Agra is synonymous with the Taj Mahal and what a stupendous monument it is. Commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658) to house the tomb of his beloved third wife, Mumtaz Mahal at a modern day cost of over US$800 million it took 22 years to complete. By that time Shah Jahan had been deposed by his son and imprisoned in Agra Fort, so he spent the last eight year’s of his life looking at…
Next stop Sawai Madhopur, for Ranthambhore National Park, the best place to see Bengal Tigers. Despite failing to book three months in advance, when the pre-order tickets sell out, we were lucky to get last minute tickets for two safaris, and even luckier with the wildlife we saw.
Debbie is getting a taste for the high life, with an executive train seat, luxury hotel and watching a polo match. Steve was happy to find a microbrewery next door to the hotel and a lovely boxer dog called Luca owned by the sisters who run the hotel. We skipped visiting the palace but did visit the unique Jantar Mantar observatory and of course had to see the iconic Hawa Mahal.
An unforgetable stay in Udaipur where we experienced Holi; both the pomp of the Royal Holika Dahan, at the palace, and the chaos and mayhem on the streets getting covered in coloured paint. This has been the highlight of our tour of India.
Jodphu, the blue city, was our next stop. We stayed in a restored havelli in the old town with a view of the fort, which we toured and also visited the collossal Umaid Bhawan Palace, he 6th biggest private residence ever built. Debbie went shopping!
A huge golden fort, havellis, haunted villages, camel safari and desert camping and a mausoleum. We packed a lot into our stay in Jaisalmer.
Bikaner is on the edge of the Thar Desert, less than 100Km from the border with Pakistan, and is far less visited than some other Rajasthan cities, with tourists seeking the desert-city experience usually opting for Jaisalmer instead. We are doing both as we have the luxury of time and Bikaner was a convenient mid-way stop between Delhi and Jaisalmer. There are 2 must-see attractions here; the Fort and the Rat Temple. We decided to give the latter a…
After almost 2 months in relatively relaxed Goa and Southern India, it was time to brave the North through the infamously chaotic Indian capital of Delhi. Delhi By Locals had been recommended by a couple we met in Goa – tours by young local Delhi residents, with 50% of profits going to the Learning by Locals NGO and many of the guides having been helped to develop their skills through the organisation. We opted for a 1 day private…
Nope, we still can’t pronounce it, but apparently it’s simply ‘Mahabs’ (former name was Mahabalipuram) to those in the know – a small seaside town, stone carving centre and UNESCO World Heritage site. A couple of hours North of Puducherry, on the way to Chennai Airport, and in Rough Guide to India’s 30 Places Not To Miss – it’d have been rude to have passed by without stopping. The scruffy town actually turned out to be far nicer than…
Our next destination was Puducherry (previously Pondicherry, fondly known as Pondy), the former capital of French India.
Pondy is as cluttered and chaotic as any Tamil Nadu town, but the compact centre is tangibly more Gallic. The bazaars give way to leafy boulevards , mansions and rows of houses whose shuttered windows, ornate balconies and colour-washed facades would not look out of place in Montpellier – even the Starbucks!
On our way to our next destination we visited the…