Before leaving for my extended stay in SA at the end of December, Theo decided to organise one more of his amazing trips for the two of us – probably also our last holiday as a carefree, childless couple.

We headed North, to where it is notably cooler this time of year (in Hyderabad they also talk of their “cold season” this time round, wear jerseys over their sarees etc., but we’re still waiting for the average daily temperature of 30 degrees C to drop a little further!).

Rajasthan - Jaipur

Our first stop was Jaipur in Rajasthan (next to the Thar Desert) – India’s first planned city (and indeed, most of the streets are parallel to each other!). Although quite dry and neglected (as most cities in India), we were pleasantly surprised by its high hills, covered with wild plants. It is also called the Pink City, as one of its rulers had all the buildings painted pink in 1853 to welcome the Prince of Wales who was about to visit.

This time we could only stay in Jaipur for two nights and had one day to admire the city’s colourful and creative handwork and architecture, which almost has an old-world charm to it – but we are planning to go back … We visited the Rambagh Palace – also called the “Jewel of Jaipur” and occupied by the Jaipur royal family until 1957, after which it was converted into a luxury hotel. We were shown the room of the prince, which his mother, the Maharani of Jaipur (who is still alive), had built especially for him. Theo and I were astounded by the sheer luxury, size, lavish furniture and huge crystal chandeliers (not to mention the stunning marble, gold and crystal bathroom), and were disappointed that we didn’t take our cameras along!

The second palace we visited was the City Palace in the heart of Jaipur. It is a perfect example of Mughal and Rajput architecture and houses many beautiful structures, including a 7-storey palace, the Moon Palace, the hall of private audience, and the hall of public audience. The Mubarak Mahal also includes a museum named after Maharaja Sawai Man Singh, which displays a rich collection of rare manuscripts, weapons, Mogul carpets and costumes, and Mogul and Rajasthani miniatures.

After a few hours through the City Palace, we were ready to go to our own palace, the Jai Mahal Palace, to get our room, store our luggage and have a bite to eat. But the driver’s English wasn’t good, and somehow he confused “hotel” with “Amber Fort”. We were a bit thrown by the driver’s route up a steep hill, but eventually we realised we are not meant to see our hotel yet …

We hit the Amber Fort, consisting of red sandstone and white marble and situated on the outskirts of city on a sandstone hilltop, in the midday heat. It had an impressive canon preserved on the hilltop, which was apparently able to shoot 35 km far and had to be turned by elephants, but was only used once, when it was tested. The views from there over the city were magnificent. After walking around, we made pretty sure the driver understood what we meant by “hotel” – originally a Mogul palace, set in 18 acres of beautifully landscaped Mogul gardens, with 100 rooms, and certainly a royal experience.

The Hava Mahal (the Palace of Winds), which has a sandstone screen, was our last sight in Jaipur. Under construction at the moment, we could only get a glimpse of this piece of art with its many windows and mosaic walls. Although no-one is exactly sure, the most widely accepted reason for the existence of this palace, is so that the ladies of the royal household could enjoy the views and cool breezes flowing through the many windows of the palace without being seen by the outside world.

In an Innova to Agra

We got up at 4 the next morning to catch the only flight that day to Agra and see what many tourists in India come to see – the Taj Mahal. However, at the airport we were told our flight was cancelled due to poor visibility. Eventually the airline offered us a very bumpy five-and-a-half-hour taxi drive to Agra – a road trip we would definitely not recommend, but if all else fails … Oh, and of course, 10:30 in the morning is (apparently) compulsory tea time in India, so at 10:30 sharp the driver pulled into a neat tourist spot with extremely expensive articles to buy (but luckily also clean bathrooms) to have his non-negotiable tea, and to entertain us with his loud, long burps for the rest of the trip.

Although the town of Agra is extremely neglected, dirty and smelly, our hotel was beautiful, with great service, good Indian food and a room that had a perfect view on the Taj Mahal. So every morning we woke up, made some coffee and sat on our balcony, admiring the great Taj.

Taj Mahal – up-close and personal

Although slightly damaged by tourists, the Taj Mahal was an experience. As we got up very early to see the Taj in its full glory, we didn’t read the newspaper or switched on the TV before we left our room. At the monument the security was extremely tight – especially on the women’s side. They thoroughly frisked our bodies and went through our handbags (hopefully their hands weren’t in too many strange places yet so early in the morning …), confiscating anything that looked edible, investigating electronics etc. As I’ve been through this drill in India so many times before, I hid my invaluable snack bits in my wallet, where I know from experience security women usually don’t stick their ruthless fingers into. Unfortunately the ”significantly more” pregnant woman in front of the que didn’t have that knowledge, so Theo saw her leaving the security booth in tears with her husband trying desperately to console her – obviously robbed of her precious food.

The Taj Mahal is indeed a masterpiece. It was built by the king for his very deserving wife who died after giving birth to their 14th child(!). Just a pity she wasn’t alive to admire his great love for her – and I must say to wait until child no 14 is born to show his admiration for this obviously remarkably strong woman also doesn’t say much about the king’s proactive abilities.

Anyhow, if not the wife, at least we had the privilege to admire this impressive piece of art. What did place a slight damper on the experience was to learn that the architects who worked on this monument’s hands were chopped off after its completion to prevent them from repeating such a masterpiece. They had one last chance to engrave their signatures into the monument before this dreadful deed was done to them. However, according to the tour guides and shop owners of the astounding marble inlay work in Agra, although they couldn’t work with their hands anymore, they taught their skills to their children and grandchildren, who kept the trait alive within their generations. According to the people of Agra all the masters of marble inlay work in this city are descendants from those master architects of the Taj Mahal. The descendants of the original craftsman that build that Taj Mahal are still maintaining it today. (It is closed on Fridays to the public so that the craftsman can maintain this marvellous monument).

We also visited the remains of the impressive, luxurious Agra Fort (or the Red Fort), which is built from red sandstone and has a good view of the Taj Mahal. The great Mugals lived in the fort and the country was also governed from there. Apparently Shah Jahan, the man who built the Taj Mahal in memory of his wife, was imprisoned by his son in the fort, because the son believed that he was wasting all the state’s money on building beautiful monuments. Shah Jahan died in one of the luxury towers where he was confined to, which had an excellent view of the Taj Mahal.

Terrorist attacks in Mumbai

As we entered our hotel room later that morning, my cellphone, which I left in the room, was ringing. It was my sister, wanting to know where we were, if we were okay, and telling me to stay in my room – but also only if I thought it to be safe. Only then we learned that the Taj Mahal Palace and Oberoi Trident hotels in Mumbai had been attacked during the night.

We SMS’ed our friends, Gareth and Roxy from Johannesburg, who were also traveling in India at that time, to make sure they were safe too. After that, following the tragic events in every newspaper and experiencing the anger and sadness with the locals as well as the heightened security everywhere, became an integral part of our journey.

Happy birthday at Fatehpur Sikri

Our last morning of enjoying the view on the Taj Mahal was extra special, because it was also Theo’s birthday. Bored with all my dietary restrictions and the fact that I’m not allowed alcohol at this stage, I planned a surprise champagne breakfast for him, with a birthday cake for the sweet tooth too, and indulged in seeing him enjoying his glass of champagne.

Then we headed off to Fatehpur Sikri, a ghost city built predominantly in red sandstone. The Mogul emperor, Akbar’s initial idea with building the city in the late 1500s was to have it as his capital, but a shortage of water led to the city being abondened. Although all the interior designs and finer architecture have been destroyed, the city has retained many of the old structures thanks to some efforts from Agra’s Archaeological department, and if one has a good imagination, one could picture it to be a grand city back in the days.

Ending on a royal note - Udaipur

Arriving in Udaipur, we were taken by boat to the Taj Lake Palace – a white marble palace that floats in the middle of the Pichola Lake. Originally built as a summer palace for the royal family, the Taj group is currently leasing the island/building from the royal family (for 100 years!), maintaining its grandeur and using it as a hotel.

As a member of the Taj loyalty programme, Theo presented a voucher which entitled us to an upgrade on our room. We are still not sure whether it had something to do with the many foreigners that had left India by that time, or if it was Theo’s proven ability to attract positive things, but they informed us that they were giving us the best suite in the palace, which was the king’s bedroom when it was still used by the royal family. Not knowing what to expect, we said “thank you” and calmly followed the manager, only to find ourselves staring wide-eyed and speechless at each other in the grandest of suites we’ve ever experienced.

The photos speak for themselves, but just to emphasise that we’ve never seen so much marble, crystal, copper and so many mirrors in one space before. We even had our own sun deck and balcony, from which we could watch the lake on the one side and the Indian dancers, performing every evening in the courtyard of the palace, on the other. The bathroom had four life-size mirrors, each decorated with crystal lamps, and a big crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The marble bath was as big as a splash pool. The murals throughout the bedroom were equally impressive, with four bay windows overlooking the lake. Then there were our living and dining rooms with their own views and share of luxurious furniture. The only thing that was clearly not from those royal times was the big, flat screen TV. But we welcomed that too, because we were still following the Indian commandos’ last attempts to remove the remaining psycho terrorists from the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai.

We visited the City Palace, which overlooks the Lake Palace and also houses a huge, impressive museum, and which shows the grandeur known by the kings and their families through the years. The current royal family lives in a part of this palace.

The Princess Garden includes an impressive piece of engineering. Apparently one of the kings’ daughters said she missed the monsoon, and he told his chief engineer to make a plan to give the princess her monsoon …! A beautiful garden was built with lots of fountains, and spouts almost everywhere. It was built more than 300 years ago with no pumps! All the fountains are created via water pressure from an elevated lake and valves control the intensity of the fountains.

Sights in Udaipur:

Back home

Two days after our arrival back home, Gareth and Roxy from Johannesburg came to visit for a few days. They also did the Golden Triangle, which was arranged for them by a travel agency. It seems that the travel agent was determined to give them a true Indian experience, and made sure to book them into hotels in old, not-so-touristy parts of the cities, which left them understandably overwhelmed! After listening to their experiences, we can safely say that they have experienced much more of the local life and the people’s customs than we have during the past nine months!

Luckily we had the opportunity to show our friends the “softer” life in India as well, where they could relax about eating more than a few veggies and checking every mineral water bottle’s cap to see that it wasn’t tampered with, and where they didn’t have to witness locals’ toilet activities in the streets, should they stick their noses out of the hotel door too early in the morning. We had a great time, but it seems that they’ve decided that to them India also stands for a short sentence many expats take with them after they’ve left the country (usually tongue-in-the-cheek, but sometimes also with a hint of seriousness): I’ll Never Do It Again!