As I said, I'll be writing about all the trips I've been on. It's actually more for me because I don't want to forget them and make these wonderful trips alive forever on the Internet.
So, where do I begin?
It was a few days after I finished my SPM and I was rushing to the Indian visa office in Kuala Lumpur. It was crowded with people and the only option to not wait forever was to take the express route, which meant cashing out a couple more ringgits. Bear in mind that Indian Visa is super duper strict and minor detail slip-ups can cause you RM50 to change it. Best to have an officer to sit next to you while you fill out the form.
After all those paper works were filled out, it's time to fly. We got on board Malaysian Airlines on the first day of December, 2014. Our flight was from Kuala Lumpur to New Delhi. The flight took around 6 hours and when we landed, it was dark out already. Got into a van at the airport and headed to our place in New Delhi. We rented a place with a small kitchen, 3 bedrooms with it's own bathroom, dining area and a living room.
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| We stayed on the second floor |
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| The view from my room |
Early the next morning, we got on our tour van that waited outside our place to the city of Agra. This is where the famous Taj Mahal is situated. The road there was a stretch of nothingness. 210.7KM to be precise. Occasionally, there will be some highway stops for food and toilet breaks but other times it's mostly grass and herds of sheeps.
When we got there around noon, our first stop was Taj Mahal. One interesting fact about the city of Agra is that there are no factories in 10,400 sq kilometres around the Taj Mahal to protect one of the wonders of the world.Pollution has seeped in the marble walls of the Taj Mahal and cast a yellowish tint on it. The security checkpoint before entering the compound strictly forbids the use of monopods or "selfie sticks". To be honest, I've gotten some strange looks when I pulled out my monopod in public, hahaha.
Once in, our tour guide told us that everything about the Taj Mahal is symmetrical except one thing. He asked us what it was and told us that nobody could give out a correct answer. I put my hand up and proudly said, "the tombs are the only things that aren't symmetrical!" and the tour guide took off his glasses and asked me how I knew. Oh well, all those science books my mom got me for my birthdays weren't just for show ;)
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| A panorama from the Taj Mahal |
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| View of the entrance from the Taj Mahal |
If you're Muslim, halal food is easy to find. There are a few restaurants around the Taj Mahal and other points of interests that our tour guide brought us. Also, the restaurants here has clearly visible halal signs so it's convenient to look for any.
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| Indian food is on my list of favourite foods! |
Our next point of interests was the Qutub Minar, Jantar Mantar and the City Palace which are located in Delhi and Jaipur, respectively. The Qutub Minar was a 73 metre high tower that I thought to symbolize the dawn of Islam in India. It stands in the courtyard of the mosque nearby.
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| Qutub Minar |
Jantar Mantar is an old architectural astronomical (a mouthful to say, i know right) structures that are used to calculate the time and directions using the stars and sun in older days. One of the instruments there is the world's biggest sundial. There are other instruments to predict eclipses, which was very cool. We also went to the City Palace where the Maharaja used to live but now is a museum where historical royal items are displayed. The palace is surrounded by high walls and the building colour there are mainly painted in red.
Next stop, Lotus Temple and it got it's name from the shape it holds, a lotus. The expressive architecture style reminded me to the Opera House in Sydney. Since it is a place of worship, you are required to remove your shoes upon entering. The place was flooded with tourists and school children on school trips so we decided to admire the landmark from outside.
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| Add caption |
And like all closure to my trips, shopping is must. We went through seas of people in the market where they sell colourful saris and carpets. All these made by hand and has hundreds of different patterns. We bought some masala tea (you have to try it! It's delicious) and if you look at my baju Melayu that I wore during my recent Korea trip, it's made out from one of the saris we bought.
There were a few hours before our flight and our tour guide was kind enough to show us the city part of New Delhi. We saw the India Gate which is similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris (which I will write about soon)(which is if i still remember). The city is gorgeous as the sunset sets fire to the sky and casting a deep orange hue over the buildings. At night, it gets a little bit chilly as New Delhi has cloudless skies. Finally, it was time to fly off back home. Quite the adventure this trip has been.
Thank you for reading!
Faez Najmuddin.
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