Travel Photography | India | New Delhi | Kashmir | Agra | Part II

© 2012 Wazari Wazir | iPhoneography | LCCT Kuala Lumpur International Airport | AirAsia

© 2012 Wazari Wazir | iPhoneography | New Delhi | Indira Gandhi International Airport | Arrival Hall

© 2012 Wazari Wazir | iPhoneography | Ajay Guest House | Pahar Ganj Main Bazaar

The night before our departure to New Delhi which is 31st January, Azman flew  to Kuala Lumpur from Kota Kinabalu Sabah, me and Ahmad Shukri, friend of mine who have travel together with me to India in 2010 came to LCCT, Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal to pick him around 10:00PM, since it was late and we need to catch our morning flight tomorrow to India, we head straight to Sungai Besi, close to my home and we have a dinner and discuss few things before our journey tomorrow 1st February 2012.

Azman stay in my house that night because it was easy for us to get into the airport since my house is located close to Bandar Tasik Selatan (ERL) Electric Rail Link  Station, which have train service to the airport. The next morning on 1st February, my wife send us to Bandar Tasik Selatan ERL Station and we took the 5:10 AM train and then we need to take a bus from Salak Tinggi to LCCT or Low Cost Carrier Terminal, because we will be flying with AirAsia, otherwise if we fly with Malaysia Airlines, we don’t need to take a bus, instead the ERL will take us directly to KLIA Terminal in less than 30 minutes. Our flight to New Delhi is at 9:50AM.

Everything was online nowadays and we have already check in via online few days before, at the airport I just need to check-in my luggage bag or went ahead to drop-bag section counter and that’s it. After perform morning prayer at the airport, we went to have a breakfast at McDonald’s nearby and even thought it was still very early on the morning, just pass 7AM, there was a huge crowds at the terminal, it’s look like a school holiday. I’ve to search and wait until someone finished their meals to get a free table.

One hour before boarding, Ahmad Shukri came to bade us farewell, he did want to follow us on this trip but unfortunately the time wasn’t right for him. Let me do the “homework” first in Kashmir I said to him and we will travel again together.

Our flight depart on time but on our way reaching close to the airplane which you can see from the very top picture, I saw this man, taking picture of the airplane and I just smile at him, I wanted to ask him whether he wanted to go to India? Thinking back, what kind of stupid question is that, off-course he is going to India because that flight is direct flight to New Delhi, then I ask him “are you alone?” “No, with my wife” he said, I don’t see his wife and later on he pointed to his wife just reaching the aircraft, on the top picture there you can see his wife wearing black jacket and pant holding a yellow bag. He said that his wife wanted to go to Taj Mahal and he told me also that his wife name is “Taj Mahal”, I don’t know whether to believe or not and I almost wanted to see his wife passport but looking at his  innocent looking face, I believe him. Then he wanted to take a photograph together with us with his camera before get into the aircraft, I hope if he or “Taj Mahal” reading this, hopefully they can share their India experience with us. Just before we enter the aircraft, he said to me that, he wish to visit Kashmir but his wife wanted to Visit Taj Mahal, when I hear “Kashmir”, I just smile and I didn’t tell him that we already bought a ticket to Kashmir from New Delhi. He told us that they will take an evening train to Agra from New Delhi once they reach Delhi.

We have already visited India on June 2010 but that time we arrive at Terminal 2, but this time we arrive at new terminal which is Terminal 3 and what I can say is that is was modern and beautiful looking terminal. There was a beautiful hand sculpture or “Mudras” decorating the arrival hall just above the immigration counter where we have to show our passport. Mudras are expressive hand gestures that form an intrinsic part of Indian Classical Dance, Yoga and visual arts. There were nine Mudras there. Those photograph were a little bit blur, I took it with my iPhone on my way getting down from the escalator, actually I was a little bit nervous taking a photograph inside the airport because there was a lot of sign of “no photography” inside the airport but I could not resist taking this picture to share with my friends back home.

Since we arrive in the afternoon, daytime, we did not book a hotel in advance and we did not arrange a pick-up service, instead we wanted to try the New Delhi Metro train. Once we get our backpacks, we look for the station, the Metro station is on the right side of the terminal. The ticket or “token” for the Metro from the airport to New Delhi Metro station is just Rs80 and before you board the train, you need to go through a security check, they will scan your bags and perform a body check just like security check at the airport before you board your flight. You can take a prepaid taxi from the airport which will cost you around Rs300 or more to get to Pagar Ganj. If you come with a group of three to four peoples, I think taking a taxi is cheaper than taking the Metro.

We reach New Delhi Metro Station in less than 20 minutes, it was a pleasant ride, the train was clean and I would say very comfortable. Just to let you know that this train does not end at New Delhi Train Station, quite a bit far from the train station. If you need to get to New Delhi Train Station to continue your journey somewhere, you have to take an Auto Rickshaw to get you there. New Delhi METRO Station is not to be confuse as New Delhi Train Station, their location is a bit far. It was convenient to take a taxi from the airport but we just wanted to give the METRO a try, but to those first timer who come to New Delhi, I really suggest to take a taxi and you will get a taste of real India along the way towards your hotel, the smells, sounds and sights that you can see from a taxi than what you can see if you choose to take a Metro because there was a time that Metro goes underground and you can’t see anything.

2o minutes later we reach New Delhi Metro Station, actually we really don’t know where we are but this is the last station for Metro Delhi Aero City, we need to get out and from Lonely Planet book we know that we need to take an Auto Rickshaw to get to Pahar Ganj since it is not quite near compared to New Delhi Train Station, Auto Rickshaw man demand Rs250 to get to Pahar Ganj, we didn’t take the offer because we know that the price is too high or simply too much, we know that it wasn’t that far, I asked the man for Rs100 and since we are in a hurry to get to our hotel, we don’t want to haggle anymore and take the Auto Rickshaw for Rs150 to our hotel, I know we supposed to pay less than Rs100 to get to Pahar Ganj but this time after long flight, we just wanted to get to our hotel.

When I mention take us to Vivek Hotel, the man said that the hotel was bad, not good and suggest us to take another hotel, I knew he will say that and I just told the man that we have already pay for the hotel but the truth is that we never book any hotel. Once we arrive in front of the Vivek Hotel and once the Auto Rickshaw out of sight we went to Ajay Guest House just a few steps across the road from Vivek Hotel . Actually from our last trip we know that it is much more convenient to stay at Ajay Guest House because they have large comfortable restaurant and quite big cyber cafe inside their hotel as compared to Vivek Hotel and the foods there is quite good. Unfortunately Ajay Guest House is fully booked that day and we have no choice but to try Vivek Hotel and luckily they have one room left for us for Rs1000.

Once we put our backpack inside the room, we went outside and decided to head to Karim Biryani Restaurant located in Old Delhi just outside India famous Jama Masjid. We pay Rs100 for Auto Rickshaw to get us there in less than 30 minutes. This place is very popular, pack with local people, travelers and tourist alike  and we have to wait almost half and hour to get an empty table, actually I’ve taste a better biryani before compared to Karim Biryani but maybe because it was popular, we like to join the Queue. Finished eating, take few pictures outside Jama Masjid and we return back to our hotel, take some rest before our next flight tomorrow to Srinagar Kashmir.