Dear Friends and Family,

I have been to India for the first time, and what a wonderful time it turned out to be! I was invited to a wedding which was a lovely time, before some friends and I left to travel India by rail for ten days or so. Our route? Khatima – Agra – Jaipur – Jodhpur – Bikaner – New Delhi and then home. The classic Rajasthan tourist cycle.

From Khatima, we spent close to 8hrs driving to the most tourist of tourist hot spots in India, Agra, the home to the Taj Mahal. Along the way, we happened to have the most local meal possible hot beside the speeding motorway, crossed the Ganges winding grey into the horizon, and got stuck in a town, people crowding our car and peering into the windows as the driver extricated us. We arrived into Agra, reminiscent to Las Vegas of Hollywood, with plenty of coloured lights along great strips of tarmac.

Taj Mahal at dawn. This is where I started falling in love with Indian history. What incredible culture and art. Before coming to India, I would never have guessed there was as much marble as there is. Towards lunchtime, we stored our bags at the station, and then set about exploring Agra Fort and old town. The fort was incredible, a set of palaces inside a large red wall, indomitable from the outside with tasteful gardens inside. The sun beat down and I was at least grateful for the shade. The old town however, this was an overwhelming experience and we soon sheltered in the train station.

Next, a train to Jaipur. The pink city. We saw the Guwhati – Bikaner train leave Agra which was absolutely incredible, just how busy and full of people it was. It really opened my eyes of the possibility of doing some epic train trips through this incredible country, train trips in the order of days! Our train, and its first-class compartment, was very acceptable for a four-hour trip though.  

Jaipur was a wonderful city and we spent a lovely couple days here. We explored all the touristic spots, and some extra spots along the way. We started with a temple (prostrated prayers), before moving on to the City Palace (the Maharaja was in) with a kind of useless guide. Later, we visited Jantar Mantar (astronomical observatory built 300 years ago) in the heat of the day, before moving on to Hawa Mahal which was beautiful! Although the concept of Purdah is really quite a lot. We rounded out the last bit of sight seeing for the day at a cenotaph where which was for once quiet, in the foothills slightly above the city. People cleaned the beautiful marble monuments in the quiet of the rustling wind.

Starting our second full day in Jaipur, we headed to the City Museum which was wonderful and where I learnt plenty about the ancient crafts of Jaipur and the region in general. From here, we headed on to the Amber Palace (with a quick stop by Jal Mahal). Another impressive fort with symmetric marble courtyards. However, what struck me about the Amber Palace was how we could just explore with free reign and abandon. We could touch and climb on pretty much everything that was in the complex! Would be fun for a game of hide and seek for kids. Finally, we saw the sunset from the commercialised Nahargarh Fort. Bars and restaurants surrounded this place as the sun sank over the pink city.

And finally, a word on the food: incredible.

Love,

Al