Indian wonder Taj Mahal has to be seen to be believed during tour of the Golden Triangle
Nine-day trip takes in Delhi, Jaipur and Agra and is the classic introduction to the subcontinent
“IT’S so much better than the pictures,” my guide told me. And with the scene before me, I was inclined to agree.
An elephant was heading down the road. On its neck sat its keeper, chatting on his phone.
Monkeys play-fought on a tree, a pig trotted away from the jaws of a dog. There was even a camel pulling a cart.
In Delhi, a city of 21million, animals jostle for space with cars, mopeds, bicycles and tuk-tuks. Just watch out for the elephants — they have right of way.
“This is why I call India a true democracy,” said my guide Shailendra, waving his arm at the urban jungle. “People and animals are on the road at the same time, all doing as they please.”
I was on a nine-day trip with operator Journeys of Distinction around India’s Golden Triangle — the tour from Delhi to Jaipur via Agra, complete with the Taj Mahal, being the classic introduction to the subcontinent.
Delhi — called Dilli until the British accent changed it — is split in two. Old Delhi dates to the 17th Century Mughals, while New Delhi was built by the British between 1911 and 1931.
But the whole city was as I imagined India to be — exotic and hectic. Hours after landing, I found myself being jolted around the old town in the back of a bicycle rickshaw.
We squeezed down narrow streets where traders squatted on mats and displayed their goods — bright saris, bangles and pomegranates with incense burning on top. One man balanced a giant sack on his head, another got a wet shave right next to my elbow.
Before leaving for Jaipur, we walked around Jama Masjid, the country’s largest mosque, and visited India Gate — a monument carved with the names of India’s fallen soldiers.
We also stopped by Raj Ghat, the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. There we found dozens of schoolchildren who wanted pictures taken... with us.
Shailendra explained: “They are just as interested in you as you are in them.
“But if you shake one of their hands, they will all want to shake your hand, that could take some time.” I had been daunted by the amount of driving on the itinerary but it is from the road that you glimpse the real India — the villages, women toiling in fields, roadside tea stands.
Lorries are brightly painted with the slogan “Horn please” — it is courteous, not rude, to beep when overtaking. My driver, Sarwan, dodged cows — the sacred Hindu animal — which lay in the central reservation as though they knew it is taboo to harm them.
Sarwan’s family still follow the tradition of feeding the first chapati of the day to the cow, the second to the human and the last to the dog.
We arrived that afternoon in Jaipur, just as the sun was setting over the city’s pink-washed walls.
Capital of the state of Rajasthan, it is known for its Amber Fort, the very regal residence of the 17th and 18th-Century maharajas. And we approached it as they might have done — on the back of an elephant.
I did feel for my beast Champa — or “Flower” — as she lugged me up the hill. But the welfare of the 116 working elephants here is strictly monitored — they are only allowed four journeys each per day in winter, two in summer.
Ramps connect the fort’s decorated gateways, chambers and temples. The maharaja’s 12 wives and 100 concubines wore so much heavy jewellery they had to be pushed about in wheelchairs.
Back on lower ground we queued with locals for a morning snack. Friends had warned me about Delhi belly. But I devoured a potato samosa, cooked before my eyes in a pot of oil, with no fear.
Spiced with chilli and pepper, at just ten rupees — less than a penny — it was the cheapest and one of the tastiest meals of my trip.
My final stop was Agra, where the unmistakable dome of the Taj Mahal loomed on the horizon.
Rising from the winter mist, it was so much more impressive than the version on the wall of my local Indian restaurant back home. I queued for the obligatory snap on the bench where Princess Diana was photographed in 1992 — known as Lady Di’s Chair.
If you cross the river to the Moonlight Garden, you find blackened marble remains believed to be the foundations of a second Taj. It is said Shah Jahan, who built the original in memory of favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal, planned to build a replica, where he could be buried.
But before it was completed he was deposed and imprisoned in nearby Agra Fort by his own son Aurangzeb — forced to look upon the Taj Mahal containing the body of his beloved wife until his dying days. His body now lies next to hers inside the mausoleum.
Shah Jahan never got his second Taj but the one he did create remains the world’s most beautiful building.
Gazing at it, I realised my guide had been right about the whole trip. It really is so much better than the pictures.
Lucky encounter
I WAS on the lookout for tigers. Bumping along Ranthambore National Park, I held my breath and peered into the Jungle Book surroundings.
Everything resembled a big cat. Was that it in the distance? No, just a rock.
With more than 45 tigers in the park and a 75 per cent chance of spotting one, I felt positive.
“Over there,” hissed our guide, Subhash. Three balls of black fur tumbled across our path.
I wanted to squeal – a sloth bear and her cubs were scurrying towards a tree. “So lucky,” Subhash says. “These are very shy animals. It’s even rarer to see them than the tiger.”
Sometimes the focus on tigers distracts from everything else there is to see.
With your own Baloo out there, you won’t want to miss a thing.
Go: India
GETTING THERE/STAYING THERE: Journeys of Distinction’s nine-day India’s Golden Triangle tour is available as a private or group trip. The next departure is November 9.
Book by April 30 and get £100 off the £1,445 price tag. Includes flights from Heathrow, 4-5 B&B, guiding and some meals. See or call 0161 826 4853.