The Last of the Golden Triangle: Agra and Jaipur

It's been ages since I've written and that's because I've gone from India to Hong Kong and now to Lhasa. Life has been hectic to say the least...

I'm going to finish off the golden triangle that I started a couple of months ago!

After the unpleasant experience in Delhi, I headed to Agra with a driver called Sandy who proceeded to get more and more deranged as the two days went by.

The drive was pleasant until we got to the outskirts and, since it's during the summer, traffic was ridiculous as soon as we got to the point where you can actually see the Taj Mahal in the distance (WAY in the distance). After waiting for about an hour, we finally got close enough to walk to the Taj. Our tour guide paid I think it was 1,200 rupees to get us tickets, little booties so we didn't have to take off our shoes (and worry about people snagging them unless you bribe some kids to keep watch), and little bottles of water. The main gate had the most ridiculous line so we ended up going the East gate since the guide said it would be more tame.

Quick tip, when they mean you can't bring anything except water and a camera and maybe a phone, they mean it. I accidentally (stupidly) put my nintendo DS in my camera bag and completely forgot about it.

We got to the shortened (but still substantial line) where guys and girls were separated and after waiting a bit, the tour guide finally managed to somehow get us ahead (i felt guilty) and right when they got to the baggage checkpoint, they found the DS. My boy and I were able to get in but the guide (who earned his tip) had to take the DS to a security deposit before waiting in line again. I felt so awful.

Anyway, here are some pretty pictures of the Taj:

Akbar's tomb on the way to Agra

Race!

That white speck way in the distance is the Taj. This is where the traffic started

Ridiculous line at the front

Less ridiculous line at the other gate. I'm in the girls line looking at the boy's line

Straight line to the Taj

First glimpse (well, second for me since I was here when I was about 6)

Water wasn't turned on yet, this is as close as I got to the reflecting picture

Stylish booties

Where the black Taj Mahal was supposed to be if it had been built

There are a number of different ways to photograph the Taj and this is one

After we left, we went to the requisite jewelry/souvenir shops (I got a nice black stone with a four pointed star) and ate lunch, we were on the way to Jaipur! Thus far our driver had been holding it together except for occasional lapses where he insisted on me telling him where to go and testing my knowledge and memory of India since I stupidly told him that I had lived in Calcutta, New Delhi and Chennai when I was little.

Our hotel in Jaipur was AWESOME! It what our crappy excuse for lodging in Delhi wished it could be. Nice bed, clean, sink attached to drain in the floor, working toilet, and nice shower.

The next day was spent around Jaipur, looking at the pink city, going to the amber fort and then going to the observatory called Jantar Mantar. To get to the Amber Fort you can either drive up or take an elephant. In spite of being very touristy (and pricey: 900 rupees, and make sure you give exact change because you won't be getting any back. Even if you consider this a tip, the guy will still ask for another at the top even though signs say they won't).

Jantar Mantar is AMAZING! Basically you can see all sorts of things about time, longitude, latitude, hemispheres, zodiac, etc. It was a ton of fun.

Here are some photos!

Obstacle on the way

Our beautiful room

and bathroom

Amber Fort

Try to guess what each of these shapes are!

Elephant trunk

A fish

Lion's tail

Cobra heads

Scorpion

Crab

Flower!

Pink City

Jantar Mantar: playground for all ages. This is the giant sun dial

Funny enough, although everything else went well, our poor driver was dealt the final straw which unhinged him: his phone was stolen.

Our way back to Delhi got weirder and weirder until finally he ended up speeding up and then suddenly slowing at random. He even stopped to help another car which we thought was nice until he started tailing them to make sure they were okay. We stopped four or five times. Finally, we got to Delhi and right on the outskirts we went around the car and saw in the rear view that it had stopped again. Instead of conceding that they could call the police to help or even that he couldn't go backwards, he started to drive slow while other cars raced around him. He did this for ten minutes, constantly searching for the car, before we finally said that we were ready to head to the hotel. Again, while he was being really nice, he was doing it in such a way that made it dangerous...

Plus we had been in the car for a total of twelve hours in a 24 hour period and we were pretty tired.

Anyway, hope this was entertaining!

Welcome to the Golden Triangle: Let's start with Delhi

It's been a busy couple of weeks! I've only just settled in nicely at the Pink House in the foothills of the Himalayas and gotten into a routine of yoga (which I am horrendous at) and figuring out how to cook without non-stick pans... Food really clings to steel! I'll delve into my living space the next post but for now I'll detail my first few days back in India.

I actually used to live in Calcutta (now Kolkata), New Delhi, and Madras (now Chennai) and have lived in the states the same amount of time as I've lived in India. Actually, my staying here for a couple months might put India back in the lead!

I was six years old when I first moved to Delhi and I just loved it. I went to AES (American Embassy School; Go Falcons!) and my best friends were an American adopted from Bangladesh, a French/British mix, a French/Japanese mix, and a girl from Namibia. One of my friends had a camel and a deer and two of them lived in these farm houses that used to be on the outskirts of town and were just HUGE. I was in Delhi for four years and I was so incredibly bitter and angry when I had to move back to the states for a few years because my dad was posted back.

I moved to Chennai when I was fourteen and I ended up falling in love with it as well. During my time at AISC (American International School Chennai; Go Raptors!), I actually got to go back and visit Delhi a couple of times with friends or because of sports tournaments. I have to admit, it didn't match up to my childhood memory. It's amazing what can change in four years, especially with such a developing city as New Delhi. However, despite not enjoying it as much, I didn't actively start to dislike it until I went back my first year of college. I was visiting a couple of friends and we ended up going to a mall whereupon we were followed by a pack of men. We weren't dressed at all provocatively and we were doing nothing to draw attention to ourselves. It was pretty uncomfortable. Now, I'm not saying that this doesn't happen elsewhere and, to be fair, this was pretty mild compared to what I've experienced in the past, but it was just so blatant. It was in the middle of the day, in a supposedly nice place and it just struck a wrong note with me.

Add the fact that Delhi has expanded outward instead of upward and suddenly Delhi becomes not only uncomfortable for female travelers but quite a trial to navigate through. Taking a took took/auto rickshaw from one area of the city to another can take an hour at times, perhaps more with traffic.

Since Delhi is such a hub, it made sense to travel there from Hong Kong and then go to the mountains. We stayed at Hotel New Hindustan International and arranged for an airport pickup from them. It was harrowing but manageable. The hotel was a complete disappointment. Don't go. There are cheaper places for the quality we had and there are places on par with better facilities. The bed was fine but the bathroom was pretty grimy. It did have hot water but the wi-fi that made the hotel so appealing didn't even work.

On arrival, the nicest person we met didn't even seem to work for the hotel! He was actually affiliated with this travel agency:

Bridge the World Tours and Travels Delhi

Bridge the World Website

He ended up sending a car for us the next day to ferry us to the agency. Despite the manager being a bit pushy and constantly babbling about wonderful India where anything is possible and you can travel anywhere for a decent price, it ended up working out. We got a package deal for an AC car to go from Delhi to Agra, Agra to Jaipur, stay in Jaipur for a night, and then Jaipur back to Delhi before going on to Himachal Pradesh. It ended up costing a total of 22,000 rupees which we thought was worth it seeing as how everything was pretty booked by that point, transportation wise, and a separate car from Delhi to HP would have been 7,000 rupees anyway. Apparently this is the time for Indians to go on holiday so most of the cheap transport is a fight to get tickets for since the students are off for the summer.  Also, he started the pricing at 30,000 rupees but after I repeatedly stated that my boyfriend is a student and I WAS a teacher, it became quite clear that we were not rolling in the cash-monies and he ended up relenting. I'm sure we still ended up getting cheated but not as badly as we would have originally.

While we were a little a little unsure about the agency at first, the manager ended up being quite helpful and got a driver to help us figure out ATM stuff. Afterward, he dropped us off at Sarojini Nagar. This is one of the most popular street markets in Delhi and it has all sorts of clothes and little shops. I also FINALLY had masala dosa again =) This is actually a south Indian breakfast food but you can find it most places in the north (except for where I'm at now...).

We also ended up going to Palika bazaar in Connaught Place, which is the sketchier, underground version of Sarojini Nagar. En route in an auto, the first taste of the monsoon appeared and we were literally pelted from all sides. Seeing as how I had my Nikon D7000 with me, I was not keen on having it soaked so we bore the brunt of the damage. Monsoon rains in India are no joke! The drops are literally the size of coins and there's usually no warning that the tempest is about to start. It's almost like there's an off/on switch and some sadistic little child was put in control of it.

Our auto driver kept whooping at the buckets of water that came drenching down, which added to the ridiculousness of the experience.

That's the India Gate in the background, passed it on the way!

Anyway, we waited for the torrent to abate under the white colonial looking columns and buildings of that form the circle of Conaught Place. Once it stopped as abruptly as it began, we headed to the seedy Palika bazaar. You can find anything from pirated movies to other sorts of electronics and clothes. It had an air of shady dealings all around.

After this, we headed to Vasant Vihar/Basant Lok since I remembered there being a TGIFridays which I went to when it opened in the mid-90s. When we arrived, we found that the McDonalds which has turned me off of mayonnaise for life was still there! They used to lather it on and it would fill up about half of the chicken burger... Also, apparently TGIF was closed/relocated. We ended up finding this nice Italian place in the area.

Getting back to our hotel was not too fun. It ended up being 150 rupees (one guy was trying to charge 200/300!) and luckily someone was able to translate and explain where it was.

That's about it for our time in Delhi. Pretty disappointing overall. I think it's more fun to live there when you have a comfortable means of transportation and are familiar with everything. Everything has changed so much that I lost that familiarity. Sorry if this was not the most entertaining of posts!  

Hello, India: Visas, Hotels, and Plane Tickets, Oh My!

My life has finally come together again. After the amount of venting and crazy that came out in the last post, everything just happened within a couple of days. I guess that's how it is supposed to work. I have gone from such a low low to such a high high and it feels great. Barring the ordinary stress that comes with moving, e.g. packing, making sure I repair all the holes in the walls and get my security deposit back, etc, I am feeling pretty good about my circumstances.

Before I launch into what's happening and to give anyone details about visa stuff to India, I just want to say: X-Men First Class is a must-see. I saw it a couple of days ago and it blew me away. It's better than a ton of movies I've seen recently. I don't know if it's just me but I feel like the pacing is off in a lot of films coming out these days. They're really slow in some parts, then rushed in the next and there's no real build up or depth. X-Men did not suffer from this at all and I'd highly recommend people go see it!

Frankenstein's Monster (GREAT SONG)  (also, I don't know why it bothers some people so much when people say Frankenstein instead of Frankenstein's monster... Seems like a strange pet peeve!)

Anyway, so last Thursday, I found out I couldn't go where I originally wanted to go. In a way this was incredibly relieving. The hardest part of what was happening in my life was that I was powerless. Until I found out one way or another where I would end up, I couldn't even begin planning anything. Well, after getting the axe, I immediately launched into plan B and tried to find as many cheap one way flights as I could to India. Since I'm not sure about when I'm leaving (barring the three month visa deadline), I thought it best to wait to buy an exit ticket.

I first looked on Student Universe since it has pretty low cost tickets. Then I went on Fare Compare. Originally prices listed in Student Universe were cheaper but on Friday, it switched. I was conflicted between $380 flights that routed through Dhaka but had ridiculous layovers versus more expensive but more convenient flights. I ended up deciding on a $450 flight through Singapore that only has a 2 hour layover. Plus it's with Singapore airlines which is one of the nicest airlines in the world!

After getting the ticket, I went about looking for hostels/hotels in Delhi. I ended up finding nice ones through Hostel World and Hostel Bookers (both sites are terrific, but make sure to compare!).

After making a booking, I set about researching the whole visa process. Apparently India has been cracking down on what I imagine to be hippies outstaying their welcome (Cartman would be thrilled) and the way they are doing this is to restrict the flexibility of tourist visas. I don't mean to say that it's difficult or even frustrating to get one, but it is probably best to know the limitations before applying.

Since I applied in Hong Kong, the Indian Consulate actually outsourced their visas to another company:

Quoprro

They are located in East Tsim Tsa Tsui (TST).

Here is the tourist visa information for Hong Kong residents who have had their residency for more than two years:

You can apply for a 3 month tourist (what I did) or a 6 month (it seems to say you can) or shorter amount of time visa that is single entry. While you are in India, you may not apply for an extension or change the type of your visa. Once your time limit is up, you:

a) have to leave India

b) can't reapply for at least two months afterwards

Basically, on the site that I gave the link to, you fill out the form and then print it out. This form actually lets you click on one year multiple entry BUT that is wrong. I filled out two forms, one with the one year and one with the three month, just in case. I ended having to use the three month. Apparently the one year was reserved for business visas.

Also, if you have NOT lived in Hong Kong for two years with a residency, then you also need a personal particulars form. This is extremely easy since the form on the site just compiles everything in a PDF and you just click on the bottom. I will say that, just in case, I did print out a personal particulars  form and they took it along with my actual application.

So in addition to the form, you need to bring a photocopy of your HK ID and your passport as well as your passport. I went in the afternoon but I heard that if you go in the morning before 10am, they will actually be able to give you your visa at 5:30pm that same day. When I went, they told me the next day. Pick up time for visas is apparently 5:30-6:00pm. Also, there wasn't much of a line or wait, so it was pretty efficient and straightforward. It ended up costing HKD500 and something for everything.

My boyfriend has not been a HK resident for more than two years, so he had to go the longer route. For American citizens, clearance has to be gotten from the American Embassy before this company can process the visa. They say it takes five working days but I overheard one guy trying to negotiate for a bit less. It cost a bit over HKD600 for him but he didn't have to pay the whole thing in one go. It was about HKD300 per session. He actually got to take his passport home but when he is supposed to call and see when he can come in so the company can process the visa. When the green light is given, he needs to bring his passport and the remaining money. Then it seems that it will take around the same amount of time as mine.

We're in a bit of a time crunch since they're not open on the weekends and we go to Macau on Monday (luckily, he can get in with his HK ID) and don't get back until late on Tuesday and then Wednesday we're moving and dealing with the gas people coming to look at our meter. The gas company is the only company that needs this so since we're leaving on Thursday, the gas guy is going to swing around at 5:30 and then we have to get to the company to pay the bill before they close and we have to leave Hong Kong. Since they have that pickup rule, the only time we can do this is tomorrow, Friday. Wish us luck!

So that's the basic process! Sorry if this was a bit dull to get through but I'm just so relieved that I feel the need to share.

Timeline:

Thursday find out bad news.

Friday book plane tickets.

Saturday book hotel.

Tuesday (Monday was a holiday) applied for visa

Wednesday received visa and confirmed hotel bookings!

Hopefully everything will turn out! =)