Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Our long awaited 'Incredible India' experience

Wednesday 26th December
DELHI - AGRA

So today is the day we get to tick off 2 biggies – traveling by train in India and seeing the Taj Mahal. We decided to take the 11am train even though it takes longer than the 6am express to Agra. We figured we didn’t need to be in Agra until the afternoon as there would still be plenty of time to see the Taj Mahal at sunset, and it would let us have a more leisurely start to the day. Arvind at Castle & King had booked our train tickets, and a driver was collecting us to take us to the train station. While one of our biggest concerns on this trip was staying well, so far we had had no problems. We had been very careful where we ate – mostly 5 star hotel restaurants, and we had taken lots of packs of antibacterial wipes, which we used meticulously while out and about and in airports etc. If we ate out in a local restaurant we wiped our hands, the plate, cutlery, glass, top of coke can etc before using anything, although we didn’t go so far in the Imperial! So with the train journey, our biggest worry was food. Mr V is a Type 1 Diabetic and has to eat regular meals with good carbs, but as a coeliac this can be challenging. We didn’t want to risk not having good or safe options on the train so I spoke to the hotel staff at The Imperial, and they made us packed lunches. They baked gluten-free bread, pastries, and cakes, and packed 2 large fancy looking cake-boxes with the gold imperial logo embossed on the side for us. After a wonderful breakfast of chickpea curry and potato paratha for me and plain dosa with coconut chutney and masala chai for Mr V, it was time to leave. When our driver picked us up, he was with a Castle & King rep, and during the car journey to the train station we made payment for the trip we had booked with them. So far, Castle & King were spot on, clean, comfortable car, friendly professional staff, always on time, and hadn’t taken a penny deposit from us until now. When we arrived at the station, two coolies sprinted towards our car arriving and haggled for a price to carry our bags. To be honest we couldn’t stop grinning with the excitement of being at Delhi train station and watching these two little guys hoist our big cases onto their heads, and another guy just to carry our lunchboxes (well I did say they were large!). That experience was priceless – they could have said any number and we would have paid them, our C&K rep made sure we didn’t bankrupt ourselves and helped us agree a price. We followed them through the station to our train and settled ourselves in our carriage. We had a top bunk and a bottom bunk, and our lunchboxes took up half of one of the bunks! The train journey was everything we had imagined and more, we braved the toilets early on, which was a good call. We loved watching other foreigners following the same routine as we did – toilet visit, antibacterial hand wipes – touch anything, hand wipes – before you eat, hand wipes – after you eat, hand wipes! At least it wasn’t just us! After 2 hours we were told we were an hour away from Agra, so were making good time, and then, we stopped! Then, we crawled, then we stopped again. Hordes of people were getting off and standing around the tracks drinking chai and smoking, then they’d all pile on and we’d crawl another few yards. We weren’t stressed by it really, not until 3 more hours had passed and we had barely moved. The fog was moving in and the light was fading. We started to doubt whether we would see the Taj at sunset at all, and as we were moving on to Jaipur tomorrow this was our only chance. We eventually started to move, very slowly. In the end we arrived in Agra after a 6-hour journey. The train hadn’t even pulled to a halt when our driver appeared beside us – how did he do that? This was something we would become used to with Raja, he was always there looking after us. We got in the car and he tore through the streets trying to get us to BBD Bagh to see the Taj before the sun set. I think he thought we were mad. He told us it was too foggy and almost dark so we wouldn’t see it – but said he was happy to take us if we really wanted to go. We really wanted to go. We got out of the car and followed him down this dirt track in what was now almost pitch black, and suddenly it was there. The faint but instantly recognizable outline of the Taj Mahal in the misty night was right in front of us. It was an incredible view and looked almost ethereal as the 3 of us stood there, the only people around in the middle of this dry riverbed, and I have to admit to shedding a tear. It was a truly magical moment, and one I’ll never forget – my first view of the Taj Mahal.

We then drove to our hotel, the ITC Mughal. It was quite beautiful, but somehow felt very cold. The staff were lovely and we were upgraded to a brand new suite which was stunning. However, there was no time to hang around as we had arrived in Agra during one of 5 nights in the month around the full moon, where you can visit the Taj Mahal at night. We had asked C&K to buy our tickets (they can only be purchased in Agra 24 hours before the viewing night), and we were booked in at 9pm. We had a quick dinner in the multi-cuisine restaurant, which again felt very cold, but the food was pretty good. It was at that this point when I started to get stomach cramps, but I wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of our Taj viewing tonight. We layered on every item of warm clothing we had with us and headed out to meet Raja. When we got to the entry point for the moonlight viewing, the security was incredible. We knew you couldn’t take food, or drinks or large bags or tripods in so we each had a small camera bag with our cameras. We went into a room where we were frisked and our bags searched. Two ladies took out my antibacterial wipes, and told me I wasn’t allowed food. They spoke little English, but I tried to explain what they were, in the end I forfeited the wipes. Then we got on an electric bus, which took us to … another security check. We had to go through a scanner, have our bags scanned then searched, and were then frisked. At this point they decided we could take our cameras, but not camera bags. Not sure why they didn’t tell us that at the previous checkpoint where there were lockers that you could leave your things in, but hey. So our bags (which included Mr V’s insulin and blood test kit) were placed in the corner and we were given a ticket, and all we kept thinking is that this better be worth it. Then we got back on the bus and finally we arrived at the entrance gate, where we stood and waited in the freezing cold for a good 10 minutes. Eventually, we went in, but not very far. The moonlight viewings only allow 30 people at a time, in scheduled time slots for 30mins, and you are only allowed just inside the gate. We stood at the barrier and looked … at the dense fog in front of us. We couldn’t see a thing! Nothing! We thought some lights would come on at some point, but no, complete darkness and thick fog. We stood there for 30 minutes just staring at the blackness, trying to pick out even a hint of an outline, but nothing. We were cold, tired and stressed that Mr V’s insulin would never be seen again, and all we’d managed to see was fog. The good news was, when we got back to the checkpoint our bags, and insulin, were all there. As we headed back to our hotel Raja suggested picking us up at 8am the next morning for our proper Taj visit. Oh no, we said horrified, we have to see it at sunrise. He looked at us like we were mad, and I was starting to think we actually were. He tells us, there will be no sunrise tomorrow, there will only be fog, as we have had no sunrise for the past week. But we weren’t to be dissuaded; we wanted to see it at sunrise no matter what. He shrugged his shoulders and smiled, and agreed to pick us up at 7am, so we headed to bed, shattered after an eventful day.

Thursday 27th December
AGRA - JAIPUR

We woke this morning to clear blue skies – awesome! Raja was waiting for us at 7am and had brought along a friend as our guide. This morning we really got to see the Taj Mahal in all its glory. After one quick security check, we were in, and it was more incredible than we could have imagined. Our guide was fantastic, and for two people not really interested in history, we were enthralled. The beauty of the building itself and the detail is like nothing I’ve ever seen. I had wanted to see the Taj Mahal all my life, but in the end thought it could end being an anti-climax. Not so. It was truly incredible and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. We spent 2 hrs there before heading back to the hotel for breakfast.

Breakfast at the ITC Mughal remains the worst breakfast selection we had for the whole trip, and possibly one of the worst ever. Overall the hotel was very nice, but there was nothing that really made us love it. Before leaving Agra, Raja took us to a marble demo and shop where we could buy souvenirs such as tables and chessboards inlaid just like the Taj Mahal. I wanted to get a souvenir of the Taj so I didn’t mind, although they were disappointed we didn’t opt for the full marble table, and instead bought 2 small but very beautiful elephants.
Then we were on our way to Rajasthan. En-route we stopped at Fatehpursikri. There’s nothing I can say about this place other than, truly awful. We had to go on minibuses from the car park which meant waiting around, then we were dropped off at a spot which meant having to run the gauntlet of tourist tat shop and touts, before arriving at one of the ugliest collection of buildings I’ve ever seen. As I’ve said before, we’re not into historical monuments, so forgive me if I’m being harsh, but we just didn’t get it. It looked very much like the school buildings I attended in the UK as a child. We managed about 10 minutes before running the tout gauntlet again to take the minibus back to the car park, which we waited 20 mins for. This remains our biggest disappointment and waste of time during our whole Indian trip.

So, on to Jaipur. The drive towards Rajasthan was fascinating, especially driving through the villages, leaning out of the windows taking photos. We lost count of the number of smiles and waves and hello’s we got from villagers, old and young, and this remains one of our biggest memories. The light and the landscape changed as we got closer to Jaipur and the colours of men’s turbans and women’s saris changed from village to village. It was an absolute feast for the eyes. We stopped for lunch on the way, and eventually arrived in Jaipur at 7pm and received a royal welcome at the Raj Palace Hotel situated just outside the gates to the old town. The hotel was beautiful (now this kind of historical monument I can live with!), the staff were lovely but there was just a hint of chaos and we did wonder if this was going to be our Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It kind of was. We were upgraded to a suite, but when they openend the doors decided we couldn’t have it so had to walk through a maze of corridors until they found our room, which was also a suite. It was brashly decorated and very ornate but somehow quite charming. The room was freezing as just about everything was marble but the little heater in the corner soon warmed us up. Nothing quite worked properly, the plugs sparked when you put them in the sockets, the bathroom got very damp when you showered, the staff tried to help and if they couldn’t then they just smiled. We got a bit irritated but decided we were probably just tired. We went for dinner in the hotel’s ornate dining room, (there was a beautiful dining terrace but it was way to cold to sit outside) where we had wonderful food and service. Exhausted after a long day, we headed to bed.

Next: JAIPUR