Incredible India. The Golden Triangle: Delhi, Jaipur, Agra (Part I)

There is a few well-known facts about India: it's huge, it's chaotic, sometimes considered as intimidating, it's dirty and the cuisine is spicy. In November 2015 I had my second trip to India. I spent 9 days travelling and each and every day was full of adventures and new people. I completed The Golden Triangle in 3 days (something that most people think it's impossible), spent 2 days discovering the secrets of Varanasi and finished my journey in the magical tea plantations of Darjeeling, right next to Nepal.
 If you want to learn a few tricks of how to deal with Indian people and how to travel fast in a country that is famous for the most unreliable trains in the world, please have a look on this article :)

Why India?

Let me start from the begining, with my first solo trip to India in the begining of 2015. 

My first leave since I started my job within Emirates was in February 2015. For my first travel destination I chose India. Here is the right moment to say that if you tell a flight attendant that you want to go to India for a vacation they would probably tell you that there's something wrong with you. The reason is that most people don't like operating flights to India beacause, well... let's say Indians are coming from a different world and before you visit the country you don't know nothing about it. But you don't have the chance to visit the country because most of our flights to India are turnarounds. 

So that's how the idea of going there showed up. Because I didn't have the chance to see it with Emirates,  and because I thought it would be challenging. And I was not wrong. 

I had to apply for the visa in addvance since there was no visa on arrival. I paid around 270 AED (70 EUR) and had the privilege to use the fast track for flight attendants so after 2 days my visa was ready. 

First I took a flight to Mumbai. I still remember the moment I arrived there in the middle of the night. Horrible traffic, even more horrible smell, all people staring at me. Completely alone I took a cab, barely able to explain the driver where I need to go. I was staying with a couchsurfer in East Goreagon, about 13 km from the Airport. 

In the building that I was staying, there was no hot water (not sure if there was running water at all), I saw a few rats with a size of a cat on the ground floor and the view that I had from that building was over a hundreds of slums. 

After overwhelming the intial shock I found great people (one girl from Russia travelling with her mum) and I spent amazing day with them, visiting Kanheri Caves. 

So after the first 2 days in India I stopped caring about all the chaos around me and I just accepted my fate. 

I learned that Indians always try to make money from you but they could be also helpful and nice people just like every other nationality. 

I took a plane from Mumbai to Goa. I spent a few magical days at Arambol Beach - there's no better place in India to be lazy. 

In Goa you don't feel as if you are in India because it's so much occupied with western people so you hardly see locals. People are more open, nights are longer, parties are endless, you can find weed along with your newspaper. 

The other face of Goa are the people who come here to practice yoga, people who are coming  just to chill out, to find peace, to pray, to enjoy their life. There's something for everyone here. 

***

With a population  over 1.271 billion people, more than 22 official languages spoken and 29 states India is huge. It's so huge so that I decided one visit it's not enough. 

I went again to the Indian embassy for my second visa. This time the process wasn't so smooth and they made me pay additional fee to correct my online application form (which was absolutely correct even before that) and insisted to take new photos because they suddenly changed the requirments. All this extras of course cost you time & money. So be prepared that your trip to India will start from the moment you enter the Indian embassy. 

My second trip to India I shared with Biljana. 

Let me tell you a few words about her. Biljana is a 25 years old girl from Montenegro which means we're both coming from Balkans. Despite the fact we speak to each other in English because our native languages are slightly different we often mix English words with Serbo-Bulgarian vocabulary which I guess makes us look funny or at least we feel funny. 

Biljana has extremely good sense of humour and she's very particular about her food. She doesn't eat meat and basically anything which has animal origin and she's a perfectionist when it comes to small things. I will try to explain that later. For the big things like accommodation and comfort, any strict plans about itinerary and all this stuff she doesn't care at all so I love her about that. So here we go, two girls with plane tickets and no strict plans:

We didn't book anything in advance apart from a place to sleep on our first night in Delhi. Our intensions were to see The  India's Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle is a tourist circuit which connects the national capital Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. After this we were planning to move somehow to West Bengal and to reach one of the most beautiful parts in India: the tea plantations of Darjeeling. In between The Golden Triangle and Darjeeling we were planning to visit another city for a day or two. We haven't had any idea if we can make this to happen in 8 days but one thing was for sure: it was worth it to try. 

Day one: New Delhi, Delhi

We took a flight on 24th of Oct at the evening and we arrived in New Delhi around 03:00 am on 25th. Buddha's hands were greeting us at the crowded airport. 

Just a day or two before our trip I took the responsibility to find a place to sleep in Delhi. I booked a double room in Smyle Inn hostel .

 The place is relatively cheap 1180R for double superior room which means 18$ or 9$ per person. The pick up from the airport cost another 9$ but it's good to have it especially if you are arriving in New Delhi in the middle of the night. 

Our driver took us from the airport into a dirty old car (which I'm not surprised to see) and drove us throughout the dirty small streets of Main Bazaar, in Paharganj area. 

Of course our "superior" room looks horrible and it seems that the bedsheets haven't been washed for a while. We have no windows in the room but we are making fun of it because for flight attendants light is the biggest enemy. We always have sleeping problems ;) 

The interior of the hostel contirbutes to our good mood. While we are waiting at the reception for our room "to be prepared"we are reading the numerous posters on the walls. All of them are jokes and most of them are good ones. 

It's always good to have an extra scarf or towel in India so that you can rearrange your bed which means to put something over the bedsheets :D We went to bed early in the morning and woke up around 02:00 pm. Half of the day was already wasted but we had to waste another 1-2 hours to arrange our train tickets for the rest of our trip. 

When you're traveling in India you should know one thing: here everything takes more time than usual. This also applies to trains. 

The website of IRCTC  (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited) offers many trains some of them called "express" for no reason but the problem is you need to be registered in the website (trust me, is not that easy) to book the tickets. This means we had to rely on the services of our hostel. 

For a small fee per ticket (around 50R = 0.70 EUR) the guy from the hostel was quite patient  to explain us all the options and to book the tickets to Jaipur, Agra and Varanasi which solved us the headache with transportation for the next 3 days of our trip. 

Our plan was first to take train from Delhi to Jaipur on 26th and spend there one day. On 27th early in the morning we booked a ticket from Jaipur to Agra. From Agra we were planning to take a night train, departing the same day, to Varanasi. So this is how our itinerary looked like:

26th NOV

Delhi - Jaipur

08:20 - 13:10

27th NOV

Jaipur - Agra

07:05 - 10:35

27th/ 28th NOV

Agra - Varanasi

20:40 - 08:40

It might seem to you that we were in a rush so you won't be far away from the truth. This is the only way to complete The Golden Triangle in 3 days. We always travel fast and even country like India had no power to change this fact. 

For all tickets to Varanasi (including the service charge of 150 R for 3 tickets) we paid 2570 R per person (36 EUR). I feel good when I think that for this amount of money in Dubai I could only afford to order 3 beers in a bar and in India I can travel the distance of 800 km for the same price. This turns India into the perfect destination for travelling on a budget. 

Now let me tell you a few things about the  Indian railway system. 

With 63,000 km of rail routes and 6,800 stations, the passenger rail network in India is the third biggest in the world after Russia and China.

This doesn't mean everything goes smoothly because you know... that's India so always be prepared for (big) delays and never count you will arrive on time. 

If this will make you more happy you can always check the delay of your train here. Simply add the PNR number which should be on your ticket and you will see where's your train :)

You should know that there is different classes on  Indian trains: 

1) First Class (Air conditioned) (AC1 or First AC)

A coupe with four beds, a lockable door and you are given pillow, blankest and bedsheets. It comes with a attendant, who will make your beds and give you more personalized service. You will just miss the shower spa so that the experience will be similiar to the one you got on the aircraft ;) 

2) AC 2 Tier (2 AC)

Not too different from the AC 1, the Ac 2 tier does not have a lockable door and the additional space for luggage. Again blankets and bedsheets are provided + air conditioning. 

3)AC 3 Tier (3 AC). According to what I found in Internet the only difference is that it's a little bit more crowded - it has three tiers of bunks - upper, middle and lower - arranged in bays of six on one side of the aisle, and bays of two (upper and lower) along the coach side on the other side of the aisle.  

Our ticket from Agra to Varanasi was in 3A class and we had no complains. 

4)Sleeper

You don't have air conditioning here so if you are traveling during the summer you will be sweating if you are traveling during the winter take a sleeping bag with you or your ass is going to freeze! 

I know what I'm talking about because we were stupid enough to book our tickets from Varanasi to Jaipalguri in a Sleeper class and trust me it wasn't funny at all. 

5)Ac Chair Car (CC)

AC Chair class is a good choice for daytime journeys.  Comfortable & air-conditioned you will get a seat. 

Our ticket from Jaipur to Agra was in CC class and the journey was quite comfortable. We even had a breakfast included in the ticket. 

The detailed story of our Indian railway journey in the different classes will follow up. 

After sleeper class  there is a few more options but I don't recommend it to you unless you're really tough backpacker. 

RAC ticket

I have to mention something very important for Indian tickets. There is something called RAC. RAC means Reservation Against Cancellation. This ticket ensures you a certainty of travel but it means that you might not get a bunk. You are waitlisted and in case someone doesn't show up you'll get a seat.  So it really reminds us the standby ticket for airline employees but it's actually better because at least you'll be allowed to get on the train :D

Me and Biljana of course were not aware of all this facts so one of our tickets to Varanasi was RAC ticket. The journey from Agra to Varansi takes 12 hours so I don't want to think what would have happened if we didn't get that seat. Eventually when we reached Agra the guy was quite generous and gave us a seat. 

Tip: don't play games with destiny and never book RAC tickets especially for long journeys :) 

The Tourist Quota

If you make a copy of your passport you may take advantage of something called Foreign Tourist Quota. Basically these are extra seats which are reserved for foreigners so this might be useful if the train is overbooked. 

Do trains get overbooked?

Oh yes, and trust me it could be even worse than A380 flight.  The reservation system for a train opens 3 months before the trip and me and Biljana were booking tickets 24hours before our next destination. So in this situations nothing could help you but just luck. And damn, I think we were quite lucky throughout the whole trip ;)

After we booked our tickets it was time to see something from Delhi. We had just half day but I think it's enough since big cities in India could be quite exhausting experience. 

If you are first time traveller in Delhi or in general in India you can expect that you will be in a big shock on your first day or two. I still remember my first day in Mumbai. I wanted to run away, honestly! Big cities in India are noisy, dirty, colorful and smelly! Delhi is like a coctail Molotov that can explode in any minute! If you have positive attitude and you crave for adventures after the first 2 days you will stop care about anything and you will mix quickly with the crowd on the busy streets.

After that you will start absorbing every single view, every smell and you will try to memorize as much as you can from your crazy rickshaw rides. You will start to cherish every single minute because this is how the real life looks like. 

For me India is the best place on Earth to see how life is running in it's pure form, it's something that everyone should experience so that it will get you sober from everything that you take for granted in the Western World. And at the end of your trip you will be in love with this simple life that people live here. 

We started our afternoon walk on the streets of Main Bazaar. Bazaars in Delhi are amazing place to try your bargaining skills, to get scammed or robbed. But they're also amazing spot for buying unique souvenirs, aromatic spices, sweet fruits and fresh vegetables that don't comply with any EU standards (thanks God!), to talk to the local people, to discover completely different cuisine and so many more things. Everything is a point of view in this life. 

Me and Biljana, trying to buy some fresh pomegranate juice from that guy immediately got into trouble:

The price he told us at the begining was for both of us and then after we drunk the juice he suddenly changed his mind and told us that price is for one person. When in India always confirm with what you hear because Indians are very good in one thing: they actually know how to make money out of tourists. Their famous head wobble has different meaning depend on the situation so this could be quite confusing ;) Lucky me, Bulgaria maybe is the only one country in the world apart from India that we also do that sometimes :D

After some argue with the merchant we didn't give him more money and of course he wasn't happy from this fact. For sure his last words to us in Hindi were not meant to be just goodbye but sounded more like some curse :D

After this not very promising beginning of our day me and Biljana were really passionate about trying the metro in New Delhi. Our plan was to visit Akshardham temple  (there is a metro station with the same name nearby the temple) and maybe to see one more thing before it gets dark.  We were asking how to get to the nearest metro station (New Delhi) but the info that we got was contradictory. It was difficult to find the way because everyone was pointing to different directions. 

A guy offered to show us the way. Now, in this situation you should know that they will either try to sell you something or they will contact you with someone else who will try to sell you something. Of course we knew that but we were really in a hurry to get to the metro. This is how on the way to the metro station we ended up in a tourist agency, where a guy explained us how bad is our choice with the train tickets. Of course he told us it would be much better if we hire one of their vans and go to Taj Mahal as a part of organized tour. Slightly annoyed with the waste of time, me and Biljana kindly declined his offer and left the tourist office. Nearby we found Rajiv Chowk metro station. 

I'm quite sure my single ticket for the metro which cost me 15R (0.20EUR) was the cheapest transportation ticket I have got. I think even the metro in Tehran, Iran was more expensive :D

Of course metro is extremely crowded and we had to use our elbows to move people out of the way. After this short journey into The Delhi metro I finnaly understood why Indians in Dubai never wait for other passengers to disembark before they enter the train and why they never stay on the right side of the escalators. Delhi was the best example of it.

Unfortunatelly Akshardham temple  has a free entrance. I'm saying "unfortunatelly" because usually all sightseeing spots are crowded and whenever you have an entrance fee there is always separate entrance (and of course higher fee) for foreigners. This is actually not that bad because you don't waste time waiting on queue.

Around a 1km long queue, mostly with Indian people and a few confused tourist like us are waiting to enter the temple. We gave up really quickly and compensate with a portion of sweet pineapple (20R) from the nearby stalls. It's interesting that Indians like to put pepper on top of sweet fruits. We tried and actually it's not a bad idea. It gives the fruit a slightly different taste but it's still delicious :)

It was already getting dark so we had time to do one more thing before dinner. We decided to go to Qutb Minar. We jumped on my favourite kind of transport in India - the rickshaw. After a short bargaining we paid 250R which was good because the ride was a long one. 

Visiting Qutb Minar is something you should do if you are passing by Delhi. There is no any queues here because as I said before there is an entrance fee. The line with Indians is busy as always (tickets for locals cost 10R). Me and Biljana are the only one at the counter for foreigners. Our ticket costs 250R. 

The ancient old ruins are built by the finest craftmen and artisans hired by the sultans of Mehrauli and subsequent rulers. The huge Victory tower was established in 1199, and is the tallest stone tower in India: 72.5m high. Despite the fact it was not the best time to take photos because it was already completely dark  we really enjoyed this magical place. 

It was time for dinner and we know how different the Indian cuisine could be. Just to be on the safe side on our first day we chose a place recommended by Lonely Planet.  

For my surprise we didn't have any problems with the Indian cuisine during the whole trip. I've never been a fan of the spicy food or their specific sauces but this time I found new things that I actually liked a lot. Or maybe I was just too hungry to start being picky? 

We jumped on another rickshaw and we tell the driver to take us to Chore Bizzare restaurant which is located in Broadway hotel. 

Of course we bargain before that and he wants again 250R. We know there's something wrong here and we ask him to turn on the meter in the car. He said that the meter is not working. Biljana bilnked at me and quickly fixed the meter at the back of the rickshaw ;) During our trip we had many moments like this. Indians like to cheat  and that is a fact. We were not even annoyed because they were trying to make money from us (India is cheap enough) but we couldn't let the things go out of control and pretend we are idiots. 

After the first 2 days we started having so much fun with all this situations that we were involved. Some of them we won, in some of the them we were complete loosers :D But the most important thing is that we learned and we laughed a lot :)

Next to the Broadway hotel we found a liquor store. I enjoyed a big bottle of Kingfisher for 90R before dinner. Now here is the time to say in India is not very common and nice to drink outside, in public areas. I didn't know that so I finished my beer outside the shop. Most of the Indians were staring at us but I didn't care at all. Kingfisher will always remind me the most peaceful days in my life in Goa. 

Chore Bizzare is a fancy restaurant full mostly with tourists. The food is good but it's expensive compared to the local restaurants. I paid around 800R for another Kingfisher, a portion of  rice and main course of chicken in one of their special sauces. To my question about the food and if it's spicy I received negative answer from the guy serving our table:

"No madam, no spicy"

Well, I guess me and Indians have different perceptions about spicy food because yes, it was damn spicy. After all this is India, so you have no choice but to take a big sip of your beer and enjoy your spicy dinner. 

After dinner we took a rickshaw back to our lovely hostel. We had to do some shopping that couldn't be postponed. It was time to take a shower but first we had to buy flip flops because we both decided we were not ready to step into the bathroom with bare feet. 

On the way back to the hostel we noticed a street stall (it was actually 4 wheel cart) and a guy was selling beautiful sculptures of Buddha and bicycles made of black iron and wood. Me and Biljana found out that we have similiar taste for many things so we instantly fell in love with those bicycles. Each of us took this souvenir having in mind at that moment that we have to carry this piece of metal in a separate bag for the next 8 days until the end of our trip. 

God knows how but our bicycles survived the whole trip: locker rooms, rickshaws, trains, planes. I swear, now this is the most precious souvenir I have in my house!

I guess me and Indians have different perceptions not only for the spicy food but also for hot and cold water. The shower in our superior double room for 19$ per night was freezing :)

Day two: Jaipur, Rajasthan

Early in the morning we hop on a rickshaw to the train station. It's our first journey with train in India and we are so excited about it. It's easy to find the platform and we're surprised of how good everything is organized here. We were wondering where we need to enter the long train in front of us and then we found a list with names on each and every compartment. I can't believe our names are there! Me and Biljana were taking photos like small kids in front of a candy shop :D

Our first journey is short and sweet. After 5 hours we are already in Jaipur. We had only 40 mins delay. If you're in India you can consider you arrived on time.

We have no place to sleep, no place to leave our bags and no plans what to do. In India you should never be worried about this. As soon as we get off at the train station we became the main attraction for local guides, all of them "professional" and all of them with the necessary license. 

A guy with a big smile on his face and his friend offered us a whole day tour of Jaipur for 400R. Me and Biljana don't want to take quick decisions because as per our experience this always leads to big mistakes.

We have one other option that I found in my Lonely Planet guide: RTDC (Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation). The small office is at the train station and our volunteer guides showed us where the office is. 

RTDC offers a half day tour for 300R and full day tour for 350R but it's already 14:00 pm so it's too late to join any of these. There is a night tour for the Pink City which cost 450R but it starts at 6:30pm. So hiring a rickshaw for 400R for the whole day seemed to be a good deal to us. 

I quickly grabbed a brochure just to have the list with main attractions with us and we blindly decided to spend our day with the two guys, who were waiting for us outside.

Let me introduce you our guides today: Babu, 28 years old, always in a good mood and Abi who doesn't even remember his birthday and when he starts laughing you can not stay serious. 

Babu and Abi are best friends for many years. This is what they do for living, showing tourists around the city. We have the whole day to find many other of their hidden talents. Our rickshaw is a luxurious one. We have red leather seats and the best two guides in the city:) 

Me and Biljana randomly google for a place to stay and we told the guys to drive us to "CrashPad" as soon as possibe. The guy on the reception asked if we booked through hostelworld or any other portal and we answered we didn't book anything in advance. We were lucky because there was free beds.  I guess that was the quickest check-in I have ever made. We just threw the backpacks and jumped back to our rickshaw. 

If you are going to Jaipur, I highly recommend you "CrashPad" hostel! This place is clean, colorful, full with cool backpackers. There is always cold beer and hot water! The staff were so friendly and helpful. We felt so comfortable there! During the evening there's always other backpackers around so you will never feel bored. 

Our daily tour starts with a crazy ride on the streets of Jaipur. Horns are everywhere and the traffic is so busy so I often think we're going to crash some car. Babu assured us he is a professional driver and we are laughing all the time. He asked us what do we do in Dubai. He told us that we have simillar jobs. We all meet different people from all around the world and we try to make them happier. Biljana told Babu that if he wants he can apply for our company because he has the right attitude. He is always smiling :) 

His answer was really cool:

- Why should I do that? I don't have to go anywhere to meet people. People are coming to me.

And he was right. I don't see many happy people nowadays. At least not in Europe. This guys were blessed to celebrate life every day. During the trip in India I was thinking that I never saw anyone who is complaining from life the have. Even the poorest people never complain. So what exactly do we want from our life in the so called "developed" countries? I think we are the ones who live in the third world or somewhere in a paralel universe, far away from the simple things. 

Jaipur is the capital and largest city of Rajasthan. The Old City of Jaipur (known as Pink City) is again chaotic and busy but it's also full with heritage, culture and art. The colourful arcs and ornaments on the walls (who are actually orange, not pink) are  festive for the eyes. 

I wonder why Pink City has this name since it doesnt' look pink. 

I found out that during the rule of Sawai Ram Singh, the city was painted pink to welcome prince Edward VII and Queen Victoria.

Babu has simpler version. He tells us that when it rains walls look more like pink than orange in colour. Or maybe he just made up this story because he doesn't seem like someone who is checking wikipedia regularly :D

Our next stop is City Palace - a beautiful complex of courtyards, palaces and other buildings that lies in the heart of Jaipur city.  The palace was built between 1729 - 1732, initially by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of the Kingdom of Amber (later called Jaipur).

We paid 250R for entrance ticket and we rush into the palace to explore its beauty. 

City Palace has two main structures: the entrance arch, called Mubarak Mahal and Chandra Mahal which is located inside the complex. 

Mubarak Mahal

 Chandra Mahal

Chandra Mahal

One of the most impressive halls of the palace is Diwan-I-Khas: spacious marble chamber with high archs and amazing ornaments. 

You will see two huge sterling silver vessels here. It's interesting that they were specially made for the ruler of Amber. During his trip to England in 1901 he used the vessels to drink water from the Ganges river because he believed it would be a sin to drink the English water. The two vessels are officially recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest sterling silver vessels.

If you have time, you can spend hours in the palace, contemplating small details and perfect examples of Mughal architecture. 

Of course I never have enough time for anything so me and Biljana had really quick tour of the palace, trying to take a few good shots which I have to say it's a very very difficult task in India. Why? Because of the constant flow of Indian people who doesn't care where they stand and most of the time they stand in front of your camera :) So all you need is a lot of patience and be quick when you see a clear landscape ;)

If you're in Jaipur you shouldn't miss to see Amber Fort. This architectural marvel is located about 11km northeast of Jaipur. 

It consists of a royal palace, built from pale yellow and pink sandstone and white marble, and divided into four main sections, each with its own courtyard. 

Be aware of the small monkeys who can easily steal your bag or bite you if you are too excited to take a close shot with them:

After the monkeys your next threat will be Indians who would like to take a photo with you :) For some reason Indian people are crazy about taking photos with foreigners and they're really proud to take a photo with a white face ;) I guess for them we are something exotic. Me and Biljana were receiving endless number of requests for photos. Now it's upon your judgement to decline or accept. I wouldn't mind taking a photo with a whole family or with small kids but some certain type of Indian I would just say "No" or I will make an excuse as I don't have time for this. You never know the purpose someone will use a photo with you (and to be honest I don't even want to think about it). 

Biljana having a photo-session with the Indian kids

Could you find two pale faces among that group? :)

The first question we get from Indians was always the same: 

"Where are you from?"

After numerous attempts to give them some basic geography education, explaining where is Montenegro and where is Bulgaria, we gave up and agreed that it would be much easier if we just say we are from Italy. Because at least everybody has heard about Italy. So for the purposes of our trip and our inner peace me and Biljana quickly transformed into two Italian girls who are living in Dubai. It's funny that nobody asked even once why we speak to each other in English if we are both coming from Italy ;)

Me and Biljana climbed the steps to one of the inner courts to find magnificent view from the top of the fortress:

After the fort we were extremely excited to see the elephants. Elefantastic is a company that looks after a dozen elephants in a stables, around 2km from Amber Fort. They offer different packages so you have the chance to ride, feed and even wash them. The guides explain to us that they only raise female elephants here because the male ones are more difficult to be trained. 

Since I was a kid I love these incredibly intelligent animals who have memories that span many years. They play, they show signs of grief, joy, anger. For me the chance to be close to them was a dream. A dream that came true:

Now it's the right moment to mention my concept of how Indians make extra money from tourists. I call this a situation of a  prepared "scenario" that tricky Indians have for you. As I mentioned before our day tour with the rickshaw cost only 400 . Of course I expected that there should be something else going on because this was too good and too cheap to be true. 

Once they noticed how excited we are about the elephant adventure guys from Elefantastic explained us the different packages and they offered us a price starting from 3000 R per person. They tried to explained us how much expenses they have for taking care about the animals and that is a reasonable price. With all my respect to these incredible animals we had to bargain and we drop the price to 2000 R per person. I knew it's still a way too much but it was getting dark already and that was the last chance go for an elephant ride before we leave Jaipur the next morning. 

The handler of the elephant we were riding even decided to try his luck and asked us for a tip afther the ride had finished. Biljana started laughing and told him to ask his colleagues for some tip. 

The tip I have for you: The less you care, the better price you'll get. Don't display too much excitement about any activity in India or you'll be ripped off. 

However I have no regrets for the money I spent because some things in life only happen once and the biggest disappointment you'll have is the one from missing the opportunity of not doing what you want. 

After the ride our elephant received a treat from us - we feed her with bananas. She looked so funny in her attempts chewing them with the help of its trunk. 

Speaking of treats, our guides have one last "scenario" for us. They brought us to a small textile shop. It's already dark and the electricity was shut down in the whole neighbourhood so we had a chance for a chat with another stranded tourists from France. We exchange some information. They're really amazed by the fact we only have 9 days to travel in India. Sometimes people can't understand that because of our job we are used to make miracles happen for only 24 hours, so 9 days is pretty much enough. 

Once the electricity had been switched on we were shown quickly the traditional Indian method of block printing on textiles. 

After we entered a big showroom a our Indian trader  tried to show his best selling skills. He presents his shop and briefly explained us that Jaipur is famous for 3 things: jewellery, textile and carpets. 

Carpets? Excuse me, did you say carpets?

In Iran, I had the privilege of meeting one of the best carpet salesmen I've seen in my life so here I felt stronger that this poor Indian guy.

 I will never forget the way the salesman in Iran explained us what is the most important thing when you're looking for a carpet of a good quality. One of the things you should look  for is not the size of the carpet itself but the number of the knots per unit of a surface area or as Ali explained to us in a simple manner:

"It's not hte size of the ship but it's the motion of the ocean" :D

Me and Biljana declined very politely every single offer we received  from our Indian salesman and we left the shop in front of his desperate sight. A small mistake that our lovely guides made is that you never bring a hungry customers to a shop. Me and Biljana were starving the whole day so the only thing we had in our mind was food :) 

We bought some decent amount of fruits & vegetables from the street market and our rickshaw drivers dropped us back to the hostel. 

Next day early in the morning Babu picked us and drove us to the train station. We gave him some generous extra tip because after all he seemed to be a good person and he helped us a lot. We say goodbye to Jaipur and hopped on a train to Agra. 

Day 3: Agra, Uttar Pradesh

The journey from Jaipur to Agra takes less than 4hours and we have comfortable seats and even meal searvice. Now, if there is any flight attendants reading this you're probably going to laugh but the service looks so much like the one we have on the aircraft. 

Me and Biljana were served omelette ( I guess this should be the western choice) but Biljana doesn't eat eggs and she noticed Indian people on the train had different meals. She asked if there is any chance to get the other meal option which is vegetarian and surprisingly she got it! The icing on the cake was that we are served nimbu pani. Whoever has been travelling on Indian flights should know what I'm talking about. Biljana and me laughed a lot :)

 Bananas are not party of the menu choice. 

We put them for a reason (9crew followers know better) :)

I'm really impressed from the morning service but my good first impression doesn't last for too long. Towards the end of our trip we received a plate with seeds that Indians use as a digestive aid or mouth freshener. On the tray there is a couple of randomply placed 100R notes  and we are asked to leave a tip. Of course this tip-tray goes only to the foreigners seats. I see the notes that are already there and I automaticaly put 100R. The guy keeps waiting for Biljana's tip and she also leaves 100R. He dissapeared as quick as he showed up and not long after that we realized we had just volunteered to be robbed again. The simple fact that there were only 100R notes (not 10, 20 etc) was telling me that there's something wrong in the whole situation but I didn't even think for a second. This was another small daily lesson for me: when in India you shouldn't forget where you are even for a second. 

This small incident made me slightly annoyed not because of the money loss but because I'm sure in their eyes we looked like a complete idiots. 

Another problem that we faced straight after we arrived in Agra was the storage for our backpacks. We had just one day in the city so we would not have a hostel to leave our backpacks.

 The cloakroom (a  funny word that is used here for a place that you stow your luggage) is at the train station. The problem is that after they took 15R fee they told us we need to lock each and every single bag with a locker. We had plastic bags with food and our precious bicycles that could not be fit in the backpacks. We start arguing with the guy that really believed he has the most important and responsible job in the world. We concluded that Indians could be very persistent people. 

Of course the argue didn't give any results so we had to buy lockers from another guy who was standing politely on the platform. Now I was really angry because we are wasting our time for something which is absolutely pointless. If you could please tell me how would you secure a backpack with a locker that would be really awesome. He looked really satisfied with his job and I'm tempted just to click the secure straps so that I could show him I can still open the backpack with my eyes closed but I was not in a mood to argue anymore. 

Task # 2 for the day was to take care about our transportation. Our journey was moving forward and after Varanasi we didn't know how we would reach Darjeeling. 

We found an enquiry counter at the train station. The Indian guy was extremely chilled and sluggish:

- No madam... - he shakes his head in that specific Indian way

- There is no direct train from Varanasi to Darjeeling. 

We had an option to take a train from Mughal Sarai (nearby Varanasi) to Jalpaiguri. This looks a way too different from Varanasi-Darjeeling route and we decided we shouldn't book blindly. Apparently the man behind the desk was not quite sure too so it was better to make some research frist and then book the tickets. For this purpose task # 3 was to find internet caffe later. 

As soon as we're out of the station the Jaipur story repeated. Hundreds of licenced (apparently something very important here) rickshaw drivers and "professional"  guides were at our service. 

And you should't have a doubt that everyone is always going to give you "a good price" :)

One of the "professional" guides was quite persistent so we decided to listen to his "scenario". He showed us a map of the city with photos of main touristic spots. At the end of his speech he proudly anounced a price of something around 1400 R. Me and Biljana bursted into laugh. It was time for the game to start again. Remember the golden rule? The less you care, the better price you'll get. 

And  now we were really having fun. We showed no interest to anything he offered and at the end we had the price of 500R and the rickshaw was at our service until the end of the day. We were still not quite sure if that was a good deal but on that stage we made the right choice. 

Our driver asked us the usual question: 

"Where are you from?"

We gave him an immediate, confident answer:

"Italy!"

Straight away we asked our new guide to take us to Taj Mahal. We were about to visit what is widely considered the most beautiful building in the world. Our driver dropped us in front of the West gate (there are 3 different ways  to access Taj: west, south and east gates).

After we entered the gate we still have to walk for about 10 minutes until we reach the main gateway. We passed by cute camels and we were offered a numerous unique tours. 

The ticket for Taj Mahal cost 750R. A 500ml bottle of water and shoe covers are included with your ticket. 

Important: keep the ticket with you. If you present this ticket you will get reduced prices for other places like Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. 

We see a big queue of people and we are approached of another guy who promised us to take us through other entrance so we could avoid queues. Me and Biljana are having so much fun. 

- Why would you help us? - Biljana asked the guy

- Because I need money - he replies.

The first honest answer we receive after 3 days in India :D I like this guy.

Meanwhile a security guard told us there's a separate entrance for us. While we were passing through the empty entrance for foreigners I looked next to us to the aprx. 1km queue of Indian women waiting for their turn to see one of the wonders of the world. Now this ticket of 750R looks reasonable compared to the Indian ticket of 20R ;)

It's time to pass through the security checks. Now I have to say as a globetrotter and a flight attendant my personal belongings go through security checks almost every day. The craziest security policy I have ever faced is in UK and Australia. After Taj Mahal all I can say is: "You don't know nothing about security search until you visit Taj Mahal". 

Each and every pocket of our clothes and bags was checked and we are told that it's not allowed to bring any food inside. So we had to go back all the way to the place with the camels, to find the locker room, to pay 20R again (because this is not included in the ticket) and to go throught the security again. 

We were definitely not happy to waste probably an hour just to enter the complex but we had no choice. Our second check didn't go smooth as well. 

I wanted to take a photo with a small sign that has a written word on it. I'm preparing something for my parents and I've been taking photos with different words for the past 1 year so to me this is something I'm doing for them. 

The lady from the security was extremely rude to me. I told her that this is something very important to me and without any apparent reason she just threw the small piece of cardboard on the ground. I should say here that no matter of the rules in your country you never treat your guests like that. NEVER. I picked up the cardboard from the ground and I hide it in my pants while nobody was watching. Now I was motivated to take that photo more than ever because of this woman's behaviour and because I as I said this was something important to me. 

Once we entered throught the main gateway (darwaza) all my anger had disappeared. We were one 

step away from something spectacular!

The main gateway

The main gateway

 In front of us was standing the most beautiful, yet simple building in the world: Taj Mahal. 

White delicate marble, fine details and perfect symmetry turn Taj Mahal into a real miracle. When you look at Taj Mahal from distance it seems like a photoshop artwork. Brilliant one! It's so delicate that you can't believe it's for real. 

The story behind this superior complex unfortunately is sad. 

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period, was grief-stricken when his favorite of three wives and beloved companion, Mumtaz Mahal,died during the birth of their 14th child. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal.

 It took more than 20 years for the whole complex to be finished. For the transportation of the construction materials, more than 1,000 elephants were employed. 

Depending on what time of the day it is and whether or not there’s moon at night, Taj Mahal appears to be of different colour every time. Some even believe that this changing pattern of colors depict different moods of a woman.

The most impressive thing to me is all this attention to the detail. Everything looks so simple and at the same time full with so much perplexity. 

flowers carved in marble

So we did it! We completed The Golden Triangle in 3 days! :)

By the time we left Taj Mahal it was already afternoon so didn't have enough time to see all the spots my guide was recommending. We had to choose between Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. Somehow our choice was determined by a road sign showing us that Agra Fort is only 1.2km away from Taj Mahal. 

We realized that with the price of 500R we would be screwed up again. It was time for us to follow one of the laws of Karma: : "every action must have a reaction. So afer a short discussion me and Biljana decided to "get lost" and never come back to our guide. 

Agra Fort : a massive fortress on the bank of Yamuna River. The fort was built primarily as a military structure but Shah Jahan transformed it into a palace. The irony of fate is that later it became his gilded prison for eight years after Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb.

We proudly present our tickets from Taj Mahal and we have reduced entry fee of 250R for the fort. Once we cross the entrance we're again exposed to the services of numerous professional guides.

While Biljana was taking some photos one of them approached me and for some reason he decided he should speak in French with a funny accent:

- Bonjour madame... Parlez-vous français? - folllowed by another sentence that I couldn't understand with my basic French skills received in high school years ago. 

- Non, merci - it's my simple answer trying to imitate his funny accent.

For some reason this encouraged him and he continued speaking in French.

- English please! 

Suddenly I received the question I expected:

- Where are you from? - now said in British-Indian accent

- Italy! - I answered with a big smile on my face. 

I insist we don't need any guide and he tells me with a crafty smile:

- You know madam, it's crisis in India.

- Oh yes, we know - I answer. We can feel that very well.

He continues complaining. 

Our French-English conversation finished when I told him that my pockets are in crisis too ;)

We spent the rest of the day enjoying endless beautiful palaces of Agra Fort. 

It was late afternoon when we left the fort. My Lonely Planet guide kindly informed us that if we need a place for Internet we can find it in Taj Ganj. We experienced some difficulties explaining the driver what we want but at the end he understood and he dropped us nearby the South Gate of Taj Mahal. Here we found a small hotel named "Lucky Hotel & Restaurant". 

The Internet was good and was free. The food was cheap and it was good too. After a good meal we made a short research about how to reach Darjeeling.

 Apparently there's no direct train from Varanasi. You'll need first to reach either Jalpaiguri, Siliguri or Bagdogra (if you're coming by plane). 

What the guy at the train station told us earlier had sense now. The only one option was to take a train from Mughal Sarai (18km from Varanasi) to Jalpaiguri (which is around 100km away from Darjeeling) and from there to take a shared 4WD to Kurseong. From Kurseong we were planning to take the Toy Train for an incredible journey who would have brought us to the tea paradise: Darjeeling. Later we found out that it's better if we take the train to Siliguri since it's closer to Darjeeling. 

So if you want to reach Darjeeling this is what you have to do:

It was time to say goodbye to Agra and move to our next destination: chaotic Varanasi! 

If you want to learn more about one of the craziest cities in India, to have a glimpse on the ancient rituals of life and death at the ghats, to wash your sins in the River Ganges or to see one of the most captivating ceremonies, river worship or ganga aarti, have a look on part II of my article about this incredible journey to India.