The iconic Taj Mahal at sunrise.
We flew from Guwahati to Delhi on the eve of Holi, the holiday in India also known as the Festival of Color where people throw colored powder at each other, rub it into each other’s faces and hair, and generally have a spirited, joyful party. We planned to be in Delhi just long enough to celebrate Holi and then head out, having heard stories of the pollution and general chaos of the city. In fact, we weren’t originally planning to hit Delhi at all, except that when we realized we’d be in India for Holi we found a music festival in Delhi that was supposed to be one of the best places to celebrate in the whole country, so we adjusted our trip’s timing to be there for it. We were also meeting up with our friend Nic, an Aussie we’d met in our treehouse/ziplining adventure in Laos a couple of months ago. Upon arriving at our hostel and linking up with Nic, we found that he had already unsurprisingly made great friends with every other traveler at the hostel, and had gotten most of them to agree to come to the festival with us the following day as well! [Editor’s note: In an unsurprising turn of events, we were wandering the streets of Delhi at night trying to find our hostel upon arriving when I spotted Nic holding a box of beers outside a local “liquor store” with a cadre of friends around him. We were then absorbed into this readymade social crew upon arrival, which was awesome.] Because it was the evening before Holi, the hostel staff hosted a rooftop dance party with colored powder that we immediately got roped into despite being tired, hungry, and not prepared to be hot pink. [Editor’s note: We arrived at 9:30pm and were absolutely starving for dinner. Food was available on the rooftop, but they basically only let us eat once we had first danced for a while to Indian music and been coated in pink powder. This was a sign of things to come.]
About five minutes after we headed to the rooftop to try to eat dinner, we looked like this.
The next morning, we walked around the streets a bit to see what Holi was like for the locals, but quickly retreated to the hostel. People were standing on rooftops with water balloons (some with water and some with colored dye) and delighting in aiming at us as we walked the streets below. Between the air balloon assault and children running up to us to attack us with colored powder, we decided to change into our disposable clothes (i.e. things we had bought for a few dollars somewhere along our travels that we didn’t mind throwing away) and head to the festival. By this point, we had a crew of between 12 and 20 others from the hostel who were joining us, so we piled into a combination of rickshaws, Ubers, and taxis and made our way there. [Editor’s note: When we arrived at our hostel we were immediately lauded as the Americans who were the brainchildren (brainchilds?) of this festival. Thanks to Nic, our reputation preceded us.] The festival (called the Holi Moo Festival) was approximately a 50-50 split of Indians and foreigners, with four stages, multiple dance floors, and food and drinks. Every person got a flower necklace and a bag of colored powder upon entering, so we had a fantastic day dancing our faces off, smearing colored powder on each other and strangers, and generally getting completely covered in a (by the end) pretty gross mixture of brownish paste. It was a great time and having such a big group of new friends really made it one of the highlights of the trip for me! I’m so glad it worked out to be in India for a holiday like this, and to find a way to celebrate safely but still feeling like we got a full experience. [Editor’s note: This was an absolute blast and a highlight of our trip to India, much as it was for everyone who joined us. Delhi is a fairly sketchy city (particularly for gals), so this was an awesome, safe way for all of us (but especially the gals in our group) to be able to enjoy the festival without worrying for their well-being. Finally, you know it was good when multiple local Indians in our group remarked that this was their best Holi ever. Enough said!]
Here’s the “before” from the Holi festival.
An awesome shot of the group towards the end of the festival! Such a fun time.
Us completely covered in the middle of the Holi Moo Festival. This is about 3/4 of the way from “clean” to “brown goop.”
On the dance floor!
Dancin’ up a storm over there.
Us with Nic, our Aussie friend.
We showered most of the color off (Rorie managed to have several stubborn pink stains on his face that refused to wash off, while I had a slight greenish tint to my neck, but as my friend told me “you’ll get a pass on that for at least a few days” because everyone else looks the same) and the next day headed to Agra, site of the Taj Mahal. We traveled with Nic and another girl we’d met at the hostel named Jade. The trip to Agra was our first attempt at an Indian train ride, and it went completely smoothly! The train wasn’t crowded at all, was on time (I’d later learn this was an exception rather than the rule), and we had plenty of room on our “sleeper class” benches. [Editor’s note: If you keep your expectations as low as humanly possible, then it was perfectly adequate. The train was probably from the 1950’s or 60’s, smelled like urine and feces for the entire ride, and was generally a “fluid” seating situation where people just floated around and sat wherever they wanted. We’re used to this, so it wasn’t a big deal. Then again, it’s not for everyone.] We spent one unremarkable night in Agra, which is not a charming nor comfortable city, and got up before dawn to try to catch the Taj Mahal at sunrise. [Editor’s note: Jess is being overly polite here. Agra is a craphole city that doesn’t deserve a gem like the Taj Mahal. I’ve yet to meet anyone who had even lukewarm feelings about it. There’s just universal disdain.]
Me and Rorie on our “sleeper” bench, and a random Indian guy sharing the space on our train to Agra.
The four of us headed to the Taj Mahal around 5:30 in the morning and joined an already-long queue of people waiting for the gates to open. Once we made it in, we immediately tried to jostle with everyone else for “the” photo spots right in the middle looking at the building, then peeled off to the side so we could actually admire and appreciate it! This mausoleum is considered one of the 7 New Wonders of the World (those lists change so much, who knows what that really means) but is truly spectacular both from a distance and close up. The entire thing was built with almost perfect symmetry, which really gives it the iconic look. Up close, we looked at the intricate carvings in the marble, the precious and semi-precious stones inlaid into the designs, and the beautiful stone calligraphy work around the door. The geometric patterns everywhere combined with the soft light from sunrise made it a truly magical building to see. By the time we had finished, around 8:30 or 9am, the place was noticeably more crowded, so I think the sunrise timing was the right move (though certainly not “not crowded,” even at that hour). [Editor’s note: There have been plenty of times when we’ve visited famous sites on this trip, only to be underwhelmed upon actually seeing them. That wasn’t the case at all here. The Taj Mahal was amazing. Something about the size of the structure, the time of day and the configuration of the gardens had a calming effect on the whole setting, even though it was saturated with people and should’ve been way more hectic/miserable. It was truly a special place that we’re blessed to have visited.]
Our first glimpse upon entering the gate, with a crowd already forming.
Us with Nic and Jade – had to get at least one selfie!
Looking back toward the entrance gate around 8:30am. It’s already way more packed than when we entered around 6:30!
A view through the archway with sunrise in the background. Just magical.
There’s the shot!
Getting up so early also meant we got to take advantage of another serendipitous circumstance: another Aussie from our Delhi hostel, Phil, had done the Taj Mahal the day prior and was also planning to head to Jaipur from Agra like we were. He had arranged with a tour company to have a private car drive him there and stop at a few sights along the way. Rather than duplicate efforts, we were able to pay a little bit more to the tour company and squeeze Rorie, Nic, and myself (along with all our stuff) into the car with him for the ride! (Our other friend Jade was heading back to Delhi rather than continuing on with us, so we had just the right number of people for one car.) [Editor’s note: The car ride was a surprising highlight for all of us. You figure that after waking up at 5:00am we’d all just want to sleep or relax, but instead we spent the entire ride talking nonstop about nonsensical stuff (mainly centering on Australia v. U.S., cricket v. baseball and a lengthy tutorial to me and Jess about to speak Australian (hint: forget all your proper English, shorten the name of everything and generally become incomprehensible). It was a blast, weirdly enough.]
Along the six-hour drive, we made two stops. The first was Fatehpur Sikri, or the Ghost Palace, which was originally built to be the capital of the region but was abandoned merely 30 years after completion because the spring supplying water to the temple dried up. Now it’s a large empty fort with a number of intricately carved rooms and gardens, and while it was cool to see, it was nice that it was just on the way and probably not worth a whole separate excursion. [Editor’s note: Meh, this palace was generally unspectacular. We enjoyed just wandering the grounds and bantering, but none of us were in awe of it.]
A giant sandstone “chandelier,” the coolest part of the ghost palace by far.
An impromptu photo shoot with the boys: Nic, Rorie, and Phil.
The second stop, however, was something Rorie had wanted to see for a while after hearing about it, and was very cool: Chand Baori at Abhaneri, a huge stepwell, a structure that I had never heard of but is exactly what it sounds like – a well for getting water, but with steps leading down to it. Sounds boring, but these are constructed with gorgeous geometric stairs lining every side, as well as intricate columns, temples, and other designs as well. This one is the deepest in the region, and while we weren’t allowed to go down into it (due to past accidents as there are no safety railings of any kind), it was way more beautiful than I had anticipated. A great stop, and one that we would have missed had we taken a bus or train to Jaipur instead of the car! [Editor’s note: Yeah, I became weirdly fascinated by this stepwell and began putting it on the same level as the Taj Mahal (which it objectively isn’t, but I just loved it). It totally reminds me of an MC Escher painting and captured my imagination. Several of these stepwells have been discovered in India over the last couple decades and this is one of the best ones, so I’m stoked that we made time for it. Well worth it!]
Looking down into the stepwell – you can’t even get it all in one photo!
The geometry of the steps is mesmerizing.
A woman in traditional dress at the stepwell.
Rorie is happy as a clam at his stepwell!
After waking up before dawn to see the Taj Mahal and then spending the entire day squished into the middle of a small car with three large guys, I was exhausted by the time we got to our Jaipur hotel. Not to mention the full-day dance party from Holi just a few days before! Our time in India has been full of spectacular sights so far, and we only expect that to continue as we explore Jaipur and the rest of the state of Rajasthan.
Bonus photos below:
Rorie looks through a stone screen window at the Ghost Palace.
Some of the incredible inlaid stones and geometric detail of the Taj Mahal.
If I ever need to act in a Technicolor zombie movie, I’ll know what look to recreate!
