Complete your Japan itinerary with at least one of these less-known destinations!
National Museum, Jantar Mantar, Connaught Place
Last day in Delhi. Last day in India!Today I took an Uber to a place I’d meant to visit last time, but which was closed: the National Museum! The first impression isn’t great, because it occupies a rather old and ugly building -uglier still inside, white walls with green white tiles that scream “government building where… Continue reading National Museum, Jantar Mantar, Connaught Place
Back in Delhi
Today I got up bright and early -far too early for my liking- to go to the airport. I’ve gotten used to ordering Ubers to get around, but here I booked a taxi via my hotel: since the old city is closed to traffic, doing otherwise would have meant dragging my suitcase all through the… Continue reading Back in Delhi
Sarnath, more Varanasi
If you remember, today I was booked on a tour to Sarnath, having more or less seen all of Varanasi yesterday. It’s learning time!Sarnath, which is a town just 10 km north of Varanasi, is one of the four first holy sites of Buddhism, based on the major events of Buddha’s life. The first is… Continue reading Sarnath, more Varanasi
The ghats of Varanasi
This guest house may have more charm than I needed -I slept well, but it was super noisy with people coming and going outside since the crack of dawn!My only plan for the morning was to walk around Varanasi and get a feel for the place, so I took my sweet time with breakfast before… Continue reading The ghats of Varanasi
Flying to Varanasi
This is going to be a light entry, as most of my day was spent traveling!I took an Uber from my hotel to Jaipur airport, which took about half an hour. At 8:30, I was afraid I’d hit rush hour, but in fact the roads were way emptier than during the day.Once at the small… Continue reading Flying to Varanasi
Amber Fort, Hawa Mahal
Today’s main attraction was to visit Amber Fort, which is not in Jaipur city but in the nearby town of Amber (it’s pronounced “amer”). For this I had hired a driver through my hotel, supposedly to take me on a tour of Amber Fort, Hawa Mahal and Jal Mahal -although when he picked me up… Continue reading Amber Fort, Hawa Mahal
Jaipur City Palace, Albert Hall Museum
Jaipur gave me a very good first impression: the morning was sunny, warm without being uncomfortably hot (25-27°C), and the pollution levels are much better than in Delhi and especially Agra. It’s still high on the meters, but there’s no sickly haze hanging in the air and breathing is noticeably easier.In addition, as I would… Continue reading Jaipur City Palace, Albert Hall Museum
Train to Jaipur
Today I had nothing on my books before taking my 14:50 train to Jaipur, so I mostly hung out in my hotel room until it was time to check out, then went for lunch to the restaurant next door (had a butter chicken that was to die for and a vegan mango cheesecake that I… Continue reading Train to Jaipur
Walk around Old Agra
So here’s the thing: when I organize a trip, the way I build an itinerary is I read through a guidebook and I start getting a sense of what places I want to see, and how many days I can spend in each of them. When I read about Agra, I thought it was a… Continue reading Walk around Old Agra