We left Atlanta on March 8 and had a short layover at London Heathrow before flying in to New Delhi and arriving about 1am local time on Friday, March 10th. We went straight to our hotel via transportation organized by our tour operator, Indus Travels. The hotel was gorgeous – considering Sean and I don’t mind staying in hostels and low-key guesthouses my expectations are not very high! LOL.

Me and mom went to sleep for a few hours but I woke up before my alarm and started getting ready for the day because I was so excited. Our hotel had a wonderful breakfast with foods from all over the world – dim sum, curries, fresh fruits and juices, omelette bar, etc. We met up with the rest of our group and were happy to learn it was small – only 11 of us plus our guide, Raj. 8 of the 11 were retired. Bob, Myrtle, Luanne and Ron were all from Hawaii; Bonnie and Bernie were from Calgary, Canada; Olga was Florida; Rachel was from Boston and Sarah was from Las Vegas.

We all got on the bus and Raj began telling us about Delhi as we headed to our first stop – a beautiful mosque atop a hill in Old Delhi. On the way, we saw new, modern buildings juxtaposed with crumbling structures and streets filled with trash. I also noticed a shocking lack of women outside. I saw no women driving, few women walking, no women shopping and no women working in the shops. It was definitely a sign of things to come and I was very surprised. I think for our whole time in the North, we would see 5-10 local women for every 100 men. 

We climbed the steps and entered the beautiful and peaceful mosque. The weather was sunny and comfortable – about 70 degrees – but smoggy. 

After the mosque, our guide arranged for us to tour Old Delhi on rickshaws. This was a fun way to see this historic area that was probably once beautiful but is now filthy and ultimately dangerous with the insane electrical wiring everywhere. I’d never seen anything like that before!

We then went to the site where Ghandi was cremated and walked through the surrounding gardens, then toured around the city on the bus and saw the Presidential Palace, India Gate and a variety of other places.

Raj took us to lunch at Pindi and several of us sat together and were able to share our dishes. Mom ordered butter chicken which was great and I ordered Paneer Korma – a cottage cheese-like Indian cheese cooked with mild spices. It was amazing and one of the best dishes I ate during our entire trip. Everyone else in the group that tried it said it was the best thing they had there. Win!

We visited another historical site that had been a Hindu temple and then turned into a Muslim one later. It was in good condition but we didn’t get to explore too much because it started to hail and we scrambled back to the bus!

We got back to our hotel at about 6pm and me, mom and Myrtle hung out in the bar and chatted over a glass of wine until about 9pm when we went back to the room and I immediately fell sleep. Pictured below is the beautiful floral structure at the Crowne Plaza where we stayed and the view from our window that night – the picture does not do it justice, it really felt like something out of National Geographic with this big red sun setting over Delhi.

We left for Agra the next morning, Saturday, March 11. I’d been forewarned that it was a really filthy, gross city which was surprising to me because it was the home of the Taj Mahal. We arrived at our hotel on the outskirts of town and quickly realized, after our guide said to just have lunch at the hotel, that we were being confined to, basically, a compound. Very unsetting. But the hotel itself was beautiful. Just far from everything.Our excursion for the day was Agra Fort, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and so, so stunning. I’d read about it and was prepared for it to be great but was pleasantly surprised when it was even more awesome than I thought.Sunday, March 12 was the Taj Mahal. I kept a journal while on the trip so this is directly from there:

I think it was like Petra. We’d walked and walked down into the canyon and then between the 2 walls via a slit, the first images appeared. And it took my breath away.

 

This was less romantic than the canyon walk since it was a brisk walk through a touristy route, into a courtyard and then the Taj Mahal became visible through an arched door. But that first glimpse of it through the doorway – WOW. I had tears in my eyes. I guess that’s a qualifier for one of the new 7 Wonders of the World, right? That moment where you really and truly feel it, that it’s real. It was the same at the Coliseum in Rome. So I’m at 3 of 7 now. 

After a super-salesy, ridiculous session at a Marble Inlay store that was not on our itinerary, me, Mom and Sarah decided to cut loose from the group. We headed to Pinch of Spice for lunch and had an incredibly flavorful butter chicken, sizzling tandoori paneer, rice and garlic naan bread. Oh, and some Kingfisher beer. Duh. 

After lunch we walked over to Sheroes, a spot I’d seen from the bus. It’s a cafe run by fighters of acid attacks on women. It was a very special, wonderful place. We had coffees and Indian donuts, sat outside, and watched the chaos of the streets beyond – complete with a camel carrying goods down the road. 

After Sheroes, we went back to the guys at the Marble Inlay store who’d offered to set us up with a cab driver to take us to a local market. We had a fun and lively conversation with them, although it was still unsettling to me because there were NO women whatsoever.

We drove far from the center of Agra and were dropped off at a very local market. Me, mom and Sarah were STOKED. Finally, some culture. We checked out clothing stores, shoe stores, pharmacies, places to buy scarves, etc. and had an absolutely unique experience. At one point, we had to stop to let a cow cross the street! And we came up on some railroad tracks that showed us an even more in-depth look at the poverty of Indian people. It was definitely an eye-opening experience.

And despite the poverty, people were still getting ready for their Holi Festival of Color with shops selling powder and liquid colors to be thrown on each other, and piling larges pieces of wood in the streets for huge bonfires.

Our cabbie never came back to pick us up, so my mom went into a local clothing store and asked the manager to call us a cab. The driver was a great sport for all of our cackling and giggles as we dodged the chaotic traffic. And we made it back just in time to freshen up before seeing a performance of the love story of how the Taj Mahal came to be. So beautiful, so many colors, such expression – a great show!

Read on about adventures at the Taj Mahal and in Kerala in southern India.