Old Delhi

After or visit to Jama Mashid, we head off to the Red Fort where we had a great Indian lunch in a very nice restaurant in the Fort gardens. Food was delicious; we had spicy rice, chicken and paneer served in beautiful bronze plates. We enjoyed the Red Fort very much. It was very pleasant to walk in the gardens along the palaces. A big group of students found us looking at them and they called us to pose with them in their pictures. We had thousands of pictures taken with them.

Then we decided to explore Chandni Chowk in search of the Indian bazaars with spices and silver and all the nice things I had read. A guy in a rickshaw found us lost in the middle of the crowd he asked us if we wanted to go to the spices market. We felt relief that we did not have to find the way ourselves, so said yes and sat quite amused in the rickshaw. He took a picture of Borja driving the rickshaw and Julian and I sitting behind, and then he drove us all the way down the road to tell us at the very end that the spice market was closed because it was Sunday. The driver was so nice and smiley, that I could not feel annoyed with him. I could not help but think of how difficult life must be for a rickshaw driver. I think he was happy with the rupees I gave him, but still he chased us for over one hour while we were walking through the Muslim street shops, asking us if we wanted to visit other places of interest. Julian was tired and felt like going back to the hotel and rest, but Borja and I were fascinated, and although we were also exhausted, and the Muslim street shops were not what we expected to see, we did not want to miss a thing so we kept walking along the street looking everything at every single shop. Julian was very patient, I must say. We passed by some interesting places though, like two men behind a counter in the middle of the street filling plastic colorful cups with water for the people passing by. We also found some marble stairs leading to a temple, and in the entrance many Indians washed their feet in the running water to prepare for prayer.

After our visit to the Old Delhi, we met Jitu and Mrinalika in a fancy shopping center where we had dinner and a great time with them both. I suppose it is still difficult for them to understand why we enjoy the Old Delhi much more that any modern and fancy shopping center, but it was interesting to see the contrast. It was hard to believe that we were still in the same city. Then we went back to the hotel to get ready for our visit to Agra the next day.

Jama Mashid, Old Delhi

I was very surprised to know that our Indian friends living in Delhi for several months now, still had not visited the Old Delhi, but then I realized that I have not visited many of the touristic places in Madrid neither, although I lived there most of my life. It seems you need to be a foreigner to be interested in the history of a place.
The Old Delhi was the most crowded place I have visited. We took a cab to Jama Mashid, and he dropped us on the other side, so we had to practice our crossing Indian roads skills to reach there. The Mosque is built in a high ground, so to enter you need to climb up quite a few steps. It is very impressive to find it then. A few men were handing clothes to men and women to cover themselves in the entrance. Borja was wearing shorts, so he had to tie a piece of cloth around his waist. I was lucky that I was dressing Indian, so the man let me in. I think they appreciate the fact that I dress Indian, however, even if I do not open my mouth, most of the people can tell right away that I am from Spain . How is this possible?

Jama Mashid in Delhi is probably the most beautiful Mosque I have ever seen. We found a few people praying along the corridors, but it seem that at that very moment most of the people were families enjoying their visit just like ourselves. I suppose it was not praying time.

I remember many kids running to get in front of us to have their picture taken by Julian. They did not ask for money or pens or anything, they were just happy posing and seeing themselves in the screen. We walked every single corner of the Mosque, and then climbed up the minaret where we discovered a magnificent view of the old city. The way up to the top was a very narrow corridor of steep steps with hardly enough space for two people, one coming down and another going up. Every time we met someone, we needed to step back and lean against the wall. It was quite an experience! Once at the top, we realized that the air was dusty, and although there was quite a lot of visibility, Julian wished the sky was bluer for his pictures. It is not easy to be a photographer!



Pics of Delhi

Our first day in Delhi

We arrived in Delhi at noon. I had forgotten to confirm our arrival, so nobody came to pick us up. I called the hotel but they advised us to take a cab to Karol Bagh and call them again from there there so that they could send someone to bring us to the hotel. So that is what we did. Julian, me and two big suitcases were dropped around two in the evening in a very busy road, with several street shops behind us selling crash helmets and other sports gear. A tall guy from the hotel came to greet us, took our suitcases and guided us towards the hotel. I remember that there was no footpath and we had to follow him almost in the middle of the traffic. At one point, one auto-rickshaw was coming towards us and our tall guy stopped walking and stood there giving him a challenging look that made the rickshaw stopped suddenly, thank goodness!

When we arrived to the hotel we asked for Borja who came down to meet us with a big smile. We later learned that he just went for a short walk along the hotel street and had not eaten much since the day before. The truth is that the street was not the best. It had no pavement, there were people sleeping in the street and cows passing by. A big shock for Borja who was new to India and arrived to the hotel the night before all by himself.

The hotel was modest but it was clean. We were surprised to find that the people working at the hotel slept on the floor right below ours.

We first went to meet Vikas, our travel agent, that took the occasion to ask us a few questions about how to best structure an AdWords account. His office was in the same roof as his house I believe, I think it was his children playing in the front yard when we were walking into the office. He looked like a nice guy to me, he told us it was his birthday and he just turned 38. We also met Rinku, our driver, that same day. We arranged to meet him in two days to head off to Agra and Rajasthan. Rinku dropped us in the metro station. Vikas adviced us to do so if we wanted to meet Jitu on time, because the traffic was crazy and it would take us very long to go by taxi. Delhi is amazingly huge.

We were very impressed by the security measures at the metro station. If it wasn't that is was way too crowded, we would have thought we were at the airport. We bought a bottle of water but were unsure if we should drink it so we did not. Now I think it was probably perfectly safe, but we had a long trip ahead of us and did not want to take the risk.

We found Jitu in the train station about 45 minutes later. We were starving then, so he drove us to a Pizza hut restaurant nearby. After lunch it was already getting dark, so Jitu took us to Khan Market, one of the expats favorite places he told us. I liked it too. It is a square full of shops, most of them for fabrics, sarees, stoles... and we did some shopping of course. We bought bangles and stoles, and the guys when to a tailor to have a shirt made. Jitu was so friendly and nice to us.

Then we went for dinner to a very fancy restaurant in a very nice part of the city, I do not remember the name. The menu had many dishes from different countries, I remember there were Spanish dishes too. We sat at a table in beautiful garden, very nicely decorated with candlelit and Halloween pumpkins. The temperature dropped a little and when we finished our dinner we had a nice tea inside.

Then we went back to the hotel to get enough sleep and get ready for a full day in the Old Delhi...

Hyderabad

Hyderabad is one of my favorite cities in the world. Probably because three years ago I spent an unforgettable 14 weeks, thanks to my company that sent me there as part of kind of an exchange program. The best thing in India is its people, this I discovered during my first trip to India. During my second visit I was again surprised by the warm-hearted, friendly and welcoming Indians.

Three years ago I spent most of my weekends traveling all over India, there are so many interesting places to see that I did not want to miss any. But still I did manage to spend some weekends in Hyderabad, with Maya, my best friend. I have many good memories about the times we spent together, chatting sitting by her lovely terrace, going shopping for sarees and fabrics, going for a drive on her motorbike... I did not believe my eyes when I found myself in Maya's house again. It felt like going back in time, as if nothing had change.

We had a great lunch with Maya, Satish and Satish's parents. I loved to see Maya cook roti, and we so much enjoyed eating that tasty, amazing food with our hands.

Hyderabad is not very touristic, you only see one foreigner here and there occasionally. These are the expats that work for companies such as Google, Microsoft, etc in the High Tech City in Hyderabad. This is one of the reasons I find Hyderabad so attractive.

We also spent a memorable evening with Kavitha and her family in Secunderabad. They cooked a great meal for us, I found it very cute that they made food less spicy in our honor. We so much enjoyed spending time with these great people!

These are the places we visited in this my second visit to Hyderabad, that are highly recommended:

Charminar, mosque of the four minarets, is the most popular monument in Hyderabad. The Charminar area is a great place for shopping bangles, super colorful and packed with people. It is fascinating to walk the streets looking at the street vendors selling bangles, sarees, colorful fabrics. This last time I was glad that Maya was with us guiding us through the crowd. I loved it! We felt there was way too many things going on around us. It was difficult to look everywhere for not to miss anything, and at the same time watch out for auto-rickshaws, cars and people passing by.

I read that Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah, ruler of the city, moved the capital from Golkonda fort to Hyderabad, due to a water shortage. Then he built Charminar to thank God for the end of a plague epidemic in the city. Quoting wikepedia, in 1591 while laying the foundation of Charminar, Quli prayed: "Oh Allah, bestow unto this city peace and prosperity. Let millions of men of all castes, creeds and religions make it their abode, like fish in the water." Today one can see the city as evidence of the prayer being answered. And it is true. I am very much impressed by how well Indians from all different religions live together in Hyderabad.

It is possible to go upstairs, I did it three years ago. You need to go early because they close at 5:00pm. The view from the top is worth the visit, only if you are not claustrophobic and do not mind going up very narrow stairs with people going up and down the stairs at the same time.

Thanks to Maya, this time we did not miss the visit to Jama Masjid, that is so close to Charminar and also worth a visit. Here most of the nizams (the Muslim marahajas) are buried, and there is a bench build with stone from the Mecca where you need to sit if you want to return to Hyderabad.

After our visit to Jama Masjid I could not resist buying bangles. There are bangle shops everywhere, super shiny and colorful. Now I regret that I was not in shopping mode that day, because around Charminar you can find all the things I love: salwar kameez, sarees, kurtas, fabrics, bangles, earrings, necklaces... at a very good price, specially when shopping with an Indian friend.




Golkonda Fort is a very nice fort a few kilometers outside the city, also worth a visit. I read after the visit that Golkonda was the place were the Kohinoor, one of the biggest diamonts in the world, was found. It is a pity that the diamond was cut in three pieces and now is decorating the crown of the Queen of England. Many famous diamonds were also found in the mines of Golkonda.

When entering the fort, by the main gates, there is a spot where if you clap your hands, it can be heard up to the citadel, which is on top of a hill 90m high.

Upstairs it is lovely, with views to all the city and the countryside around it, very peaceful. Julian and I stayed up in the citadel until the sunset. Thousands of swallows flying in the air made the moment even more special.

In the afternoons they do a light show in the fort narrating the history of the city. I was told it is very much worth it. Unfortunately we did not have the time and had to leave it for our next trip.

Birla temple is another special place in Hyderabad. I was told there is a Birla temple in almost every city in India, but according to my Indian friends, the one in Hyderabad is the nicest. Probably because it has views to the city and the the Hussain Sagar lake. Birla temple is a big hindu temple in marble, with amazing carvings in the marble. A place to visit during sunset. You need to take your shoes off and can walk in the many marble floor terraces. The temple has several marble statues of Ganesha and other Hindu deities. It is a pity you are not allowed to take pictures inside, hope the memory of the place stays with us for very long.

Necklace road around the Hussain Sagar lake is also a favorite. Aravind Adiga said in his book 'White tiger' that cities in India have not been built for people to walk. I felt kind of this way while in Hyderabad. This is why I liked the Necklace road, because it is a very nice walk along the Hussain Sagar lake, maybe one of a few. This time our walk was not that pleasant because the lake brought a bad smell. Maya explained to us that Diwali happened a few days back, and during Diwali Indians trow poojas (offerings) to lakes that end up smelling nasty. A pity because I recalled this walk a very nice one during the summer.

Back from India!

I just arrived from my second visit to India. We have spent 3 weeks visiting friends in Hyderabad, and then traveling to Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Ajanta, Ellora and Mumbai. The trip was wonderful, and although I am not a big blogger, I have decided I will spend the next few days posting about it to share it with you. So if you are a fan of India too, stay tuned! :-)

Bhangra dancers

Last saturday we went to the festival of world cultures in Dun Laoghaire just to see the Bhangra dancers for Punjab. There were many Indians around us, but I was surprise to find that only a few moved a little bit with the beat. Bhangra beat is so contagious, everytime I listen to this music I feel like dancing; I just wish I knew how to! Julian is not into Indian music as much as I am, but he was very nice to accompany me, and made some nice pics and a video that I will play a thousand times until I learn the steps. Just wonder... do girls dance the same way? I hope so, otherwise I will learn to dance like a guy :-) I think Bhangra music is one of the most cheerful and fun music in the world.

Shopping in Hyderabad

We have just started planning our trip to India, and this afternoon I went through all my 'souvenirs' (including monument tickets, city maps, receipts...) to make a list of places I loved we should not miss.

These are my favorites for kurta shopping:

FABINDIA
Uma Enclave Road, No. 9 Banjara Hills, Hyderabad 500 034


This store was one of the expats' favorites. They have kurtas but also bed linen and table linen, etc. I loved the kurtas, however I found that the cotton was thicker than in other places, so not that good for the hot season. I just found that they have a nice website and an online store that delivers to Spain but not to Ireland :(. This is the store: http://www.fabindia.com/

SOMA SHOP
7-1-22/4 Begumpet, Off Begumpet Flyover - 500 016

This store is in a very nice house with a cute garden. They sell very nice kurtas made of very nice fabrics with designs stamped on ink. Fabrics are very good quality, the cotton is fantastic and the colors do not run. Prices are higher than in the other stores.

COTTON INDIA
Road No. 12, Pizza Hut Road
Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500 034

Shopping here is a wonderful, super Indian experience. The fabrics they sell are lovely, although the stitching was not that good (at least back in 2006). They have beautiful fabrics to make saris and salwar kameez, all very colorful. The prices are great too.

GURJARI
1st floor, Hotel Sarovar Complex,
5-9-22 Secretariat Road, Hyderabad

This place had very nice things from Gujarat, not only clothes but bags, bedspreads, and many handcrafts. The prices are great. They also sell fabrics at wonderful prices.

MOHAN BROTHER'S LUCKNOW FASHIONS
3-4-429, Near Jagannath Temple,
General bazar, Sec'bad-3

This shop I found while walking in General Bazar by myself. I saw a beautiful colorful cotton salwar kameez hanging by the door of the store, and I could not resist to go inside. I heard myself asking for fabrics and I finally bought a beautiful one and had it stitched only four days later, all for 350 rupees!. They did a great job, it fitted perfectly. If we go to General Bazar this year, I would look for this store.