guide tells us that on some days, the wait can be three hours long. I didn't think much about the interior and it didn't help that it is very crowded around the tomb. Having been inside, I will say that it is not worth the 3 hour queue if there is one and I would much rather spend that time admiring the exterior of the Taj.

Take note that it is closed on Friday and because of that Thursdays and Saturdays are usually very crowded.

Akbar's tomb

First view of the Taj Mahal

No pictures can show the grandeur of it all

Agra Fort

View of Taj Mahal from Agra Fort

Our Golden Triangle Trip - New Delhi (1)

On a whim, the hubby and myself had decided to visit Taj Mahal about 3 weeks ago and we left the next day.

Thanks to myself who had done homework before about the place, it was not too difficult deciding on the tour itinerary. We decided to do the Golden Triangle tour where we would cover New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur in 4D3N.

First Stop: New Delhi

Delhi gave us our first feel of summer at around 40 degrees and we had only about 5-6 hours to see the sights of the city. From the architecture of the buildings, it is clear that this city was previously ruled by the British and that added to the charm of the city.

Coming from Hyderabad where potholes are everywhere on the road, we were impressed with the road quality of Delhi and wonder why the standards are so gaping. The streets in Delhi are lined with trees which I believe would look very pretty in autumn while you can hardly find a decent pavement in Hyderabad!

Of course, New Delhi being the capital of India has a certain standard to keep to and I believe that the recent Commonwealth Games had also a hand in sprucing up the city.

As for tourist attractions, here's what we saw:

India Gate

King's Way - Road linking India Gate and the Parliament House

Secretariet buildings flanking King's Way

Parliament House

 

Hamayun's Tomb

Qutb Minar - Victory Tower

Visiting Lumbini Park

We were planning on a quiet Sunday and thought that we should go check out this mall called Prasad along Necklace Road that houses the only IMAX theatre in Hyderabad.

Sad to say, the mall had nothing to retain our attention so we decided to head off after grabbing some lunch. The question of where to go next came up and since we were so near the floating Buddha Statue at Hussain Sagar Lake, we decided to visit it impromptu. This is one of the tourist attractions that was on our list to visit anyway. 

What we didn't know is that we needed to get into Lumbini Park to go see the statue.  The Hubby was not happy that he didn't have his camera with him and though my LX-5 was with me, I had left the memory card in my lappy!

But the LX-5 never fails me including today because it has its own internal memory!

There was an entrance fee of Rs10 (SGD 0.30) into the garden which is really affordable for the locals and the boat ride to the floating Buddha will cost another Rs30 (SGD 0.90) person.

Don't be fooled into thinking that this is a natural lake because it is not! This 24 sq km lake is entire man made eons long ago in 1562. I have no idea however how long did it take!

We enjoyed the trip as the park was not overcrowded and its a change to be surrounded by greenery. Am not sure if we will revisit again but for anyone visiting Hyderabad, you definitely should drop by.

Welcome to Lumbini Park

Woman selling corn at park entrance

Another street vendor

Children cooling off in the heat

Favourite past time here

Front view of the the 18m statue

Upclose in its original colour

A ride in the park that will give you a vantage view

Visiting Shilparamam

We decided to be touristy over the weekend and to visit one of the tourist attractions -  Shilparamam, a arts and craft cultural village in Hyderabad.

Their website had given us a good idea of what to expect and so it was a pleasant 1.5 hours spent on a late Sunday afternoon.

Located over 65 acres (sounds big but its about 0.26km² ) of land, it actually feels more like a walk in a big park. It was fun walking through the market to see how much pottery and craft there is on sale. If you are looking to decorate your home, there is probably something here for you to buy.

One other area that I liked had huge swings constructed amongst trees. You can see parents pushing their children on those swings or the men swinging their loved ones. Am not sure if they had meant for all the trees to be withered but the colour and made it brilliant for a photo opportunity.

While walking through, you will realise that this is a popular place amongst couples as they are many corners where you can sit. It could be along a water feature, outside a village looking hut or simple under the tree. The maintenance of the place could be better but at the cost of Rs 25 per adult, it is definitely worth it to give this place a visit.

A good way to end this visit is to go to Inorbit Mall for the aircon and to chill out at one of the cafes with a ice cold drink. Feeling dehydrated after the walk, we had gone to Chili's for its unlimited Pepsi refills and Margaritas! 

Entrance of the village



Am sure they meant per head 



Boys having fun in the water



Crafts on sale



Bronze Elephants

Pottery on sale

Replicas of village huts

Statues of "villagers working"

People swinging away



Huge elephant on display