I hadn’t been to New Delhi since 2008. Back then it was my last destination on a longer trip and I have very fond memories. We stayed with a very friendly elderly man (friend of friends) who made sure we had a great time.

Getting downtown is a lot easier today than it was eight years ago. The metro extends to Indira Gandhi International airport and gets you to New Delhi Railway Station in around 20mins for 60 Rupees (S$1.20). The trains are the same as they use in Hong Kong and are very comfortable. The train doesn’t seem to be doing too well as they have just decreased the fares.

Inside the Airport Express on the way to New Delhi Railway Station

From New Delhi Railway Station I took the metro a couple of stops north to Vidhan Sabha and from there a cycle rickshaw to my first destination: Majnu Ka Tilla, a Tibetan Refugee Colony. Most of the inhabitants are second generation Tibetan whose parents settled in India shortly after the 1959 Tibetan uprising. Nowadays it is a popular spot for backpackers.

New Aruna Nagar – Little Tibet

I wandered around the narrow alleys for a while and had lunch (which was nothing to write home about).

Inside Majnu-ka-tilla

Inside Majnu-ka-tilla

Shop in Majnu-ka-tilla

It reminded me of the Tibetan settlements and schools I saw in Karnataka eight years earlier where over 70’000 Tibetans live nowadays.

Tibetan School (Modahalli, Karnataka – 2008)

Tibetan school kids (Modahalli, Karnataka – 2008)

From Little Tibet I took an auto-rickshaw to the nearby Red Fort, the former residence of the Mughal Emperor and later turned military cantonment. Nowadays it is a UNESCO World Heritage site and accessible for the public.

The impressive Red Fort

I did remember that India charges tourists massively more than its citizens but I had forgotten just how much more. Locals pay 35 Rupees (S$0.70), foreigners 500 Rupees (S$10.20) – 14x more.

The main entrance, the Lahori Gate

The Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Audience)

Diwan-i-Am

Naqqar Khana (orchestra pit during ceremonies)

Moti Masjid, the hammam, Divan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audiences)

Inside Divan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audiences)

Moti Masjid (white marble mosque), built 1659-1660

The sun was burning and I was starting to get exhausted. I left the Red Fort and wanted to explore Old Delhi’s bazaars for a while. But I didn’t last very long. Still tired from the little sleep I got the previous night, I gave up after about half an hour and headed back to the airport.

Street snacks outside the Red Fort

Outside the Red Fort

Street scene in Chandni Chowk

Street scene in Chandni Chowk

I find bazaars in Delhi absolutely fascinating although very exhausting. Imagine you’re in a supermarket walking down an aisle with products on the shelf. It is similar in Delhi except that there are salesmen holding each individual product in front of you. You don’t go to the products, the products come to you. “no thanks, I don’t need any clothes pin right now”. “thanks, I’ve already got a garlic press”.

Heading back to New Delhi Railway Station

The ride back to the airport was very smooth again. Air India and Jet Airways even offer check-in at the metro station. Once back at the airport things got a bit more complicated. They only let you inside the terminal around five hours before departure and the same goes for check-in. No idea why and certainly not very passenger friendly for an airport that likes to call itself “World’s best Airport for 25-40 Million Passengers” (but then again who isn’t best airport nowadays with some many awards around).

While not relaxing, I did enjoy the chance to visit Delhi again as part of a “free” layover. The metro link make a visit much more hassle free and predictable without having to worry about traffic. On top of that with the recently introduced electronic visa (I paid USD49), you don’t have to bring your passport to an embassy anymore.

My initial plan was to take a cheap flight from Singapore to Amritsar and catch one of Turkmenistan Airlines’ bi-weekly flights to Ashgabat, which are fairly cheap. However I underestimated how tough it is to get a visa and by the time I left for Amritsar, I still had not received my visa. I had planned to cross into Uzbekistan from Turkmenistan and luckily my visa for Uzbekistan was already valid a week before my intended travel date.

Hence, change of plans. Fly to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The flag carrier, Uzbekistan Airways, operates twice weekly service from Amritsar as well, on the same days as Turkmenistan Airlines to Ashgabat. I had been checking seat availability and the flight appeared really full. By Monday afternoon I still did not have my Turkmenistan visa, so I finally decided to fly to Tashkent. By then only business class was available for the two hour flight – at S$600 probably to most expensive flight I have ever taken for a 726 miles flight. Oh well. I booked it and left for Wagah and the Golden Temple.

When I got back Monday night, I had received an e-mail from the travel agency that the reservation was cancelled. Of course by the time I saw the e-mail, their office was closed. There were not other options for several days to get to Tashkent or anywhere close, so I really wanted to take that flight. I called the travel agency the next morning five hours before departure and luckily they were able to book the flight again and ticket the reservation immediately.

Uzbekistan Airways B763 at Amritsar Airport

So I was back at Amritsar Airport 2o hours after arriving from Singapore and flying off to Tashkent. The flight arrived from Delhi and was chockablock full. Business class was unremarkable. Interestingly the built in inflight entertainment system was switched off but instead iPads were passed out.

Uzbekistan Airways B763 business class seat

Uzbekistan Airways B763 business class meal ATQ-TAS

Uzbekistan Airways business class IFE

About an hour into the flight we overflew Kabul and

Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport

We landed on time at Tashkent International Airport and taxied past the Uzbekistan Airways “museum”.

Uzbekistan Airways Tu-154

After clearing immigration and claiming luggage at the “Uzbekistan Airways VIP arrivals lounge” I proceeded straight to the departure are to try and buy a ticket for the domestic flight to Urgench. Full. Ok, then to Nukus. Full. Bukhara? Full. The lady was nice and we managed to speak in French (hers being better than mine). She suggested I head over to the domestic terminal and try to get on a flight standby. I did so and jumped in a taxi that drove me 3km to the other end of the airport to the domestic terminal (no award to the genius who came up with such an airport concept, not even offering transfer shuttles). Same story there. For some reason however they took my passport and USD110 and told me to come back later. When I did so, I got a ticket to Nukus! After spending about four hours with absolutely nothing to do or look at, we finally boarded for the roughly two hours flight to Nukus.

For the first time I’d be flying an Ilyushin Il-114. We flew at low altitude and had great views of the Kyzyl Kum desert.

Uzbekistan Airways Il-114

Nukus has a tiny airport 2km north of the city and it wasn’t long until I was finally in a hotel after this unexpected travel day.

In-flight from Tashkent (TAS) to Nukus (NCU)

My original plan was to see it both in daylight and at night, as recommended by everyone I talked to. Unfortunately I spent the next morning on the phone trying to fix my onward ticket rather than going back to the temple, so I’ll have to go back again at some point.

I won’t talk about the temple as such, if you’re interested in this holiest of sites for the Sikh, I highly recommend the Wikipedia article.

Every visitor needs to cover their head with a cloth and take of their shoes. Fortunately everything is very well organized. I visited around 8pm and found the compound magical. Just look at the photos below:

Overview of the complex

Close-up

This man kindly asked me to take a photograph of him

Definitely very far up the list of greatest structures built by mankind I have ever seen!

Driving towards the border. Lahore is just like Amritsar close to the border.

After leaving the airport, I quickly dropped my luggage at the hotel and asked the taxi driver whether he’d be available to drive me to the border around 45mins away. His car was probably the most beat up Tata I had ever seen (and that means something) but I figured it would save time. We agreed on 1’200 Rupees and set off around 4pm. Upon leaving, the hotel staff said I was very late but in retrospect I could have left even later as there is reserved seating for foreigners (lucky foreigners).

Almost there… walking the last kilometer

For years, India and Pakistan have escalated the border closing and flag lowering every evening in a kind of show whereby they try to out-do each other. The whole thing has become an event for the entire family on both sides. I had seen some photos before of soldiers marching but in terms of the atmosphere, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

View towards the Pakistani side

Unless one of the few authorized cars passes, the gates are always shut

International Delhi-Lahore bus passing the border

The carpark is about 1km before the actual border and an easy walk. It felt like the walk from a subway station to the soccer stadium as everybody was excited and there were vendors selling flags, snacks and offering to paint your face. You have to go through a number of security checks and are not allowed to carry any kind of bags (cameras are fine) and as a foreigner should carry your passport. I don’t know how but they identified me as a foreigner from far away but they did and then moved me to a special lane. Eventually I ended up in a section for foreigners in the bleachers which I was happy with since the general seating areas was already overcrowded.

The excitement in the atmosphere was contagious. Bollywood music was blasting from loudspeakers and everybody was celebrating India. Eventually some ladies started running down the road towards the border carrying flags and then started dancing. At some point the music also starting blaring from the Pakistani side; at this point the mix of the two was a bit too much.

Pre-ceremony celebrations with flags and…

…dancing

Meanwhile in Pakistan

Visitors keep filling up the bleachers

Not sure whether intentional or not but it seemed as if Pakistan had separate seating areas for women and…

…men

Around 6.30pm the actual ceremony started. Soldiers in special uniforms appeared on both the Indian and Pakistani side. From then on, one side would do a certain act, immediately followed by the other side. It was very entertaining and the crowd was ecstatic. Below are some impressions:

Tough guys from Pakistan

and even tougher guys from India

With the tough guys in position, let the ceremony begin!

Starting with female soldiers from India…

Immediately followed by their counterparts from across the border

Comparison side-by-side

Shouting towards the other side

The flag is about to be lowered

The two flags being lowered in unison

And the Indian flag being carried away

The ceremony ended about half an hour later with the lowering of the flag and the closing of the border. Around 2’000 people attended on the Indian side (more seating is under construction) and made their way back home, mostly with over-loaded auto-rickshaws. Fortunately I found my driver quickly and we made our way back towards Amritsar with a final stop at the Golden Temple.

I would really recommend a visit, not just for the actual performance but especially the atmosphere. It really feels like going to a sports game with everyone cheering on their favorite team. It also makes you think about borders and how much of a hassle they can be. I don’t want to imagine the amount taxpayers contribute to the massive amounts of military necessary for this border. If you’re a taxpayer, at least you get to see the event for free (as do the non tax-payers).

I haven’t made it back to India ever since. Recently the country opened up online visas for many nationalities which made the process of visiting a) hassle free and b) cheaper. Previously passports had to be dropped off and collected at the embassy.

So when I started planning a trip to Central Asia, I somehow stumbled upon Amritsar which has multiple flights a week to Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (still haven’t figured out why). On top of that, Scoot recently started flying 4x weekly from Singapore to Amritsar and prices are still very low for a 5.5 hour flight. So I did not hesitate long to book Amritsar as a stopover on the way to the “stans”.

The Golden Temple in Amritsar and the daily border closing ceremony at Wagah had both been long on my bucket list, so I was excited to visit those. Due to flight times however, I chose to stay only for one night. So I was curious to see how I’d like India this time around and whether I’d still get a culture shock. Below is a summary of my observations of the first eight hours in the country:

• Despite having an e-visa, it took as long as ever to pass immigration. I was the first one at the counter but they first had to call an officer, who appeared after about five minutes. Of course he did not have a stamp, so he just borrowed someone else’s. He did not say a word and who knows what he was doing during the 20 minutes he was processing me.
• The airport in Amritsar is fairly new and looks nice from the outside. Inside not a single display board or signboard is working. Printer papers next to the screens instead inform passengers. When I landed it was raining. An army of cleaning personnel was trying to keep the floor dry as it was dripping from the ceiling
• A number of birds lives and flies around inside the terminal. I don’t think this is intended like the butterfly garden at Changi Airport as there is bird-shit everywhere
• The “fixed price taxi booth” was not so fixed price after all
• Due to traffic jams and accidents we drove on the wrong side of the street. Multiple times. On the highway.
• We stopped for buffalo herds to cross the road. Multiple times. On the highway.
• The car we drove in was the most beat up Tata I’ve ever seen.
• I was asked literally a dozen times to have my photo taken. Surprisingly few Caucasian tourists were around.

In the beginning it was fun but towards the end of the day by the time I was exhausted from the heat and humidity, I struggled a bit. Definitely not a culture shock like in 2008 but I probably would not do a short stint to India again as it does take time to get used to the atmosphere.

The marketing slogan of the tourism board is spot on – Incredible India. In every way, both positive and negative. Stay tuned for some incredibly positive experiences.