Delhi and Leh

Day One : 30th June 2007

Started packing at around 0000Hrs. Managed to finish packing and to have 2 and half hour of sleep. We were 4 of us initially. Raj, Shashi, Jyothi and I. But, only Raj and I boarded IC 804 at 0615Hrs. Here we go Ladakh!!! .

Reached Delhi at around 0915Hrs, to be welcomed by roaring sun. It was around 35degrees. Left the luggage at cloak room. Got freshen up. Skin to be covered with a layer of Sun Screen Lotion J . With the help of map we got hold of from airport, we decided to head Qutub Minar(QM) first. Got to know that bus #715 heads directly to QM, later to see that all 715 would come people hanging out of the bus. So decided to take a Rick. Shelled out 150. You can always negotiate that.

QM is standing tall since 1310 AD. It being one of the World heritage sites is well maintained with an entrance fee of Rs.10. And Ten rupees more you can watch a live relay from camera fitted on top of the QM. We didn’t go there. From here, we headed to Lotus Temple. Bus #534 took us there. He left us at a stop and we had to walk a bit passing through not so good and deserted park. Lotus temple is huge Meditation hall. You should switch off your mobile phones before entering. I tried taking a snap from my mobile camera, but was warned L . Well, the Delhi heat was freaking us out. Uh… By this time I was damn hungry. We headed to nearby Dominos. Relaxed there for about 2 to 3 hours and later headed to Connaught place. We just took a walk around the Rajiv Chowk (Inner Circle of Connaught Place, Outer circle being named as Indira Chowk and a middle circle). Took Metro till Indraprastha, last station on BlueLine (There are 3 lines, namely Red, Blue and yellow). Then had to catch a Bus. Akshardham is a magnificent piece of work. There was ocean of people. Security is far away more than one in Bangalore International Airport.They event went to an extent of asking Raj to remove his shoes... Uhh. When we walk from main gate, we reach a point where towards right is the temple and towards left is a pathway along the sides of which has statues of personalities dating back to time even before Ramayana and Mahabharata to time of Freedom fight. It was really amazing work. we get to know a lot about Hindu Mythology and freedom fighters. They even have audio playing which explains about each of the personalities there. Then we headed to temple. Man..Entire temple is made of marble. It took more than 2 years to build this temple. Check this link http://www.my-india.net/tour/delhi/akshardham.shtml. After watching a Musical Fountain Show we headed back to Dwarka Mor (Took Metro from Indraprastha).Quite deserted place. Managed to get a rick to airport for Rs.90. We reached there by 2200Hrs. had dinner. Had our flight at 0520Hrs next day. Took a nap on the bench outside the airport until Raj woke me up for Toothpaste at about 0300Hrs.