DEL : The food... Mughlai...

ramai org kata kalau gi india kena jaga bab makan sbb senang sakit perut. and keadaan tempat makan kat sini especially the street food mmg kurang bersih, and sbb kan aku dtg nak keje, malas aku nak try. dah lah tak bersih, kita plak tak tahu halal haram makanan tu. so end up kitaorg makan kat kedai yg nampak sgt for tourist or standard mahal or terus je makan kat hotel (hehehe... aku dtg dpt company allowance, blh la belasah). so aku rasa aku spend on food, mcm lagi mahal dr doha.

when i said tak bersih, imagine lah, korang masuk kfc, tp bau mcm masuk tandas. sbb tandas dia busuk, pintu tak tutup. tak menyelerakan. ooh, talking about kfc - fast food. kfc sini halal. tapi mcdonalds kat delhi tak halal. tp sgt unik. they do not serve beef. cuma ada veggie and chicken. dan serving depa mmg membahagikan veggie and chicken - very strict. pekerja yg deals dgn veggie hanya deals dgn preparation veggie, pakai apron hijau. while the other pakai apron merah. menu dia pun tak banyak. ada few veggies and sgt limited chicken. we've tried the veggie - tak sedap, hehehe... about halal ke tak food kat restaurant. aku tanya colleague aku, kalau makan, tanya dulu. if halal depa akan kata halal, otherwise depa kata tak. oooh kat mcdonalds tu, aku tanya halal ke tak, org tu kata tak. mmg ayam dia tak halal. tp kat hotel2 depa kata halal. menurut kata colleague aku, isu halal haram sgt sensitive kat sana i.e. hindu muslim issue. kalau ada org yg kata halal for items yg tak halal, n kalau dpt tahu by muslims, mmg boleh jadi riot and chaos. so depa ni agak bertanggungjawab, and we believed that. anyway, most hotel and restaurant establishment mmg ada muslim jugak keje, so agak kurang was was.
anyway, one restaurant yg aku specifically recommend is Karim at Jama Masjid. Real Mughlai food. aku g makan sini 2 kali. sekali masa malam. ingatkan tempat ni agak teratur, tp masa kitaorg dtg malam, disebabkan lokasi restaurant ni kat jama' masjid yg hectic and restaurant plak sesak n takut nak balik kalau dah lewat. we decided to ask our tuk tuk to wait and kitaorg tapau je makanan bawak balik umah. seingat aku, the butter chicken was one of the most expensive food (tp comparably sgt murah drpd hotel food lah). so kitaorg ambik the butter chicken. the taste was superb!!!the weekend, kitaorg dtg lagi... n kali ni makan kat restaurant. although nampak mcm not well ventilated plus the susunan meja yg kurang teratur and sempit. kitaorg blh makan dgn selesa. mmg famous kedai ni, aku rasa ramai giler org putih dtg sini, depa jalan kaki or ada tourist guide dtg sama. ada satu food tu, yg kena tunggu dkt 30 minit utk siap... apa ntah grill food tu. i dont remember we had that ke tak. but we had one grilled chicken yg sedap. masakan simple tp full of spices.if you want to go to karim's. tanya je tuk tuk, surely depa tau. if depa tak tau. ask the tuk tuk to go to jama' masjid gate no 1. then ada junction kat depan jama' masjid tu, masuk that junction. karim's is 4-5 kedai on your left. dia tak de signboard besar kat luar, but a small alley masuk ke dalam. kat situ ada karim hotel jugak (masuk je alley tu korang nampak gambar first bawah ni). once korang masuk that small alley, korang akan nampak asap2 dah... n nampak signboard karim's. mmg agak tersorok, but mmg food sedap. (kalau dlm gambar 2nd bawah ni, dia kat bawah canopy color merah tu.)

DEL : Markets... Shopping

ramai yg plan nak dtg india ni utk shopping. yes it is true ada byk brg kat sini utk shop. if u know the quality esp. cloth material. n kena pandai bargain, sbb definitely depa letak harga mahal for tourist. so where to find the shopping places. ni tempat2 yg aku pergi, n am no expert bab shopping ni, sbb dah kawin le tetiba aku g tempat2 ni.

the famous one, i.e.yg aku tau even sebelum ke sana was Chadni Chowk. but bila aku g sana, takde la bagus mana. in fact tak boleh beli pun. aku rasa ini mungkin utk traders beli in bulk. so not for me. location dia ni, as said in previous entry, senang nak sampai. org kata kalau nak shop kat sini kena g the back street, or area masjid or area yg aku naik beca tu... tp cukup lah aku g main street, tak sanggup...
sbb kitaorg dok kat area connaught place, mula2 tu my wife g ke market dekat dlm connaught place - Palika Bazaar. dgn berani nya g sendiri n follow touts, dah lah masa aku keje. nasib baik tak jadi apa2... tp dia kata tempat tu biasa2 je, tp takde lah selesa sgt sbb agak suram. lokasi dia kat bawah connaught place. byk baju2 je kat sini. shawl, pashmina, sari you name it.

then, kitaorg ada gi ke Sarojini Nagar yg buka mlm. yg ni mmg advisable. ada gaya mcm pasar mlm lah jugak. tp byk kedai and brgan ada byk yg dah fixed price. so senang tak payah nak bargain. tp nak ke sini, try dtg naik tuk tuk sbb teksi suka tipu n bawak pusing2 g ke kedai yg dia dpt allowance. tp yg tak best nya, balik agak susah sbb kena naik tuk tuk jugak, n tak byk. plus since tempat ni local pun dtg, so kena rebut2 ngan local lah. tp sbb ada byk local, harga sgt reasonable n murah. choice pun byk. mainly kat sini byk jual kain, baju2, material buat baju. handicraft sgt kurang.

Lepas kitaorg pindah ke hotel imperial, kat depan imperial tu ada jugak bazaar - Janpath Bazaar. disebabkan location Janpath ni agak strategik, dekat dgn hotel-hotel besar. aku rasa ada brg yg harga mahal or at least dia start quote harga mahal. tp kalau dah experience kat bazaar lain, kita blh je minta discount. tp quality barang, agak elok jugak yg kat sini. my wife happy gile bila dah pindah hotel, dia keluar je hotel terus sampai janpath ni. tak payah nak layan touts. kat sini byk handicrafts and decorative pieces utk buat souvenir.

on weekends, ada satu lagi bazaar, Lajpat Nagar. yg ni buka hari ahad je rasanya. mcm sarojini nagar punya style, cuma nya buka siang. byk jugak kedai handicraft selain baju2. nak ke sini kena naik metro pastu kena naik tuk tuk. so susah jugak lah nak sampai. n sbb dia buka only one day a week, agak bz dgn locals. tp good stuff jugak lah.
but if you have very limited time utk shopping and your aim is decorative pieces, handicrafts and souvenir. and malas nak kena kacau ngan touts and malas nak kecoh2 bargain2... go to Dilli Haat. ni aku tak g, my wife g sorang2. mmg kat sini dia buat mcm center tempat org jual handicraft. nak masuk kena bayar, berapa ntah rm2 kot. n sini shopping selesa. wife aku g naik tuk tuk, so aku tak sure mcm mana nak gi sini. rasanya depa ada jugak jual handicrafts yg bawak dr luar area delhi. so u can get almost semua benda dr india kat sini. gambar2 bawah ni, semua gambar masa kat dilli haat. kat pasar2 lain, tak bawak kamera pun. aku rasa dilli haat is a good place to visit. semua dpt hati tenang.
tapi ni semua based on tempat yg aku tau. rasanya kalau dtg mmg nak buat bisnes beli kain, korang mesti tau better.

DEL : Weekend in Delhi

2nd weekend aku kat Delhi ni aku travel dlm delhi je... ada few places yg interesting g tengok especially those UNESCO sites (aku tetiba tahu plak UNESCO sites ni sbb ada member sorang ni hantu UNESCO) and those famous touristic or religion based places... tp among all of these places aku pergi satu dua je, sbb kepanasan cuaca n ketidaklaratan nak berjalan setelah dok 2 minggu kat Delhi ni. kalau dtg utk keje, weekend tu rasa mcm nak berehat je.
aku set saturday for visiting places, while sunday nak g market n shopping mall. tp after breakfast and yoga on saturday kitaorg jalan2 dulu kat shopping area dekat hotel sbb kan susah nak solat bila berjalan, kitaorg plan solat dulu kat hotel br shoot berjalan. since zohor pun 11+ so senang lah. lepas solat, str8 ke Red Fort which located very near to Chadni Chowk. Naik 'metro' ke Chadni Chowk station then walk to the Red Fort which is located at the end of the road. about 10-15 mins walking kat Chadni Chowk.Chadni Chowk ni katanya famous for shopping. tp bila kitaorg lalu, nasib baik lah location dia kebetulan dekat ngan red fort, otherwise mmg tak perlu dtg. takde nya best shopping kat sini. tempat ni mcm bgnn2 lama yg jual brg2 secara pukal/bulk. kalau agak2 nak trade brg2 india mungkin lah dtg sini. tp kalau sekadar nak beli fridge magnet, tak de kat sini. hehehe...at the end of the road, jumpa lah red fort.
nak masuk red fort rasanya 250Rp. it's a huge complex, ada beberapa compound n bangunan kat dlm tu. takde audio guide and takde sapa2 nak volunteer jadi tourist guide. so kitaorg masuk n tgk2 je lah apa ada... apart from the map above and ada few signage, takde information lain pasal red fort. jadi, org yg mcm aku ni malas membaca sebelum travel, mmg tak tahu apa sgt lah..
mula2 ada satu strecth of kedai2 jual souvenir. we bought a few here. quite good n murah... then ada park yg ramai org2 ni melepak. kitaorg pun dok jugak berehat kat situ. panas betul cuaca tghhari tu. dlm tu ada 2 small museums. ada satu tu agak interesting. and kat situ lah aku jumpa salasilah keluarga mughal ni... which i think quite beneficial for everyone to understand the history of the country. we spent a good 2-3 hours jugak kat fort ni (including time berjalan kat Chadni Chowk). so by then dah tgh hari time for food...
We went to the famous Karim Restaurant near Jama' Masjid. I'll talk about Karim in a later entry. hari tu kitaorg tak larat dah nak masuk ke jama' masjid ni. sbb karim ni dekat dgn gate no 1 jama' masjid ni, i.e. dah dekat sgt nak masuk ke masjid. tp sebab weather dan sgt ramai org kat area tu... rasa sgt stuffy, sesak, panas n seumpamanya. so we skipped the masjid but terus ke karim.
after lunch, we planned to go to another historic site - qutub minar - yg terletak agak jauh to the southern part of the city. from Karim kitaorg naik beca ke the nearest 'metro'. about 15 minutes jugak lah mamat beca ni kayuh basikal dia. cekeding je org nya, kitaorg plak besar2... n baru lepas melantak. the journey on the beca was quite fun. thought bila naik beca, agak slow n bersopan... no way, he rode like selaju tuk tuk. and luckily kitaorg naik beca, sbb there's no way (i mean logiknya lah) for us to jalan kaki. jalan sesak n bersimpang2... and terlampau ramai org n kenderaan... tp kesian betul aku tgk org bawak beca ni, aku bg tips yg agak byk jugak lah on top of the fee yg murah tu. happy giler member.
from there we took the metro straight to the south, kena tukar satu station rasanya. ke qutb minar. took a good 20-30 minutes rasanya. taking the metro kadang2 agak hustle jugak lah. setiap kali naik metro semua barang kita bawak kena scan n akan ada body search. so even kitaorg naik metro ni yg dr station yg dekat pasar still kena taruh brg utk xray scan. imagine taruh beg (back pack or hand bag tu) skali dgn org yg beli ayam ikan kat atas same conveyer belt. and for perempuan plak, dah lah kena letak brg kat conveyer belt, dia punya body search jauh tempat lain. in terms of safety blh je sesapa g tarik handbag tu n bawak lari. tp tak de lah terjadi or nampak benda ni terjadi.
we reached qutb minar ni dlm 5pm... dah ujung2 petang sbb by 6+ dah gelap dah. my wife wasn't keen nak g naik tuk tuk sekadar tgk minaret. plus, bila membayangkan possibility of no information at the site seperti red fort yg lebih gah tu. aku pun not really keen nak naik tuk tuk sekadar nak tgk sebatang tiang. bila sampai kat metro station tu, kitaorg blh je nampak qutb minar tu from far... after a few minutes of thinking and few photos taken, kitaorg decided utk tak payah keluar station but ambik je next train back to town and our target was to go to Saket Mall, a mall yg ada HRC. it was 3 or 4 station away with the same line... and there was the place we ended the day... :-)
however, if you plan for another good place to visit at night. you can shoot to India gate. siang pun blh visit. ni pic india gate yg mcm arch de trom (sp?) kat paris tu. kitaorg ada g tempat ni during weekdays. i have skipped many places during my trip ni. ada byk lagi tempat cantik2 kat delhi ni. but we kind of have enough of india masa tu... tak larat :-) you can find on the internet, yg aku tahu blh g humayun tomb, the lotus temple, few other temple and more temple... :-)

DEL : Fatehpur Sikri

Fatehpur sikri ni another Unesco site di Agra. Terletak lebih kurang 40km dr taj mahal, dlm sejam perjalanan. kitaorg sampai tempat ni dah tghari.
lebih kurang mcm taj mahal, kena park kereta jauh dr site. and our driver dah tolong carikkan tuk tuk utk ke masjid fatehpur tu. masa kitaorg turun tu, dah berkerumun tourist guide local ni nak bawak kitaorg and as agreed with the driver, kitaorg tak ambik tour guide pun. sampai lah ada sorang mamat ni merayu dan aku mcm termakan pujukan dia. siap dia kata dia ni muslim, takkan menipu kot... so akhirnya kitaorg ambik lah tour guide tu, dia agree for 100 ke 200 rupee ke for all 3 of us. tak ingat.
masa dia explain tu lah br kitaorg tau yg fatehpur sikri ni terbahagi dua, i.e. fatehpur the masjid jame and sikri the palace. katanya masjid or fatehpur tu dibina sebab sorang mughal king ni, sapa nama ntah, tak dpt2 anak. so bila jumpa salim (sorang sufi ni) dia dpt anak. and demi menghormati sufi ni dia bina lah masjid ni. and sampai sekarang the family of the sufi still stay sini. ada sekolah agama kat sini dan masjid ni masih digunakan -katanya kedua terbesar di India. bg anak dan keluarga salim ni, kalau meninggal dikuburkan di sini, yg lelaki di luar makam, yg perempuan dibahagian dlm bangunan. (gambar bawah - the arts on the pillar, kubur di luar makam, mimbar / ruang hadapan masjid)
tp yg kelakar nya, i.e. ada lah khurafat skit di sini. dipercayai bg sapa tak dpt anak n nak dptkan berkat kena lah beli kain utk diletakkan kat makam. plus kena ikat skit benang kat celah2 dinding makam tu... huh... bengong. dlm makam tu, ada jugak lah org menangis2 n mcm bacaan quran plak bunyi nya. (dekat ruang mcm ni lah tempat ikat benang tu, tp at the other side of makam, bukan kat sini...)
memang besar pintu masuk ke masjid ni. aku rasa dikira besar sebab even kat depan ni pun boleh solat kot. aku rasa tour guide tu kata entrance ni antara terbesar kat india. mmg byk monumen lama lain ada entrance2 besar mcm ni. sekejap je kitaorg kat sini sbb nak g tgk ke sikri yg lagi byk monument lama. and the guide pun bawak lah kitaorg ke sikri tu. tp nak jadi cerita, sampai je kat pintu masuk dia kata dia tak leh masuk sbb utk sikri kena pakai guide lain. alamak, kena tipu plak. dia kata utk area tu kena ada guide bertauliah yg mmg ramai ada kat dlm setelah kita bayar tiket masuk. hmm... sakit hati betul... kena tipu kat situ... anyway, sbb dah janji aku bayar lah. yg malunya, aku pilih dia sbb muslim, alih2 kena tipu. malu aku kat kawan aku. so kalau korang dtg sini, jgn ambik guide kat tempat parking especially mamat kat pic atas tu!
bila masuk area ni, ada lagi mamat tourist guide nak offer. and katanya sini ada berpuluh2 monument (as per map above). kitaorg plak dah malas nak pakai guide. tp mmg aku ingat aku ada baca, mmg kena ada guide g tgk fatehpur sikri otherwise kita nampak bangunan and batu merah je. and since ada sorang guide ni ikut kitaorg and persistent bg explanation, kitaorg pun ambik dia. and dia pun agree at very low rate, lagi rendah dr yg first tu. so ok lah... not that kitaorg berkira, tp sakit hati kalau kena tipu.
memang ye pun, nasib baik ada guide, macam2 citer pasal bangunan2 ni and totally no information pasal nama bangunan/bilik/binaan or kegunaannya kat dlm tu. kat situ ada jugak lah kitaorg tahu pasal aktiviti depa, bini2 dia, memerintah berapa lama, menteri2, favourite pastime... nak tahu lagi lanjut... baca wikipedia ye.. :-)
satu yg interesting, as aku cakap kat entry taj mahal, ada sorang pemerintah, aurengzab yg islamic. nampak satu kesan i.e. kepala2 ukiran ni dipotong masa pemerintahan beliau... sbb islam tak boleh letak gambar haiwan.
frankly aku lagi suka melawat fatehpur sikri berbanding taj mahal. sbb ketenangan kawasan dia. and probably the tour guide yg baik, kitaorg byr dia extra, lebih dr yg first guide. so for those yg nak ke india, if you do daytrip ke agra dr delhi maybe tak sempat ke fatehpur sikri. kalau tido kat agra br sempat. it's worth a visit. and lepas fatehpur sikri, kalau ada time, better straight gi jaipur instead balik ke delhi. lagi dekat. but seriously worth going ke sini.

DEL : the hotel

As we were in Agra nak mengimbas kembali kisah cinta dan romantik Shah Jehan dgn Mumtaz Mahal... aku pun book hotel yg paling dekat dgn taj mahal... as we have very limited time to enjoy the view of the monument, so kitaorg wanted to have the best view during day and night of the place. and only one hotel je yg ada balcony facing the monument... and one and only hotel yg terletak dlm area taj mahal ni...
so we've stayed in Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra - you can check review kat tripadvisor here... mmg mahal hotel ni, hasil dr extra allowance keje kat Delhi ni, tu sbb mampu bayar... but it was really worth every penny you spent... and sbb kan hotel ni dah mahal, we decided not to go out ke mana2 pun mlm tu... and decided not to go out very early the day after... saja je bg relax2 n enjoy the hotel to max.
aku jarang buat review hotel, tp since hotel ni antara paling mahal aku pernah stay (apart from the one kat maldives) and sbb dia cantik, so it deserved a review... a good review indeed...
and this is the view that we were talking about... watching the sunset fall behind the taj mahal sambil tgk some performance kat platform near that swimming pool... actually taj mahal tu agak besar jugak from here... not that small seperti dlm gambar ni...mlm tu kitaorg try the indian restaurant, the food was good. the ambience was excellent. the price, agak mahal, but masa kat delhi ni we've paid quite a lot for the food sbb tak nak makan kat kedai tepi jalan, takut sakit perut. but mahal pun, lebih kurang standard doha je... but mahal compared to food kat malaysia lah.and malam tu kitaorg walk around je kat compound hotel... dia punya pool area dia mmg cantik. tak ramai pun org kat sini, perhaps due to the season kot. so mmg tenang jalan2... konon2 honeymoon (utk kali ke berapa... ntah)... thought of nak tgk taj mahal waktu malam. sadly, taj mahal is not lit at night, mmg tak nampak apa... total darkness. katanya kadang2 je ada lampu depa pasang menghala ke taj mahal. katanya, nak menjaga the beauty of the white marbles, tak blh disuluh2 lampu dr luar. only masa full moon tu je dia pasang lampu. so masa kitaorg kat sana mmg tak nampak apa2...in the morning, although kitaorg tak minta breakfast, depa bg breakfast for free... ntah kenapa ntah... probably sbb depa terlupa minta our signature masa breakfast. so bila nak check out, aku tanya breakfast bill, depa kata takpe lah, consider done... kat sekitar hotel pun ada some small souvenir shops, a bit pricey tp bila banding kualiti kat luar, ada elok nya jugak. and ada rasanya worth to buy. and we walk around at the garden. had some drinks kat lobby setelah berpanas kat garden. n spend the morning tgk taj mahal.
that's me with taj mahal as background... :-) we checked out at 12pm... and straight to Fatehpur Sikri before balik ke delhi.