Travel in India

The Delhi metro had a few stops when I was here 10 years ago and was useful to go around the center of town. Now it takes you to so many places and is oh so useful. I can only imagine how much more freedom I would have felt if I could get from Gurgaon to Delhi by metro in 30 minutes. If I wrote poetry, I write a poem to the metro. Instead, here is a list of places to visit by metro. Using the metro is quite easy and the travel card is great as you get a 10% discount and don't need to buy a ticket each time. Most are a quick walk away from the stop, but there are plenty of auto rickshaws at each stop and for Rs. 30-50 you can go the 1-2km by wheels. The Yellow line from south to north Qutab Minar (Stop: Qutab Minar) The Qutab Minar complex is a great place to go spend a couple hours seeing the beautifully carved red sandstone and lattice work. It dates back to the 12th century, the beginning of Muslim rule in India, and hosts the first mosque built in India. More details o...

I wasn't sure if I had been to the Qutab Minar before, so was happy to go and glad we did. It is a spectacular set of buildings.  The carving and stone color are stunning. History The building was started just before 1200 AD by Qutab ul-din Aibak, who founded the Delhi Sultanate. Then additional stories to the tower and more buildings were finished over the years, including the first mosque to be built in India.  The tower is the tallest of its kind (a rubble masonry minaret at 73m).  What is unknown is who the building is named for (Aibak, the founder, or Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, a famous Sufi saint) or why it was built (victory tower or call to prayer). Getting there and in It is easy to reach on the Delhi metro (Yellow Line, Qutab Minar station) and you can get an auto rickshaw from the station for Rs. 50 although the quotes will be much higher or there will be a proposal to stop at Cottage Industries on the way to see some arts and crafts. The entranc...

Udaipur is one of my favorite spots in India. There is a peaceful lake and Rajasthani architecture. There isn't a ton to see here, so it's really about relaxing. We arrived on the night train from Mumbai that took about 17 hours. It was a cold night with out much sleep in Sleeper class as people kept turning on the light and talking in daytime voices. As we move further north, the shells and sarongs that are doubling as sheets aren't cutting it for the cold nights. From the train station, we got an auto rickshaw to the center by randomly choosing a hotel that showed up on Maps.me. It turned out to be a good spot, so we stayed at Puskar Guest House for Rs. 500 per night. Wasn't the cleanest spot in the world, but good value and the hosts were very kind. The rest of the place seemed to be inhabited by longterm renters.  For the next 3 days, we wandered around the city taking in a few sights, enjoying rooftop views and sampling coffee (Jheel's Ginger Coff...