India: Rajasthan, Delhi, Agra

This was my first trip to India, spouse had not travelled there in over a decade and in-laws were brought along. This lead to an inevitable negotation of time split between relatives and sightseeing. We took the Air Canada direct flight from Vancouver to Delhi, which was surprisingingly easy and smooth. This was a very poor year for smog, it was of the eye watering nature and the airport smelt like it was on fire. We got picked up by relatives and drove to their home. After some rest and visiting we took in some of the local sights. We saw the India gate, Humayun's tomb (which was surprisingly not crowded), old town, outside of Red Fort, and a couple temples. We did some shopping, I had a jacket made by Vaish tailors which turned out quite nicely.

Our first excursoin was a day trip to Agra on the train. We saw the fort and the Taj Mahal. There was smoke and construction on one of the pillars which hampered the photography somewhat but still such a beautiful site. We didnt' have the place to ourselves, but again not very crowded for the notiriety of the building compared to some international destinations. Agra itself is not a highlight. The poverty on display along the train is quite sad, stragiht from the Indian novels I had been reading. On the other side of the equatoin we had lunch at Oberoi Amarviles, nice structure and reasonable food, service just ok, not sure it would be worth overnight stay instead of just doing this as a day trip as we did.

The next stop was a flight to Jodhpur. We were greeted by a driver that had been arranged by family, unbeknowist to all the original driver was replaced by a fill in. This fellow barely figured out how to start the car, nearly backed into another vehicle, swerved arond the road and tried to arrange for an unwated stop at a jewellery emporium. By the time we made it to our hotel we had decided to drop him as there was a lot of driving ahead.

We checked into Umaid Bhawan, a fabulous stay with grand entrance, art deco rooms and grounds along with older murals and charming hunting lounge, and wonderful food/service. We visited the fort and enjoyed the views out along the blue city. Would have liked to take some more time in the town but we got side tracked with the driver issue. ultimately the hotel arranged one of the Taj drivers to take us on the rest of our trip. This was a night and day difference. In the future I will only work with reputable luxury travel agents/hotels booking travel to ensure that we get good drivers and would recommend anyone do the same or take alternative means of transportation. After a drive through the countryside we arrived at Rawla Narlai. It was a well preserved old hunting lodge with a nice restaurant atop a historic wall. We did a short walk arond town and large rock nearby. The next day we visited Kumbhalgarh fort, a huge 15th century hill fort and wall. We really enjoyed this stop, really evokes the Rajput era. We visited Ranakpur, an ornate Jain temple in the afternoon before reaching udaipur. This drive from Jodhpur to udaipur was really enjoyable, one of the most important jain temples and the fort make highly recommended stops and the overnight in narlai was quite pleasent diversion from bigger centres. As we drove through the towns the rural life, and the bright Rajistani colors were striking.

In Udaipur we spent a few nights at lalit luxmi, which was perfectly adequete, seeing the sights and enjoying several restaurants. We tried out 1559 AD for lunch, Aanagan at the lalit for the view and my mother in law got called up to dacne with some of the entertainers so was quite memorable. Sheesh mahal has an epic setting outside leela palace, with a boat entrance followed by a walk along a barely lit path of steps through a pool. I was glad we chose not to stay there seemed a bit too over the top glamourous. The city palace was a very nice visit, as was strolling throught the town visiting some shops. Sadhna was a great find which is a fair trade emporium, along with a couple art shops. The monsoon palace had great views and many energetic monkeys. For our last night we checked into the Lake Palace the beautifully maintained 18th century palace, small but beaitufl rooms and grounds. The dinner was excellent as was the breakfast in the courtyard. Also an overthe top destination but much more classic and iconic, was impossible to pass up a stay here.

With another Taj driver arranged we were off to Ahmedabad. Drive proved to be a bit harrowing after a multi truck pile up but eventually made it to family house where we were staying. Highlights of the time here were Sarkhej Roza grounds, Sidi Sayaaid Mosque and its fine screen, dinner at the rooftop of House of MG. From here we flew back to Delhi, visited some more relatives and had lunch at Indian Accent, which we highly recommend, much better experience that Bukhara if you eat indian frequently.