India- Agra & Jaipur

Dear lilioftheworld.com reader, here is Lili, your co-editor.

New Delhi- Agra- Jaipur – this is the Golden triangle of India which is very popular route for many tourists.  Located relatively close to each other, you can literally visit them in three consecutive days (like we did). For all people who are afraid of visiting the rest of India, this is a very safe and relatively good looking part of the country, so do not be afraid, but book your holiday :).

If you still haven’t read the previous part of our Indian Adventure, we highly recommend you doing so. You can find extremely valuable tips for travelling to India, transportation, what to do in New Delhi and a lot more. In this part we will cover the two exciting towns- Agra and Jaipur, we will also talk about food and what is worth tasting from the Indian cuisine and in the end we will mention some restaurants we were satisfied with.

Agra

It might be unknown place for most of you (like it was for me before going there), but this is the town where Taj Mahal is located. It is also reachable by air- there is a small airport (IATA code: AGR). The other two main airports- New Delhi or Jaipur, are located at similar distance (within 250 km).

What we did is- landing in New Delhi from where we took the train to Agra. The train takes 2.5 hours and it is much faster than the 5 hours car drive. The roads in India are not that bad, but there are people crossing the streets, other vehicles (i.e. carts with horses or donkeys), so even 200 km take hours to drive. As we explain in the previous post, the train ride is extremely comfortable. You are most probably skeptical about it, that’s why you should read the first part of the story about India.

Between Agra and Jaipur we decided to use another means of transportation. As we were 6 of us, we hired a small van to take us to Jaipur. The distance between the two is around 220 kms and it took us 4-5 hours to get from the first place to the other. The ride was very comfortable as we left quite early- around 4:30 in the morning. We had had only one night in Jaipur, so we wanted to use the most out of it.

What to do in Agra for a day?

• Taj Mahal

Just like many others we went to Agra because of Taj Mahal (which meaning btw is the “Crown of the Palace”). And the locals know it- if it wasn’t for the mausoleum, the town has not much more, this is its biggest wealth. Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble building (as we just mentioned it is a mausoleum) on the south bank of the Yamuna river.

• Buying tickets for Taj Mahal

We will start from the tickets- we had bought them in advance long before the trip (or at least we tried to). As we hadn’t received the confirmation, we had quite some issues getting our tickets. In case something like this happens to you, do not rely Indians to react quickly. We had written them many e-mails, but with no result. Just to give you an idea about how slow they are- I had a question about the train tickets and despite my multiple requests to them, I finally received a confirmation that everything was fine after we returned from our holiday.

So buying tickets for Taj Mahal in advance also might not be a good idea. There are a couple of entrances to the mausoleum and they send you from one place to the other in order to collect your pre-booked tickets. There are cashiers for locals and for tourists, so it happens quite fast (maybe it was because we were there in low season, but this is my impression). Our advice is that you buy your tickets on the spot. The ticket for Taj Mahal btw costs €20.

Remember not to take any valuables with you, any cigarettes, firelighters, gyms as they throw everything at the entrance. There are security gates where they thoroughly check everything.

The majesty of Taj Mahal

We had heard that it is quite rare that you see Taj Mahal. Most of the time it is covered by the smog in the city. While trying to enter, we had exactly the same situation- the marble mausoleum was covered in fog, ruining our romantic imagination of Taj mahal. However the moment we entered the complex, the sun smiled at us and it stayed until the end of our tour. We were extremely lucky.

Well, here words are redundant … I do not even know what to say- the combination of white marble, blue sky and some peacefulness (despite the many tourists) make Taj Mahal very special place. The complex is quite big, it has buildings and gardens surrounding the mausoleum. You are even allowed to enter the main dome and again there are lanes for locals and for foreigners. In case you do not want to go barefoot, you are given one of these disposable shoe covers.

Taj Mahal history

A bit about the history of how Taj Mahal was created. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz was a Persian princess who died giving birth to their 14th child. The construction took about 10 years and the estimated cost is around €700 mln. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it is described as “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage”.

The main building from the inside is nothing special- I am not sure which was  the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. It was  hot inside, so the only thing we wanted to do is to go out quickly. The Taj Mahal complex is bordered on three sides by red sandstone walls. The only side which is open is the one facing the Yamuna river. Outside the walls there are several additional mausoleums, including those of Shah Jahan’s other wives, and a larger tomb for Mumtaz’s favourite servant.

There are a lot of myths around Taj Mahal. My favourite one is the fact that Shah Jahan, having obsession with symmetry, actually intended to build a Black Taj Mahal. The black marble building was supposed to be built on the other side of Yamuna river. Imagine if this had actually happened!!!

Feeling like a celebrity in Taj Mahal

Surprisingly there weren’t that many foreign tourists at that time. There were a lot of people, but these were mainly Indians coming from different parts of the country. Like in New Delhi, also here we felt like celebrities. While being next to main dome of the mausoleum, a guy was brave enough to ask for a pic with me. Then I could not escape for around 15 mins as many others followed. The funniest thing was that a newly married couple also wanted to take a selfie with me and the groom seemed not to be very interested in his wife, but rather having me in the selfie 🙂 .

One thing which can make you hurry up and book your travel to India is the fact that Taj Mahal might soon be close for reconstruction. The mausoleum is so heavy that the land underneath cannot hold its weight. The Yamuna river also contributes to this erosion. Year by year the mausoleum is sinking and experts are afraid this is getting out of control.

• Agra fort

This historical fort used to be the residence of Indian emperors before it was overtaken by the British. Despite what you might read, you need to buy a separate ticket for the fort (you cannot use the same as for Taj Mahal). It is located not far from Taj Mahal (around 2.5 km), but still taking a tuk-tuk or Uber is recommended. The ticket costs Rp 550 (for foreign tourists- here again there is a separation).

The Agra fort of course is not that crowded as Taj Mahal And not as much spectacular as the first is. However it is worth visiting. The complex is not that big, depending on how deep you want to explore it, even an hour might be enough. Because it lies along the Yamuna river as well, it offers great view to Taj Mahal. 

Depending on the visibility (as it is often foggy), you can see one of the 7 wonders of the world in a different light.

Basically I do not have any other recommendations for Agra as we had only one day and the rest did not catch our attention. The common decision was to chill on the terrace of our hotel overlooking Taj Mahal for the rest of the day. We would advise you not to lose time and head to Jaipur- it was for most of us the highlight of the trip.

Indian toilets

Before moving to Jaipur though, we would share something which maybe not many people could see even if they had visited India. If you stay in a renowned hotel, if you travel mid of the day, you will never encounter this. We were travelling several times very early in the morning- before sunrise.

The first time we spot this was on our way from New Delhi to Agra. Even when we were going out of New Delhi (which is a big city and it took us more than hour to leave it), we saw many people walking on the rails carrying a bottle of water. I could not understand why was it. But then I saw just some heads appearing above the rails, trying to hide themselves. Then I saw some others, already finishing what they were doing. Yes, they were using the rails in order to satisfy their physiological needs. And the bottle of water was for cleansing.

Many of the households in India do not have running water in their homes and respectively they do not have toilets. Being practical, they do not want to use their yards as toilets, they go somewhere away from the house. Rails and  roads are very suitable for this. The vehicles pass there and they remove all “traces”.

The most stunning view was during our ride from Agra to Jaipur. We were using smaller roads. While it was still dark, the car lights were lightning the road in front of the car- we saw many groups of women satisfying their needs on the road directly. We had to make a slight turn in order not to hit them. Later we read that they were going in groups, so that they prevent attacks by men. During these moments, most of the rapes were happening. I cannot explain how I felt when I read this. I have traveled a lot, but I have never something like this. Indian women have extremely difficult life.

Jaipur

Jaipur is the third angle of the triangle New Delhi- Agra-Japiur. As mentioned above, it is located 220 km away from Agra. On our way from Agra to Jaipur we had the plan to visit the Ghost town- Fatehpur Sikri in Rajasthan area.

The town is interesting as it was created to serve as a capital, but 50 years later it was completely abandoned. The story of the place sounded quite promising and we wanted to explore it a bit.

It was very early in the morning, slightly before the opening hours of this attraction. There weren’t many people around. When our driver stopped to a place from where we had to take a guide to bring us to the Ghost town, we saw a guy going out of his van and throwing away a snake. He obviously found it in the van. This definitely made us change our mind and we continued our way to Jaipur. It was really creepy there.

Back to Jaipur. It is famous also as the Pink City due to the color of most of its buildings. Maybe one thing we can recommend is to spend min 2 days there as there are many things for exploration. Our visit was like a sneak preview of everything Jaipur can offer. If you have very limited time there, the below written might be useful.

What to do in Jaipur for a day?

Similar to Agra, we had only one day in this city. After arriving in the Livin hotel (which by the way we can only highly recommend- it was newly opened at the time of our visit), we arranged a tuk-tuk to drive us to the main attractions. Here is what our program for one day in Jaipur was.

• Amber palace

This old fortress is located slightly above Jaipur. There were many people there, but mostly Indians. After entering the complex, you have to walk up the hill. It takes about half an hour or slightly more.

Firstly you arrive at the bigger part of the palace which has labyrinth of corridors and rooms. Via a longer corridor you can take the way up to the highest possible place on the hill.

From the tower there is an amazing view to the opposite hill. One thing we were sorry for is that we did not have enough time to climb the opposite hill. It looked very nice and quite interesting.

• Jal Mahal (a.k.a. The Water Palace)

On our way back to the city we stopped for 15 mins on a place which was under water- in the middle of the Man Sagar lake. The ancient palace which was previously used for duck-hunting and Maharaja (Indian royalty) picnics is now not accessible for tourists. Depending on the level of the water, either one of few of its storeys can be seen.

• Hawa Mahal Palace of Winds

This was one of the most famous spots in India as a whole. What we can recommend is visiting one of the cafes on the opposite side of the street which offer good view to the castle. Otherwise the castle is located among other buildings and there is a street in front of it which does not allow nice view to it. The palace sits on the edge of the City Palace, and extends to the zenana, or women’s chambers. Red and pink sandstone are the main ingredients which makes is spectacular especially at sunset.

The original intent of the lattice (beehive-like) design was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life and festivals in the street below without others seeing them. They had to obey the strict rules of “purdah”, which forbade them from appearing in public without face coverings.

• The market

Located close to Hawa Mahal. Basically the whole area around the City Palace is like a market- a lot of stands selling various things are located on the streets. If you would like to buy clothes as souvenirs, we can highly recommend taking a walk around. Otherwise it is quite dirty and there are a lot of people, you can also see many Chinese goods as well.

• Peacock Rooftop Restaurant

Like in the other places we visited in India, we had to make a detailed research for a place for dinner. You already know we are rooftop lovers, so this was our goal. We went to a restaurant located on the roof of a quite posh hotel. Although the view from the rooftop was not amazing, the rest of the experience was. It is like a hidden paradise. The prices were not high though (despite our expectations as the hotel looks quite luxurious) and the service was very good. They also had a small performance- women dancing with heavy appliances on their head.

Food in India

At the beginning of the post we promised to talk about food and what we recommend to eat in India.

• Precautions

The first very important thing is that you should eat only food which was either baked, boiled or fried. By doing so none of us had any stomach problems during the whole trip. We haven’t eaten any fruits or salads for 10 days (besides bananas), but this saved is. Also sanitizer is might be useful (for both your hands and cutlery). I still dream about an interestingly looking street food I saw- walnut looking balls. But I was not brave enough to taste them.

• Spices

Have in mind that everything is quite spicy in India. If your stomach is not used to it, you might end up eating bread the whole time.

Roti

This is a local round flatbread. Roti is made of wholemeal flour, you might hear its other name- atta. It is usually an accompaniment for other food.

Naan

This is a different from Roti type of bread. It is a yeast-leavened bread, which reminds of the Turkish burek. It can be either plain or served with additives like mushroom, cheese, vegetables, even meat. Due to having some issues with my gastritis, this was my main food for most of the vacation. This was also one of the few non-spicy foods.

Rice

You will have a lot of it as they serve it as a side dish to most of the meals. In most of the cases it is just plain rice, but it is more delicious than it sounds.

Masala

This is not a meal, but rather a blend of ground spices.  It is important to know it when reading the menu and seeing a lot of meals starting with “Masala”. Although you will not feel of them, but it is a combination of black peppercorns, mace, cinnamon, cloves, brown cardamom, nutmeg, and green cardamom. Now you know why the Indian dishes are so rich in taste.

Chicken tikka

These are boneless pieces of chicken in some sauce. It is not liquid, but also not solid as grilled chicken. “Tikka” actually means “bits” and “pieces”. The marinate for the chicken pieces consists of Indian spices and dahi (yogurt). Chicken tikka was one of our favourite meals in India.

Tandoori chicken

It is a grilled chicken with a lot of spices among which garlic, onion, cayenne pepper, ginger, and garam masala. The tandoor is a cylindrical clay or metal oven. The charcoal heats the tandoor and thus it creates cooking condition. The chicken in the last two meals can also be pork, beef, fish or prawns.

On the next day we took a flight to Goa where we spent the next 6 days relaxing on the beach. More for Goa you can read in the other section dedicated to India.

We hope we managed to change your perception and show you that India is a beautiful and very interesting place to visit.  Following the tips above you can be sure you will have a great time there.