Incredible India: Day 2– An adventure packed day! (Part 1)

Yes, I started blogging my India from day 2 because day 1 was just flying from Miri to KL, then took bus to KLIA from LCCT to get away from the crowd and heat, more food choices and cooler air-conditioning, took bus back to LCCT and boarded our plane to Delhi. Checked in our hotel in Karol Bagh and slept……

And…… what’s going to happen the next day were just beyond our expectation!
Not in terms of hygiene or what so ever… it’s just so…. FUNNY!
So funny that every time Maurina and I thought about it, we just couldn’t stop laughing!

Here goes funny story #1

 

After a loooooooooong day, loooong flight, we arrived our hotel at around 11pm (which is like Brunei time 1.30am) and the taxi driver was really mad at us because he couldn’t find the hotel. He was literally shouting at us, which is okay because we don’t understand also so no hard feelings. We just didn’t care and stayed inside the taxi. Hehhehehee. Oh oh, the taxi driver stopped every time he saw someone at the road side and kami terpulang jadi tukang tanya, asking where is hotel sunrise.

It was really dark outside with not much people, the place looks super ghetto-ish and honestly, I was a bit worried because… WHAT IF WE GOT RAPED AND ROBBED?! Die man die! But luckily, we arrived safely la~

Okay, that’s not the funny story #1… I just got carried away….

So yeah, we arrived Delhi late and the next day, we had a train to catch which departs at 6.15am and the hotel staff suggested us to leave at latest 5.30am, to avoid traffic and all… YES! TRAFFIC STARTS AS EARLY AS 5.30AM!

After a quick shower, both Mau and I set alarms and went to bed…. knowing we only had like, 4 hours to sleep!

And Mau’s alarm went off first at 4.45am (I think). She went to take shower and when she’s done, she woke me up and went to put on make up and stuffs. I terus sat straight on the bed, forced my eyes to open and tried to get ready for the day. When we’re all done, about to leave the room, I took a look at my watch and yelled,

MAU! IT’S 2.30AM IN INDIA!!!!!!!!!!

She changed the time zone for the phone and watch, but not her mac. And, the alarm went off from her mac!! No wonder I felt that I just dozed off and had to wake up liao. And guess what we both did?

WENT BACK TO SLEEP WITHOUT CHANGING!

You know, PLANKING tarus! With full make up and all dressed up.

And, we slept till 5am. Woke up, didn’t even bother to brush our teeth… just wore our shoes and took our bags and left.

That’s our funny story #1…

Tips to all: REMEMBER TO CHANGE THE TIME ZONE FOR ALL YOUR GADGETS AND WATCH!

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Bah bah bah, pictures time…. 100+ over photos ahead… and, this is only part 1…

Took a taxi to the NDLS and that place was already jam packed like sardines!

Lots and lots of honking already at 5.30am!

Probably the prettiest part of the station…

Lots of people sleeping soundly in the station
Syok kali ah! After our train delay experience, sleeping on the floor with a thick blanket seems like a luxury.

Okay, here comes (not so funny, but it can be if you want) funny story #2.

So as you can see, there’s a lot of people in the badly labeled train station and we had no idea where to start! As in, where the heck to board?! All the counters were closed except for one, which had like maybe 50 Indians squashing and pushing in front of it.

Then came a man offering help, brought us to the “International tourist bureau” on the first floor. And yes, there’s a label there stating that don’t play play. And came another man in smart attire looking at our e-ticket and said we need to print boarding pass. WHAT BOARDING PASS?! The e-ticket didn’t mention anything about it.

And er… you know lah, we still super blur (lack of sleep and baru woke up) and so we just followed what the man said, took a taxi to the DTTDC, which is the official ticketing bureau just to print the boarding pass because, without the boarding pass, we will be charged USD190!

Then when we arrived the DTTDC, which stands for DELHI TOURISM AND TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION by the way, the staff told us that it’s too late to print the boarding pass for us as the train is chartered, and leaving in 15minutes… And we’re like, so how? so how how? so how how how? We’re not alone btw, got other angmohs there also (probably asking the same thing).

The man told us that we can hire a private cab, taking us all the way to Agra and back, including all entrance tickets and parking fees. Okay, sounds not so bad… after all, we did that before when we’re going Siem Reap for Angkor Wat. Maybe that’s like our fate, you know, mesti ni private taxi to see world heritage (Agra Fort and Taj Mahal this time).

So how much?

USD300+ !!!!

Wah lau eh…. the train ticket only BND20+ nia, return somemore… chi sin one is it? $300+, USD lagi! I don’t photocopy money one. So, due… or thanks to our frugality, we rather miss the world heritage than pay USD150 each. So we went back to the train station to try our luck. Who knows maybe got people last minute cannot go and we can buy from that person leh~ kan kan kan? Optimistic ftw!

And, at the same time, I texted Diyana who is in India right now sama hubby nia yang working there and told her our situation. She said maybe we can just majal because erm… Indians ni majal and sometimes they just let you saja. I’m so glad the message came in time, because… WE MAJAL-ED!

When we reach the train station once again, the train was about to leave and we just barged in the gate and ran towards the train, which was already moving!!!

YES! WE JUMPED ON A TRAIN!

Just like in the movies! With random stranger at the train door asking us to run and ready to pull us up. Okay lah, truth is, the train wasn’t that fast since it just departed and maybe engine baru warm up wtf. Hahhahahahaa. But hell yeah, WE JUMPED ON A TRAIN! You ever or not? Hah? You ever or not!
Hehehhehehehee.

Then, the scary part came.

THE TRAIN CONDUCTOR IS CHECKING EVERYONE’S TICKET!
And we got no boarding pass. Die lah die!

My face was so stiff that I think I can kapit a fly just by wrinkling my brows. And Maurina was like, act nothing Nonnie! They’re gonna find out! And we came up with plan A, B, C, D, E, F, G! Actually just one plan, that is.. act dumb and don’t understand anything he said, talk and answer in Malay, cry and throw tantrum if he marah. I mean, how bad can it be? Kick us off the train at the next stop? Maybe…..

It’s only sort of our day 1 in India and we’re already facing critical situation like this?! HOW?!

Our turn soon and…. Maurina passed him the e-ticket we had in the folder… and…. he was reading through… and…

HE SIGNED ON IT AND WALKED AWAY!

WHAT THE HECK?!

So what’s the whole boarding pass about? Some more really got office one okay! Wah lao eh, steady also their touting skills! Hai yah…… jumpa orang jahat! Lucky the only money we wasted was just the taxi fare, which is like $10 only.

To anyone out there who plan to take trains in India, the e-ticket you print and purchase from Cleartrip is already sufficient. No other things needed and no one should be checking your ticket too.

Okay, you judge la, if this is funny for you. Or, stupid… But don’t say stupid lah. Kasian us kana tipu $10.

Bah, enough already, enjoy the pictures took in Agra fort.

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We’re given a bottle of mineral water each and we’re like, for us only kah because we’re obviously tourists. Good also ah, got privilege. Sekali nia, other people also got.. just that we’re late that’s why baru kana bagi. Suspen… Prasannnnnn…. 

Breakfast tea

We’re given the above set, together with a flask of hot water to make some tea. So good ah, at least got something to eat kan.

The man who gave out meals on the train. Super busy and non-stop working/distributing/collecting.

The flask as mentioned above.

Mau, with orang putih nose accidentally.

Menu~

I wanna sit there too!

Just when we thought we’re only having breakfast tea, came our BREAKFAST!

SYOK BRABIS!!!!!! Warm lagi tu the meal!

Finger chips. It’s like potato croquette with a hint of spices.

Nice the butter! I’m not into butter but the butter in India is really good!

The baby girl still super active and ya, the sun is up and better picture now.
Oh, inside the train.

Passing by some random town?

So, this is where our dirty trays go to.

Reached Agra Cant 2.5hours later~

Chilly day.

Seriously, how not to feel safe in India if every where you go, you see police/soldiers with riffles!
Even security guards have pistol with them.
And they checked bags and bodies thoroughly.

So I hereby declare… *dunno correct word to use or not*, India is safer and cleaner (because it doesn’t stink due to the cold weather) than our neighboring country that starts with the letter M.

Looking for transportation~

Agra Cant railway station

No man wears tshirt in India!

Nah, see!
Mesti seluar yang obvious seam.

Shoes of Ram, Monica, Maurina and I.

Oh ya, we made new friends in the train, sitting next to us on their honeymoon trip. When we’re waiting for our flight in LCCT, we saw a lot of Indian women wearing sparkly red and white bangles and we’re like, maybe that’s the latest trend or something, mesti ikut! Skali, the red and white bangles are worn by newly weds. Hahahhahahahaaa.

Anyways, when we’re about to leave the train, we had a small talk with the couple sitting next to us talking about our next destination. The two main places we want to go are of course Taj Mahal and Agra fort and we can start by going to any of these two first. Ram and Monica chose to go to Red Fort first, then Maurina and I started to discuss where should we start.

Maybe Ram sensed some sort of confusion or he felt it’s his responsibility to take care of two bimbos tourists, he asked if we want to share a cab and we’re like, why not? It’s more convenient to us since we don’t need to worry kana tipu or what since we have a local to handle the situation.

Kid with a “job” looks somewhat cleaner and smarter.
You’ll get what I mean later.

Tuk-tuks are generally an easier and cheaper mode of transport and they charged by going from point to point. And, each ride is about 50 cents to a dollar. I’m not kidding you!

Cute twins in the car next to us

Diesel costs 72 rupees per litre, which is like  BND1.80, as to compare with our 31 cents per litre..

And the taxi driver bringing us was super serious and …erm… safe?
He was talking to Ram yadda yadda yadda, not that we understand and later he turned around and gave us some advices. We’re like, “okay… okay”, but he still felt we’re not paying attention maybe. So he pulled over at the road side and started yapping away! For like 5 minutes!!!

“I TELL YOU, YOU BUY TICKETS HERE. BECAUSE IT WILL SAVE YOU 100 RUPEES. THEN YOU DON’T HAVE TO QUEUE FOR TICKETS AGAIN IN TAJ MAHAL. AND PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REMEMBER, DO NOT, I TELL YOU, DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM ANYONE YOU SEE HERE! IF YOU WANT TO BUY, YOU TELL ME, I BRING YOU TO MARKET! CHEAPER AND SAFER!” (Repeat 10x)

Sampai Monica whispered to us, “If you want to buy, just go ahead…”

Oh ya, Ram and Monica hired the taxi driver for the whole day (8 hours) and said it’s okay, we didn’t have to pay.We even had a free  See, got GOOD PEOPLE also one okay! Early morning kana tipu, then later kana belanja. God has everything under his control~

Reaching Agra Fort

The beautiful and kind couple, Ram and Monica, both engineers.

 

It’s a good thing we bought Taj Mahal ticket here too because the queue in Taj Mahal was crazy! Saved us lot of time! Oh ya, we didn’t get any tour guide, or rent those audio guide.

Getting the tickets

  

A cute squirrel eating/playing. It’s like a safari inside the fort. Baboons, squirrels and all sort of birds playing, running, flying around freely!

Very Hogwarts-ish

You can tell from the photos that it’s pretty foggy that day.

 

The public toilet in Agra fort. Not super clean but it didn’t stink at all.

 

 
Obligatory touristy shot credits to Mr. Self-timer.

So pretty!

The prettiest longkang cover ever!

 

Lots of school visits that day!

       

   

If I tell you the guys in the above photo took a lot of pictures of us, will you believe me?

I swear, we’re like… celebrities there. Feel a bit malu that’s why use a smaller font size. But really, a lot of people took pictures of us and it’s really really obvious, like… right in our faces!

 

 

Okay, you’re probably bored by the photos now…

The pigeons there are all super FAT!
BULATTTTTTTTTT!!!

Taking a rest, enjoying the cool breeze and scenery and starring at random people.

Their uniforms in the winter. Knitted sweater~

Sibeh senang this man. sweep sweep sweep, then rest and feed squirrels.

The tomb of someone important.. Cant remember who.

He gave some squirrel food (?) to the students and everyone gathered and squealed~

Super pretty green parrots!

KING KONG!

I mean, BABOONNNNNNN!

This couple super sweet okay. The hubby (I assume) picked kutu for his wife and ate it.

The funny thing was, when he realised I was looking at them, the expression on his face was priceless!
Like this!

Then, they ran away….

A well.. But my imagination tells me that this can be a punishment well filled with poisonous snakes in the ancient time. Because, it’s that big!

Big leh?!

 
this dog macam so sien…

And, we’re almost done!

Suddenly a lot of baboons went up the roof top.

This uncle sibeh sat. Wore all white and dyed his hair all red!
Ming xing eh!

The kids stared at us brabis!

Resting again, attention-seeking. Hahhahahaha

Told you they really stared at us.

Photo taken by Ram~

Nah, the sweet couple who belanja-ed us taxi.

Another bunch of school kids.

Seriously, I don’t know how their teachers handled them. They have like hundred over kids to take care and there’s only like 6 teachers!

Remember I told you all India doesn’t stink? But their camels stink a lot! Even in winter still can smell so we gave up the idea on taking the camel ride.

Actually we wanted to take the camel ride but couldn’t find any. And when we passed by the hired camel… wah lao, smelly till….

Next post, Taj Mahal and all the tai-tai activities!