| First day in Delhi we visited the railway museum. It has a toy train ride and also an indoor exposition. It is the only museum we found in India where foreigners pay the same ticket price as Indians – USD0.40. |
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| Unfortunately most rolling stock is poorly maintained. Wood is rotten and steel is rusted. Explanations are never available. |
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| Still, many interesting items can be found, such as this engine with unusual rod design…. |
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| or a self propelled crane…. |
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and especially the steam monorail. Unfortunately, the engine was out for repairs 🙁  |
| I always thought rubbish was a problem in India. But I guess it’s actually a pride, since they decided to capture it in the photograph and show it in the museum 🙂 |
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| For railway enthusiasts, full photo archive is here. |
National Rail Museum, Delhi
(C) What type of food can you expect in Vietnam and Romania?
If you love exploring, traveling and discovering new countries and cultures, then you are sure to be enjoying reading our Asia to Europe travel blog. We love traveling because it is a great way to see new places, meet new people and experience exciting cultures and cuisines. The cuisine in Asia differs vastly from that in Europe. Our trips starts in Vietnam and ends in Romania; both of which have very diverse cuisines.
If you consider yourself quite brave when it comes down to tasting new foods, then you are sure to be looking forward to all the great dishes you will be able to try when you go traveling. However, for those who like traditional home-made dishes, which you like to eat on your cosy sofa in front of your laptop when you are watching TV or playing partypoker on a night in, then it might be a little bit more difficult for you to adapt to new cuisines if it’s not what you’re used to. This blog post will show you the differences between Vietnamese and Romanian food, so if you decide to embark on a trip similar to ours, you know what food you’re likely to see.
Vietnamese food is known for being a very healthy cuisine which uses lots of fresh ingredients, small amounts of oil and plenty of herbs and vegetables. There is also a strong vegetarian tradition which has been influenced by Buddhist values. Some traditional family meals include stir-fry, steamed fish, steamed rice or a vegetable broth.
Romanian food on the other hand is quite different; it is known for its tangy and sour soups – such as calf foot broth – and many of the dishes use vinegar and lemon juice. The cuisine is much richer, heavier and heartier than Vietnamese food. Some of Romania’s typical dishes include Camati (garlic sausages) and Chiftele which is a large meatball, covered in a flour or breadcrumb crust.
Amer Fort
Just North of the city there are 3 forts. The main attraction is the Amer Fort, built in the XVI-XVIII centuries. This fort is well preserved and quite large, featuring living quarters for the Maharajah, his family and the attendants, fortifications, temples and even an elephant stable. It took us half a day to explore all corridors, narrow passes and towers.
Jaipur (Rajasthan)
This could have easily been a fascinating place to relax, similar to Hoi An (1, 2), if it wouldn’t be for the omnipresent trash, stinking streets, beggars and homeless people.
The so-called City Palace is a compound built in the XVIII century and used until 1949 as a residence for the Jaipur Maharajahs. We could see several rooms, a collection of arms and one of costumes. One unusual building is the Hawa Mahal, a building that hosted mainly women. It had small windows so that the women could see outside while not being seen back.
Last two pictures show Jantal Mantal, a collection of 14 astronomical instruments built in the XVIII century of stone. They show the time, phase of moon, predict eclipses and so on. I was able to understand how two of them work 🙂
Miscellaneous
En route from Agra to Jaipur we stopped to visit Akbar’s Mausoleum (built in XVII century), the Mughal who built also the Agra Fort.
After that we had the chance to see a structure we haven’t seen ever before: the Chand Baori deep well designed to catch rain water during the monsoon season. Later, it was used for consumption and washing. The rooms you see inside the well are the changing and bathing rooms. Left side was for men and right for women.
