India - 2022 • Cassetrop's

Ahh India!

When covid started India was next on the list, I was about to book a flight to Mumbai from Hanoi when suddenly I had to book a flight back to Canada.

Anyway, fast forward to November 2022, and here I am, in an auto rickshaw (as they call it there) in Jaipur!

Here’s the links to my Instagram stories with more stuff, such as food and some videos.

Part 1.

Part 2.

Part 3.

And a link to all my photos.

Right away there’s a lot to take in. Scenes like these are usual and can sometimes be disturbing.

The first stop in Jaipur was the Patrika Gate, it was early morning but some locals were already there doing a wedding photoshoot.

Cool place:

My first masala chai:

On the way back to the hotel…

After that early gate visit, it was time to rent a Royal Enfield motorcycle for the rest of the weekend.

First stop, Amber Palace.

A lot of sellers trying to make a living on the way up to the palace.

I read a lot of bad things about this place regarding the guides trying to hustle tourists, but it was pretty chill for me, and after saying no to 2 or 3 guides I was able to get my ticket and go on without any hassling.

Quite crowded on the weekend:

But it’s an impressive place. You could explore this place for hours and hours, there’s a lot to see there but at some point, you have to move if you want to see more in just a few days in Jaipur. There’s a lot to see in that city.

Stopped at the Jal Mahal on the way back, I didn’t bring my drone to India, they are pretty nuts with people entering the country with drones from what I read and I wasn’t planning to leave the country from the same airport as I entered, which made things even more complicated if they decided to take it at the airport.

The sunset spot was Gaitore Ki Chhatriyan and the Shri Garh Ganesh Ji temple.

The view from one of the many steps to get up to the temple, great light.

The temple, from outside, can’t take photos inside, but it’s more of a spiritual place than a beautiful place inside.

Jaipur viewed from the temple area:

The next morning the sunrise at the Nahargarh Fort was beautiful.

After sunrise, the next place to go visit was the City Palace, one of the most popular attractions in Jaipur.

Right across the street the “Jantar Mantar” is an interesting place, “Jantar Mantar” means “instruments for measuring the harmony of the heavens”. It consists of a few architectural astronomy instruments.

This guy came by real fast with his camel on this busy tourist street, India doesn’t care.

Back to Nahargarh Fort to visit inside.

In the evening I ended up in a big celebration at a temple.

The next day it was time to head towards Agra, to visit the Taj Mahal, stopping at Chand Baori Step Well.

So the next morning it was time for the main event! The Taj Mahal!

Very impressive even though it’s very busy it’s worth a visit. It is quite impressive and one of the cleanest maintained attractions I saw in India.

Very interesting place, and much more fun to visit than other very famous attractions I’ve been to, such as Machu Picchu.

I then spent about 3 weeks in Delhi. I was working during the daytime, Monday to Friday.

One evening I took my camera to go around the city, ended up in Old Delhi by mistake, and just took a few photos because I had my super zoom lens and it was getting too much attention in the middle of that chaos. Old Delhi isn’t dangerous but it’s very chaotic and overwhelming when so many people come up to you because of your camera.

First I had a look at the India Gate in Delhi.

5 minutes in Old Dheli at night:

On the next weekend, I rented another Royal Enfield and drove to Alwar, a very random place to visit, but I wanted to go somewhere that wasn’t too far and not too cold, the weather was getting fresh, and heading to the mountains would be too cold to ride a bike.