My Journeys In India: Delhi

Do you know? .... World's largest book that weighs 800 Kg?, one of the world's largest Hindu temple complex?, World's tallest brick minaret?, World's 13th largest metro that covers 193 Kms?, Irol Pillar that weighs 6 Ton and corrosion resistant since 402 CE ?, Every bus run on Compressed Natural Gas?...are all in Delhi. Read on.....

First of all, I would like to Thank each one of you for the support, encouragement and continuous feedback on all my blogs. Keep sharing with your friends and relatives and let everyone know these places in India.

Capital of India, an union territory and bordered by the states Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttarpradesh. Seem to have the highest population in India next to Mumbai and World's second largest urban area covering 1500 square kilometers. Temperatures may vary from 2 degree to 45 degree Celsius. From March to October are hot months, June, July are rainy, November to February are cold. During December and January there are chances of heavy fog. Best season is to visit between September to November.

Historically very rich and inhabited since 6th Century, there are multiple monuments of interest. Though there are numerous places to see, I have covered only the important places. But listed all places here for your reference with Map links.

Other nearby places that you can plan - Visit my blogs for photos and details

Destination	Distance From Delhi	Details
Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, Taj Mahal	225 Kms	Need 1 to 2 hours for both places
Mathura	161 Kms	On the way to Agra, Need 45 minutes to 1 hour. One of 108 Divya Desam temples, Birthplace of Lord Krishna
Vrindavan	155 Kms	On the way to Agra, Need 1 hour, One of 108 Divya Desam temples
Jaipur and Nearby places	270 Kms	Need minimum of 2 to 5 days based on your interest
Haridwar	215 Kms	Need minimum of 2 days
Rishikesh	235 Kms	25 Kms from Haridwar, Need minimum of 2 days

Note: Shortly I plan to cover Vrindavan, Mathura, Agra, Haridwar and Rishikesh in an exclusive blog with photos. Visit again.

Jaipur and nearby places - Visit my blog here - Jaipur Forts Palaces Shopping Food and Places Nearby

Agra, Mathura, Gokul, Nandagaon, Barsana and Vrindavan - Visit my blog here - I have covered all the places, photos with tips to plan and map.

Blog on Haridwar and Rishikesh - Lots of photos and Aarti Video

Important Places In Delhi (Click the Map links)

Redfort
ISKCON Temple - World's biggest Bhagwat Gita book
Akshardham - Unique watershow and one of world largest temple complex
Lakshmi Narayan Mandir
India Gate and war memorial
Rastrapati Bhavan and Museum inside
Qutb Minar Complex
Agrasen ki baoli - Step well
Lotus Temple or Bahai house of worship
Raj Ghat - Gandhi memorial
Chhatarpur Temple
Dilli Haat - Exhibition and Trade Centre

Some major shopping places

Planning tips

You need at least two full days to see all the places listed in this blog. Plan accordingly. We have used the local taxi from hotel to visit all these places. There are other options as well, see below.

You can use HoHo Volvo A/C bus service to see all the places. Visit http://hohodelhi.com/ for all details. You need to start from one of the pickup point, pay for one day or two day options. Every monument or place of interest has a bus stop, where this bus will stop. Every 40 minutes the bus comes and stop at this place and you can board / get down. Take your own time to visit the places and hop on again.

You must visit Akshardham for sure, that too plan towards evening or afternoon and stay till the water show by 7:00PM. Visit this link for more details. So plan to spend the evening here. Minimum of 4 to 5 hours expected. You may need to keep all your belongings in a cloak room. Mobile, camera...etc not allowed. See their website for more details. Watershow is something very unique here. Multi-color lasers, video projections, underwater flames, water jets and surround sound in symphony with lights and live actors make this really very exciting. There are so intricate carvings, ornate pillars, multi-layered intricate ceilings.... Oh My God..... Am I living in 3rd century ? ...... Really superb. All made of Marble, Sandstone and Granite. DON'T MISS THIS PLACE !!!

You must also visit ISKCON temple to get blessings of Lord Radha Krishna and the world's largest sacred book - 800 Kg measuring 2.8 meter by 2 meter. They turn one page a day. The page is so huge and you must see it. This has received World Book of records. Apart from this, you also get to see Bhagawat Gita animatronics, Ramayana, Mahabharat, Bhagavatam puranam exhibits which is special.

There is a map below under India Gate section, that shows you all the places in map. Check that without fail. Zoom to see it clear.

About our trip

We planned a 5 nights - 6 day tour that covers Delhi, Agra, Mathura + Vrindavan on the way to Agra, Haridwar and Rishikesh during October. Yes, it was so tight and very hectic. We realized late that we needed one additional day. Please read my other blogs on Mathura, Vrindavan, Agra, Haridwar and Rishikesh.

Day 1: We reached Delhi at round 10:45AM. We checked in and had a Chai (Tea). Took the help of Hotel for the local sightseeing taxi. After a small break, started our tour with the Lunch. After Lunch, we thought we shall visit Redfort and reached there. But after looking at the big queue, we took a decision to leave. Took few selfie from outside. :-) Saw Raj ghat from outside, again due to the crowd being Gandhi Jayanthi day. Then we headed to ISKCON spent around 2 hours here. Last we reached Akshardham at around 4.30PM. Yes we were late, we advise you to plan the whole noon till late evening here. That day we saw a crowd of close to 20000 people in the temple and close to 1000 cars in parking lot? OMG !! But still temple staff managed the crowd very well. Really appreciate it. Had snacks and dinner there itself inside the temple complex and came out, headed back to hotel.

Day 2: As usual, we got up early and headed towards Vrindavan, Mathura and Agra at last. Yamuna expressway was really cool. We had breakfast on the way. First we visited Vrindavan, next Mathura and then Agra last. At Agra, you have very few options for vegetarians I guess. You need to get used to these North special food items like Batura, Puri. Very few uses wheat, rest uses Maida. You need to walk a lot. We did 10.5 Kms this day overall. Take sunglasses to walk around Taj. View of Taj Mahal from Agra Fort is really cool and you can plan. Due to less time and tiredness we skipped Agra Fort. Visit my exclusive blog with photos for these.

Day 3: Yes, we still did not see the local Delhi. Started with Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in early morning(20 mins). Then headed towards Rashtrapati Bhavan (no entry inside). If you want to visit the museum inside Rashtrapati Bhavan then visit this site and book your tickets in advance. http://rashtrapatisachivalaya.gov.in/rbtour/
After that, we headed towards India Gate (20 mins), Qutb Minar complex(1 hour), Lotus temple(could not go inside due to heavy crowd). We were so hungry by then and it was so hot as well. We went to the Bikanerwala (pure veg option) at Rajiv Gandhi Handicraft Bhavan, Connaught place. You get to see handicraft shops here from all over the Indian states. The food was good but the service was bad though. After this, we headed towards Chandni Chowk. Locals suggested us to take Metro which will take you to the center of the market. Yes Metro was awesome, clean and nice, so cheap as well. But unfortunately the market is too narrow and heavily crowded. We could not buy anything. We tried the famous Parathas from Parathe Wale. But again these Parathas are made of Maida and not wheat (:-

Day 4, 5 and 6:
Headed towards Haridwar by early morning, with the help of taxi again from Hotel. Checked out and started towards Haridwar via Upper Ganga Canal road. Please read my exclusive blogs that has photos and details of these.

We got some time on the way back from Haridwar and spent it on Sarojini Market shopping at Delhi. Children watches, sun glasses(not a real one though), Sandals, Trousers, ladies dress materials are cheaper.

Stay options

Being the capital of India, you have plenty of options, but you need to choose the place which is close to the sightseeing places. If you are driving, then you need parking space in the hotel. Connaught place is one option, but be aware that there are bar, pubs might be there in the same complex as well. For families you may consider accordingly. You can also choose Paharganj which is relatively affordable and close to all places. But few roads are too narrow here. We stayed in Hotel Godwin Deluxe which was good. They helped in arranging the taxi for local sightseeing and outside i.e. Agra, Haridwar as well. Check reviews and choose as you like. I would recommend to choose the taxi from hotel you stay, unless you have reputed contacts for taxi.

Moving onto photos.....

ISKCON Temple