Agra
I met up with Jen, a friend since high school! She was over in Thailand and we spent the day together before we went our separate ways!
We went on a full day tour from New Delhi to Agra, and saw everything in between.
The baby Taj! We got to explore inside and met up with our tour guide that stuck with us throughout the whole day!
The marble, gems, and ornate architecture is just as beautiful as the Taj Mahal!
We drove through the busy side streets of Agra before making it to our next stop.
We arrived at the Taj! You have to go through a lot of security to get in... and if you are on a tour, they usually let you skip to the front of the line. The line was also separated, one line for men, one for women.
I really can't believe I had the opportunity to see the Taj. It seems so small and as you walk closer and closer, it continues to grow in size.
Pit stop along the way - we ate lunch at the Trident Hotel. I just love my paneer and rice.
Our next stop, they showed us the work that goes into building something as spectacular as the Taj Mahal.
They are very persuasive salesmen, as this is the "only place" you can buy this handmade art. I did end up buying a smaller piece like the one below.
The Agra Fort !
You could see the Taj from here!
Jaipur -The Pink City!
I stayed at the Pearl Palace in Jaipur! The room was so clean, colorful and only $20 a night!
I had no toilet paper my whole stay (truly thinking that I had to bring my own--thank god I did)..but during checkout I discovered they do in fact give you toilet paper, housekeeping just forgot to restock mine! Just in case you were wondering!
One of my favorite parts of the hotel was the rooftop Peacock restaurant! I went up for many meals and had my fair share of paneer and naan bread.
Not to mention the views were spectacular!
The restaurant was often packed--it seemed even the locals came here...for pizza!
Just your average camel walking down the street.
Elefantastic!
For starters- You get picked up at your hotel, then you first get dropped off to eat at Rahul's moms house! It was amazing. She made us Dal, chapati, and jasmine rice. Then we drove over to the sanctuary.
The first thing we got to do was get to know our elephant by language, touch, and most importantly feeding them. They want to make sure you're not going to eat their food before they will trust you. My elephant was named Meena.
Meena ate everything in sight and she loved when you scratched behind her ears! Elephants are shy until they trust you, then they can become very social.
I would highly recommend visiting the elephant sanctuary. Rahul is amazing, greeted us with cold drinks, they take your pictures, help you every step of the way, no tipping...they truly care about your experience and the well being of the elephants.
It just so happened to be World Tourism Day on my city wide tour of Jaipur! First stop, the Palace Hawa Mahal.
I was also interviewed on what I like about Jaipur to help promote tourism and it aired on Indian TV.
Since it was World Tourism Day, I lucked out and got into many places for free!
I ran into a couple other Libras :)
The great wall of India--the second longest continuous wall on the planet...
Water Palace
Monkey Temple!
Takeaways
When someone is trying to sell you something at a market (that you don’t want to buy) you have to learn to say "no"! Not "maybe later". If you do want to buy something at a market, always bargain at least 50%.
The customer service in India is the best I have ever seen!
Be careful of people trying to offer you their services/tours, saying they do it better, cheaper.
There is security to enter the airport. In order to enter, you will need some sort of paper confirmation that you have a ticket...like a print out of your Expedia confirmation, or they won't let you in.
Everything is on time and you can book tours way in advance with no deposit. They are very trusting. You always pay at the end...If you're "happy".
Traffic in India is hands down the most insane thing you will ever see! Accidents left and right, people going to the bathroom on the side of road, animals roaming the street, and people hanging off the sides of cars and buses because there is not enough room inside!