Delhi!

We finally arrived in to Delhi, and this was also going to be the final stop on our travels. We would be spending about 4 days here and then I would return to Korea to be reunited with our pup Willy and Jason would be going home to America for a month.

Jason on the train in to Delhi.

Arriving in to Delhi was just madness. The train station was so busy and there were hundreds of rickshaws outside just waiting to snatch up a customer. We decided to walk to the backpackers area (Paharganj) which is right by the train station. Once we arrived in the area we checked out a few places to stay and realised that they were all over our budget. Our backpacks were starting to weigh us down and the June heat wasn't helping either. We tried another place and once again it was too expensive, the owner then told us that he had another guesthouse that was cheaper and right across the road. We took a look and decided to stay there. After dropping our bags in to the room we decided to try and get in to Connaught Avenue, the main shopping area of Delhi.

One of the stops along the way.

The craziness that greets you when you exit the station.

Paharganj

…and again.

…and again.

Jason walking down Paharganj

I was really hot so we decided to hail a rickshaw, unfortunately this guy decided he'd try and scam us and bring us nowhere near where we had wanted to go to and try to make us go to his friends shop. We said no and asked him to bring us to where we wanted to go, and again he brought us to another friends shop. I got so pissed that I just gave him some money, we got out and walked away. We then hailed down another rickshaw and luckily he brought us to where we wanted to go. BUT when paying we didn't have any small money so he took the note, refused to give change and just drove off! We couldn't believe that we had only been in the city for an hour and had already gotten scammed twice...I feel sorry for people that begin their travels in Delhi!

We were feeling pretty stressed at this stage when a guy came along and followed us trying to tell us that we weren't in the shopping area and that of course he would bring us to the right area. After ignoring him for what seemed like forever and ducking into a store to get rid of him he finally disappeared. We were both just exhausted from all of the lying so we did the only thing that we could think to do...duck in to a really expensive cocktail bar and restaurant and have some delicious food and drinks while basking in the air-con. It was like a different world in there and it was nice to get away from the craziness for a little bit.

In our "safe zone"

Yummy margaritas!

The next day we decided to explore Old Delhi. We found a cycle rickshaw that would bring us to a spice market, then to the Jamma Masjid mosque (the largest one in India) and finally to Delhi fort. He seemed nice and it was great wandering through the tiny alleyways of Old Delhi. There was a wonderful vibe there and many of the people living there were muslim. The spice market was a sight to behold and I have to admit that it was hard to breathe with so many spices all around you! We decided to buy some saffron (which we found out later was completely overpriced) and then went to the mosque.

Our cycle rickshaw driver.

So many spices!

At the spice market.

One of the many old streets in Old Delhi.

The mosque was absolutely huge and because we weren't wearing the right clothes we got given some curtain style robes to wear. We had to take our shoes off to go in but it was absolute torture to walk on the marble as the midday sun had turned it to fire. It was very beautiful though, I have a thing for mosques and could visit them all day if I had a chance. I hope someday that I can visit the middle east and see some there some day.

Jason being a celebrity!

Outside the Jamma Masjid

Me in my lovely curtains!

Mother and daughter praying together.

After our time at the mosque we went to the Red fort and had a very awkward fight with our rickshaw driver who, like everyone else in this city it seemed, tried to rip us off.
After finally just walking away from him we had a nice couple of hours relaxing in the gardens of the Delhi fort. That evening we decided to take no more rickshaws in the city and to also transfer to an expensive hotel for our last couple of nights travelling. We found a nice hotel that was close to the light rail, about 20 minutes away from downtown.

Jason being cheesy at the red fort.

One of the beautiful buildings inside the fort.

The room was so amazing and the bed was one of the biggest we had ever seen! We spent the whole of the next day just enjoying the swimming pool and relaxing in our room...suddenly Delhi didn't seem all that bad! That evening we found a shopping center near our hotel that had a cinema so decided to do some shopping and then go and see our first Bollywood film. It was fun watching the kids dance in the aisles, the cinema was much nicer than any back home in Ireland too. The first hour of the movie was fun and it was set in Manali, the beautiful town that we had fallen in love with a week before, but it was a pretty long movie, with an interval, so we were a little bored by the end. I didn't like how the main characters love interest was a disgusting sleeze who would try it on with all of these girls in front of her, then she got a make-over and suddenly he was trying it on with her.

The next day we wanted to go and see some more sights in Delhi, this time taking the subway to where we wanted to go. We had a wonderful day this time, partly because we didn't have to worry about being scammed and partly because the sights that we were seeing were some of the most beautiful of our entire trip (I think our comfy sleep probably helped as well!)

We started the day off looking for Humayuns tomb. Jason had read about it so we decided to pay it a visit. We got off at the right station but couldn't seem to find it. We ended up in an area that had hundreds of homeless people sleeping on the streets. It was very sad to see. We also came across a beautiful abandoned  temple that was now home to many homeless people. After walking for a while we finally came across Humayuns tomb.

A sign in the subway station…this sign really is needed because people spit EVERYWHERE!

A beautiful roundabout.

The beautiful building that now housed many homeless people.

Humayuns tomb is absolutely beautiful and it is the building that apparently the Taj Mahal was based upon. What we loved the most about the tomb was the smaller tombs in the gardens. The whole area was extremely peaceful and like everywhere else in India at that time was practically devoid of tourists, a massive win for us, since we had to put up with the unbearable summer heat.

The outside of Humayuns tomb.

One of the smaller tombs.

This was one of my favorite buildings.

Humayuns tomb.

Enjoying one of our last sightseeing days of ouir travels.

The beautiful Humayuns tomb.

After spending a couple of hours relaxing in the grounds of the tomb we decided to go and visit the Ghandi museum. It is housed in the final house he had stayed in before he was killed. It was a really interesting experience. I learned so much more about him and we got to read so many of his wonderful quotes. We also got to see the room that he stayed in before he died and it was preserved since then. It showed just how simple a man he was.

Both the Humayuns tomb and the Ghandi museum were in New Delhi and it was such a beautiful area, tree lined streets and very quiet. I would recommend to anyone visiting Delhi to go and visit these sights first before going in to Old Delhi.

We began our time in Delhi on such an awful note, we hated the place and just wanted to leave. But we ended up loving the place by the end of our time there. There are some beautiful sights to be seen and really good food to taste. Just watch who you trust while you are there...

The next day was our final day together for a while so we spent the day relaxing (trying to get the last bit of a tan in) and just enjoying our time together. I couldn't believe that the travels that I had spent so long planning for were over just like that. And boy did we have the time of our lives!!

Our last night :)

Getting there:

We caught a train there from Chandigarh, but since it's a massive city you can get to and from most places in Northern India here (the train station is huge!) and of course fly from all over the world.

Where we stayed:

Our first night we spent on the main Pahar-ganj bckpacker area. There are guesthouses everywhere there. The reason that we found it difficult to get something in our price range was because we needed air-con, which doubles the price of most rooms. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name of our guesthouse.

After a night here and a lot of stress from staying in central Delhi we moved to a classy hotel in the outskirts of Delhi. The Park Plaza Delhi in Shahdara. It was an amazing experience! We got a good rate for the room from Agoda.com.

Hotel website here
Trip-advisor reviews here 

Chandigarh

Chandigarh isn't on many peoples itineraries when travelling India and it wasn't on ours either. We just happened to go there because it would break up the trip from Manali to Delhi quite nicely.

What we found though was a very interesting and friendly city. One of the most unfortunate things about the city is the lack of places to stay. Because not many travelers visit there the guest houses are very old and way more expensive than you'd pay anywhere else. We found a place on Agoda before arriving and decided to book it.

Chandigarh is broken up into different sectors and it's one of the few planned cities in India. It is also one of the few cities where most roads are beautifully paved, there aren't many cows on the road and not much litter either. Also something quite interesting about the city is that the different areas are called sectors, so for example the shopping area is in sector 22 and The lake is in sector 1. I felt like I was in The Hunger Games for a little while.

After arriving in to the city after sunset we found our guesthouse and got settled in for the night, we ordered some room service and enjoyed our curries while catching up on a tv show or two.

The next day we decided to go in to Sector 22 and have a look at the shopping area. It was a little bit creepy as it was so clean and quiet there. There was a tourist office and the tourist police quickly came over to check if we needed any help with anything. We both felt that it was so stange being in an area of India that was so unlike any other place we had been to. After some window shopping and getting a bit lost we made our way to a bus stop to get on to the citys hop on hop off bus. (yes they had a tourist bus!!!)

Once the bus came we realised that there were only going to be the both of us and one other girl from New Zealand on it. We quickly became friends with Yael and were on our way to the first stop, a rose garden in the city park. I'm not going to lie I wasn't too amazing by it. The roses were very beautiful but with the heat of the midday sun we didn't stay too long to enjoy it. I didn't even get a photo of them :/

Afterwards it was time for the city's museum and art gallery. We quite enjoyed our time here. It was quite a small museum and there weren't many people there so we had time to go around and view all of the beautiful art on display and some of the historic items, including beautiful rugs!

One of the beautiful statues at the museum.

A painting at the museum.

After quite a while here we finally went back to the bus with our driver scolding us for taking too long. Soon we were stopped at our next sight of the day which was a war memorial statue in one of the citys gardens. It was a beautiful staute and the gardens were very peaceful. We were allowed about ten minutes here, which was enough with the heat.

Our next destination was the most anticipated and probably the reason that most people go to Chandigarh in the first place. Nek Chand's Rock Garden. Hmm, how can I describe this place?

Well, it all started when Chandigarh became the first planned city in India. There were buildings, houses and villages being knocked to make way for it. Nek Chand saw all of the waste and started collecting recyclable clay, glass, tin and other stuff and began working on a peaceful little area in the city where he could design beautiful art from other peoples rubbish.
It was illegal and no one knew that he was secretly creating this beautiful garden. He managed to keep it a secret for 18 years! When it was discovered it had become 12 acres of interlinked courtyards filled with sculptures everywhere. The government wanted to demolish it but luckily it got saved and is constantly being added on to. It now includes beautiful waterfalls and bridges and has so many different areas.

Some of the sculptures at the rock garden.

Beautiful recycled clay pots.

I don't look too happy here, but I was, I swear!

Some of the poses that we saw were amazing!

We had a great time walking around it, although we ended up spending most of our time getting our photos taken with the Indian tourists...foreigners are a rare spot in this city and the excitement of seeing one was so sweet. We even had a woman invite us to stay with her and her family if we were ever in their area. It was a lot of fun and we ended up spending a couple of hours getting lost in the rock garden.

Some of the kids that wanted photos with us.

When we finally managed to find our way out of the rock garden it was time for the last stop of the day and that was Sukhana lake.
Sukhana lake is a manmade lake in the city where many of the families that live in Chandigarh spend their evenings. It is very cheesy complete with some swan paddle boats! I actually spent most of my time there chatting to a wonderful man that plucked up the courage to talk to me. He told me that he had went for auditions on an Indian singing show and was the oldest person that had entered. He showed me a video of his audition and then right there and then started singing for me. He was such an amazing man and that memory will stick with me for a long long time.

Sukhana lake.

A random camel outside the lake.

one of the many families enjoying their time there.

The wonderful man that sung to me.

Myself and Jason on the hop-on-hop-off bus.

Yael.

After our bus trip we decided to go for dinner near where Yael was staying. We had heard a rumour that there was a Quizno's there and couldn't resist a chance to have some! Our dreams came true and we managed to have some Quiznos (although you have to be careful with your choices as most of the meat selections are fake meat...vegetarian or chicken is always best!) We then met up with a local that Yael had been in contact with through Couchsurfing. He was really nice and we had planned on gonig to a club with them but didn't have the right shoes on so couldn't get in (We definitely were in a richer India!) So decided to give it a miss and head back to our guesthouse for a rest before our train to Delhi the next day.

Unfortunately the next day we got a rickshaw to the train station and I got groped by the driver, I felt so violated but didn't say anything, I guess I was too shocked. Now, I wish I had screamed in his face and hit him! I also didn't tell Jason until afterwards as I didn't want him doing something he'd regret. Luckily that was the only time that something like that had happened to me in India.

Overall we really enjoyed our time in Chandigarh, we loved that it was a spur of the moment decision to go there and that there weren't many foreigners there so felt like we had gotten off of the tourist trail and it was nice to see how the other half live in India. I'd definitely recommend a stop here on your way too or from the hills.

Getting there and away: Luckily it's quite a big city so there are many buses and trains that go there from other cities. We got a bus there from Manali and then booked on to a train to Delhi. The train was great, we travelled during the day and even though it was only about 3 hours our train ticket included lunch and beverages.

Where we stayed: Hotel Grand Residency.
We booked this hotel through Agoda and it was the cheapest one available. (guesthouses are very expensive in Chandigarh)
The hotel was okay, it was a bit dirty but the food was good and it was fine for a couple of nights.
Here are the tripadvisor reviews for it.