We recently took a trip to India, which bemused many of our friends.
“India? Why are you going there?” was the most common response to news of our holiday plans.
It’s easy to see many reasons for this. Many of us have little knowledge of the history of India before British colonisation. Despite fantasising about Indian jungles as children through the eyes of Rudyard Kipling, most of our preconceptions about the country are grounded in the huge disparity between rich and poor seen through movies and history, the caste system of this highly populated country and its foreignness to us. Perhaps, for some of us, our only connection to India is through cricket.
Travel, which derives from the French word ‘travail’ meaning ‘work’ or ‘trouble’, can be uncomfortable at times, chaotic and frightening but it also can be amazing. Like a pilot who must learn to fly in an aeroplane, rather than just reading a manual, we are highly motivated to experience this land for ourselves.
We are driven forward by the world’s most enduring symbol of undying love – the Taj Mahal, a fascination with Indian food and culture and an eagerness to learn and understand more about this amazing land and its people.
Rather than a full immersion experience, though, we choose to take a tour with a company we often travel with, Macleay Valley Travel. Founded in 1988, this Australian company specialises in value-for-money tours. They conduct about 90 tours a year throughout the world, at least 60% of their new clients finding the business through recommendations.
Like most MVT tours, we are accompanied by an Australian host and joined by local expert guides. In a group of 27, we travel by bus and air (with experiences in rickshaws, tuktuks and jeeps). We stay in well-known hotel chains such as Hilton and Radisson, as well as historic buildings dating from British colonial times and a fort situated on a mountaintop.
Landing in Delhi, we are confronted with a different India to the one I had imagined. Unlike Kipling’s lush jungle, trees wear winter coats of dust on their leaves and many streets are piled high with rubbish. Machines water the sky in a vain attempt to minimise pollution, but with over thirty million people in the city, pollution seems an insurmountable problem. It’s an assault to the senses in every way.
While poverty and the caste system, albeit not as it used to be, is an outrage to Westerners, the architecture is stunning, providing a conduit for us to learn more about India’s amazing history.
Delhi, the nation’s capital, is full of buildings from British colonial times, many now used as government offices. We take a rickshaw ride through bustling markets in Old Delhi, and visit a crowded oriental bazaar as well as mausoleums, memorials and temples.
Throughout the Golden Triangle of New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, a tapestry of old and new interweaves the colours of the past into present life. It’s here that we are introduced to the role of the Moghuls in the formation of an Indian empire. From 1526 until 1803 when the British took control, Moghuls ruled India, leaving a legacy of beautiful palaces, forts and mosques. Stunning in their conception and architecture, these historical treasures stand in stark contrast to the daily life being lived around them.
Agra, the heart of the Mughal empire, is the site of the stunning Taj Mahal. Built by Shah Jahan in 1560 in memory of his Queen Mumtaz Mahal, to enshrine her mortal remains, this masterpiece was completed by 20,000 craftsmen from Persia, Turkey, France and Italy. It took 17 years to build. Deposed by his ruthless son in 1658, Shah Jahan spent the last eight years of his life imprisoned in Agra Fort overlooking the Taj Mahal.
Travelling by bus, we stop at Bishangarh to visit the deserted city of Fatehpur Sikri, built in 1569. Once the Moghul capital, the city was abandoned due to lack of water.
Nearby, our accommodation for the night is Alila Fort Beshangarh, once an outpost for the royal warriors of Jaipur, situated high on a single granite peak. After nine years of restoration, in 2017 the fort opened as a luxury hotel, encapsulating 234 years of history. That evening, we dine alfresco on the roof of the fort, drawn back to ancient times by chefs slow-cooking food over an open fire and in hot sand pits to enhance flavour and spice.
In Jaipur, the pink city, we visit the Amer Fort Palace, one of the most architecturally stunning complexes seen on our trip. This extensive complex contains halls for public and private audiences, private chambers so that the queens could watch court proceedings without being seen. My favourite room is the Hall of Mirrors, with light refracted from thousands of tiny mirrors covering each wall.
Temples, palaces, cenotaphs and forts meld together with home and craft house visits as we travel through Rajasthan before flying to Mumbai, the city once known as Bombay. Now the financial capital of India, Mumbai is a bustling city, the home of Bollywood.
Yet Mumbai, too, exemplifies the enigma of India. Below a skyline of skyscrapers, a suburb of slums sits isolated along the edge of a highway. Age old customs, such as the tiffin lunch delivery service and an open-air laundry sit side by side with modern traditions. By the end of the trip, our senses have been assaulted with the contradictions of this fascinating land. We have witnessed a huge disparity between rich and poor, young and old. We have made new friends, enjoyed different food, listened to opinions that varied from our own and had a reality check on how we live. To me, this is what travel is about: to touch humanity in another culture so that we can learn about ourselves, for better or for worse.
NOTE: This was a self-funded holiday, however Macleay Valley Travel is our preferred travel company.