2.29.12: Bhojpur Temple

Bhojpur is located 28KM from Bhopal.  The Bhojpur Temple or Bhojeshwar Temple as people call it is an incomplete temple and house India's largest Shiva Lingam measuring 7.5 feet in height and 17.8 in circumference.  What's a Shiva Lingam you may ask?  According to Luke's aunt, it means organ.  Shiva represents male ergo, Shiva Lingam is male organ.  Interesting no? :)

The Lingam.

Reminders:

• You are only allowed to enter the temple in barefoot.
• Bring umbrella if you wanna walk around the area.  It gets very very hot in the afternoon and there are barely any shades.
• Bring your own food and drinks but keep the area clean.

Entrance Fee:

10 Rupees per person. 

2.29.12: Bhimbetka Cave Paintings

The Bhimbetka Cave Paintings or Bhimbetka Rock Shelters as most call it is located 45 KM South of Bhopal in the Raisen District.  The paintings depicts pre-historic people's daily lives from hunting, battling to dancing.  I saw painting  of people having party and playing drums, elephant, flower and rhino.  It is quite extra ordinary to think that these cave paintings existed.  

Why go to Bhimbetka?  I don't think all cave paintings are available for viewing.  It is very interesting to know and see how prehistoric people lived.  The drive from the entrance is amazing too.  Luke told me that it reminded him of Australia.  It's truly marvelous.  

Can you commute to Bhimbetka?  I don't think so.  It takes 10 minutes or so from the Bhimbetka entrance gate to the actual Rock Shelters.  Parking is free though.
Travel time from upper Bhopal is from 1 - 1.5 hours.

How much is the entance fee?  I can't remember but it's between 10-50 Rupees per person.


Is there any restaurants in Bhimbetka?  No.  I didn't see any toilets too.  The last restaurant and toilet I saw was 1KM away from Bhimbetka entrance gate.


How much time will I spend in Bhimbetka?  With guide, ours was 45 minutes long including taking photos.


Is it worth taking a tour guide?  Definitely!  We paid 150 Rupees each for our guide.  For bigger group I suggest fixing a price.  :)

The view is amazing from here.

Flower, Rhino and Horse.

Horse Ride.

Dance and Drums.

2.28.12: Van Vihar National Park, Bhopal

Van Vihar National Park or Bhopal Zoo as I like to call it is situated in the heart of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.  Most animals can move freely and live in their natural habitats.  Tigers and lions are fenced with big area to move around.  It is free for school, college students and seniors.  We paid 200 Rupees for 3 people to enter in a car.

TIPS:  

• Go between 4:30PM to 5:00PM to witness animal feeding.
• Bring your own food and drinks.  There are no places to buy food until you get to the end of the tour.  Tour takes an hour or so depending on how many photos you wanted to take.  
• Do not miss the white tiger.

ITC Mughal,Agra

ITC Mughal is a luxury 5* hotel located few kilometers away from Taj Mahal.  It boasts 269 rooms with 4 different restaurants - Peshwari, Taj Bano, Mahjong Room and Maikhana.  The place offers swimming pool Taj Mahal viewing deck, mini-golf and a world class spa(with world class price of course!)  :)

Luke and I arrived at 9ish at the hotel.  It was way early for check-in but we asked if it's possible to check-in anyway.  Luckily, the room was available and we were allowed to check-in.

Room:

The room was very comfortable.  Everything looked grand compared to J's Inn.  Mind you, we paid the same price we paid in J's Inn.  Our room was overlooking the garden.  We had cable TV, a clean toilet and bath with ITC's very own  Fiama Di Wills toiletries.  If I have one complain, it has to be the two single beds put together.  Luke and I ended up sleeping on different beds cause it kept on separating in the middle of the night.  :(

TIP:

Don't forget to try their buffet dinner.  For 1,100 Rupees per person, you get excellent food which includes Italian, Chinese and Indian.  It was way cheaper compared to their restaurant food.  Luke and I thoroughly enjoyed our meal.  The staffs are excellent and very polite.  

Everything is made of marble.  Very very grand!

The swimming pool.

2.27.12: Taj Mahal, Agra

This may sound stupid but I thought that Taj Mahal is in Delhi.  I assumed because Delhi is the capital and most capitals have the most popular tourist spots.  This was true for Petronas in KL, Grand Palace in Bangkok, The Parliament and London Eye in London, Eiffel Tower in Paris and Colosseum in Rome.  See, I'm making sense still.  :P

Taj Mahal is located in Agra, a two-hour train journey.  The most comfortable to take is the Bhopal Shatabdi.  The journey starts with a piece of rose.  Yup rose, followed by a liter of bottled water, newspaper and breakfast set.  It is the first stop from Delhi and it can't be missed as most of the tourist get off from this stop.

Agra, according to the locals, is a city of love.  Why?  Shah Jahan have this temple made for his favourite wife who died giving birth to their 14th child.  Shah Jahan was buried next to Mumtaz Mahal when he died, inside the Taj Mahal.  It is available for viewing but not for photo taking.

Opening Days:  Everyday except Friday for prayers.

Entrance Fee:  750 Rupees for foreigners and 20 Rupees for locals

When is best time to go?  Definitely full moon.  But it's good to take photo of the Taj Mahal just before sunset when you can see Taj Mahal's reflection on the water.

Is it worth spending more than a day in Agra?  I don't think so.  Apart from the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, I don't think any place is worth the visit.  Drivers would suggest driving 35ish km but I think that time is better spent elsewhere.

Important Reminders:

• No food or drinks allowed in Taj Mahal.
• Forget tripods.  They don't allow tripod inside Taj Mahal.  Tripods have to be deposited in the nearby lockers.
• No video camera allowed.  You have to have special permit to shoot video.
• Bags are scanned and speculated.
• People entering the premises get inspected too.
• You have to take off your shoes and socks inside the Taj Mahal.

We got lucky with this shot.  Thank you foreign lady!  :)

J's Inn, New Delhi

J's Inn is 15 minutes or so drive away from Indira Gandhi International Airport.  It have 20 rooms with 4 executive suites and by far the worst accommodation we've been in.  The room was dark.  The flush fell when I used it and when I tried to wash my hand, the tap fell into my hands too.  They have the usual hot and cold shower with minimal toiletries.  The bath looked so old it needs refurbishment.  If that's not worse, the door is rotting.  I can't believe that this is what you get for 6,000 Rupees a night in the area far from all the attractions.  Oh I have to add, when we checked out, we found all 3 guys on duty sleeping.  This added to the disappointment of the sad room.

If  there's three good things it's the usual cable TV, complimentary drinks and welcome fruit and the guard who usually helped us in getting a taxi.  I strongly suggest dodging this place.  If you already book, then I hope you didn't pay for the full price.

2.26.12: Karim's Restaurant

Bustling with tourist and locals alike, Karim's must be one of the busiest restaurants in India.  It was situated just a few minutes walk across Jama Masjid in Old Delhi, you have to queue up just to get a seat.  My first thought when the auto dropped us was, this can't be the place.  We almost didn't go as I feared that the auto might have dropped us to the wrong area.  The street looked dodgy and worse of all, you have to go through a small narrow alley before you can get to the restaurant.  It wasn't a long walk but for a paranoid person like me, it felt ages.  Thank God Luke was with me.  We were hungry, he was persistent.  It turns out to be the be one of the best restaurants that we've been in.  We ordered their famous kebab, minced mutton and mutton biryani.  They were delicious, the size ample and very affordable.  Our bill came to less than 500 Rupees.  Definitely money's worth!

Kebab Station.

This was how busy it was when we finished at 3ish PM.

Freshly made breads.

TIPS:

• Come early as Karim's is a very busy restaurant.  It took two people less than 30 minutes to get seats at 2PM.
• Try their kebab as that's what the restaurant is famous for.
• And as a general rule, don't drink tap water.