You know when people asked you where do you want to go for holiday, India never was in my list until I moved to India due to my work. It was very sudden but India made me fell in love. I talked about it a lot of times and planned to visit India again, this time with Kim. Finally after a year of planning it, we made it to India. It was Kim first time to India, there were a few worries popped up as our trip getting nearer. Will we survive India? Will we get stomach ache as most of the people who have visited India experienced it on their first weeks? It turned out that this is one of the most amazing trip I've ever been with Kim so far. India is huge. We managed to visit part of Rajashtan, Kerala, New Delhi, and Varanasi. We are planning to go back again to visit the Northern part of India.
:: M U M B A I ::
Our flight with Spice Jet wasn't that bad. We flew from Oslo to Bangkok and Bangkok to Mumbai. It was super long journey, we were exhausted and excited at the same time. We were staying in South Mumbai near Colaba. We decided to took the prepaid cab from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport to South Mumbai, it might be the most convenient and safe way to travel than taking public transport. Public transport like train could be very crowded and tough in India, it is not convenient to travel with public transport if we bring luggage and after a super long flight. On the planes to India, Kim was reading 'Shantaram' and this is one of the main reasons we were visiting Mumbai. Mumbai also famous for the Slum which was the main setting of the movie 'Slumdog Millionaire'. There is a few tour managed by the official tourist agents with locals guide to the slum. Mumbai is crowded, a lot of people everywhere, tall building, slums, market, chai tea, cows and taxis, everything blend into one, the hot humid air, the smell, the sun, the locals, the tourists. Kim was a little bit overwhelmed since he is from Norway, it was his first time experiencing the most crowded and busy traffic in his life, but he managed it very well. We were so into Shantaram and looking for the trail. We hang out at Leopold cafe and had quick interview with the owner discussing about the Shantaram book. It was super thrilling.:: U D A I P U R ::
Udaipur is one of the main destinations in Rajasthan. This place is magical with a lot of colours and beautiful palace, it reminds me of Prince of Persia x Aladdin. My favourite here is Udaipur palace. I am not sure how to describe it in the words, the detailing of the building was so amazing, the painting from Mughal era was so fine with the unique colour combination. Like most cities in Rajasthan, they restaurants here serve mostly vegetarian food. There is a popular dancing performance at Bagore Ki Haveli, near the lake. Nearby the Bagore Ki Haveli, there is a small cozy cafe called Edelweiss Cafe.
:: CHITTOGARGH ::
We explore Chittogargh, just outside of Udaipur. We took the public bus from the terminal to Chittogargh about 3 hours journey. It is kinda funny in India, the bus price is cheaper if you are a woman. Public transport is a good way to travel, if you don't mind with the Indian bus and full with the locals, but the price is cheap. As we arrived in Chittogargh there were a lot of tuk tuk driver offered us to do the tour. The price range is different depend on your bargaining skills. You can get from 250 Rupees to do the Chittogargh 3 hours tour, they will drive you around but remember keep on the tracks which site you've been to because if you didn't pay attention the tour might end up very quick and you missed the temples or the ruins.
Kim encountered his first experience surrounded by locals while visiting Chittogargh. Sometimes the locals are so overwhelmed to see foreigner, they did not mean any harm, most of them just expressing their curiosity or want to practice their english. Most of them are friendly. We manage to took some group picture.
:: JODHPUR (Blue City) ::
Jodhpur is well known as Blue City, because most of the buildings coulour in the city centre are blue. We traveled to Jodhpur by overnight bus, it was our first experience traveling by overnight bus, it was not that bad. We arranged our accommodation using airbnb service, so far this is one of the most comfortable airbnb accommodation during our trip in India. We are frequent airbnb user, it has been great experience to book and meet a lot of nice hosts through airbnb but in India it was a little bit difficult, sometimes the airbnb hosts could not be trusted. The highlight of Jodhpur trip was Mehrangargh Fort. We have to purchase tickets to enter most of the tourists attraction, if you are student you will get discount. So don't forget to bring your student card. I am so in love with this fort complex. It took us a few hours to explore.
:: PUSHKAR ::
A lot of travelers gave us advice to visit Pushkar. It was last minute plan to stop by Pushkar before Jaipur. It is a small town between Jodhpur and Jaipur. There are few buses and trains to Ajmer, continue with bus to Pushkar, from Ajmer it is about 30 minutes to Pushkar. It is a very quite town with delicious food. Our favourite place is Baba Rooftop Restaurant. Pushkar is very famous with the scams especially near the lake, there are plenty of people will give you flowers and ask you to put it on the lake as welcome gift, after their friend will come and do some prayer, in the end they will ask you donations and when you refuse, the will start to be rude. So it is better to avoid local people who approaching you while you are around the lake. Respect those who are doing the ritual but stay away from those who asking for donations.
:: JAIPUR ::
After few weeks in India, I started to feel fed up with the curries but in Jaipur we found a good place to hang out and eat. This place called the Peacock Rooftop Restaurant. As we lazed around on the nice cozy rooftop, we met Ken, an English traveler who just got back from Northern part of India. Short story, we became good friend with Ken.
In Jaipur, we explored the Amber Fort and Hawa Mahal. You can buy the pass to visit all the places in Jaipur. It is easy to travel around, there is public bus around 10 Rupees per person, this bus will take you from Amber fort to Hawa Mahal. My advice is take tuk tuk to Amber Fort (around 200 rupees) but don't ask them to wait. And on the way back just take the bus to Hawa Mahal.
I love Rajasthan, I love the colours, the magnificent architecture, the stories of the Maharaja and the colourful paintings. Traveling around Rajasthan could be tense because of the people are more aggressive and cunning. Some places you will find only vegetarian food but it is delicious. So tell me about your experience in Rajasthan and ask me anything if you need advise! :D
xxx
