A short road trip from DELHI to Vrindavan, Agra, Lucknow & Banaras

TIP : 1. park a little outside and reach the mandir by using an e rickshaw, its very nominal rate of Rs. 10 per head.

Agra: It has been on my list since very long, i had always wanted to visit this majestic wonder of the world THE TAJ MAHAL. post Vrindavan we reached her by around lunch time, had a quick lunch of veg thali at a restaurant available near the TAJ MAHAL. bought the ticket to palace .per ticket cost was Rs. 250 at that time, need to check. it was pretty hot so my advise, either visit early morning or 1hr before closing. guide may or maynot be needed based on kind of traveller you're. we finished a quick walk around the palace, clicked a few features and left for Lucknow ( nawabon ka shehar) . Reached lucknow by 10 pm directly checked into our booked hotel through booking.com and went to sleep.

Day 2. we start our day with visit to the famous bhool bhulaiya a.k.a labyrinth at Bara Imambara. just to give you an insight labyrinth is basically two walls next to each other and over the period of time the gape between them increased and thus causing people to loose their way or path.

INSIGHT: the famous hand pump scene of the movie GADAR EK PREM KATHA movie was shot at this place.

TIP 1: hire a guide. its pretty cheap and very informative.

Do not miss out on Chota Imambara right opposite Bara Imambara and also Rumi Darwaza.

Rumi Darwaza is nothing but a just a door in the middle of the road, and once you cross it, you see both Bara and Chota Imambara on each side.

Fun Fact: # RUMI DARWAZA when viewed upside down resembles NAVLAKHA HAAR. check out the images

FOOD PRICE: IDREES MUTTON BIRYANI: Rs.120/- per plate

other places visited were hajratganj market, and chickenghar, wasnt much exciting though.

For those who want to have dine in experience of biryani should try Lallah ki Biryani.

We move towards our final destination i.e. BANARAS. reached banaras late at night had dinner and went to sleep.

DAy 3we started our day with a direct visit to Kashinath Vishwanath Temple. the early you start, the faster you get the deity darshan and you are left with a lot of time post that. Once we were done with the darshan, we headed straight for food as i was famished, simply checked into a street side restaurant and the most common breakfast item, poori sabzi :). since it becomes pretty hot in the month of march itself, we decided to take and afternoon nap for an hour and then headed towards the ghats in evening for the famous Ganga Arti on Dashashwamedh Ghat. Timing of Arti is from 7 p.m. to 8p.m. and attended by thousands on a daily basis. since we have reached there around 5 p.m. itself i decided to take a walk around the ghats, so i just kept walking admiring the majestic beauty of Ganga, the water looked pretty much clean, since this was my first visit to banaras i had no past experience to compare the change in water quality.

list of things i witnessed on the ghats: 1. atteneded a wedding ceremony on the ghats,

2. saw the famous NAGA BABA and seek their blessings.

3. Yoga sessions being conducted and attended by foreigners.

4. people smoking up on the ghats, i got my stash. :)

5. Simply admiring the beauty of river Ganga.

TIP 1: Always buy seats at the boats on Dashashwamedh Ghat for Ganga Arti viewing. costs anywhere between 50-100 bucks.

TIP 2: if you want to smoke up just look for less crowded ghat and enjoy your time.