In August 2018 I had a 10 day stint between jobs and so decided to do a few short trips. New Delhi and the Taj Mahal had been on my list for a while so I booked a three night trip. I have travelled to India alone before and so it hadn’t crossed my mind that I might feel uncomfortable or that it might be slightly dangerous.  I did have a few friends from India tell me that Delhi is one of the least safe cities for single women and I’m not sure if that played a sub conscious role in my perceptions but I definitely felt less safe than I had done in Mumbai.

I flew from Bangkok which is only a 4 hour flight (Albeit a very bumpy 4 hours). I flew with Jetair who no longer exist but that was basically based on my budget and time.  If I got to choose I’d probably fly Thai Airways just from a safety point of view.

India recently launched E-visa’s which are super easy to get if you hold a British passport which I do. They cost around USD 50 and both times I had my visa within a week of applying for it. Having the E-visa means you can go through the special immigration line which seems to be a little faster than the regular immigration line.

I won’t go in to detail on my accommodation as I chose to stay at a Marriott property, the aloft Aerocity. My reasons behind this were mainly being a single female traveller and wanting the safety of an international hotel - I fully admit to being a bit of a wimp. It was however clean, comfortable and the breakfast was pretty impressive - I had fresh dosa every morning and paneer… yum!

So I packed a LOT in to my three days and three nights, I tend to do this and then be completely exhausted after, anyway here’s what I did;

Agra and the Taj Mahal; I booked via Viator a full day trip including a train transfer (I figured it would be more exciting than a car - those closest to me wouldn’t agree!).

The tour was very well organised, at no point did I not know what I was doing. I was taken right to my seat on the train which I was pretty pleased about as I kind of stood out at the station. It was a comfortable carriage and no-one was made to sit on the roof (I was slightly disappointed about this, my Boyfriend less so.). Breakfast was served which was pretty yum and then we arrived.

I was greeted by the driver for the day who presented me with a flower garland so I now stood out even more…awesome.

First stop was the Taj Mahal to try and avoid the crowds - my guide Farid told me it wasn’t busy so I would hate to see when it is busy. Tourists get a separate line for payment and security and it didn’t seem to take long to get through. Tip for the Taj - go to the mosque on the left side for great empty photos and, if you have a good guide a mini photoshoot.

We visited the Red Fort which was also pretty spectacular and offered great views of the Taj and then Baby Taj and a couple of “museums” in between.  

Let’s talk about the museums because this is something that happened on every day trip I did. You go in, they do a demonstration of what they do, for example making the marble and precious gem parts of the Taj (I call Bullshit). Then they take you through to a shop.  It’s not overly pushy but after the second time I started to get a bit pissed off.  Don’t ask your guide not to do it because you’ll end up in a negotiation type situation but tell the person you booked your tour with that you don’t want to do this. If there is something you do want to do like street food, traditional masala chai etc then also mention that to the contact for your booking rather than the guide.

Lunch was decent - I probably would have preferred street food but there you go. If I got a re-do then I’d spend more time at the Taj Mahal and maybe ask to see some of the more local areas.

I also booked a day trip to Jaipur via Viator, if I were to go again I’d probably do an overnight in Jaipur. It’s a great city and I felt safe there on my own. Part of my tour included the Observatory which was really interesting and super quiet, I really enjoyed that and it was very unexpected. Again if there are specific things you want to do then mention to your booking contact rather than your guide, my guide was very pushy about doing this jewellery museum/shop and I ended up getting quite pissed off with him but these things can be fixed easily in advance.

A word to note, and it could just be a coincidence but all three guides throughout my stay seemed to consistently cut off my feet when taking photos, to the extent that I created an album called no feet.

Another reason for recommending to stay overnight was the sheer terror of my drive home.  The driver a) had the total noddies (Where you fall asleep until your head nod wakes you up) on account of him being awake probably since 3am and b) Was weaving through massive trucks (Lorries) at high speed. This might have been fun but every 10 minutes you pass complete wreck of a truck on the side of the road.  TERRIFYING! I was supposed to visit a Sikh kitchen on the way home where they make this huge pots of Dahl but I was so exhausted from being terrified that I cancelled and went straight back to the comfort of my hotel. 

Delhi was good, better to do it a with a friend I think and curate your own tours a little more, and spend more than three days! 

Side note: If you are going with a friend I totally recommend trying Join my wedding. I’ve worked a few Indian weddings and attended an engagement and they are AMAZING. Some of my friends who are Indian wedding planners told me about this site where you can buy a ticket to a wedding and you can bet your ass I’m doing this next time I go to India! And if you want to get your outfit in advance I’ve bought a few from Marraw, the fit and quality are both pretty good! (Just be sure you buy the completed item rather than just the fabric).