Ramblings

Gosh again I have to say I have not been updating my blog.... will have to update as soon as I reach home... that way i wont lose any important information I would like to share... : )

LONDON PART 2/2

I Covered almost all the museums and the most interesting Museum of all is The Imperial War Museum


1. The Imperial War Museum,
It has every bit of information that you would like to know about ww1 and ww2. I would advice visitors to visit early in the morning because there is just so much to see and learn from here.
http://london.iwm.org.uk/

Open daily 10.00am - 6.00pm
Last admission 5.45pm
(closed 24, 25 and 26 December)
ADMISSION IS FREE
(Special exhibitions may charge an admission fee)

2.Victoria and Albert Museum
V&A is undoubtedly another great museum London has to offer, nevertheless i didn't spend much time touring this museum. I would say its more towards arts designs and sculptures which is not what i like.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/

3. Science Museum
If you plan to bring your kids somewhere in London I guarantee that kids will love the Science Museum. Again its free and its very informative and interactive for the kids as well as for the adults
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/

4.The British Museum

This museum is wonderful, it has remarkable collections that spans over two million years of human history, the museum provides free museum tours that i would highly recommend the tour to everyone. Entrance is free and visitors would spent an entire day here.

www.britishmuseum.org

5.The Royal Air Force Museum

My Husband loves planes and every part of it so this museum is a must. This museum is a little further away from central London thus my husband we took a tube to reach the museum. Im not into planes that much but I did find it rather interesting.

opening hours 10.00am to 1800 Monday to Sunday
entrance free, parking free
Grahame park way, Hendon, London , NW95LL

London Part 1

I had the chance to visit london twice this year, once in March during winter with my husband and again in June during spring with my sister. i would say the best time to visit would be end of June as the weather is perfect and the day i was leaving that's when oxford street has SALE signs all over the stores. So yeah, do come when its summer sale ( late June) everything is unbelievably cheap

For a start i would suggest you get a 'tube' and 'central London' map to plan your day. I got mine from lost and found counter next to the Baker street station.

For this London entry ill blog about what i did on both visits. Lets start with


Transport in london
From the airport
1>You can either take a taxi ( my sister pre-book a taxi online)

2>Take Heathrow Connect which costs 7.90 straight to central london. I find this better as you arrive faster and its less of a hassel to change tubes and buses
https://www.heathrowconnect.com/index.asp?SID={46D3EE2F-EDBD-4874-B1C8-427A5D6D076C}

3>or you can take the tube straight from the airport



tube and bus takes you almost to every tourist attraction you can think of in london. tube map is available at any tube station at its very easy to understand, it took me and my husband (first timer to london) 2 days to understand and by then we were pro-public transport traveler : )

to travel by tube or bus its better to purchase an oyster card from newsagents or i think you can get it from the tube station. oyster is a great way to travel and you can choose any travel package that suits your budget.



there is daily tube/bus, daily bus/tube, weekly bus/tube. i suggest if you think you might take mora than 3 buses a day better go for daily buss package, it costs 3.90 and you can hop on and off the busses anytime.

if you plan to go on the buss every day during your stay get weekly, its equivelant to 5 times of daily bus for 7 days basically its a free 2 day thing.

I personally prefer the bus than the tube as you can see the stores outside, just stop and hop back on.

For information on oyster, printable tube maps and basically anything you would like to know about public transport in london you can find it on this page http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

London shopping

London is a shopping heaven (i love it more if everything is on sale) to name a few would be Oxford street (a must), here you can find westfield shopping centre, jhon lewis, H&M, Primark etc etc.

High end shops like mango, zara, burberry etc etc is closer to Piccadilly circus. At Piccadilly circus bus stop you can also visit lilywhite ( cheap sports stuff and also a store for camping stuff - which was my favorite store)



Harrods

Harrods is a luxury shopping mall with everything under one roof. When i say everything, it really is everything. view the website for more detail
http://www.harrods.com/harrodsstore/

Hamleys
Is a shopping heaven for kids. Its one of the largest toy store in the world with seven floors covering different categories of toy on each floor . Definitely a shopping heaven for kids

5th floor: Boys
4th floor: Hobbies
3rd floor:Girls
2nd floor: Preschool
1st floor:Games
Ground floor:Soft toys
Basement:Interective
http://www.hamleys.com/

Food


halal food is easy to find every mosque will have a canteen

subway at Goodge st is halal, nearby is a place for prayer at Muslim world league (walking distance from oxford st as i can vaguely remember) Use transport for London .. around paddington st there is a number of halal restaurants.





Malaysia hall is in Bayswater, and the food is all halal
Malaysia Hall 30
Queensborough Terrace
London W2 3ST

Prayer

Here is a directory for mosques or prayer area in london. Plan where you would like to go and see if you can find a prayer area around the place you visit
http://www.iccuk.org/page.php?section=religious&page=masjiddirectory

DELHI – AGRA – JAIPUR – DELHI ( part 2)

I lost my Delhi part 2 draft and in no mode to write the entire lengthy explanation thus here is a summary of my trip continued

Third day JAIPUR

To start the day we had toasted bread and jam form with a cup of tea which I took one sip since I’m not a tea person neither am I a coffee drinker. So to start our Jaipur adventure we went to Amber Fort.

Our stop before reaching the hill top of amber fort

It was a long ride up the hill to reach Amber Fort and upon arriving I wasn’t looking forward to tour this place, to us it was a waste of time because it was not well preserved that’s probably why there were not many tourist around. This fort is huge and I believe from the time it was built that is in 1592 till the final days it was used as a fort it sure has magnificent stories to share with its visitors.

The palace overlooking the fort

The only beautiful place in the fort- the garden

But sad to say there were not much information available and this beautiful fort made by white marble and red sand stone looks like a big dump site with rubbish probably at every corner. I was told the amber fort- palace which can be seen from the fort’s tower is a place worth visiting. And I could see there were many tourists there. But we had enough of sightseeing and decided to skip this destination

Entrance fee :- Indian adults INR25
Foreign Adults INR75
Additional charge:- Mobile camera INR50
Video Camera INR200

Hawa Mahal

We then requested the driver to bring us to Hawa mahal which is a pyramid-shaped facade with five stories with 953 small windows. Its a unique structure and its open for visitors. I didn't choose to enter but to just take a photo of the structure from outside. Along the road is s stretch of market but there wasn’t anything much to look at, everyone seemed to be selling similar stuff .





Among the stuff sold around Hawa Mahal

We spend roughly 20 minutes then decided to move on to have our lunch and head back to Delhi. Along the way our driver brought us to another shop that he gets commission from which is something Jaipur is famous for, carpets and marbles. I wasn’t into those thus I had a browse and headed straight to Delhi.

Day four – DELHI

We checked in the same hotel in Delhi but we got a different room but that was not a problem, the now room looked better. We didn’t choose to have breakfast at the inn.... by the looks of it I think it wasn’t safe if you know what I mean : )... so we walked about one minute from our hotel and reached hotel Southern which has a Pure vegetarian restaurant right next to it ( sorry i forgot what its called)... the food was absolutely lovely and the best part is its super cheap! don't worry on what to order because it will just turn out scrumptious Unlike the other restaurants our driver brought us.



I can't remember what I ordered but it was yummy.

Southern Hotel looked pleasant and there were many tourists staying here. Although we didn’t but we had a look around and thought maybe if we were to come to Delhi we would choose this hotel.

Ill include southern hotel's room rates in rupees for your reference :
Deluxe – A.C (Single 1,490 : Double 1,690)
Super Duluxe – A.C with breakfast ( Single 2.290 : Double 2,490)
Executive suite – A.C with breakfast ( Single 2,590 : Double 2,790)
Royal suite - A.C with breakfast (Single 3,690 : Double- 3890)

After knowing Southern hotel’s rate we were curious to know our ‘Hotel’s’ rate and guess what the “receptionist” said......it was INR4,000... It’s a budget hotel and do you think we are that dumb!! I can get a Royal suite at southern hotel... of course I didn’t say that out loud but I was extremely annoyed! Gosh! Lucky it was our last day and we are already checking out.

Enough of our driver bringing us to shops that he gets commission from, we went to Khan Market and Serojini (if I spelled it correctly). Despite our driver telling us that this place is expensive and that we won’t get anything here, we actually got really good bargains and nice stuff to bring back.

Our potato snack INR20 at khan market .. just lovely!

After one happy shopping trip (Finally!!!) We went sightseeing Delhi with whatever time we had remaining. Our stop was to Lodhi Garden, it is an amazingly beautiful garden with a mosque built on its compound. The government should do some maintenance to this very old mosque. Seriously, I think they should really take care of historical places like these. Amazingly the toilet at this garden was clean and we did our prayer at this old mosque (picture below).


We departed to the airport 3 hours prior to departure as traffic in Delhi can be dreadful.

Prayer room at the airport

TIPS:- I would advice everyone to do your own itinerary and places to visit and don’t rely so much on the driver they will surely bring you to places they will get commission from.

Some stuff to bring along that might come in handy:-

Wet tissues/ baby wipes
Prayer mat for Muslims – or anything that you can use to pray at the garden.
Towels:- I was glad I brought my own, even 3 star hotels provided towels that wasn’t satisfactory clean for me
Drinking water:- I brought one box of 600ml x 24 and the amount was just right for 4 days for the both of us
Shampoo and soap:- the hotels provided soap and shampoo but i prefer to use my own



Accommodation

Delhi :- hotel karat 87 inn.
It was ok but I guess you have to bargain for the price . i took a package thus I have no idea on the room rate.
Would I stay here again:- probably not

Agra – initial was Apollo hotel - worst hotel so far, I requested that we change hotel
Hotel Royal Residency
– SO much better, but the restaurant was not clean and the food was like a budget hotel food. eventhough this hotel provided towels but it looked warned out with some stains.
Would i stay here again:- yes


Jaipur – Ashrivad , the guest house is nice and quiet but the toilet is disgusting
Would i stay here again:- Probably not

Insight to Incredible India

I just came across this on Youtube and figured i should share with everyone. Do watch this before you visit India so you get to appreciate the historical side of this country.

DELHI – AGRA – JAIPUR – DELHI (Part 1)

Pre India



To get my India trip organized, I browsed the lonely planet website, virtual tourist and other websites for some information on tour guides in India. So I emailed many and asked for quotations as this seemed to be the best method to get some idea. Finally I ended up with “Sh*ine G**old Tourist In*dia”. In their quotation, the prices includes, accommodation, trip to Agra, Jaipur and back to Delhi, Breakfast, tax and fuel charges, pick up and drop off the airport, as well as accommodation for the driver during the whole trip, basically everything except for spending money and entrance to monuments.

We paid INR22,125 for the whole 5 day trip which gives us a budget accommodation. In preparation for our trip I also went searching online for cheap shopping places and it seemed like every tourist who visits India would go to the same place thus I didn’t bother writing it down as I assumed my driver would bring us there which in the end was actually a big mistake.

First day “Delhi – Agra”



Our initial plan for our first day in Delhi is to walk around Delhi in the morning, drive to Agra in the afternoon just in time to visit the sun set at the Taj mahal. Things had to change, instead of arriving Delhi at 10PM we arrived Delhi at 4AM because our aircraft diverted to Lahore Pakistan due to a very foggy weather in Delhi.

Our driver A*sim and A*sif welcomed us with a flower necklace upon arrival and drove us straight to Hotel Karat Inn.



At 11 in the morning we headed of to Agra, stopped at Maharaja Motel for prayer and lunch to a dreadfully expensive restaurant where a “Thali” costs INR390



We continued our journey to Agra and arrived at 6.30pm, since we only have an hour to spend in the Taj, we canceled our initial sunset in the Taj and plan on watching sun rise instead.



Before we reached our hotel, driver brought us to a so called factory outlet in Agra, because the shop assistant could sens us as beginners he tried to sell plain raw silk for INR650 per meter.. I bargained for INR300 and got it but seriously I think It should be cheaper because other shops that I went to had a starting price of INR350 meaning you could bargain lower than that.

So we headed to our hotel which is ‘Apollo’. PLEASE trust me this place is dreadfully disgusting, don’t ever stay here no matter how cheap it is. Walking towards the hotel to the reception counter I had to cover my nose with my headscarf as the alley is filled with exhaust fumes from the bus, cars and trucks parked in front of the hotel. Before accepting the rooms I demanded to take a look at the room , again as I walked up the stairs I can smell the car Fumes and thought to myself if I had to stay here ill probably die of suffocation the next morning. Unhappy with the room we asked to change to a different hotel.

We then moved to Hotel Royal Residency which was so much better.

SECOND DAY - AGRA

0630
Arrived at the ticketing counter to enter the Taj Mahal, paid INR750 each (for foreigners and INR20 for locals) inclusive of a of bottle mineral water (which we gave our driver since we brought our own mineral water from Malaysia) and shoe cover (needed when we enter the mosques).



0730
Gates opened and we went through security check as well as bag check…food and drinks are not allowed in except for mineral water.




This magnificent marble structure which was completed in 1653 is unbelievably stunning. Islamic calligraphy decorated its entrance The only thing that prevented us from viewing the beautiful sunrise on the Taj was the thick fog probably due to the winter weather. Its pure marble structure was awsome every intricate detail of its decorative carving can be seen; I wonder who it majestically looked with diamonds glittering when the sun shines during its glorifying days.





The tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of Shah Jahan stood at the centre and Shah Jahan’s tomb which was slightly bigger laid next to her. We spent almost 3 hours taking pictures, touring the Taj as well as the Taj mahal’s mosques after which we actually planned to visit the Red Fort of Agra where Shah Jahan was locked by his own son and spent his final days just gazing to the Taj. Due to our time constrain we skipped the fort and headed to Jaipur by road. Now come to think of it, I should have visited the fort as its another great historical monument worth visiting.



1030
After one satisfying Taj Mahal trip, we went back to the hotel supposedly to have some breakfast. Husband had some kind of Indian bread that looked liked its been reheated countless number of time, I had toast bread with butter we had one bite of our breakfast and went back to our room to have our own snack brought from Malaysia.



At the hotel, we refreshed, packed our bags and headed to Jaipur, another 6 hours drive by car. Arrived at our accommodation and as usual we went to see the room first before agreeing. Many foreigners can be seen as this place is very quiet. Its called ‘Ashirvad Guest House’

Lesson:- We should have visited the Fort, and the museum in Taj mahal (it was closed when we visited) , we should have also look for Agra t-shirt souvenir since its so hard to get one in Delhi.