Top tips for Taj Mahal at sunrise

Having visited the Taj Mahal two days in a row (due to poor weather on our first day - you may find it a bit misty in November so visit in Sept/Oct to get clearer air if you can), we felt the need to share our top tips for seeing the Taj and getting those postcard perfect photos! 

However, don't expect to get into the Taj for sunrise, or be allowed to stay for sunset - they don't open the doors until 7:50 (in November).  But it is still worth the effort to get up early, as you will have the opportunity to get photos of the Taj with no-one in the way and the light will still change to allow you to get those colour changes.

Saving the best to last

After travelling for almost a month in Rajasthan we took our penultimate train in India to Agra to see 'THE' sight in India; the Taj Mahal.

Agra allures the crowds because of the wondrous Taj but it is not the only attraction in and around this city, it's Fort, mosques and the nearby ancient city of Fatephur Sikri are all well worth giving yourself two full days to make the most of this magical area.

We decided to stay right by the West Gate entrance at Hotel Sidhartha, which was perfectly located to see the sights of Agra itself and its surrounding areas.

What we had come to India for...

Getting around India

Getting around India, whether its in a city or across country, is relatively simple. The train network is extensive and perhaps provides the best method for getting around. However, it does not go everywhere and can be time consuming, so look at buses, a private taxi and internal flights as well, depending on your budget and time available.

Trains

We opted for a India rail pass to make things simple, as we could book all our train tickets in the UK.  Having spoken to several other travellers in Delhi railway station, it is clear that you can waste a lot of time trying to buy train tickets, and they can get booked up well in advance so if you need specific trains or are travelling to India's many festivals, it is worth planning ahead if you want a reserved seat/bunk.  There are some tourist quota tickets available for some trains, but we did not have to look into getting these too much and when we did, the train didn't have a quota. 

Trains are big

The holy city of Varanasi

Having arrived 4 hours late into Mughal Sarai we headed off by auto rickshaw to nearby Varanasi - the holy city.

Varanasi is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Situated in Uttar Pradesh it is the spiritual capital of India.

Varanasi's ghats on the Ganges River

30 hours on a train!

We left Jaislamer for our epic train journey to Varanasi which consisted of two trains with a 50 minute change over in the middle. The first leaving Jaislamer at 00.45 and arriving to Ajmer at 12.00 and the second leaving Ajmer at 12.50, arriving at Mughal Sarai (nr Varanasi) at 04.55 the next morning.

Hand painted platform signs

Given that Indian trains are notorious for being late we were a little cautious of this small gap between them!

Sandcastles and Sand dunes

After another overnight train we arrived into Jaislamer, the furthest point west before reaching the borders of Pakistan.

Jaislamer is known for two things its huge sandcastle standing tall in the middle of the town otherwise known as the fort, and camel safaris!

Jaislamer fort

The blue city

Jodphur is known for its speckled blue buildings, which was in fact until relatively recently restricted to the old town.

Originally painted to signify the home of a Brahmin and thought to repel insects, the old city was the only area that could have its houses painted blue. But others have in recent years got in on the act, and so now the city looks more like a patchwork of blue, yellow and red than a 'blue city'.

A patchwork city

From one festival to another

Leaving the large city of Jaipur behind us we headed further west by train (2.5hrs) to the small holy town of Pushkar.

You can't reach Pushkar directly by train, so ours stopped at nearby Ajmer, where we decided to take the local bus on to Pushkar. Getting the right bus was an experience as all we were told was to wait under the clock tower over the road, which was fine except for the mass of small minibuses with numbers but no English explanation of where they were going! We soon gathered a little group of westerners attempting the same mission and between us eventually found the larger bus to our destination.

The local bus to Pushkar

Festival of light

Jaipur is known as the pink city from the colour of the stone and painted decor used on the ramparts of the city walls and its key sights; The Amber Fort and the City Palace. But we were there for the great festival of Diwali (the festival of light) so not only was the city its usual pink hue, but the streets were covered with ceilings of multi-coloured lights and the skies filled with busting fireworks.

We arrived from Udaipur on the train (7hrs) and after a little confusion over where we were meeting our driver and who he was supposed to be collecting (Mr David Shoulder was on his sign) he eventually found us at the station masters office trying to call the hotel, this time with our names on his placard so an hour later we were finally on our way.

After a good nights rest and a breakfast of chocolate banana pancakes at Hotel Kaylan, we awoke to our next city for exploration.

Jaipur is the capital and largest city of Rajasthan. Founded by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh ll who ruled the town of Amber where the magnificent fort is located just 10km outside of the city.

The Amber Fort of Jaipur

The city of romance

After the intensity of Delhi, arriving in Udaipur was  a welcome change. The station located on outskirts of the city (only a short 10 - 15 minute journey by taxi or tuk tuk) still had lots of traffic and roads lined with popup market stalls,  but as soon as we arrived at our hotel we could feel the change in pace.

Udaipur is in the South East of Rajasthan, surrounded by the Arwalli Hills and set on the banks of the shimmering Lake Picola. A city of palaces and tales of maharanas, its tag of the "most romantic spot in India" given by Col James Todd in 1829, even if now though a little worn and tired still fits this fine city.

Udaipur Lake

Delhi

We had heard alot of negative things about Delhi from friends and family who had visited before, many said don't even go there, but we always like to give places a chance and so we decided to stay for a few nights.

Having arrived into the (rather nice) airport at 1.20am and taking over an hour to go through passport control (e-VISAs are great, but not when the system fails!), we were confronted by our first taste of India - dodgy taxi drivers! We followed the advice we had read and after a couple of false starts, we got our government approved taxi and we drove off to our accommodation in Hauz Klas in New Delhi. A lot of the accommodation for Delhi is focused around the station and in Old Delhi, but we had heard a lot about how crazy Old Delhi was, so we opted for the south in a much quieter area.  However, it seemed that our taxi driver wasn't quite sure where to go so after about an extra 30 minutes driving around, we got as close as we could, handed over our payment slip and wondered through Hauz Klas until we found our  ABnB homestay. Finally at about 4am India time we were able to hit the sack and looked forward to thrusting ourselves into the sights, sounds and craziness that is the capital city of India...

Sights

Humayun's Tomb (INR250 pp) was our first sight of the Indian red stone architecture. The Taj Mahal's design was based on this tomb so it seemed like a great place to start. The best bit about this was watching the Indian sweepers going about their daily work keeping the tomb as free as possible from the constant dust of the city and litter from tourists.

Humayun's Tomb (5 Nov 2015)