Visiting India's Golden Triangle - Jaipur, Agra and New Delhi

India, you've been hot and loud, but oh so interesting. From the moment we arrived in this beautiful country it has felt like we've been caught in a whirlwind of sights, sounds and some not so enjoyable smells. June proved to be as hot as everyone said it would be and although at times I think we both melted, it has been such an amazing experience and we already want to come back.

We spoke about our wonderful trip to Ranthambore National Park in the previous post but just to reiterate, it was something we'll never forget and would love to experience again. After getting used to regularly seeing wild boar, camels and packs of dogs roaming the Ranthambore "streets" (I use that term loosely because there was only a dirt track and the occasional bridge over an open sewer) we were off to the pink city of Jaipur via a much nicer train, with significantly less vomit. 

We learnt an important lesson about trust on our first day in the bustling city of Jaipur; after only being there for an hour we found ourselves lost in the middle of a shanty town/rubbish dump watching a local game of cricket whilst desperately trying to avoid being bitten by some of the biggest ants we'd ever seen. We had been whisked away by our tuk tuk driver who after showing us a book of glowing reviews (a trick that is often used we later learnt) then proceeded to take us to shops that would give him a cut after we felt obliged to buy something. We ended our first evening having not learnt much about Jaipur except that if you go to India in low season as a tourist, have your wits about you! 

The next couple of days we explored the Pink City, Amer Fort, Hawa Mahal and the Monkey Temple which were all beautiful as you can see in the photos below. A special mention goes to Mr Pahari who sits with his 150 year old camera in the pink city near the Hawa Mahal; he'll take your photo as well as teaching you a thing or two about his amazing camera!

Arriving in Agra late at night and exhausted from the busy streets of Jaipur, we were excited to be seeing another Indian city. One odd thing we noticed from the moment we stepped off the train is that the entire city had a strong stench of egg (seriously) and we still have absolutely not idea why! The Taj Mahal is naturally the big draw in the area and it definitely lives up to its reputation as a wonder of the world. One thing had to get used to at the big sights were people desperate to take selfies with us, in fact at every monument we'd end up with queues of people waiting for their turn. It was absolutely hilarious as they'd direct us in this impromptu photo shoot, but everyone was so friendly we couldn't say no. We also visited the Red Fort which as well as being architecturally stunning, was also the place where we got to hold wild Indian Palm Squirrels who are adorable!

We were initially nervous to head back to the chaos of New Delhi as we were staying in a hostel in the centre of the city, but we ended up settling in very quickly. The metro is amazing, we used it everywhere we went and then spent the rest of the time walking. Akshardham is a Hindu Mandir which was so breathtakingly beautiful that it was worth seeing despite the initial shock of not being able to take any of our belongings with us, including bags and cameras. That means we have no photos of what was probably the loveliest temple we visited, but being able to enjoy it without technology or my shoes getting in the way was actually pretty liberating. We also saw the Raj Ghat which is a memorial to Mahatma Ghandi which was incredibly moving and ended our evening with a visit to the Lotus Temple; an inclusive place for people of all religions and faiths to worship.

There is never a dull moment in India that's for sure and we ended our city tour feeling like we needed a break. One thing that resonated with us is that people in India are so willing to give you their time and let you into their lives, as well as being immensely proud of their culture and their country. Although we only saw a small part of India in our 10 days here, it felt like we learnt enough to last us a lifetime.