'Dilli' - Here and there - (Wongden House, Majnu Ka Tila) - A little piece of Tibet!

I love my city..... there is so much to do in this city, especially if you have strong taste buds (as strong as mine- I am a foodie and am proud of it). It was March 14, 2010 (my birthday), wanted to do something different, dint know where to go but a friend helped me figure out the exact plan. We planned to go to Majnu ka tila, it is a tibetan colony in New Delhi which has a few restaurants and economy hotels (not under the ISBT bridge- not the tibetan colony one but its near Delhi University in Aruna Colony), I had heard a lot about this place throughout my childhood but had never gathered the courage to actually discover tha place myself. And, the rest is history.

 

   A mini Tibet!

How to get there- If you are in New Delhi, take the metro from Rajiv Chowk Metro Station, CP or else where as per your convenience to Delhi University. (Rs 20 apprx) , catch a rikshaw ( Rs 30) and ask him to escort you to Aruna Nagar. Its a small alley which takes you to the 'Tibet' in our city, when you go there do not be taken aback by the dirty lane. What you are about to witness is worth the wait.

A traveller shopping from the mini market (the side shops) 

There are a lot of small side shops where you can buy cheap junk jewellery, clothes, bags, flip flops and much more at a very discounted price. I felt that I am travelling in a different country all together, I really liked the place and the people. They were so chilled out and friendly, unaware about the world outside their colony, enjoying the small and meaningful things, not running behind the materialistic things in life, enjoying life and their relations to the core, they just seemed closer to life.. 

the wongden house- entrance

Wongden House, Majnu Ka Tila (Speciality- Tibetan food)- It is a small low budget hotel which caters to a lot of tourists in the city and it has a very small and quiet restaurant inside the hotel premises. When we went there, it was already filled witha few people, mostly foreigners (assuming that they were staying in the same hotel). It was my first tibeten food tasting experience, I was super duper excited. I had the best company in the world who had experienced it before, so I got the perfect guidance from him. We ordered pork chilli dry, kung pao chicken, chicken wontons, shabatley and tingmo (tibetan bread). It was a lot on my plate but I still managed to finish it all as it was one of the best meals ever! Yummy, I have to go there tomorrow again and I will be re-living the past!

Kuchesar- the royal trip

Kuchesar, 80 kms away from New Delhi (2 hours drive approx.) was chosen to be our next destination. How did Kuchesar happen and why Kuchesar?...it was another long weekend, everybody was running away from the city, we heard their plans and realized we had not pre-planned like everyone else, so there was no where to go. Friday morning, sad and miserable, we woke up and cursed ourselves for not planning it well and in advance. Suddenly, this thought struck us that we could go to a STILL DO IT, exlore a place away from the chaotic city life and just relax and maybe try do NOTHING for a change.

We called up this heritage fort turned into a hotel called the mudfort, got a great deal. Rs. 9000 for 2 nights 3 days (including all meals, bullock cart ride) and we spent about Rs 1000 in travelling by our deisel car (to and fro). At 1 PM, it was decided that we are packing our bags to go and experience the royal heritage. We left by 3 PM by NH 24, stopped over at a roadside dhabha for an awesome late lunch Rs. 160 for 2, I can still recall the taste of that yellow dal tadka with butter naan, reached Kuchesar by 5. The drive was simple and covenient, it was a straight road.

The Mudfort Resort, Kuchesar

Reached the fort, went to our room (the "Jag Mandir"), it was on the terrace and had a huge verandah infront of it. In the next room, a dutch couple were staying, they had an amazing collection of instrumental music, piano in particular. We kept the baggage in our room, went down to explore the place, it was a quiet palace, they had a billiards room, a table tennis table, a badminton court and a swimming pool. We tried our hands on everything and came back to the room, we saw our neighbours sitting in the verandah and reading, they had their ipod dock and were listening to piano. We sat on the other table on the verandah, staring at the sky and enjoying their music, talking about relevant things, things that were close to our heart, that we forget to discuss in our daily chaotic lives. Then we were called for the royal dinner, we went to the dining hall, the food was good, it felt like a home made meal. A home away from home.

Next morning, after breakfast, we decided to explore the Kuchesar village,the fort provided us with a chauffer driven bullock cart.



Bullock Cart Ride in the Mango Orchards!



Followed by a cycle ride in the evening in the village and we almost felt like foreigners in our own country, how the people looked us (the village was beautiful- very real , very pure, very peaceful.. serene is the word!). 



A house in the Village..



 

The perfect candle light dinner



Dinner was the highlight of the day, we decided to get the food from the dining hall and sit on the terrace outside our room (under the stars with a candle lit on our table). We were just happy!



The next morning, we packed all our bags and were ready to go! Another awesome trip ended but had given us alot of memories to cherish.. :)