Back from Bangalore and Delhi/Agra sidetrip
 

Just recently returned from a week long business trip to Bangalore with a 48 hour add on visit to Delhi/Agra on the way home. This was my first trip to India and I found it to be very fascinating. I flew from NY on Virgin - took the early morning flight to London and caught the overnight flight to Mumbai. We then had a three hour layover and changed to Jet Airways. The Mumbai domestic terminal was pretty small without much to do, but there were plenty of seats so the wait was not too bad. Jet Airways was fantastic and I would definitely recommend it, flights were on time, planes were nice, service on board was excellent. We arrived in Banglalore about 4pm on Sunday afternoon and were pretty exhausted after the long trip. We stayed at the Leela Palace, which is a five star business hotel that is relatively new. The overall service did not seem to be up to five star standards, but it was conveniently located to our office. I did not get to see much of Bangalore as we were working pretty long days, but we did sneak in a bit of shopping on one evening. The mall attached to the Leela has some pretty upscale shops selling scarves, jewelry and sandalwood carvings etc... These were quite nice and stay open late so if you only get to see the inside of your hotel, it is worth paying a visit. I don't think they have the best bargains, but better than nothing. We also were able to get to Kids Kemp, which is a rather large store selling Indian clothing for children and adults. We loved this store and found the staff to be really helpful without being too pushy. My colleague was able to buy some really beautiful bright colored Indian outfits for her young daughters. We also thought the women's clothes were great and reasonably priced. We also went upstairs and looked at the saris which were spectacular. The other stop we made was Cottage Industries which was also a lot of fun (we found rugs, blankets, wood carvings, jewelry). After a quick shopping expedition we had dinner at the Oberoi Thai restaurant, which was really good.

Bangalore is a city that is clearly in the midst of amazing growth. There are new office buildings going up everywhere. The traffic is terrible because the road infrastructure has not kept up with the growth. Our local colleagues told us stories of how long it can take to commute 20 Kms. The dichotomy between the old and the new is evident everywhere. However everyone we met seemed to be infused with energy and excitement over the changes to their city.

After a successful week at the office, four of us decided to fly up to Delhi so we could make the drive to Agra to see the Taj before returning home. We again flew Jet Airways which did not disappoint. I had prearranged a car, driver and guide through Compass Travel. Since there would be four of us traveling we booked a Toyota Innova. They met us at the airport and drove us to the Oberoi where we would spend the first evening. After grabbing a quick lunch and the cafe in the hotel, we headed into Old Delhi for a quick afternoon tour. Our guide recommended that we focus on a tour of Jama Masjid and a bicycle rick shaw tour through the old market. Since we would be seeing the Fort in Agra, he thought it would be best to skip the Red Fort. The contrast between New Delhi and Old Delhi was dramatic. We moved from leafy green wide open avenues lined with colonial era buildings, to crowded, bustling streets teaming with people and vehicles of all types clamoring for space. Just when you think you would be stuck and not be able to move forward, the driver would find the narrowest space and squeeze through. The things that struck me were the colors (so vivid), the smells (quite pungent), and the sounds (a cacophony of horns and motors). When we arrived at Jama Masjid our guide warned us that the touts would gather around us immediately and we should avoid making eye contact. I had read about this in previous Fodors posts, but I was not quite ready for how this would feel. It is hard to not feel bad when you see people (particularly children) who are in need. We quickly decided that we wanted to make a contribution to charity that helped children in need.

The Jama Masjid was fascinating, I had never visited a mosque before so I found this very educational. We were surprised to see that we were the only western visitors and as a result, I think we drew a bit of attention. Our guide was explaining the architecture and history of the mosque while wer were standing in the open plaza and before long we had a crowd of about 30 people standing around us. I was concerned that we were not dressed appropriately because our heads were not covered, but the guide said that this was fine. We spent about a half hour touring the premises before returning to our car. One thing to note, it was much hotter in Delhi than in Bangalore (I think it was low to mid 90's). Next we drove over to the area where you hire the bicycle rickshaws. We hired three (two in each and one for the guide) and proceeded to head into traffic. This was one of the most fun things I have done on vacation. It felt great to be part of the fray. I loved seeing the narrow alleyways and shops that we passed by. We were there right before Diwali, so all the shops were decked out with holiday decorations. Each block we would travel down seemed to have a different speciality (beads, sequins, sari makers, nuts, candies etc..). One of my favorite sights was the store fronts where there appeared to be entire families engaged in the decoration of saris. They were allsitting on the floor amidst of pile of brightly colored silks, sewings on beads adn sequins, very colorful. I also really enjoyed the seeing the street barbers. After riding for about a half hour, our guide had us get down from the rickshaws and travel by foot into the spice market. This part was a bit less fun, as the amount of people in the markets made it difficult to stay together and actually see anything. We did though get to see up close all the foodstuff that were being bought for Diwali and the beautiful boxes that everything was being packed into. Then it was back onto the rickshaws for the ride back to the car. All in all a terrific experience. We gave our rickshaw driver a generous tip - he worked so hard pedaling us around in the heat.

We then had hoped to get in some shopping before dinner, but this is where things got a little bit weird. I told our guide that we wanted to go to Connaught Place, he asked us what we wanted to buy and said he knew a great place he took all of his clients. I can't believe I didn't realize what was happening, but the next thing I know after driving for about a half hour we pull up to a fancy place with gaurds at the door. The moment we walked in we knew something was not right. The staff there was very aggressive and herded us into the rug section. Two of us did not want to look at rugs so we wondered upstairs to the clothing, scarves, jewlery etc.. (all of which was very expensive). Once they realized we were not going to buy they told us we had to go back downstairs and wait with our friends who were looking at rugs. The rug guy got very aggressive and rude when he realized that our other friends were not going to buy also. When we got in the car we told the guide we had not like this store and that we wanted to go to Connaught PLace as orginially requested and he said that would be impossible as the the stores closed at 7pm and we were at least an hour away. It was clear he just wanted to bring us back to the hotel. Finally he offered up another place we could shop that was nearer to our hotel. After dropping us he said he would wait until we were done. The place he brought us appeared to look like a strip mall with local shops (pharmacy, athletic shoes, shoes) that was not geared tourists. It was okay, but there was not a lot to see. But then 10 minutes later he told one of our group that he had an emergency and needed to leave. Our driver stayed but the guide had left for the evening. This seemed very strange as we had not firmed up our departure plans for Agra in the morning and we were concerned whether he would show up. I called Compass to express my concerns and they assured me that the driver and guide would be at our hotel in the morning. Then at 10pm the guide called my hotel room, to express concern that I had complained to Compass. I then felt really bad because we had to spend the next day and half with him and I didn't want to have tension. My lesson learned on this, know where you want to go and be quite specific. When it comes to shopping in particular, the guides will take your places where they get a commission. I read this on this forum a thousand times, I guess I just always assumed that this only happened with taxi drivers rather than paid guides. The unfortunate part is that since we only had two hours to shop in Delhi, we ended up wasting this time and not getting the chance to experience the wonderful Delhi shopping.

Enjoyed reading your post. Am leaving for Delhi next week. Glad to hear it's hot!

The next morning we had a 6am pickup to head to Agra. We quickly smoothed things over with guide to make sure there would be no awkwardness that would ruin the rest of the weekend. Since there were four of us in the vehicle, they had to tie all of our luggage on the roof (lets just say it got really really dirty). I have often read about the driving in India and how challlenging it is. I always assumed this was because the roads were in bad shape (dirt or portholes) but had not realized it was because of the driving. What a totally hairraising experience the drive to Agra was. At the same time it was fascinating, exciting and mind blowing. The fact that pedestrians, horse, camel & oxen drawn carts, bicycles, mopeds, three wheeled autorickshaws and modern cars and trucks all share the same roadway is wild. Everyone travels there own respective speed, pays no attention to lanes and uses the horn to signal. Additionally it was quite common for vehicles moving in the opposite direction to use your side of the road to make up a bit of time. Luckily our driver was top knotch and took great care of us along the way. We stopped about half way down for a tea and loo break. It took a little over four hours to make the drive, with a half hour stop. We went directly to the Agra Fort upon arrival and thought it was really beautiful. The view of the Taj through the windows of the Fort was really exciting. The heat in Agra was even more intense than Delhi and were pretty wiped out after our visit. The next stop we checked into Amavilas for our one night stay. The hotel is really lovely although we did not have much time to enjoy it. After a quick lunch it was time to head to the Taj for our visit before sunset. The Taj is amazing more lovely than the pictures and really will be a cherished memory. We spent a couple of hours there and watched the sun go down. We had time to squeeze in a quick trip to a tea market, to bring home gifts for everyone at home.

The next morning we had to leave at 5:30am to ensure we made our flight back home at 1:00. It was a long ride back to Delhi and everyone was pretty tired, but all of us were glad we were able to have this experience. The Delhi airport actually had a pretty nice loung we were able to use for Virgin Air, so it was an easy wait. Our flights were on time and after connecting back through London we arrive in NY around midnight after a very long day.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Who arranged your tour within Agra - compass? Were you happy with them?

Good report - sorry your Delhi guide didn't work out. I am not sure that you missed that much at Connaught Place - its kind of a "has been" shopping area.

Thanks for sharing this great info. I'm headed to India in early January and will definitely utilize some of the info here!