Travel experiences across the world
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 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
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
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
The Taj Mahal, Agra FortToday, at the convened hour, my driver was waiting for me with his rickshaw to take me on my full tour of all things Agra. Before we started, I double-checked the itinerary and the price and everything, to make it extra clear what I wanted and what I didn’t. I said… Continue reading The Taj Mahal, Agra Fort
TuesdayBye, Delhi! But not for long!Today I left Delhi to go to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. I had to leave my hotel to go to the New Delhi Railway Station, which wasn’t terribly far but you can’t walk anywhere with a bag here. Instead of asking for a cab, I tried using Uber,… Continue reading Train to Agra
It was a rough morning, y’all. I woke up still tired from yesterday, to the news that air pollution had hiked in Delhi back to severe levels (and indeed the view from the window was hazy and unappealing), as had the far right in the Spanish elections; this brought back unhappy memories of when Trump… Continue reading Humayun’s Tomb, Gurdwara Bangla Sahib
Red Fort, Jama MasjidAfter a wonderful, restoring sleep, I woke up this morning to a sunny Delhi morning, and this time I could definitely notice a grayish haze in the air, even though there were no clouds.My main objective for today was to visit the Red Fort, Delhi’s main attraction, a sprawling 16th century Mughal… Continue reading The Red Fort, Jama Masjid
At one point this summer, I said, “Would it be crazy if I up and went to India in November?” and my friends went, “...Not more than usual?” So here I am now!As usual, I’m going to travel for two weeks, and I’m going to see what’s called the Golden Triangle (Delhi, the capital; Agra,… Continue reading Arrival in Delhi
Want to discover Vietnam, north to south, but don't have two months to do the backpacker experience? Here's a great, compact two-week itinerary that will get you to the country's main highlights without making everything feel like a blur:HanoiDay 1: Arrival in HanoiRead: The Old Quarter of HanoiDay 2: HanoiRead: The Imperial Citadel, the Temple… Continue reading Your Vietnam Itinerary
This Is A Lake 