| 9-DAY TOUR INDIA/PAKISTAN JAMMU – DELHI – AGRA – JAIPUR – DELHI – AMRITSAR – LAHORE – RAWALPINDI |
| 23 October 2000 From Jammu Station we left by Train 4646 Jammu Tawi New Delhi Shalimar Express at 20:50 for New Delhi. We traveled at class 3A (6 seats and/or 6 beds in an open compartment), because class 2A was sold out, so if you want to go by train you will have to book your tickets well in advance. You can check schedules and availability on www.indianrailways.com . We paid 2232 INR for 4 tickets. 24 October 2000 We arrived at New Delhi Train station at 11:30, 25 minutes late. We took a Taxi (who cheated us of course) to Maharani Guest House in Sunder Nagar. We paid 2400 INR for the room, plus 1000 INR for two extra beds (two mattresses). In the afternoon we went to the UNMOGIP Office in New Delhi, and with the SOIC we went to TCI, to pay for our Agra – Jaipur tour. In the evening we went to Connaught Place (CP) to dine and shop. Shops close at 19:00 in CP, other markets in Delhi are open till late in the evening 21:00 –22:00. Good restaurants in CP are Rodeo (Mexican/Italian), San Marzano (Pure Italian), United Coffee House (Indian/Chinese/Int.). Most restaurants in CP have Happy Hour until 19:00 or 20:00. Rodeo and San Marzano have live music Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 25 October 2000 Delhi tour. We rented a car with driver at a price of 600 INR for 8 hours or 80 km, whatever comes first. Make a plan of what you want to see, before you start the tour and try to get a driver who understands a little English, so he can tell you a little about the places you visit. We visited Red Fort (entrance $5), Raj Ghat (Mahatma Ghandi’s grave), Lotus Temple, Qutb Minar (entrance $10), India Gate, Canopy and the President Palace. 26 October 2000 Agra – Jaipur tour. The Ambassador car with A/C came and picked us up at 06:00 from the Maharani Guest House. From there we drove to Agra, with a stop at Akbars Tomb in Sikandra (entrance $5). We arrived at Hotel Mansingh Palace, just before lunch, here we met our guide (included in the tour) and we arranged for the afternoon. After lunch we went to, first Agra Fort (entrance $10) and then Taj Mahal (entrance $21). 27 October 2000 Agra – Jaipur tour. 08:00 we left the Hotel heading for Jaipur. On the we visited Fathipur Sikri (entrance $12). The Hotel Mansingh Tower, was entered around lunch time, again here our guide was waiting and a plan for our Jaipur tour was made. In the afternoon we visited City Palace (entrance 150 INR) and the Observatory (entrance 4 INR), the Observatory is only interesting if you have a guide. So if you come there without a guide, take one of the local guides, it will cost you around INR 50, but it will be money well spent. 28 October 2000 Agra – Jaipur tour. 08:00 we left the Hotel with the guide to see Hama Mahal (photo opportunity) and the visit Ambre Fort (entrance 50 INR), an Elephant ride was included in the tour otherwise it costs I400 INR per Elephant (max 4 people). From there we went directly back to New Delhi, again staying at the Maharani Guest House. We paid 18000 INR for the full Agra – Jaipur tour, including 2 rooms with breakfast at each hotel. 29 October 2000 Delhi tour. We used most of the day for relaxing although we visited Humayun’s Tomb (entrance $10). 30 October 2000 Amritsar tour. At 07:20 we left New Delhi, by Train 2029 New Delhi Amritsar Shadabdi Swarn Express heading for Amritsar arriving at 13:00. We paid 2275 INR for 4 tickets (3 adults and 1 child) in CC class, including tee or coffee, a meal, cola and a bottle of mineral water. Arriving in Amritsar, we took a Taxi to Hotel Ritz Plaza telephone number (0183) 562836 Fax (0183) 226657 Email: ritz@del3.vsnl.net.in . We took two rooms, which were connected with a door, and we got a bargain price of 1500 INR per room excluding breakfast. Normal price according to their pricelist was 2200 INR per room. We hired a Taxi to take us to the Golden Temple and the Wagha Border closing ceremony. We paid 500 INR for this. 31 October 2000 Lahore tour. At 08:00 we checked out of the hotel and took a Rickshaw to the border (300 INR), it was very difficult to get a Taxi or a Rickshaw at that time of the day, and they all wanted a lot of money for the drive (try to make arrangements for your transportation the evening before). We arrived at the boarder at 09:00, and then it took another hour to cross the border, 5 times on Indian side you will have to show your passport, and 3 times they will write your name, passport number etc. in their books. On the Pakistani side we met our Guide, Syed Tehseen-Ul-Hassan telephone number +92-42/7668234 and our Taxi driver. We had before we started our tour contacted the Guide and asked him to arrange with a Taxi to pick us up. We paid 1500 PKR to both the Guide and Taxi driver for 1 ½ day service. We drove to our hotel, Lodging Herfa Inn telephone number +92-42/6376101. We had made a reservation of one room with extra beds, for which they charged us 1400 PKR. Hotel standard was very low, and I cannot recommend this hotel. After the check-in we went to Lahore Fort, Badshahi Mosque, in the old part of the city we went to Kashmir bazaar, Wazir Khan’s Mosque and the Golden Mosque. In the evening we went to see the Wagha Border closing ceremony from the Pakistani side. 1 November 2000 At 08:30 we were picked up by our Guide and Taxi driver. This day we visited Jehangir’s Tomb, Noor-Jehan’s Tomb and Shalimar Gardens. After lunch at Mcdonalds (located 6 places), we went to the Daewoo bus station in Lahore. Bus to Rawalpindi costs 360 PKR and the trip takes 4 hours. The buses leave every half hour; be there ½ hour before departure. Booking in Lahore on telephone number +92-42/5863742. We can highly recommend this tour to others; also families with smaller children just beware of the season. In the season we had chosen the maximum temperature we experienced was around 36 degrees in Jaipur, in the other areas the temperature was around 32 degrees |
| TOUR DONE IN OCT 2000 |
| With thanks to Kenneth Pedersen for the contribution |