Wongdhen House

mtstack

I've booked a room at Wongdhen House for two nights. Does anyone know if it's easy to get transportation to Nizamuddin train station early in the morning--I need to catch a 7am train to Agra.

When looking at my Lonely Planet map, it appears to be a walkable distance (without luggage) from the Red Fort or is this an unrealistic perception?

Dilliwala

RED FORT?? Uh, yeah! Unrealistic, that is.

Is Wongdhen really near Red Fort? Sounds more Majnu-ka-Tila-ish to me.
Anyway, no problem to get from either place to NZM station.
Just remember, night hours end at 5 am, so if any scooter or taxi driver tries to stiff you for them (25% extra) after 5 am, tell em nothing doing. That will also caution them that you're not a total rookie.

mtstack

Thanks for your reply Dilliwala.

I will plan on a taxi for early morning--thanks for the advice about night hours.

Regarding walking: Wongdhen house is in Majnu-ka-Tilla which appears to be 3km from the Red Fort. I was just thinking if my son and I were feeling energetic, we could walk it during the weekend we're there. People tell me that Delhi is so congested and whatnot that rickshaws/taxis are the way to go, i.e. don't walk.

Dilliwala

Oh, I thought you meant walking from Red Fort to NZM!
MkT to the rear side of Red Fort is maybe 4-5 km. You can't enter from here anyway, you'll have to branch off somewhere earlier to go to the main entrance (in Old Delhi). And if you're arriving any time soon, there's another good reason not to walk - the weather. Phew!
A three-wheeler will be most convenient, also for the traffic in Old Delhi.

puchoo

I second Dilli .......weather will be too hot to walk it....the distance is not much but additionally Delhi is not exactly a pedestrians dream...nor a walker or a cyclist...

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mtstack

Thanks Pucho and Dilliwalla,
I guess I was being hopeful about being able to acclimatize to the heat and not have to rely on rides everywhere.
We'll see next weekend when we arrive!

puchoo

Best of luck..let us know how it goes....!

mtstack

I will--my son and I are very excited to be embarking on our first trip to India. We experienced a heat wave in New Hampshire this weekend and practically wilted away. Nice preparation for Delhi heat!!

Amalfi

For going to Red fort , Connaught Place , New Delhi Railway station or ISBT bus station , take the underground metro. The nearest metro station is Delhi Cantt. - about 2 kms from Majnu ka tilla. You can reach all the places within 10 minutes and pay about 8 to 11 Rs for each journey.

For Redfort / Jama Masjid , get down at Chandni Chowk station and walk to these places which are about 200 metres away. For Connaught Place , get down at Rajiv Chowk station which is bang in the middle of CP.

The road from Majnu ka tilla to Red Fort , which you were wanting to walk is a 6-8 lane major arterial road of Delhi- Ring Road. It has very fast moving vehicular traffic but also has proper elevated pedestrian footpaths and has heavy tree cover through out and is cooler than most parts of delhi as it runs parallel to river Yamuna.You could take a morning walk perhaps for some distance but avoid walking the whole distance as you will encounter a rash of flyovers further down. The road is also lined with the fabulously landscaped and forested park memorials to our past leaders - Raj Ghat , Vijay Ghat , Shakti Sthal (littered with amazing rock fossils )and Vir Bhoomi. These parks are behind Red Fort and you can visit them after a day in Delhi , to catch your breath. Later on catch an auto or bus to Majnu Ka tilla which is 10 min away on the same road.

mtstack

Thanks Amalfi, for the detailed explanation about the Ring road and the pedestrian footpath. I'm looking forward to visiting the parks and appreciate your recommendations. I couldn't envision being not able to walk anywhere--reminded me of Houston in August where you went from your AC car to your AC office and then back to your AC home and never out if you could help it.

Although the 95 degree heat yesterday and for the next two days is definitely testing my energy levels, but as my son pointed out, it'll help us acclimate, seeing we don't have AC.

drmel94

Ha! I don't think anything we get in the Seacoast can quite compare.

mtstack

i know i'm dreaming--esp since i just lugged a window a/c unit up from the basement and popped it in. couldn't brave the heat any more! so much for acclimatization.

dzibead

Heh. Summer in NH or Maine wouldn't even prepare you for the summer weather where I originally came from (Delaware). And Delhi feels like an order of magnitude worse! 95 deg is nothing - you can routinely expect 110-115, with stifling humidity. No, don't expect that you're going to "acclimatize." Even Delhiites don't acclimatize!

Dilliwala

Lucky for you that you have a heat wave, becos we're having a wave of non-heat, which means it won't be such a big diff in temp . The most unusual summer ever - plenty of rain-showers in May, June hasn't crossed 40 degrees yet I think - Celsius that is . But it's getting a bit humid.
The whole of N. India has had a very unusual summer.

WHAT? I mean WHAT??!!!
Delhi Cantt is TWO km from MkT?? How long have you lived in Delhi? I seriously hope this is a simple mix-up of names on your part, becos you shud know that the Cantt is clear across town literally, diagonally opposite in fact (NE to SW). The nearest metro station is University, which wud still be a few kms walk from the Yamuna-side part of MkT, not worth it.

The metro doesn't go to the Cantt now, and as far as I know it will never go right inside the Cantt. Here's a few maps from the people that run it:
http://www.delhimetrorail.com/commut...big_201004.jpg (Completed sections)
http://www.delhimetrorail.com/commut...arge270508.jpg (Above plus in-progress sections)

Wrong again, unless 10 metres apart counts as "heavy". And since no one can jump from one tree-spot to another, it will certainly not allow for a shaded walk all the way. In fact in some places the trees are more than 10 metres apart. And the elevated walkways certainly don't have any trees on them.

mtstack

Thanks everyone for the heads up!!
I'm sure nothing will prepare me for what i'm about to experience come Saturday. Thankfully after two night in Delhi, I'll be heading north to volunteer in Dharamsala for three weeks and perhaps will be able to adjust up there before the one week spent sightseeing in Rajasthan.