Jaipur (25 Feb, 2011)

I took the train form Agra Cantt RS to Jaipur RS which is far 240 kilometers from each other. I reached to Jaipur at 22.15; however, I had already booked the hotel, Hotel Anshu (Near Tank Phatak, Jaipur 302015, Ph. 3224100, Email. hotelanshu@yahoo.in), 4.5 kilometers from railway station since I traveled at Agra. The rental fee was about Rs 600 per night; moreover, the hotel also provide the sightseeing trip at the tourist attractions around the pink city. I bought the composite ticket Rs 300 which got the discount Rs 200 from normal price. The ticket is included five important tourist attraction such as Amber Fort, Hawa Mahal, Nahagarh Fort, Albert Hall Museum, and Jantar Mantar.

Composite Ticket

I started at Albert Hall Museum is the oldest museum in Jaipur city in Rajasthan state of India. The museum state traditional and culture not only India but also show these from all around the world.

Albert Hall Museum

Thereafter, I went to  Jantar Mantar and Hawa Mahal which are located at City palace area. Jantar Mantar  is a collection of architectural astronomical instruments, built by Maharaja (King) Jai Singh II at his then new capital of Jaipur between 1727 and 1734. Moreover, Hawa Mahal, palace of wind, was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai PratapSingh, and designed by Lal Chand Usta in the form of thecrown of Krishna, the Hindu god.

Jantar Mantar

Hawa Mahal

After that I went to Lake Palace and Amber Fort.

Lake Palace 

Amber Fort

Agra (23-24 Feb, 2011)

My trip was started since 23 February, 2011. I flighted from Bangalore International Airport to Indira Gandhi International Airport which is located at New Delhi. Although the airport provided the city transportation such as bus, metro, and taxi., all public transportation are available until 22.00. My flight reached to there at midnight, so I had to catch the prepaid taxi to the destination which was the railway station. It is quite evident that I planed to visit Taj Mahal and Agra Fort at Agra city which is far from New Delhi 188 kilometers by train which the train started at was Hazrat nizamuddin RS at 6.00 on 24 February. The train reached to Agra Cantt RS at 9.10; thereafter, I booked a cabs for sightseeing trip at Taj Mahal, Ara Fort, and Markets which was about Rs 650 from 9.10 to 17.00. The Taj Mahal entrance fee is about Rs 510 for SARRC & BIMSTEC Country which included Thailand and Rs 750 for the others.

Taj Mahal entrance fee

Ticket for SARRC and BIMSTEC country

Moreover, the government tourist bureaucracy also provided a guide in order to give informations for the particular place which charged Rs 1,950 for foreigner and Rs 750 for Indian. Taj Mahal was constructed with white mable which is the finest expression of love of an emperor for his queen situated on the banks of the river Yamuna, 3 kilometers from Agra Cantt RS. Moreover, it was built byMughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his queen Mumtaz Mahal, in1632.

I took two hours to visit and enjoy with the beautiful Taj Mahal. Thereafter, I went to Agra Fort which was far from Taj Mahal around  2.5 kilometers. Agra Fort is masterpiece for design and construction, was build by the great Emperor Akbar in 1565 A.D. The entrance fee for Agra Fort is Rs 250 and Rs 50 for entrance tax.

The Golden Triangle and Valley of Gods (Planning)

The plan is 8 days 7 nights for Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and Manali. To begin with I booked the ticket and plan for the particular places as following. First of all, Flight from Bangalore on 23 Feb, 2011 from Bangalore International Airport (BLR) to Indira Gandhi International Airport (DLE) for 2:45 hrs.

                The train leaves from H Nizamuddin Railway Station (Delhi) at 6.00 and reaches to Agra Cantt Railway Station (Agra) 9.15 on 24 February. In the evening, the train leaves from Agra Cantt RS at 17:40 to Jaipur RS (Jaipur) at 22:15 in the same day. Finally, the train leaves from Jaipur RS at 00.50 to Delhi RS at 6:25 on 26 February.  Moreover, I booked the second air-conditioning class for whole trip.

Another transportation is the bus. I booked the bus to Manali from 27 Feb to 2 Mar, 2011, and it also took time 14 hrs per trip. 

The Golden Triangle and Valley of Gods

Before I am going to Thailand, I have planned to visit the Golden Triangle of India. The Golden Triangle consists of three important cities of India which are Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. Besides, I also visit the upper north of India which is called Manali or Valley of Gods.

 Delhi is the capital city of India and also the central of trading of the South Asia. Indira Gandhi International Airport is the main airport of Delhi which is far from the city around 23 kilometers and is also divided into terminal 1 for domestic airline and terminal 3 for international and some domestic airline which both far from each other 6 kilometers; otherwise, the airport also provide inter terminal coach for the passenger who would like to transit to the other flight. Passengers can entrance the city through metro, airport bus, and taxi. It is quite evident that Delhi has a lot of tourist attractions such as Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Raj Ghat, Purana Qila, India Gate, Akshardham Temple, Humanyun’s Tomb, Lotus Temple, and Qutb Minar.

Agra is far from Delhi 188 kilometers. Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful palaces and also be categorized in Seven Wonders of the World. Another tourist place is Agra Fort which is far from Taj Mahal 2.5 kilometers. 

Jaipur or Pink city is far from Agra 240 kilometers and from Delhi 307 kilometers. It is quite evident that there is many tourist attraction which were made from pink stone such as Amber Fort, Hawa Mahal and Nahargarh Fort, and the other tourist attractions are Albert Hall Museum, Lake Palace, and Jantar Mantar.

Goa (31 Dec, 10 - 2 Jan 11)

     To begin with, I had an opportunity to travel at Goa for three days between 31 December 2010 to 1 January 2011. Goa is India's smallest state which is located in South West Indian and also connect to Arabian sea. It is quite evident that Goa is very popular for new year celebration, many Indian and foreigner went to there to this particular event. In the same way, celebration for the new year is also one purpose of my trip.
     First of all, I started the trip at 0.00 at Bangalore and reached to Goa to 12.00 p.m. on Friday 31 December, 2010. To my mind, Goa is far from Bangalore around 650 kilometers as a result of 12 hours for traveling. Thereafter, I searched for the hotel and went to Baga beach in order to celebrate for changed year to 2011. This beach was very crowd with Indian and foreigner. There had many pub and restaurant along the beach, and many people enjoyed along the beach. When New Year coming, a lot of firecrackers were burned and flied onto the air for an hour.
     On Saturday 1 January, 2011, I went to Goa's Old Light House, elected in 1864, which is the oldest kind of its in Asia. Moreover, it was surrounded by Fort Aguada which is built by Portuguese in early of the 17th century to guard against the Dutch and the Marathas, and also was used as a reference point for the ships coming from Europe as the shape was extended into the sea. In the evening, I had dinner at Old Goa on the cruise for an hour. The cruise schedule is 6.00pm, 7.00pm, and 8.15pm; moreover, the price was Rs 150 per person. I enjoyed with music and dance performing on the cruise along the trip. On the next day, I went to old catholic church at Old Goa, and it was also the place for Archaeological survey of India. Finally, I caught the car come back to Bangalore and reached to there at 11.30am on 2 January, 2011.

<==HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011==>

Goa, South West India

Baga Beach

Baga Beach

Baga Beach

Fort Aguada

Old Light House & Fort Aguada

Cruise @Old Goa

Church @Old Goa