Hello Everyone,
This is my second travel post on hive. On the past I shared a travel vlog on 3Speak. But this time I am going to share my travel experience through this blog.
For a long time there was a desire to give a big tour to the north of India. Finally I went to north India for a tour with some of my closest friend on last February. Now I am going to tell a short story about my memorable Tour.
At first the plan was to go to Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Kashmir, Benares together. But it takes a lot of time and money to turn it all around at once. That's why the tour has to be shortened later. Later Kashmir had to be left out. And the time was early February, which is not a good time to go to Kashmir. Finally we plan to go to Jaipur, Azam, Pushkar, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Benares. And the places fall into roughly the same route. Which saves us a lot of time.
To save time and avoid the hassle of buying train tickets, We bought our needed train tickets from IRCTC. Their tickets can be bought at both local and foreign quotas. The fare is 50% higher than the local fare. But if you want to get a ticket to the local, you have to buy a ticket about a month and a half or two ago, that's why we bought our tickets in the foreign quota only 2 days ago. Tickets are normally available 2-3 days before the foreign quota. We cut the ticket for the long route (Kolkata-Jaipur, Agra-Benares, Benares-Kolkata) which reduces our worries a lot. The rest of the places (Jaipur-Azam, Jaipur-Agra) can be easily reached by bus.
Let's come to the brief description of the tour
07/02/2020 (Thursday) :
We left Kolkata at 10 pm with bags and left for Howrah station. At 11:40 pm we had a ticket to Jaipur on the Jodhpur Express. The train leaves at 12 o'clock and the longest train journey of life begins. The whole day is spent on the train. After a continuous train journey of about 40 hours, we reached the pink city of Jaipur by 3 pm on Friday. We booked a room at a hotel on the train. We took a taxi from the station to the hotel. The hotel representative guys were very sincere. It was hard to imagine how beautiful the inside of the hotel was. Going inside, the decoration will look as if you have come to a house of Mansingh's time. Originally it was made by modifying the structure of that amalgam. We liked it very much. We could not have guessed that there would be such a rest house at such a low rate by booking online.
08/02/20 (Saturday)
We went out at 10 o'clock in the morning. As our hotel is close to Hawa Mahal, we first walked to Hawa Mahal. Pink City A certain area of Jaipur is known as Pink City. All the roadside installations in this particular area are pink. Hawa Mahal also falls in this area. The main purpose of Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh's construction of a five-storey high-rise air palace in red and sandstone was to enable the women of the palace to observe the various activities organized on the city streets from the palace without going outside. Outside the palace (on the side of the road) through about 953 small doors (zrokhas) the women of the palace could observe the activities and festivities of the street.
From Hawa Mahal we go to City Palace. The City Palace, located in the center of Jaipur, was the focal point of the official and administrative activities of the Maharajas. Our destination from City Palace is Jantar Mantar where there is a combination of various types of astronomical instruments. The last destination of our day was the Albert Hall Museum.
09/02/20 (Sunday)
On Sunday morning we set out for Azam’s purpose. It takes us about three hours to reach Azam by bus from Sindhi Camp bus stand. Arriving in Azam at 12 o'clock, I did not take a taxi for the whole day. First we set off for Pushkar. The sea, the mountains, the snow, the clouds were all seen more or less, but the desert was never seen. One of the purposes of coming to Rajasthan was to see the desert. But the real desert of Rajasthan is at Jaisalmer. Which is far from Jaipur. Pushkar's desert is small. Directly we took a taxi to the desert. There I rented a jeep (was overpriced) and went into the desert. If you want, you can go on a camel or a camel car. Pushkar is also a place of pilgrimage for Hindus. Pushkar has the largest Brahma temple built in the 1400s. There is also Pushkar Lake. Returning to Azam from Pushkar, I went to see Anasagar Lake and see Taragar Fort. Although there are only ruins of the fort there now. There is a beautiful view of Azam city from Taragar Fort. Later in the evening I came back to Jaipur to see Azam Sharif.
10/02/20 (Monday)
On Monday morning we left for Amer Fort which is located about 10 km away from Jaipur. Mango Fort seems to be the most attractive tourist spot of Jaipur. The fort is located on a high hill. There is an arrangement to go on the back of an elephant. The fort was used as the residence of Rajput kings. Here are Diwane Mango, Diwane Khas, Sheesh Mahal. There is a tunnel about half a km from Amer Fort to Jayagar Fort which can still be reached directly from Amer Fort to Jayagar Fort. Jayagar Fort is located higher than Mango Fort. The Jaigar Fort was originally built for the protection of Mango Fort. After returning from Jayagar Fort to Jalmahal, I came to Amr Hotel, took my luggage from Sindhi Camp bus stand and left for Agra by bus at around 6 pm. We reached Agra at 12-1 pm. Later I hired a taxi through the hotel owner to go to Taj Mahal, then Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri before sunrise.
11/02/2020 (Tuesday)
As soon as the sun rises the next day, we can get inside the Taj Mahal after paying for our tickets. There was a lot of crowd in the ticket line around five in the morning. Maximum e feels foreigner. There is nothing new to describe the beauty of the Taj Mahal. However, if you want to see the Taj Mahal, you must see its view at sunrise or sunset, if possible, both. Gives time to walk around the Taj Mahal for three hours. Leaving the Taj Mahal, we proceeded to Agra Fort. If you show a ticket to the Taj Mahal, you don't have to pay much for a ticket here. Agra Fort includes Diwane Mango, Diwane Khas, Moti Mosque, Shahjahan's Detention Center, etc. The Taj Mahal can be seen if there is no fog from Agra Fort. Leaving Agra Fort, we went to Fatehpur Sikri. About 40 km from Agra. From 1561 to 1585, Fatehpur Sikri was the capital of the Mughal Empire. When Akbar was childless till 1589, according to the prophecy of a saint named Sheikh Selim Chishti, Jahangir was born in the womb of Jodhabai in a village called Sikri (Fatehpur Sikri). Later, Akbar turned Sikri village into Fatehpur Sikri and established his capital here. The main entrance of Fatehpur Sikri is Buland Darwaza which is about 54 meters high.
Returning from Fatehpur Sikri, we left at Tundla station at nine o'clock at night. From here we had our ticket to Benares (DDU station - 16 km from Benares) at 11:30 pm.
12/05/20 (Wednesday) 6
Get off at the station around 10.30 am on Wednesday and reach Benares at 12 noon. After freshening up at the hotel, we set out to visit Benares. Benares (Kashi) is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus, Jains and Buddhists alike. Situated on the banks of the Ganges, it is one of the oldest cities in the world (about 3500 years old). The Rig Veda mentions Kashi (Benares). Hindus believe that people die when they die in Kashi. Gautama Buddha was the first to preach Buddhism in Sarnath, Benares.
There are about 64 ghats on the banks of the Ganges. Of these, Dasashwamedh Ghat and Manikarnika Ghat are notable. Evening Aarti at Dashaswamedh Ghat is one of the major tourist attractions. In the evening we go around the different ghats by boat and watch the evening aarti while sitting in the boat. The experience of visiting such an old city at night is different.
##13/02/20 (Thursday)
On Thursday morning we left for Sarnath. About 12 km from Varanasi city. Returning at noon, I wandered around this oldest city from ten to eleven o'clock at night. Later I moved to Kolkata by night train.
##14/02/20 (Friday)
I reached Kolkata by 11 am. Leaving your bag at the hotel to go around Kolkata and go shopping. Coffee house, spring cabin, board the tram, hang out on the banks of Hooghly river at night ......
In all, our cost was about 12 thousand Rupees per person. Most of the places in Jaipur and Agra were historical landmarks where a good amount of entry fee was left.
- Note: The beauty of any place depends on the cleanliness of the place. So when we go somewhere, we must give utmost importance to the cleanliness and environment of the place.
This is all for this post. All the picture I shared in this post are captured with our various device.
