Vandy travels to Jaipur

With just a weekend to spare before my Mom's trip back to Chennai, we decided to head out of Gurgaon for a short trip. Jaipur was the most logical choice, being just 4 hours away from Gurgaon.

We boarded a crappy bus run by one of the many private bus companies in Gurgaon at IFCO Chowk. The seats were dirty and the bus was in a rickety condition. A truly miserable ride compounded by the cold winds that blew through the cracks in the bus. The people at the bus stand advised us to book the VOLVO buses for future trips. Lesson #1 learnt.

Finally, when we landed in Jaipur and reached our B&BJaipur Friendly Villa,we heaved a sigh of relief. We took advantage of the cosy room,and rested for a few hours.  Shveta, our host at the JaipurFriendly Villa, told us that several of Jaipur’s tourist attractions are located in the old city, reachable either by walk or by cycle rickshaw.  So after a yummy breakfast, we headed out to the City Palace in the old city by auto-rickshaw. We just wanted to do a relaxed tour, so we decided to skip the tourist bus or hiring an auto-rickshaw/cab for the day.

Bird's eye view of City Palace

Intricate marble exteriors of City Palace

The City Palace has splendid architecture and visual appeal. I found out a curious fact about one of the rulers of the Rajput dynasty. He had a patron who took  his widowed mother and him  in after they got thrown out by his uncle. Based on the advice of a poet, he killed his patron and seized his land. And he had the poet executed afterwards. Apparently he disapproved of the advice, even though he followed it out of his own greed. The Jaipur royal family mourns this day every year to this day, by wearing black. An amusing example of royal hypocrisy if you ask me!

Hawa Mahal

Strategically placed windows to spy upon the world and not be spied upon!

The Hawa Mahal, closely located from the City Palace was built for the women of the royal household. It has several tiny windows, which provide a view of the outside world, without revealing the women to the commoners.

Jantar Mantar, a World Heritage monument is  an interesting scientific monument that provides the date and time based on the sun and moon’s position. Also closely located to City Palace, it might be a worthwhile bet to rent one of the English audio guides available here to understand the intricacies.It's also possible that it might be  an interesting experience to hire a local guide,and watch him spin a new story each time about the instruments there :p

After visiting two palaces, we developed 'palace allergy' and wanted to see a fort. A trip out of the city to visit Amber fort was probably not worth the trouble it resulted in. We managed to get pick pocketed on the way back in our bid to save money by using one of the several city coaches which ferry people between the Old City and the fort. Lesson #2 learnt. :)

We decided to recoup our losses with some hearty street shopping, by heading back to the old city. Jaipur has this in plenty in addition to being filled up with palaces and forts. You literally have vendors pulling you inside their shops along Hawa Mahal Bazaar, Bapu Bazaar and Johri bazaar. We picked up some Jaipuri puppets, kholapuri slippers and several other knick knacks along the way.

One of the best things we discovered on the way was the yummy Pewar, a cottage cheese(paneer) based sweetmeat at LMB Hotel, Johri Bazaar. LMB is apparently famous for its mithai, and especially it's Pewar.

Pewar at LMB

Vandy’s Tips

•  Book a train from or the KSRTC Volvo buses if you're travelling to Jaipur from Delhi/Gurgaon. The buses run by the private operators’ sucks, and from the looks of it, not particularly safe either.
• Several of Jaipur's attractions are located quite close to each other in the walled old city. A really budget option is the KSRTC bus which operates its starting point from the Railway station or KSRTC hotels. A more relaxed option would be to hire an auto-rickshaw for the day for 300-400 Rs. However, if you're fit enough to walk or use a cycle rickshaw, you could just take an auto to the city, and then walk around for the rest.The last and most expensive option of renting a cab for the day,is only for those who really don't feel they can handle the touts  or have some physical disabilities.
• A combo ticket is available which gives you a reduced price on entry to  Hawa Mahal,Jantar Mantar and a couple of forts.I tried purchasing this ticket,but the counter guy claimed he had run out of tickets! You could try your luck though.
• Don't miss out on the Pewar at LMB. It's truly spectacular.
• Jaipur, like any other tourist city is prone to tourist scams and pickpockets. But hey, they'll just try to cheat you out of a few hundred bucks or try to make you buy some crappy knick knack. It's not really known for violent crime. So just chill out, and chalk it up as a not very expensive life experience :)
• Jaipur Street shopping is fun. You will end up  being surprised by the stuff  that you can buy for 100 bucks. Just ignore the starting price the vendor quotes.
• Read Shooting star's rajasthan guide,Lonely Planet's thorntree forum and my favorite Jaipur wikitravel. Jaipur is part of the popular touristy 'Golden Triangle',so there's no dearth of information about it.
• Next time,I'll be making a trip to the Jal Mahal,which I glimpsed on my way to Amber fort.It looked truly lovely,and I heard that many an Indian movie song has been shot here.

P.S: I went a bit crazy with Picasa 3,so please forgive my mild  photographic offenses :)

Vandy relocates to Gurgaon

This is probably going to be the first of a series of posts on Delhi and Gurgaon. I recently relocated to Gurgaon from Chennai, for a job role within my company, more suited to my interests and aspirations. At least that’s what I tell most people, so that they stop questioning my sanity. Why would a non-Hindi speaking tamilian girl relocate to Gurgaon/Delhi, an ostensibly unsafe city with ‘bad people’ lurking around?  Actually, I don’t really have any sensible answer to it. I just decided to move, because I could. Maybe my travel feet were just getting antsy, from being grounded in Chennai for the past 1.5 years. Earlier to that I was travelling a lot to Europe for company work, and my travel fix was sated by that.

Coming down to the reality…it’s been early days in Gurgaon and Delhi.12 days to be exact. I’m staying in company accommodation in Gurgaon, with my mother till the end of the month. I get a cab drop to and from office to my hotel. I could have an insulated existence if I chose to. But when has that ever been my way? My mom and I have been stepping out of Gurgaon, quite a lot, thanks to the excellent services of the Delhi Metro.

On Dilli…

We’ve been tripping along the popular shopping joints in Delhi...Karol Bagh, Chandni Chowk, Janpath, Pallika Bazaar, Connaught place,Dilli Haat and Lajpat Nagar. I’ve been learning Hindi numbers by bargaining with the shopkeepers and the rickshaw chaps. And astonished at the range you can bargain with. They reduce the price to 10-25 % of the initial asking price, if you just walk away. Sometimes, I think that here that may even try to sell you the world for ‘ek sou’ rupees!

And I’m totally amazed that the puny rickshaw wallahs here. They seem to be able to tow some mighty bulky looking aunties without any machine horsepower. Possibly one of the healthiest residents in this city of foodies, with all that exercise.

The food …ah...it’s simply amazing! I went crazy on all the street food I could lay my hands on, and ended up with Delhi belly. But totally worth it …kachoris,pani puris, lassi, sindhi chicken ..Endless varieties. Yummy!

On Gurgaon

The best part about Gurgaon, according to me is my new team. Early days, but I do seem to fit in pretty well there. Cross my fingers, and hope for the bestJ

Gurgaon has plenty of malls and plenty of construction dust. A friend refers to it as ‘MudGaon’. The good part is I’ve managed to find accommodation at walk able distance from office, which reduces shitty commute time. And good roommates. Believe me that matters a lot.

As I mentioned earlier, these are early days. I’m still not yet over the fact, that I did such a thing. I can still feel the excitement over experiencing a change. Will this feeling also change? Definitely. But for now, I’m just going to go along with the flow.

Vandy’s Tips for anybody new to Delhi and Gurgaon

• Delhi has an excellent metro system that connects with Gurgaon. Buy a metro card, which saves you 10 % of the fare, and standing in queues to buy tickets. You can recharge your card, at any station which has a working recharge machine. If you’re a female, enjoy skipping the mad rush with the first compartment of the train, reserved for women.
• Delhi is a beautiful city with several historical monuments.A metro pass should suffice to visit most of them. 
• Gurgaon is a city for the mall addict, with several malls near the MG Road Metro station, and along the NH8 road.
• You need to speak at least broken Hindi, to communicate with shopkeepers, rickshaw wallahs and people on the street. They do not understand English, leave alone speak it. Of course, within offices and malls you should be able to get by easily with English.
• Street food in Delhi markets is simply amazing. Totally worth any resultant Delhi belly!
• The Delhi shopkeepers are very generous with all their didi and beti talk with women. Do keep a watch over them, as this does not mean that they won’t try to sneak in some casual groping whenever they can.
• Shopping in delhi markets is a bargainer’s paradise. Feel free to quote upto  10-15 % of the initial price the shopkeeper quotes. If he disagrees, just walk away. Usually, they reduce the price after that. Try this at a couple of shops to discover the bargaining range of the product.
• Safety issues for women. Statistics,news channels and several of the city's long time residents point out that Delhi is one of the most unsafe cities for women. So be careful, and try to limit solo trips to before 8 pm. Buy a pepper spray.
• You can search for accommodation on sulekha.com,magicbricks.com, delhi.craigslist.co.in, http://gurgaon.olx.in/paying-guest-cat-418 etc.
• Read  Shooting Star's excellent delhi guide.
• Be open to the place. Especially if you’re from South India, things will be different for you here. Forget all your prejudices and make your opinions based on your own experiences.
• Delhi's location makes trips to several parts of North India a weekend affair.Happy travelling! Read http://wikitravel.org/en/Delhi.

Vandy travels to Yelagiri

I was itching to make a trip out of Chennai, after a planned trip with friends to Pondy fell apart.I was thinking about Tranquebar, but after I roped in my Mom into this impulse trip, she suggested Yelagiri. I researched both places , and it seemed like Yelagiri was a better choice for chillaxing, and so that’s where we finally went.


It took us about 4.5 hours of drive from Chennai,with a half-hour stop at Saravana Bhavan,Velur for breakfast. I booked a driver for our car, since I wasn’t used to driving highways or hills. He let me drive on the highways from Porur to Velur,teaching the zen like code of conduct followed by highway drivers, compared to rash city drivers.Somehow,my  mom managed to  maintain a facade of calm, while I learned to weave between tanker lorries and buses  at 100kmph:)

Views from the resort

 I booked the Taj Zeenat Resorts based on favourable net reviews and the reasonable prices they charged.And it ended up meeting all my expectations.The resort consists of  11 and a half acres of beautiful  garden and forest, with  basic cottages thrown in.Awesome food was also provided at the resort,which made it very convenient,since there are not too many  good restaurants in Yelagiri.The only negative would be the slow service,but that didn't bother me since I just came to Yelagiri to relax.


Yelagiri itself is a charming hill station,an unassuming poor cousin to the Queen(Ooty) and the Princess(Kodai).It luckily hasn’t yet fallen prey to over commercialisation found in the popular stations, making it a haven for people who just want to get away from the madding crowds.On the other end,you don’t even have a petrol  station or good food choices in Yelagiri,so be prepared for it.It’s just a place to go if you want some peace and calm among the beautiful hills.

@Puganoor Lake

 After a great lunch and some rest we headed out to the Puganoor Lake.The lake is a popular spot for boating,and is surrounded by a park with a separate play area for kids.If you have lots of time to kill,boating could be an option.It doesn’t cost much,and the place is mostly empty,except on weekends.

@Nature Park

We moved onto The Nature Park,just a few km from the lake.This spot definitely deserves a visit,and if you have time to see only one spot in Yelagiri,this is it.A very well maintained park,with scores of flowers,trees,rock gardens and fountains.The only minor irritant here would be the occasional ‘louu jodis’ in the park. They seemed quite restrained in their PDA in the park(compared to Chennai at least),but irritatingly felt the need to mark their love on plant leaves and rocks with eternal proclamations of love.I’d rather they have their PDA,and leave those poor plants alone!

The rest of the evening was spent in with pleasant chit chats with my Mom and reading Dork on the park swing of the garden in the resort.Total bliss! After an excellent dinner,I completed reading the rest of Dork and had a wonderful nap.

The next day was just spent lazing around in the resort,enjoying the pleasant weather,and stuffing ourselves with the awesome food. I also managed to squeeze in a short trek to the top of a nearby hillock with a guide,in midst of all this obvious decadence.

We left for Chennai at 12 pm,and made it in by 4 pm.A halt at Ambur for biriyani in between,just gave the finishing touches to a perfect day.

Vandy's Travel Tips:

• Yelagiri is a good choice for people from Chennai(250 km)/Bangalore(160 km)  who just want to be in the hills and enjoy the pleasant weather(18-25 degree C).Not too many places to see or things to do.
• Trekker’s delight with multiple trekking options.I enjoyed my short trek,and next time I’m taking the Swami Malai trek from Mangalam at sunrise.
• Food choices are not too many,so it might be better to eat in the hotel/resort that you stay in.
• I would definitely recommend Zeenat Taj Resorts as a mid-range accomodation option  with a price tag of Rs 1500(+12.5% tax) for a cottage.You can get yummy home cooked food for a decent price tag of around Rs 450(lunch,breakfast,dinner). Service will be slow,but who cares ..you have all the time in the world here :)
• If you’re planning on driving here,fill up your petrol/diesel before you climb up the Yelagiri hills.
• The forest honey and jack fruit sold here is a worthwhile buy.
• Recommended travel website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Yelagiri_Hills