Trips & Tours: Taj, Khajuraho and Varanasi

On arrival you will transfer to your comfortable hotel and look forward to sightseeing in the capital tomorrow.

Your tour takes in the city’s principle sights including the Red Fort, Jama Masjid and India Gate. There will be time to visit the famous Chandni Chowk and the large Laxmi Narayan or Birla Temple.

This evening you board an overnight train bound for Varanasi. Such train journeys are in themselves a remarkable travel experience with many people making new friends amongst friendly fellow travellers.

Arriving early this morning you’ll transfer to your hotel, check in then set out to explore. There has been a town or city here at Varanasi for millennia – legend says it is the world’s oldest continually-inhabited city. A centre of learning and culture for the entire length of its existence the city has produced many outstanding cultural figures, from poets and musicians to philosophers and religious figure. The holy Ganges winds its way slowly from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal and the city sits beside it, the old part of which is Godaulia, a warren of backstreets too narrow for vehicles and which leads down to the famous ghats, the steps that people bathe and worship from.

The best way to explore is simply to get lost wandering these streets and peeping in the many temples. Varanasi is at times a raw experience, always amazing and occasionally life-changing such is its impact on visitors.

Early this morning just as the sun starts to rise you’ll take to the water on a boat trip along the ghats, the best way to appreciate just how important this city and its river is on the Hindu nation. To bathe here absolves all sin and should one die here will be free from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. There are over 100 ghats at Varanasi, most used for bathing and puja and some for cremation. The remainder of the day is free, perhaps for a visit to Ramnagar Fort that lies opposite the city on the other bank or for an optional trip to Sarnath where the Buddha delivered his first sermon some 2500 years ago.

A short flight from Varanasi whisks you to Khajuraho. Built between the 10th and 12th centuries AD as the greatest architectural achievement of the Chandella dynasty the temples here at Khajuraho appear to have been forgotten about soon after construction. Victorian travellers rediscovered the resplendent temples which were at that time lost in scrubby forest. The classical shapes of the shikars (tapering towers) of these wonderful temples are profusely carved with scenes of everyday life. One theme however stands out above all else, the delicate sensuality and forthright eroticism of many of the sculptures.

Today you’ll drive through the countryside of Madhya Pradesh to Jhansi where we catch the train to the city of the Taj Mahal, Agra. On arrival you’ll transfer to your hotel, looking forward to your visit to what is probably the greatest monument to love in the world.

Early this morning just as the sun starts to rise you’ll enter the courtyard of the world’s greatest monument to love, the Taj Mahal. Legends around its construction are many and centre around where its materials came from – all over the then Mughal Empire, from as far away as Persian and Central Asia.

Built to house the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, Emperor Shah Jehan’s wife the white marble glows softly in the early light, in winter often partly hidden by lingering mists. On close inspection the white marble is in many places inlaid both outside and in with precious and semi-precious stones in a style known as pietra dura. Words cannot easily convey the beauty of the Taj Mahal, a visit is essential to appreciate it.

Following your visit you’ll drive to Bharatpur, home of the renowned Keoladeo Ghana National Park.

An interesting day sees you head first to the reserve where a series of water-catching bunds or dams were created to provide a habitat for birds, principally for the sport of the Maharaja. Today the waters attract vast numbers of birds of many species and whether with a prior interest or not a visit is a must for all travellers to the region. You’ll explore by rickshaw – the best way to see this reserve.

Later you’ll drive to the capital of Rajasthan, Jaipur. Known for the colourful, traditional dress of the Rajasthani people the city is a photographer’s dream – the pink walls of the city (painted that way for a visit by Prince Albert), camels in the streets, roof-dwelling monkeys and camels pulling heavy loads only reinforcing an already strong image.

Today you set off to explore the City Palace and famous Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds. The City Palace was the seat of the famous Maharajas of Jaipur who together build and extended many of the city sights. The Palace is a warren of rooms and corridors, elaborately decorated and with wonderful displays of weaponry. Note the two huge silver urns used by Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II to carry water from the Ganges on a visit to London in 1902.

Nearby climb up inside the remarkable façade of the Hawa Mahal which is filigreed with lattice windows. These ‘jharokas’ as they are known allowed the women of the court to watch processions and street life below without being seen. The Palace of the Winds is a city icon.

After a pause for lunch you’ll head the short distance to Amber, site of a fort and palace complex that sits on top of a hill guarding a defile and overlooking a tank, or reservoir. Once inside you’ll be able to gaze upon the elegant rooms that once were home to the incredibly wealthy Maharajas and their families and enjoy the spectacular view over the tank below. Don’t miss the mirrored Sheesh Mahal!

The morning has been left free for personal exploration. You could travel out to the cenotaphs at Gaitor, or climb the stairs to the sun temple at Galta.

This afternoon you’ll take the train back to Delhi for a last night in the capital.

Your tour ends after breakfast with a transfer to the airport.