So, how did it go? Put the kettle on as they say...
We departed from Dublin airport on the Friday evening. First leg was to Abu Dhabi and then onto New Dehli for the first taste of India. Opted for overnight flights which was a mistake in retrospect as I didn't sleep a wink for the whole journey. Our layover was only a few hours so we only got to experience the inside of the airport in Abu Dhabi which is a shame. Anyways, the second flight was considerably shorter and we arrived into New Dehli mid afternoon. Our first experience of Indian efficiency was taking almost two hours to get a local sim registered on my phone. Esim wasn't an option as the handset is an older model. Anyways, after photos of passports, photos of us and lots of manual record taking we were finally good to go.
Outside the terminal the air was less than clear. I'd been carrying a chesty cough since Christmas and each breath had a 'catch' to it. We'd been warned about air quality in dehli so we had masks with us. Onto our minibus with our driver, Surindar (aka Suki), who would be our driver for the next few days and we headed off to Agra city. It's about 4.5hrs to Agra and we were all excited though somewhat zonked at this stage. Our reason for going to Agra is because that's where the Taj Mahal is located, and it would be a shame not too see one of the wonders of the world while in the neighbourhood. So we arrived at our hotel in the evening time, properly wrecked and ready for a good nights sleep. We'd opted for good hotels for around 120 euro per night per room. In India that's pretty much 5 star - piano playing in the foyer, warm facecloths on arrival, luggage delivered to the room. At home you'd get a plain B&B! Bit of food into us in the restaurant and then off to bed for a much needed bit of kip.
Next morning the weather was quite hazy, so we got to have a lie in till around 7:30am. Tucked into some nice brekkie before being collected by Suki in his minibus.
The Taj didn't disappoint - though its far more impressive from the outside than from the inside. We were there early enough to avoid the heavy crowds which made for a more pleasant experience.
We had a guide with us for the day who explained the history and background to the building of the Taj. He was brought us to other establishments where we could purchase 'authentic' pieces of Indian marble work
...more about that later.
The contrast between the sheer chaos of the city outside and the serenity of the Taj and its gardens was so stark. The hustle and bustle of the streets, which we'd experinced properly for the first time that morning, is something else. Endless streams of people going from place to place, delivering, selling, buying, begging, cooking, making - it was non-stop. Outside the Taj we were surrounded by hawkers selling Taj tat, and beggars asking for money. The only approach you can take is to ignore it, becuase if you try to help you'll be swarmed in seconds. Against my nature to just ignore these things, but in this context it was the only option.
======
I’ve started you a dedicated trip report.
Richard
We departed from Dublin airport on the Friday evening. First leg was to Abu Dhabi and then onto New Dehli for the first taste of India. Opted for overnight flights which was a mistake in retrospect as I didn't sleep a wink for the whole journey. Our layover was only a few hours so we only got to experience the inside of the airport in Abu Dhabi which is a shame. Anyways, the second flight was considerably shorter and we arrived into New Dehli mid afternoon. Our first experience of Indian efficiency was taking almost two hours to get a local sim registered on my phone. Esim wasn't an option as the handset is an older model. Anyways, after photos of passports, photos of us and lots of manual record taking we were finally good to go.
Outside the terminal the air was less than clear. I'd been carrying a chesty cough since Christmas and each breath had a 'catch' to it. We'd been warned about air quality in dehli so we had masks with us. Onto our minibus with our driver, Surindar (aka Suki), who would be our driver for the next few days and we headed off to Agra city. It's about 4.5hrs to Agra and we were all excited though somewhat zonked at this stage. Our reason for going to Agra is because that's where the Taj Mahal is located, and it would be a shame not too see one of the wonders of the world while in the neighbourhood. So we arrived at our hotel in the evening time, properly wrecked and ready for a good nights sleep. We'd opted for good hotels for around 120 euro per night per room. In India that's pretty much 5 star - piano playing in the foyer, warm facecloths on arrival, luggage delivered to the room. At home you'd get a plain B&B! Bit of food into us in the restaurant and then off to bed for a much needed bit of kip.
Next morning the weather was quite hazy, so we got to have a lie in till around 7:30am. Tucked into some nice brekkie before being collected by Suki in his minibus.
The Taj didn't disappoint - though its far more impressive from the outside than from the inside. We were there early enough to avoid the heavy crowds which made for a more pleasant experience.
We had a guide with us for the day who explained the history and background to the building of the Taj. He was brought us to other establishments where we could purchase 'authentic' pieces of Indian marble work
...more about that later.The contrast between the sheer chaos of the city outside and the serenity of the Taj and its gardens was so stark. The hustle and bustle of the streets, which we'd experinced properly for the first time that morning, is something else. Endless streams of people going from place to place, delivering, selling, buying, begging, cooking, making - it was non-stop. Outside the Taj we were surrounded by hawkers selling Taj tat, and beggars asking for money. The only approach you can take is to ignore it, becuase if you try to help you'll be swarmed in seconds. Against my nature to just ignore these things, but in this context it was the only option.
======
I’ve started you a dedicated trip report.
Richard
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. It would have been rude not to with the prices ludicrously low compared to home. 
