ITINERARY: New Delhi, Old Delhi, Jaipur, Agra
A
PASSAGE TO
The last
night of the Silk Road tour was spent in the elegant Oberoi Maidens Hotel, a four-star
historic building set in a garden in a sedate part of New Delhi. We were amazed
at our room - a large, two-room suite that would easily have held three or four
of the rooms we usually stay in. The group had a
whirlwind tour of Old Delhi - including the huge Jama Masjid mosque, the Red Fort,
Raj Ghat where Gandhi was cremated (he was assassinated in his garden in 1948) and Hamayun's Tomb from the 2nd Moghul Empire. Isakhan Tomb adjacent to Hamayun's
was particularly impressive. We waved goodbye to our fellow travelers as they left for the airport
and home the next day. Since the hotel rate was several times what our budget
allowed, we located another place near the Main Bazaar. The hotel driver seemed shocked when
we told him where we wanted to go. No wonder - the contrast in hotels was great.
The closer we came to the middle of the bazaar, the more narrow the streets
and the more crowded with people, cars, rickshaws, vendors and wandering cows!
Eventually, the car could go no farther, so we got out and walked the rest
of the way to Major Den's - a small, walk-up hotel on a side street.
Our clean, simple room was up three flights of stairs and had its own tiny
bath. (The shower head was fixed into the center of the wall, and sprayed the
entire room randomly!) It was a far cry from the Oberoi Maidens, but we finally
felt we'd arrived in
Joan looked out the window, and saw
four large Brahma bulls in the street below... down the street, we could see
a red-turbaned man sitting cross-legged in his shop doorway, sewing at an old
Singer... around the corner we came across a narrow alley filled with fruit and
vegetable stalls.... and a street-front Hindu temple nearby was filled with lights and
colorfully painted religious statues.
Lou had to stand in a queue for
almost two hours to get tickets for the train from
JAIPUR
Once in Jaipur, "The Pink City",
we caught an auto rickshaw (similar to the Indonesian tuk tuk) to
the Alsisar Haveli Hotel - an interesting 19th century mansion. The next day we
rode out to Amber, the ancient capital of
The next day we caught a
"deluxe, air-conditioned tourist bus" to
TAJ
MAHAL
They say that some travelers are
disappointed when they see the pyramids, but that no one is disappointed by the
Taj Mahal. We certainly weren't. The Taj Mahal is beautiful beyond description
and the closer you approach it, the more perfect it appears.
We arrived in the late afternoon, and spent several hours watching its luminous
surface change from pearly white to glowing pink as the sun set. After sunset,
most of the crowds were gone, and we lingered on to enjoy the magic of a
lavender dusk.
We returned to our deserted and
rather shabby hotel - which must have been in much better condition when Queen Elizabeth
II stayed there 40 years before. Three toothless old men in rumpled maroon
uniforms attended to us; they probably were in their prime when the Queen
visited. After breakfast by the hotel's (cracked, peeling, empty) swimming pool,
we returned to
The next day, vowing to
return to
DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS
GUIDEBOOK:
BACKGROUND READING: A Passage
to
FILMS: A Passage to
(2000 Prices)
NEW DELHI: Oberoi Maidens Hotel. Four stars. $110-135/ double with bath. Quiet garden setting with swimming pool, but not centrally-located. Ph: 291-4841; Fax: 398-0771 Amusing hotel background: www.travelwithattitude.com/oberoimaidens.htm
OLD DEHLI: Major Den's, $10/double with tiny
bath. We loved this clean, well-located, eccentric place! But it's pretty basic,
and only for the young - or
young at heart. Ph: 362-9599
JAIPUR: Alisar Haveli Hotel, $45/double with bath, including breakfast on patio. Charming 19th century villa in quiet garden setting. (141) 368 290
Joan and Lou Rose joanandlou@ramblingroses.net