24 | FALL IN LOVE WITH AGRA
November/December 2024 The Majestic ‘City of Taj’ Andrea McVeigh falls in
love with Agra, referred to as the ‘City of Taj,’ and ticks the Taj Mahal off her bucketlist in the second part of her Indian Odyssey...
free of the usual traffic jams and errant cows which often hinder journeys by smaller roads in India.
BY ANDREA MCVEIGH
AGRA, world famous for being the home of the Taj Mahal, has long been on my bucket list and is probably on yours too! I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t impressed or intrigued by the story of the mausoleum built as a lasting reminder of true love.
As a global monument, it stands as a symbol
of
India itself - proud, historic, stunning to look at and something that everyone should see at least once in their lives.
After travelling to India earlier this year, and visiting Varanasi with its holy Ganges river,
historic
temples and sacred cremation sites (see NITN September/ October
2024) it was
time to move on to the next stage of our Indian odyssey – Agra and the Taj Mahal. A 90-minute flight from Varanasi brought us to Delhi airport, where our excellent driver, Ramesh Kumar - who accompanied us throughout our stay in Agra - was waiting in Arrivals.
The weather wasn’t any cooler in Delhi than it had been in Varanasi, with the thermometer still hovering around the 46-degree Celsius mark, which was hot even for the time of year, in
June. But thankfully we had an air-conditioned car
for the four-hour
drive south to Agra. Ramesh kept us entertained during the journey, with tales of previous guests he had driven,
telling
jokes and posing riddles, while pointing out various sites of interest along the way. The time flew by, thanks both to Ramesh and the modern road system which was mostly
We arrived at our hotel – the Ekaa Villa boutique hotel - just as the sun was setting, to a warm welcome from the staff and the offer of refreshments, as the kitchen had very kindly remained open in anticipation of our arrival. Given that Agra is one of the most ‘touristy’ cities in India, with the Taj Mahal being its star attraction, there are many hotels to choose from, ranging between magnificent five-star palaces and very basic hostel accommodation. We chose the Ekaa Villa mostly because of its location in a quiet area that is also convenient for most of the tourist attractions, and also for its excellent reputation as a small and friendly ‘boutique’ hotel, which has earned it a Tripadvisor rating in the top 15 hotels in the city. I can’t rate it highly enough and my husband and I felt thoroughly looked after, especially when I was feeling under the weather and the chef made me some sustaining Khichdi, a traditional Indian comfort food featuring rice and lentils, often served to children. We arranged all our tours through the hotel concierge, which proved to
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
