Fantastic Fatehpur Sikri

Having one of the Seven Wonders of the World in our own country draws tourists from across the world. A proud thing to flaunt indeed! Thousands of tourists flock to visit the dreamy Taj Mahal in Agra; A must see for every Indian at least. However, very few visit the other historical monuments in Agra, like Fatehpur Sikri, which I visited in July  2015.

40 kms away from Agra, Fatehpur Sikri is a city which was built by Emperor Akbar in 1569. Known for its hybrid architecture of Mughal and Hindu era, the place will not fail to awe you.

The moment you enter the city in your own vehicle, locals will try to extort money, calling it MCD tax. Since hubby has dealt with situations like this before and being the son of an Intelligence Officer, we managed to shoo the "tax collector" away. DO NOT PAY ANY TAX. If they insist or stop your car, ask for their rule book or say "your dad is a cop". They will flee from the spot within seconds.

Fatehpur Sikri Mahal has a separate gate for entry where private vehicles are forbidden (reasons unknown). We were not allowed to enter in our car and charged 80 INR for car parking. Near the parking, you are made to wait for a bus that ferries you to Fatehpur Sikri Palace. Surprisingly the bus service is also not free!

Beware of the shopkeepers around the parking area who plead you to visit their shops and force their visiting cards on you. Be polite but assertive in refusing them. This kind of stalking and repeated pleads is unpleasant, leaving you feel unsafe and turned off. 

We made an entry through the Buland Darwaza but could not take its picture.

The imperial palace complex has a number of geometrically arranged independent pavilions on a piece of level ground. It is believed that this pattern was derived from Arab and central Asian tent encampments. You can see prominent inspiration of of the Mughal and Rajput architecture in Fatehpur Sikri. The entire building complex construction has been done with red sandstone.

Here is the Diwan-e-khas- The place for private audience of King Akbar. He held meetings in this special court with his royal men.

Khwab-gah or the place of dreams was the private place of the king with beautiful spacious rooms. The double story structure had a library, bedroom, bathroom and meeting room for the king to hold his secret meetings with his officials.

Along side is the picture of Anup Talaao, a beautiful structure amid the water tank in the royal palace. The center of the structure with raised seats is a romantic place to spend time. The pond is situated right across Khwaab Gaah.

Along the perimeter of the palace complex

Jodha, Akbar’s wife had a beautiful palace to herself. Few glimpses of the Jodha Palace-

Jodha Mahal

Jodha's Kitchen

                        The backyard is not accessible to public and lies in ruins.

Fatehpur Sikri city is beautiful with a great architecture and cultural heritage to learn from. It is a fantastic place for photography enthusiasts and art lovers. The city makes a perfect weekend getaway from Delhi or nearby places. Best would be to travel in your own car. Don't rely on public transport because of less frequency and are are overcrowded. 

Wear cotton fabric or lose clothes, not too tight or hugging. The place is VERY warm. On rainy days the place is hot and humid. July was quite warm, but the onset of rains made it little pleasing for us.

Go further get closer

This post is a part of the British Airways Indiblogger contest http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixbLMsVlpes  This video left me in tears just like Chetna turned emotional when she was pleasantly surprised by her husband Sumit. What a memorable way to get closer and say thanks to the one whom you love the most! British airways gives that opportunity to go as far as you can to get closer.

Time is the most precious thing one can give to another person. So if you get time from a friend, near or dear one, feel lucky. In the present world, when so many things are on priority and love,relationships,quality time takes a backseat, you end up in guilt for not being able to give your 100% to a relationship. No wonders, that is the reason why newly wed couples are sent to an exotic location for honeymoon so that they spend time with each other and enjoy the blissful company without interference of the rest of the world. While this is a very well practiced concept throughout the world, the sparks of the relationship starts to disappear within few years of marriage. Not that the love subdues, but it is the lack of time which creates that wedge in relationship. Be it a working couple or one staying at home, the inability to spend quality time with each other  results in fading out the strong bond. Especially the one serving the defence sector, face this every now and then.

Keeping such lifestyle and love deprived situation in mind, what can one think of? Quitting job is not a solution, et al. How can you think of making things happen again? Well, go further and get closer. Take a vacation with your partner and visit a location to get closer to your love again! You ought to cherish those memories life long then. Had I been Sumit (from the video) I would take my partner to a place like London, where serenity meets exotica! A beautiful place where you can enjoy cuisine, culture, great night outs, sight seeing while giving the most precious thing to tour partner- TIME!

Like Chetna, it would be my first journey in air. I long for the moment when we sit arm in arm on flight and look out  of the window. His shoulder is the best place for me to rest my head and forget the world. The comfortable flight journey would be the beginning of the marvellous time we'd have in London together.

It is said that nature brings people closer. Then diving into the clear waters with my partner for a view of the breathtaking underwater life would be a great idea. The moment you feel scared or shaky, your partner would be there to extend his hand and make you feel safe. There is no other feeling like your your partner assuring you that he is with you forever! The feeling which you experience while holding hands and whispering sweet nothings into each others ears, somewhere gets lost in the daily city lives where you barely have time for your own self. I want to celebrate love and togetherness with my loved one in London for sure! May be I relive the history in Buckingham Palace and see London from London Eye!

If he surprises me with such an outing, it would be a dream come true. If he does not, then I will surprise him some day. Either ways, I lose nothing :-) I hope he does not read this post, because I want him to choose a destination on his own. You can do that by clicking onthe link- http://bit.ly/1epU8Uj

Bangkok Bash

Growing up in a small town gives you wings to your dreams often. Having stayed all my life in a small town of Uttaranchal, I many a times wondered how would life be outside my country. Agreed there are many intriguing places in India itself, but the thought of going out of country always fascinated me, like others.  I had been planning a tour outside India but was confused which destination to choose. When I started exploring options through TV, reality shows,  friends, websites and social networks of course, I zeroed on to Bangkok as my travel destination. You gotta see the place once! Life gives you many reasons to celebrate and Bangkok is one of them! It gave me immense pleasure to know that Bangkok was ranked one of  the 10 topmost tourist destinations of the year 2013!! Now that makes me feel so connected again :-)

Popularly known for the Buddhist temples, Bangkok, the capital of Thailand,  displays the deep rooted Hindu influence embedded in their culture. I so want to see the Grand Palace which is a complex of buildings in the heart of the city. The Palace with The Temple of the Emerald Buddha is Thailand's most sacred site.The palace was the official residence of the Kings of Thailand since 1782, located on a river bank covering more than 2 lakh square km of area. Wow, now that accounts for a royal history. I certainly want to indulge in the grandeur of the palace, which is open for public on official events. It's like a NRI coming to India to visit the Taj Mahal. Ah! I can feel goosebumps on my skin. The pictures of t he royal palace will do all the talking of why I want to be there..

Grand Palace

Emerald Budhha

The next thing which anybody wants to do is shop from the new place. One, to collect the memories of the place, two, to flaunt it in your country, three to use it as a motivation to visit the place again. Al-rite, many don't flaunt it. It was my personal thought. No offence meant!  We hop around in the market place on foot, bargain with the sellers for economic deals and try to buy the best. How about the markets coming to you? Doesn't that sound amazing? Bangkok has floating markets where the sellers sell items to customers in their boats! The customers may be seated at the banks of the river or hire a boat to shop from the floating market. This is just Incredible!! I could not imagine a floating market in my dreams. Take a look at the floating market of Bangkok on various rivers.

Floating market

Night Market

An amazing nightlife and exquisite cuisine make Bangkok the most enjoyable tourist destination. Who does not want to enjoy world-class wine bars and savor scrumptious sea food? One among them is Ratchada Night Bazaar which is in full swing around midnight, when it bustles with locals and bursts with vintage knickknacks and cute accessories. As I collected from reliable sources, this market offers everything from retro cars to jewelery to furniture, books and to second hand items at dirt cheap prices. Has anybody seen a night market under the open sky in India? Not any that I heard of. What an amazing experience that would be! Shopping and bargaining in the moonlight! I cant stop imagining my trip to Bangkok!!

Being a nature lover, greenery and animals have always attracted me. The place that I long to visit is the Siam Ocean World which is an underground aquarium, one of the largest in Southeast Asia. One can sneak a peek into the open ocean from a glass-bottom boat, or dive in and have a swim among the sharks and rays! This is already sending chills down my spine. Check out the wonder world images below-

Siam Aquarium

The colorful culture and variety of items available to shop from, that too at an economical price, undoubtedly makes Bangkok a must visit place. It has been a popular destination for film shoots of Hollywood, Bollywood and many other industries. Who can forget Hangover-2 :-)

With Air Asia offering economical air fares to my dream destination, I am tempted and all set to go! This is  “ World’s Best Online Travel Fair”

When Bangkok has so much to offer  than what meets the eye, I have no more reasons to tell you why Bangkok is my dream destination.

This contest is a part of   by http://bit.ly/AirAsiaTravelFair.