March 18th, 2024. It was a day I had looked forward to for quite a while. It goes back to July 2023 when I saw an Instagram post by Sabina from GirlvsGlobe about a group tour she would organize in 2024. It was always my dream to see as many world wonders as possible in my lifetime, so I strongly felt this would be an amazing opportunity. So I took the plunge and applied. The waiting could start.
After eight months of waiting, planning, and preparing for the trip the day had finally come. On Monday march 18th, I took the train from my home town Den Haag to Frankfurt Airport where the airplane with destination Delhi would depart at night.
I, unfortunately, didn’t get much sleep on the plane, but that did not make me any less excited when I got off the plane, went through security, collected my bag, and saw some lovely people waiting for me. I remember thinking at that moment; ‘this trip is going to start now’.
The first day was all about getting to know my fellow travelers who arrived from multiple countries from the USA to Finland. We shared our first Indian lunch and we went on a bike rickshaw tour through the bustling streets of Old Delhi. This gave us a real taste of what the traffic was like in India (spoiler, I'm so happy that I can say that I have survived it). We also paid a visit to the spice market and we went to see the gate of India at night. It was wonderful to see it lit up with the colors of the Indian flag.
On the second day, we got up, collected our luggage, and hopped on our small tour bus. Off the Agra, we went. The ride took about five hours, but it certainly wasn’t boring as we got a lesson on how to bargain in Hindi; we’ve got to make sure we get a good price when shopping. When we arrived in Agra, we had a beer on the rooftop pool (from where we could already spot the Taj Mahal) and then we made our way to a hostel with a rooftop café with a great view of the Taj Mahal.
The next day we got up super early, but for good reason. We went to see the main star of this trip, the Taj Mahal at sunrise. When we got to the gates we had to wait for a little while, but once the gates opened everybody rushed in – to get the best photo. It was amazing to see the Taj Mahal up close; it really is big. And the gardens were lovely, especially so early in the morning with the light from the rising sun.
After getting back to the hotel for breakfast we made our way to the Agra Fort by way of the brand new metro in Agra; the views were beautiful and our guide was great in telling us all about Agra and its history. We closed the day off by going to another viewpoint of the Taj Mahal to get a look from the other side.
Day four was a travel day. We again packed up our luggage and made our way to Jaipur. After arriving at our hotel in Jaipur, we had a dance class on the rooftop of our hotel. Let’s just say that we all did our best – or at least, we tried to.
On our day in Jaipur, we tried to see as much of the city as possible. In the morning we went to a solar park (best to go in the morning when the temperature is still manageable), where we learned about the way of telling the time when checking your phone screen or smartwatch was not an option. It was so cool to see human engineering at work. In the afternoon we took some time to see and explore the Pink City of Jaipur. Although that meant watching the streets and the royal palace from a rooftop café with some drinks – it was hot.
On the sixth day, it was off to Pushkar. And, surprisingly, we found a Starbucks on the way there. We (or at least I) were very happy to get some coffee (with almond milk for me). At night, after arriving in our beautiful hotel for the next three days, we had some time to explore. I went out on my own to a nearby café to, try to, study some Korean. Learning never stops 😉 There I got to meet a couple from New Zealand, who I had a very nice conversation with. Especially about traveling and learning new languages. Do you try to learn a (bit of a) new language before you travel somewhere? Later that day I joined my fellow travelers for some dinner at another rooftop restaurant where we watched fireworks as the start of the Holi Festival.
That concludes the first week of travel in India. Stay tuned for more stories about celebrating Holi, a night camping in the desert, and a long overnight train ride.
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