The Golden Triangle

The golden triangle roughly describes the area between New Delhi (The capital of India), Agra and Jaipur. visiting the golden triangle, you will cover roughly 900 or so miles and there are many ways to get around, whether you chose a hire car, a car with private driver, a bus or a train, it will mainly depend on the time you have, the things you would like to see in between and your will to survive. We were staying in one of the many hotels that litter Arakashan Road, close to New Delhi Railway Station, an area that is a constant explosion to the senses of colour, noise and smells, known locally as the old bazar. We chose to utilise India`s fabulous railway network which carries an unbelievable 24 million passengers per day and decided to use the service of one of the many travel offices located in and around the New Delhi Railway Station or Connaught Place areas. By using one of the travel offices you avoid standing in the long queues to buy tickets at every destination, and can choose any package you like based on the quality of hotel and the length of your journey. We went for a 3 star type hotel stay including train tickets visiting Jaipur, Jodhpur, Agra and Pushkar and it wont cost you a great deal more than you would pay doing it yourself.

India`s trains work with great efficiency, you have your ticket with carriage number on it, and when on the platform you find your carriage and check the roster pinned to the outside, your name will appear and your seat or bed number will be there. Unfortunately the same cant be said for the onboard facilities that after a couple of hours of travelling can only be described as grim, but that is always going to be part of the adventure. We were booked on a sleeper train overnight to Jodhpur as it is a 11 to 12 hour journey. The sleeping compartments are cramped but adequate and the other passengers soon settle down for the night. Travelling by overnight train also saves you the cost of a hotel room for the night for a little over what you would pay for a standard train ticket. Jodhpur is known as the blue city because of the colour of the buildings in the older part of the city. Arriving at the station we took a tuk tuk ride to find our pre booked hotel, The Krishna Prakash Heritage Haveli which turned out to be a really nice boutique hotel that was sited right below the Jodhpur fort, a huge and imposing fort that sits above the city and was also the pit scene location for the Hollywood blockbuster "The Dark Knight Rises".

As we were early arriving at our to our hotel we spent the day exploring the old city, having a walk around the Sadar Market and the clock tower area and also finding out what times the fort was open to the public. Jodhpur old city is a beautiful city, mainly winding alleyways that twist up towards the fort filled with respectable buildings, most with rooftop access and courtyards at ground level many of which are heritage hotels. Our hotel had a large rooftop patio area where you could watch the children across the city fly their kites from the rooftops, at times in the evening there seemed to be hundreds. We spent the rest of the evening sitting in the rooftop with food and a well earned vodka.

The following morning the obvious choice was to visit the Jodhpur fort, also known as Mehrangarh Fort, a 1200 acre site that sits 122m above the surrounding plain and mostly dates from the 17th century although it was originally started in 1459. Mehrangarh Fort is a former palace that’s now contains a museum displaying a fabulous selection of weapons, paintings and elaborate royal palanquins (sedan chairs). Rooms are also elaborately decorated with rich gilding, paintings and plaster work. The external architecture and stonework is absolutely stunning and standing by the fort canons overlooking the city is not to be missed and shows how a magnificent stronghold this must have been in its day. We also discovered that there was a zip wire course that is run from inside the fort so we had to have a go!. So we booked in for the following day. Returning to the fort the following day we found there were six zip wires that cover a total of 1.2km, the longest with a maximum length of 300m that carries you over two lakes and back onto the ramparts of the fort. These are quite fun and the last one over the lakes is very high and unfortunately you don`t quite get carried far enough to get to the other side so have to pull yourself along to get to the other side. The zip wires also show you just how big the grounds of the fort really are!

The next morning we returned to the train station and caught the train on towards Pushkar, but whilst waiting for the train we became the centre of attention, as lots of locals wanted to have their photograph taken with us until a police officer came over and promptly hit a few with a large stick to stop them bothering us, not that they were, we were actually enjoying meeting and chatting to them. On boarding the train, most of the trains do not take you all the way to Pushkar and you have to get the bus from Ajmer station, around a 30 minute ride. We chatted to one passenger on the bus who had been on the bus for 24 hours with another 36 to go!

Pushkar itself is considered a holy city and many things are banned including drugs in any form and alcohol, meat or eggs are not allowed within 2km of the Brahma temple, so the best advice would not to take these into the town at all.

Pushkar is a temple town and considered a pilgrimage site to many Sikhs and Hindus. The town is filled with temples and arranged around Pushkar Lake with its many ghats where pilgrims go to bathe. Pushkar is also famous for hosting an annual camel fair that attracts over 200.000 people each year. Our hotel, the Gulaab Niwaas Palace was located a short walk from the centre of town, a very grand looking hotel, with spacious grounds, lovely clean rooms and a large pool. (which we didn't use at all as there was often a large baboon drinking from it). The hotel was also a bit strange as we appeared to be the only guests at the time we stayed.

Pushkar itself is a really interesting town, filled with all manner of temples and the strangest of pilgrims wandering around, one man passed us naked all but for a few rags hanging from his body. As you walk around Pushkar lake there are lots of people bathing in the ghats, cleansing their body as they believe that the waters will nullify all their sins and cure all of their skin diseases. Legend has it that a lotus fell from the hands of Lord Brahma, the god of creation, and Pushkar Lake was born, making it as old as creation itself and the holiest of the five holy lakes in India. Another of my lasting memories will always be sitting by the lake in Pushkar in the evening and watching large numbers of huge fruit bats leave their roosts for the evening and flying out over the lake on their evening hunt, it seemed very surreal at the time. We also had a walk up to the Savitri Devi Temple, a small temple that sits on a prominent hill just outside of town, its a nice but steep walk and you are accompanied most of the way by troops of monkeys.

Even though we loved Pushkar it was time to move on again, so we caught the bus back back to Ajmer, but as we arrived well in time for the train we decided to visit Ajmer Sharif Dargah, a shrine and mosque built over the tomb of Moinuddin Chishti, a 13th-century Sufi saint and philosopher. This was again a very unusual place, another place of worship but this time for Islam. We were made to feel welcome and unusually Tracey was also allowed in the Dargah, where we watched pilgrims dance and pray inside the tomb. We were also encouraged to offer rose petals for our visit as this is what is brought in daily for offerings by visitors, sometimes amounting to over 7 tonnes a day. Pilgrims travel from all over the world to visit here.

The train from Ajmer to Jaipur takes about 3 hours and runs with the usual Indian efficiency. Arriving in Jaipur, known as the pink city, again due to the colour the buildings were painted in the 1870`s. We grabbed another tuk tuk to take us again to our pre-booked accommodation, this time an uninspiring but clean and pleasant 3 star hotel, hidden in a side street not far from the centre of town.

Whist we were in Ajmer we also decided to visit the Tree of Life animal rescue hospital. TOLFA hospital is located a short taxi ride out of Ajmer in the small village of Kharekhari and an organisation we had supported before visiting India. TOLFA are an organisation that are passionate about and specialise in the care and treatment of Indias street animal population. Up to date TOLFA has treated over 250,000 animals. We were welcomed by the staff and were please that the care, treatment and accommodation are really well provided, TOLFA also run a rabies programme aimed at inoculating and the eradication of rabies in street dogs, they neuter street dogs in an attempt to humanely control the population and work with local schools in an attempt to educate children in the welfare of animals. we were happy to leave then with a donation. If you are interested in supporting them please take a look by following the link.

We only had a few days in Jaipur, but decided to hire a scooter between us to help us get around. Riding or driving is not for the faint hearted in India as over 150,000 people die each year on their roads, but i`m used to driving in the worst of places so actually liked the challenge. Our first day we spent looking around the centre of Jaipur. There are some beautiful places around the city, but none more spectacular than the Hawa Mahal or "The Palace Of The Winds", a palace built in 1799 and used to protect the modesty of the Royal ladies that wanted to watch festivals and celebrations in the streets below. The Hawa Mahal is also recognised to be the tallest building in the world to be built without any foundations and with an entrance fee of less than 50 pence its also a bargain to visit. We also visited the Jantar Mantar which is just behind the Palace Of The Winds, this complex was built in 1724 by the Maharaja Jai Singh of Jaipur as an astronomical observatory. It contains some very unusual structures used to create more accurate measurements of the stars. Interestingly it can no longer be used for the purpose it was built for as the surrounding buildings are so tall that they block a clear view of the night sky. We also visited the Hanuman Temple, known as the monkey temple, you had to walk over a steep pathway and run the gauntlet of monkeys out to rob anything they could from you, they were very intimidating at times

The following day we rode out to the Amber Fort, also known as Amer Palace, once home to the Raiput Maharajas, but now open to the public. The fort was started in 1604 and gradually added to over the centuries, now spread out over 4 floors and influenced heavily by Mughal architecture. Some of the rooms are decorated in intricate mirrored cut glass shapes. On arrival you can choose to walk up the long driveway or take an elephant ride. It is a lovely place to visit and a stunning building and easily takes up half a day to see properly. There is also a large lake and formal gardens at the front of the fort. 

Following Amber fort we rode up the 5 mile, twisting hill road up to Jaigarh Fort, considered to be a part of Amber fort as it is linked together through a subterranean passage built as an escape rout from the Amber Fort to the more formidable and defendable Jaigarh Fort. This fort is also really worth the effort. sitting high on the hill top it is another great complex to look around and even has its own giant ornamental canon.

The ride back to the city was also interesting. You pass the Jal Mahal, a stunning palace built in the middle of Man Sagar Lake. The palace is partially submerged but still open to visitors, however we did not stop as we had been out in the heat all day. We also passed a group of working elephants walking along the road painted in their finest colours, we had to stop and watch them go by. One of my earlies travelling memories was landing in Delhi years ago and seeing my first working elephant walking by, such a strange sight when you come from the UK.

We also visited Jaipur City Palace, situated directly behind Hawa Mahal, another stunning building with a fine collection of artefacts including a large silver container claiming to be the largest single piece of silver in the world! Not all of the palace is open though as it is still home to the current Jaipur Royal Family and their 500 personal servants

Sadly the time had come to move on from Jaipur so we returned to the station and on the train and caught the train for the 5 or so hour journey to Agra and one of the spectacles of India, modern wonder of the world, the Taj Mahal. Again when we got to Agra we jumped on a tuk tuk to take us to our pre booked accommodation. What strikes you about Agra when you get there is the smell and the sheer amount of rubbish everywhere, the whole city seems to have a faint smell of sewage, which seems to become much stronger when you move anywhere near the river area, Its a smell you just have to get used to! 

No trip to the Golden Triangle would be complete without a trip to the Taj Mahal, An immense mausoleum built of white marble and red sandstone (the sandstone used in the buildings that accompany the complex, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is said to be the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's architectural heritage. The Taj Mahal is located on the right bank of the Yamuna River in a large Mughal garden that encompasses nearly 17 hectares and is accessed form several entrances. Most tourists are herded to the west gate entrance where sometimes long queues can form, there are however two other entrances, the east gate booking counter if you are lucky or the east gate entry point, both of which have far shorter queues. When you enter the site and then south garden you have to pass through the Mughal gate where you see the Mughal garden and the Taj Mahal in the distance in all its glory, and it does not dissapoint, it is simply stunning, not only the Taj Mahal, but the accompanying red sandstone buildings that flank it, the Mosque Taj Mahal and the Mehmaan Khana which are often overlooked. If you want that "Princess Dianna Pose" without the accompanying hoards of tourists you will have to be there early as the crowds soon build.

If you want to enter the mausoleum itself you have to remove your shoes before climbing the steps and join the sometimes long queues that wind their way into the mausoleum. No photography is allowed inside the mausoleum itself where the empty cenotaphs are on show to the public, the actual bodies of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan are said to be housed in a basement room below. The complex is worth exploring and you can get close to the river and see the gardens and the mythical site for the Black Taj Mahal on the far side of the river. Indian tourists want to chat and want to haver their photo taken with you  and you could spend hours just posing for photos and listening to stories people want to share.

On leaving the Taj Mahal we took a short tuk tuk ride to the Agra Fort complex, this is only about 15 minute ride away but it is also definitely worth a visit, if its just for the view of the Taj Mahal. Also known as the Red Fort, Agra Fort is a a large red sandstone fortification built in its present state from 1565 to 1573 by the Mughal emperor Akbar. More correctly described Agra Fort is more like a walled city and is now a UNESCO world heritage site, but many parts of the fort remain closed to the public as they are still occupied by the Indian military. Tourists enter via the Amar Singh Gate, an imposing and strongly fortified gate hat would have been practically impossible to breach by an enemy.

The following day we decided to take a trek over to the other side of the Yamuna River to see the Mehtab Bagh gardens where reputedly there were the foundations for a black Taj to complement the white Taj Mahal. The closest crossing point to our accommodation was a railway bridge, but local people seemed to use this as a makeshift footbridge. The bridge takes you over the river and above one of the city laundries where ladies were washing colourful clothing in the river and drying it on the banks in the sun. The view of the Taj Mahal from the other side of the river was worth the walk, you get a great perspective of the building without the crowds and also get treated to the reflection in the river. There were ladies in the gardens cutting grass by hand and the gardens were a little run down.

Whilst we were over the other side of the river we saw a large complex with fires burning and wondered what it was so on the way back we decided to venture over to find out. To our surprise it was a funeral complex where there were several funeral Pyres underway. We spoke to a really friendly family who welcomed us and asked us to join them attending their grandfathers funeral. We accepted out of both respect and curiosity as the younger members of the family explained the process and their belief in cremation. We took away with us a feeling of the celebration of someones life, not remorse or sadness, and an better understanding of the Hindu belief that a soul never dies, but everything that is born has to!

I have to say that there are lots of other beautiful buildings and places in Agra, like the Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah or the Jama Masjid or time spent soaking up the life and atmosphere of of this city of over two million people. Sadly though our time travelling the golden triangle was over and the following morning we took the train back to Delhi. I can also recommend doing the golden triangle by car as I had done on my own many years ago, this did not include Jodhpur though, but you do get to see many interesting places between the main destinations like the deserted city of Fatehpur Sikri, the former capital of Rajisthan. Our time in Delhi has its own page if you would like take a look at that.