India - Delhi

So before Delhites read this and start fuming (since we're so agro most of the time anyways), relax - this post is purely for expats/non-Delhi people who want to do bougie things in Delhi. This post will not tell you the best dhaba on any national highway, it will not help you find the best Dehli belly inducing food in town, and it will certainly not tell you where to go clubbing in Delhi (not sure why you'd ever want to anyways...) Let me also preface this post with the fact that the primary purpose of our visit was to see our baby nephew Angad.

So, we found ourselves in Delhi in the miserably hot month of May once again. It was a 7 day trip that consisted mainly of lunch outings, a few dinners, and seeing family. But since Fate and Mohit were in Delhi in 2015 and 2014 for about 2 weeks each time, we'll include some advice from those visits as well. Instead of writing out our slightly boring 7 day itinerary, we'll list some must see places and must eat places instead.

Must See Places:

• Humayun's Tomb
• Qtub Minar
• Lotus Temple - don't be the noob that breaks the silence inside the temple
• India Gate and Parliament area - to see the cleanest part of Delhi
• Jama Masjid/Chandni Chowk (on Sunday ONLY ONCE)
• Delhi Haat - for some trinket shopping
• State emporiums in CP - for some quality curio shopping
• Hauz Khas - for witnessing some tween canoodling in 500 years old ruins

Must Eat At Restaurants:

• Nizams in Connaught place for kathi rolls
• Suruchi's Rajasthani  in Karol Bagh
• Flyp bar for some live music in CP, even on the weekdays
• Gopala for ras gullas in Dwarka (yes, this is where Mohit's parents live - Dwarka, not Gopala)
• Unplugged Courtyard for Bombay Tiffin in CP

Advice if you visit

• Riding Ola or Uber is the best way to get a cab in Delhi. Felt perfectly safe and just some elementary Hindi skills go a long way, though we think even just speaking English should work out fine. The best part is that they follow the GPS and the prices are fixed. You are almost guaranteed to be ripped off my regular cabs and autos.
• The Airport Line Metro is a great option for getting to your hotel. The maximum cost ~60 rupees, runs straight to the airport, is fully A/Ced (including the stations), and is much less traveled than the regular metro. The automatic ticket machines take both cash and card. 
• You should expect to pay ~20 rupees for a 1L bottle of water at street carts. 
• Don't drive out there (anywhere) between 5:30pm - 8:30pm. It's just not worth it.
• Most people still wear jeans in the summer time, even when the temperature is ~110 F. But if you need to wear shorts, like Mohit, go for it. Just be okay with people (usually men) shamelessly stare at you whereever you go. Luckily, most restaurants and bars don't care if you're wearing shorts. Not idea about the clubs though.
• Getting a SIM card outside of the airport can be pain if you don't have an Indian ID. So get it at the airport. AirTel and Vodafone have worked well for us. Pre-paid is the way to go in India, even for the locals. 

Fun facts

• Google Maps has adapted to include the phrase "despite usual traffic" in all its routes. Advanced machine learning algorithms were needed to teach Google Maps that there's always traffic in Delhi...
• Be prepared to go through a metal detector at every mall and shop. You might think the security people aren't really doing anything and its pretty useless. You might be right.
• Delhi Police loves to put up barriers that create a bottleneck in the road and not checking any of the vehicles as they drive by. I have so much love for Delhi Police...
• Our best 2-wheeler sighting was four family members on one bike. Try to find the elusive five when the baby is hanging off the side.
• While the proliferation of tp has helped the restaurant bathroom situation, tp is now also used as napkins during a meal.

Summary of pictures

Best Chacha of 2016 Award

Connaught place

Hauz Khas Village with mom

These are the ruins that were filled with canoodling tweens and selfie taking guys

Hipsterness has gotten to the a whole new level when a perfectly good scotch is ruined by being served in mason jars...

Shopping for crap at Janpath

"Farmer's market" in Dwarka

Food from Farzi, a cafe in CP

Food from Rang De Basanti in Hauz Khas Village (HKV)

Mom's amazing cooking!!

This little brat only falls a sleep in someone's lap, never by being placed on the bed.

What a good looking family

Big Daddy sleeping with tiny Angad

Grandpa giving this kid a massage pre-bath time

Aroooon, Fate, and Fate's sunglasses for a pic in HKV

U.K. - London and Oxford

We started the summer travels with a visit to Delhi, and a pit-stop in London. Since it's on the way you know. Fate had limited PTO days, so Mohit stopped by in London while Fate met him in Delhi. The Delhi post will shortly follow, but the contents of this post are solely Mohit's opinions :)

London is known for its constantly shitty weather, worse people, and, if possible, even worse prices. One of these remained true, the prices. The dollar to pound exchange rate was around $1.4 = £1. But I was lucky enough to get four partly sunny days, so I guess that makes it worth it? The people were much nicer than NYC and it felt more "international" based on the number of different languages I heard on the streets. Here's a quick recap of the 5 day itinerary.

Day 1

• Stay at AirBnB in Shadewell
• Natural History Museum
• Fish and chips at a random street market
• Roaming around Hyde Park
• Riding past Buckingham Palace (because it's really not worth more than a pass-by)
• Street art tour near Brick Lane
• Stand-up comedy at Angel Comedy
• Dinner at some pub

Day 2

• Day trip to Oxford
• Walk around the campus for several hours
• Lunch at Covered Market
• Tour of Balliol and Christ Church Colleges
• Dinner at Ya Hala

Day 3

• Brunch at Borough Market (Roast and Brindisa)
• Walk along the Thames from Tower Bridge to Parliament
• Walk by Westminster Abbey
• Sherlock Holmes Museum Gift Shop
• Dinner at Mousumi's

Day 4

• Ride a bike in Regent's Park and Hyde Park
• Lunch at Dishoom
• "Shopping" at Oxford Street
• Dinner at Siam Central
• Lion King (Musical)

Day 5

• Breakfast at Borough Market (Monmouth Coffee and Bread Ahead)
• British Museum
• More walking around Brick Lane

Advice if you visit

• Get the Oyster Card. You can get the £5 deposit refunded at the airport when you're leaving so there's really no fee. You get cheaper rides on the tube and you're capped at a maximum spend of ~£10/day if you're just travelling between Zones 1 and 2.
• If you're comfortable riding a bicycle, the Santander cycles are a great way to get around downtown. For £2 a day, you can rent the cycles for 30 minute intervals. Get the CityMapper app that tells you where the cycle stands are, so you can plan your route accordingly. It's really nice riding the cycles around the parks if the weather is good.
• If you want to take the Heathrow Express, book early. If you book 30 days in advance, the weekday one-way price is around £8, compared to £20+ on the day of. While the Heathrow Express gets you to Paddington in about 15 minutes, you do have the option to take the Piccadilly line into downtown. It's much cheaper, ~£3.50, but will take you about 45-60 minutes.
• Definitely check out Borough Market. It's great for breakfast and lunch but try to go off-peak hours if you can. A late breakfast around 10am or late lunch around 1:30pm worked pretty well with shorter lines. Must eats: chorizo sandwich at Brindisa and custard donut at Bread Ahead.
• All of the major museums are free, so if its raining outside, you can always check out one of them. But if the weather is nice, take some time to chill in Hyde and Regent's parks.
• Definitely make a day trip out of Oxford. It's really beautiful and it easily accessible by train/bus. Train takes 1.25 hrs, while the bus takes ~2 hrs. You can get tickets online in advance for cheaper fares. A weekend ticket purchased a day in advance was ~£8 each way.

Fun facts

• Fish and chips is misleading... its fish and potato wedges.
• It's pretty sweet that everyone in London knows how to pronounce Indian names without butchering them.
• Everyone raves about the British Museum being amaaaaaaazing... its like half the size of the MET. So relax London, its not that amazing.
• Watching the Lion King after forgetting the plot is the best thing to do in London, especially if your cousin-in-law is paying for the tickets :P

Summary of pictures

Chilling in Hyde Park

The street art near Brick Lane is definitely worth checking out

A nice river trail that's between the Oxford train station and campus

Oxford's famous make-out spot?

The random Asian girl who took this photo definitely knew how to work a DSLR

Balliol College at Oxford. About eight Chinese tourists immediately rushed this location two minutes after I took this photo, stepping all over these flowers in front of me. Classic.

Beautiful grass tennis courts at Oxford being used by shamefully bad players

That's right, selfies with DSLRs are possible. Though it looks even worse than taking a phone selfie.

Cycling around Hyde Park! Or is it Regent's Park? Who cares...

A visit to Dishoom is worth it just for the posters!

Don't get excited, I didn't get to see the play. Two months too early.