Vote Team Cheetah, Vote Pinoy campaign

A group of students taking up masteral degree at the University of the Philippines - Mindanao is looking for help to win the ultimate vacation in Peru, South America. Our VOTE can take them to this once in a lifetime opportunity and they are the only Filipino team in this contest by Intrepid. Their group is called GOOD CHEETAHS and Bringing the Good Cheetahs on the TOP means bringing the FILIPINOs and DABAWENYOs on the TOP!

Cast your votes here (voting takes less than 2 seconds):

http://incacomp.intrepidtravel.com/gallery/803.aspx

Cast your votes here (voting is less than 2 seconds):

http://incacomp.intrepidtravel.com/gallery/803.aspx

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Delhi Metro Experiece

On my 2nd day in Delhi, I was supposed to go to Jaipur but unfortunately, tummy upset stucked me maybe due to the food I took yesterday during my sightseeing tour  in Delhi. I experienced abdominal pain and diarrhea and I felt that I couldnt survive the long trip and perhaps find a good toilet around, so I decided to take a rest and explore Delhi on my own using the Metro. 

Delhi’s Metro system is very extensive, it connects Delhi from East to west, north to south. Some tourist spots are close to MRT and gladly my hostel is located just 10 minute walk to it.When using the Metro, it is best to buy the TOURIST PASS for 250 Rupees valid for 3 days unlimited ride. 

The nearest station from my hostel was at PITAMPURA STATION. I was very impressed by the modern trains Delhi have, how I wish that Manila’s MRT/LRT could be like Delhi, they are so advanced. Indians really love to travel by trains in fact, the whole country can be travelled by rails. 

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New Delhi in a Day

Last week when I was about to write my experience on my India trip, something terrible and unexpected that had happened. When I arrived home, I discovered that my laptop and digital camera has been stolen.Yes, I was robbed. Despite the its value, I miss more my pictures from my trips and worst was I still haven’t downloaded my India pictures on  facebook only 3 pictures was uploaded as sneek preview series. Please bear with this pictureless posts.

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Still feeling drowsy, I was awakened by a certain smell inside my room, its not a bad odour of my mates but was a smell from a insenced candle from the nearby Hindu temple beside the hostel. My itirenary for today was Delhi City tour with my british roommate who has travelled around India for 3 weeks. Other guests in the hostel were from France and we  all met together during the free breakfast we had which is a usual tea, coffee, egg, bread, banana and biscuits. 

We agreed that we will start the tour at 12 noon because we were both tired. We used a small private car that costs us 1000 Rupees which is roughly around PhP900 divided between the two of us. Another option if you are traveling around Delhi is the extensive railway network or the Metro which is comparable with that of Singapore.

Delhi is a huge city with the weather and summer in Delhi has just started and heat stroke can be very common problem among vistors. Im so glad that I took the private taxi. While we were on the road, I can see the huge thick clouds thats looks like a haze hovering around Delhi, this might be a sign of air pollution of the city and maybe thats the reason I developed cough during my stay but that shouldnt stop me from enjoying my trip. To my surpise, Delhi is more greener than Manila because of the trees.

First stop was at  QUTAB MINAR located at South Delhi. In India, theres a huge difference to entrance fees between locals and tourists. Here, for locals they charge only 10 Rupees and and a whooping 200 Rupees for tourists, such a hug e difference right? Quitab Minar is a beautiful landmark in Delhi, its brown colored temple illuminates in the bright sun. This is one of the several spots in Delhi that showcases its religious diversity.

Next stop was at BAHAI TEMPLE or popularly known as LOTUS TEMPLE  because of its lotus-shaped architecture. Aside from that, the place is landscaped with beautiful flowers and plants. This place is free of charge. 

After that we went to RAJGHAT, where the Father of India, Mahatma Gandhi was cremated. This place is free of charge. 

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Why India?

When I told my friends that I was going to India for a holiday, they all asked me the same question – WHY? WHY INDIA?

Wel, the only answer I can give them is I dont know, even myself is clueless why of all destination I chose India. For us, India is not a popular destination unlike Hong Kong or Singapore. Most of us have little idea about India but the Taj Mahal. As a traveller, its normal for me to feel this way because I have to sizzle my sense of adventure. 

Last January 2011, India announced that it eases its visa requirements to Filipino’s and they offer VISA ON ARRIVAL (VOA) at some major international airports in India and that includes New Delhi,  Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai. This is a great news for me since applying visa is a hassle since I dont live in the Philippine capital, Manila where the embassy is located. Aside from that, Air Asia came up with an incredible discount fare to India and in no time I booked a round trip ticket, though its not that cheap compared to my previous international trips but its cheaper compared with other airlines flying to India.

Since Philippines to India has no direct flight until March 27 where Philippine Airlines fly to New Delhi direct 3x a week from Manila and so I flew to Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to New Delhi, the capital of India.

ARRIVAL IN INDIA

I arrived in India via Air Asia X from Kuala Lumpur. When I was at Kuala Lumpur my documents have been checked for validity since I will be availing of the VOA services at India. Make sure you bring copy of return tickets, hotel booking and for extra assurance to get through the immigration, bring any certificate of financial standing and credit cards. They asked me how much money I had and asked for exta picture ID. Since I dont have that, they advised me to photocopy my passport because I will need it once I arrived in India.

Arriving at 2200 in New Delhi, I was very impressed by their new terminal building, its one of the best that I’ve been to. You will walk towards a carpet and several travelators. When I was already at the VOA counter, I was greeted by friendly immigration staffs contrary to some reports that Indian immigration officials can be so rude, some say that VOA is a headache that its better to obtain visa in your country. Fortunately, everything went on smoothly during my application. There were four of us during that time, 2 Filipino’s coming from Dubai and 1 New Zealander with the same flight with me. Overall, it took me about 1 hour and a half to finally stamped our passport because I had to wait for the foreign exchange personel to convert my money to rupees. VOA costs about US$60 or about PhP2100 and they only accept rupees. ATMs are located after the immigration counter and only 1 ATM from Citibank that accepts my Cirrus, Maestro Bank of the Philippine Islands card. 

After all the immigration procedures, I went out of the terminal building and a thick haze welcomed me. Its so hazy that I felt I have glaucoma because of the poor visibility. 

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