Srinagar sightseeing tour

15 Jul 2019, Day 3

Another trip booked via Klook.
Paid RM165 for a group trip of 4 person.

The guide meet us at Ghat no 17, he 1st brought us at. The Shri changaraya temple. No mobile phone allowed here. We need to climb several step to reach to the top for an awesome lookout view

Ended the trip earlier because it was too boring for us. Supposed to end at 5pm but we asked the guide to send us back at 1pm. Arrived at the houseboat and just chill eating Maggi, sleeping, reading...

At 6pm, we took the shinkara boat ride. Adil, the paddler brought us to visit the floating market. Bought 4 pashmina at Rs1,000 each. Can pay visa!

The trip was 1hour at Rs500 only.

After the trip, we gathered at Light House houseboat at 9pm to hear the briefing by the organiser.

Need to go to sleep early tomorrow as we will be starting early, as early as 5am!

Good night

Day 4 || Let the adventure begin!

Let Day 1 of Himalayan adventure begin.. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

Day 1 : SRINAGAR- KARGIL

Dist : 2++km
Time : 6 hours (est)

CHECKPOINT
1st : sonamarg (brunch)
2nd : zojila top.
3rd : Drass
Last : Kargil

Hardest part : zojila pass
80% tarmac 20% offroad

6:30am - start ride
9:30am - sonamarg
11:00am - zojila top
2:00pm - drass (lunch)
5:00pm - kargil

Lead : shahidan (bike)
Swiper : tampel (pickup)
Lastman : hanif (pickup)

The Agra city || Taj Mahal & Red Fort

13 Jul 2019, Day 1

We booked a tour via Klook for this trip where it costed us RM432 for 4 pax. The trip includes a driver from Delhi and a guide who joined us at Agra.

The driver picked us up at our hotel in Delhi at 3am.. Drove for 3 hours down to Agra and finally arrived Agra City at around 6.15am

The journey was a very smooth ride along a highway which I can't remember how many toll we have to pass.. At least 3, or 4. It was also interesting to see that Indian people loves to jog along the highway and they even lay down or sleep on the road! Cows were everywhere so the driver needs to be extra careful driving.

Sadiq, our guide greeted us at the tour company office, Keeper Landwey Ptd Ltd, Agra. He helped us with the entrance ticket to Taj Mahal. Explained (almost) everything about the Shah Jahan + Mumtaz history, and he was a great photographer too! We got many god pictures because of him.

After 3 hours, we need to leave the monument and proceed to the Red Fort of Agra. The Fort was very interesting where we can see red bricks area, white castle area and also the open garden.

Sadiq then brought us for lunch at Mughal Spice restaurant, a halal one. For lunch, price per dish is around Rp300 - Rp400, before tax (20%). We then took another option which was the company voucher. We paid Rs800/pax for this bou9and we can choose unlimited food from the menu. So as usual we choose the mutton curry, cheese naan, lasso, masala tea and few more. It was all great!

The trip ends at 1pm then we head back to Delhi at 1pm.. Arrived at the hotel at round 430pm as the traffic was quite bad.

After prayer and a little leg stretching at the hotel, we went out again at 6pm to the city center via UBER, that cost us only Rs300. Had a night stroll at Jama Masjid area before we had our dinner at a local restaurant. This area is very dense and dirty, definitely a No-No for younger children.

Near the masjid, we took the Metro to Central Secretariat where we found the India Gate. This was where we got tricked by trishaw (like tuk tuk) drivers. They were asking for Rs50 for a trip to the India Gate, but when we hopped in, they offered a trip to the Parliament house and Presidential Palace, and this trip costs us Rs250 per trishaw. However for me it's fine, at least the experience we gained riding a trishaw in India, is priceless!

After India Gate, we took an UBER back to the hotel at Rs250. It was a half an hour ride, compared to over an hour when we came entering the city earlier.

Hit the sack at 10pm, resting for next day to catch an early flight at 740 am

India adventure || Let's begin

12 Jul 2019, 1910hrs depart KUL

Arrived DEL airport at 2230hrs local time (5 hrs flight). Local temperature is 36°C, at 12 midnight!!

Took a taxi ride from the airport, and the price was quite pricey as we paid RS1,700 (that's RM102 for a very short ride!). Fine, they gave us big car to fit in our luggage for 4 person.

[Well guess what, we later discovered an UBER ride to/fro the airport from Viva Hotel is only around Rs108 to Rs130]. So pls just use UBER here in Delhi.. It way much cheaper than taxi.!!

Finally safely checked in at Viva Palace Hotel, nearby Delhi Airport at around 1030pm. Paid around RS4,600 (~RM287 for 2 nights) at the hotel. Our friend booked using booking.com and they get lower rate by RS300 from our total.

Heading to bed at 1am and be ready for our next day adventure

Srinagar || Dal Lake, Khayam Showk

14 Jul 2019, Day 2

We were supposed to fly off from Delhi to Srinagar at 740am today. At the last minute we received an email informing flight delay to 1015am.

We then leave the hotel at 7am and arrived T3 Delhi Airport at 730am. Delhi Airport is very convenient - prayer rooms are available, halal food or vegetarian are also available.

Landed Srinagar Airport at 1145am (1hr+). Its very strict here where photography is not allowed at the airport. Roaming is also not available for foreign simcard, and to make it worse, foreigners are not allowed to buy local simcard. This is due to recent  conflicts happening here in Srinagar region so the government increased security level.

At the airport, foreigners are also required to register upon arrival.

We then took the prepaid taxi, going to boathouse at Dal Lake cost varies ie. Rs830 (2 pax), Rs930 (4 pax)

Together with Abg Zarin and wife, we head to Ghat no. 17 (boat stn.) to get our boat transfer to our houseboat (Light house)

-----

At 5pm, we went to Khayam Chowk for out street food tour. Our guide, Zahid came to greet us at the BBQ restaurant and offered us grilled mutton. We then took a stroll around the old city while trying the local foods.

Our trip ended at around 8pm before we head back to the hotel.

Himalayas || The first hurdle

Well originally I booked AirAsia, Air India and Jet Airways for the flight. Then last month Jet Air goes bankrupt!! They cancelled all flights and promised a partial refund.

That was suck!

First I lose my money, second I need to pay more and find another flight from Leh to Delhi.

This is crazy but we have to deal with it.

May Allah ease this journey. Aminn

~~~~~~

Syahril/Iryani total cost flight *RM3,270 (2 adults)*

Confirm date
12/7/19 - KUL-DEL via AA 1905hrs D7 182 (MYR1,564)

13/7/19 - 7am gi Taj Mahal blk Delhi (daytrip)

14/7/19 - DEL-SXR 0725hrs VIA Air India AI827 (INR5950)

15-22/7/19 - Srinagar to Leh ride

~22/7/19 - LEH-DEL via Jet Airways 0745hrs 9W 612 (USD 334)~

22/7/19 - DEL-KUL via AA 2310hrs

ETA KUL 23 Jul 0705hrs

The Himalaya Expedition || In a nutshell

Well, alhamdulillah were finally doing this (InsyaAllah)

It's a month away from our great adventure to the highest motorable road in Himalayas.

The group will consist of 17 bikes, 3 with pilions including me. Ground fee is from RM2,900/pax... Ours is RM5,000/couple.

Those includes ""

HIMALAYA EXPEDITION
👉Discover Kashmir and Ladakh

➡ PERSONAL DETAILS

Name :
Ic :
Passport No :
Address :
Emergency Name & Contact No :
Email Address :

Note : Insurance include package. Coverage only valid for departure from Kuala Lumpur.

➡ PACKAGE
( Please tick ✔ )

BIKE
1) Royal Enfield 350cc
i-Double Sharing RM3200

ii) Triple Sharing / Extra Bed  RM2900

2) Royal Enfield Himalayan 411cc
i) Double Sharing RM3600

ii) Triple Sharing /Extra Bed RM 3300

3) Pillon package
RE Himalayan RM5000
Rider Name :

4) 4x4 RM2500
Mahindra Bolero

➡ EVENT TSHIRT
1) Jersey
Official / Size :

👉Short sleeve
Or
👉Long Sleeve

2) Pre Ride Tshirt
Size :
👉 Short sleeve only

Extra Order : Pm Hanif

👉Balance payment before
15 MAY 2019

Account No :
Cimb
Himalaya Explorer Resources
8009391260

➡ CHECKLIST
(Own Cost)
✔ International Flight
✔ Domestic Flight
✔ Visa
✔ International Lisence

➡ ANY SERIOUS ILLNESS?
Please Declare

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then the route, we shall start from flying in to Delhi.. We'll be taking AA, taking a day rest in New Delhi to allow an Agra visit to see the Taj Mahal.

Then we shall continue flying to Srinagar where we picked our bikes.

Taking the route here via Panggong Lake at 4200 alt.

From there to Leh via Kashmir, Gulmarg etc. We then finally should be arriving Leh before flying back to Delhi on 22nd July 2019.

May Allah bless this journey and give us the best opportunity to feel small over His great creation. MashaAllah

Himalayas || The package offered

PACKAGE :

ROYAL ENFIELD 350

RM2900
( triple sharing room )
RM3200
( double sharing room )

ROYAL ENFIELD HIMALAYAN

RM RM3600
( double sharing room )

RIDER + PILLON + ROYAL ENFIELD 500

RM 5000
( couple room )

CAR ( XYLO)

RM 2500
( double sharing room )
RM 2200
( triple sharing room )
_____________________________________________

INCLUDE  / TERMASUK

Hotel & Meal ( Breakfast & Dinner)
Guide, Mechanic & Helper
4x4 Back Up
Sparepart, Tools & First Aid Kit
Group Travel Insurance
Permit
Event Tshirt
Taxi to Airport

EXCLUDE / TAK TERMASUK

All Flight Tickets
(Beli awal murah)
Visa
Fuel
Lunch & Duit Belanja
_____________________________________________
Full  payment before 15/5 /2019

CIMB
Himalaya Offroad Resources
Acc No : 8009391260

Hyderabad (pt 5)

It's the last day and it's report collection day. The laboratory engineer emailed and he said we need to come earlier because there were some pages that we missed to initial and some corrections to be made. I hope it goes smoothly as we are leaving tonight (ahhhh... I miss my babies). And it's Friday ... mens will go for Friday prayer at noon.

Before going back Hassan is bringing us to one more interesting place in Hyderabad - the Ramoji Film City.  It's about 30km away from town and 10km from CPRI laboratory. This place is a dream world created for the celluloid on a sprawling 2000 acres (1666 acres told by the park tour guide) with every imaginable set and location.

Entrance fee is Rs700 for adult and Rs600 for child. No difference between locals and foreigners.
.
.
.
.
Guess what.. I WILL NOT GO TO RAMOJI FILM CITY AGAIN.. EVER!

Ha ha.. well. That's just my opinion because I don't fancy hindi movies and all. This place is about movie sets. They created large parks and imitation buldings like airports,  libraries, hospitals, europe sidewalks, and japanese garden. Entertainment companies will come and hire the sets so that they don't have to go to those places.

Other famous places in Hyderabad are the Tank Bund (Buddha) at Husain Sagar lake, NTR park, Lumbini park, snow world, Birla Mandir Temple and the Hyderabad zoo featuring Himalayan white tiger.

Later after finalising the report we will go for dinner and off to airport. Yay!

Hyderabad (Pt 4)

1. Salar Jung Museum

Well.. museums are museums.. showing all those things from the past. But I'm not really a museum person. He he
Guess what I've discovered? The museum shop!!!.. they sell real fresh water pearls.. and the price is 3 or 4 times lesser than the pearl shop that we went last night near charminar. So I bought a set of pearl necklace with earrings with price 3 times lower than my bracelet... grrr***

They also have a huge range of sarees. Cottons and silk. The price is again soo cheap compared to the wholesale saree shop that we went 2 days ago. And guess what.. I bought 5!  :p

Other things they have with very good price are keychains... pashminas.. Nizam diamond replicas and metal items like dagger etc.

2. Chowmahalla Palace

A really nice palace I must say. Details later :)

3. Golconda Fort
(Built in 1518, completed in1580)

Gol=sheep
Conda=hill

Guide fee:
1h30m full tour - Rs750
1h gnd tour - Rs600

14th century gate
Designed by persian king,  Qutub Shahib

Highest point of the fort.. 500ft asl, which was the kings meeting room.

We did not somehow stay for the light show which commenced at 6.30pm to 7.30pm daily

** Buy silk scarf (again)

Only "scarf shop" have the silk scarf that we like. We tried other shop but couldn't get the same quality/type and the price was rather expensive.

Today the Khans (shop owner) showed us their highest range of fabric.. Ashtous and Pashtous.. made from the best wool in the world from Kashmir. It took 9 month to 1 year to complete 1 scarf. And the price are from Rs20,000!

Btw, 3 terms I learned today in fabric making - handloom, handmade and machine.

** Collect suit at tailor

Wow!!! I love the suit. The pants and the blouse that I've ordered. Long blouse cost me only RM35 to RM45 max.. depending on the material. Because I love it so much I've ordered 2 more blouses and they can do it in 1 day. I paid in full and they will deliver it to the hotel by tomorrow. Yeay!!

According to the guide, we can also visit Falaknuma Palace. Previously a palace, now converted into 7 star hotel. Very nice place he said...

I saw also " Shankaran vizag" on a billboard. Will google more on this.

Well that ends for today.. later

Hyderabad (Pt 3)

Today Hassan brought us to a spice shop to buy sount (india aftermints). There are 2 types of sount - sount top & sount mix. Sount mix is a mixture of spices (**jintan putih etc.) And sount top is sweet sugary white aftermints. Eat together after every meal and you'll get the most refreshing feeling.

The spice shop

Must try this!

Sount mix

We then went to kurta shop where I've bought 2 pairs of men kurta and 1 boy kurta. All at the price of Rs4,000.

Kurta shop and other mens clothing

Next stop was the pearl shop. They have amazing collection of Hyderabad pearls from freshwater to salt water pearl. Their salt water pearl comes in different rare colors like yellow, pinknand black. Their AA grade salt water pearl bracelet cost around Rs60,000 (RM2,700) whilst their AAA grade pearl with gold cost around Rs40,000 (RM1,800)... all comes with free earrings.

Rare collection of seawater pearls

Well, no doubt the pearl bracelet was amazing but I wasn't prepared to buy expensive pearl... so I just grab myself a 2-line white freshwater pearls.

Before we end the night, Hassan again brought us to 4-seasons restaurant because of the kashmiri naan. we really love it besides other dishes that was also amazing. I highly recommend this restaurant to everyone visiting Hyderabad.

From top clockwise : grilled chicken, Kashmiri naan, mutton josh

I'm extremely full and sleepy now. See u readers again...soon

Hyderabad culture

Hyderabad is located in the Andhra Pradesh region where 75% are  Muslims. Nornally the Sunni and Syiah will live in the same area and the Hindus on the other side of the city. But these 3 never fight. Good ;)

Syiah and sunni have separate masjids normally located side by side. I notice they love to use tiger in their signage.. something like tigers were guiding the masjids, hokding swords.  These must be the syiahs. I don't know. I'll ask the locals.

Peoples are everywhere. And they have got sonething to do. Never sitting down doing nothing. They sell almost anything .. by the roadside.i even bought a huge tent for only Rs500 (RM25). that's awesome! 

And owh.. mens always seen to urinate on the wall.. by the roadside.. ewww

Homeless are everywhere. And there are also super rich people living in the city. Amazing culture. Awesome experience.

The best combination.. Rotti, Dhal and ginger prawn....!!!

Hyderabad (Pt 2)

It's day 2... we start work very early today with ambition that we will complete most of the test as per schedule. But it didn't hapoen as planned.. there were some problem with the test sets and we completed the day with only 2 tests (out of 3) done.

The driver took us to the tailor downtown. . And guess what. . I spent Rs7,600 (close to RM400) to get 3 trousers.. 2 suits.. and 2 blouses. Amazing!



Fitting at tailors for our suits

I bought also 1 very fine saree.. a really nice one ; ) also 2 ladies kurta. Awesome...

We then had middle east dinner at the 4 seasons restaurant. Awesome foods!! I would highly recommend Kashmiri Naan. It's sooooo good. The mutton soup is also marvelous. And the lamb kabsah.. everything! And it cost so little.



My fine saree.. Yay!



My Rs 2,500 saree(around RM125)

Choosing the nicest saree. price range is huge...



Awesome meals at 4 seasons
From top clockwise : ?? naan, utton kabsah, chicken kurma, mint chilli blended

Owh ..forgot to mention.. yesterday we ate at Paradise.. awesome curry and briyani

That ends day 2. I'm super tired.

Bye2

Our driver Hasan was so kind to bring us to his house. He wanted to introduce his family to us
From Left : Sufyan, Hasan's wife, Me, Hasan's daughter in law, Salman, Hasan, Ian Lee

My most favourite - indian aftermints (soft)

Hyderabad (Pt 1)

It's day 1.. don't have much time to look around but we were lucky enough to have a very nice driver who was willing to drive us around the city and show us few main attractions of Hyderabad.

First he showed us the Buddha in the middle of Husin Sagar Lake. Then he brought us to a craft shop, where I bought a silk scarf... a very fine one. Cost me Rs1,000 (around RM50+)

We then went to the Nizam Museum to see stuff from the King Nizam's empire... full of silver and gold I must say.

Then we went to the charminar and Mecca Masjid. The entrance for charminar is Rs5 for local and Rs100 for foreigners.  Crazy!

View of Charminar (left with 4 minarets) from Makkah Masjid

So what is Charminar? It is as much signature of Hyderabad as the Eiffel Tower of Paris and was built by the founder of Hyderabad Md. Quli Qutub Shah in 1591. The four graceful minarets stand at the heart of the city in the midst of the busy market.

Charminar and muslim ladies of Hyderabad

And why Macca Masjid? The moqsue is situated adjacent to Charminar.  A few bricks from Mecca which are embedded in the walls of this impressive mosque gave its name. Originally started by Sultan Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah, it was completed by the conqueror Aurangazeb.

He then wanted to bring us to the bangle and jewellery shop but we were too tired and all we need was just to go back to the hotel and rest.

So good nite for today.

Ta ta

Hyderabad, India

Assalamualaikum. . Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. ..

I'm travelling again. Suprise huh!
I really thought that Saudi will be my last overseas trip for 2013. Rezeki.. Alhamdulillah

I was a bit scared. Sceptical about India... people say so many things about India. About the food.. the water.. the air etc.

I did not have much time to prepare (medicine, thermal flask, mask etc.) or even pack my bag. Only started packing at 4.30pm and the cab arrived at 6.15pm. He he

So that night we left for Hyderabad at about 10.20pm and supposed to arrive in 4 hours.

May Allah bless our journey.

Insyaallah