The Next Indian Adventure: Holy City & Taj Mahal

What happens when someone wants to do something nice for their mother?  An invitation to India to vomit alongside her son of course.  The plan was to invite Madame Wandering Trader to India to spend both New Years & Christmas.

That plan was axed after a delay in the visa processing but she still deserved to experience Incredible India.

The plan is to pick Madame WanderingTrader at the airport tomorrow morning to begin our extreme adventure.  As long as she can bear with the current weather delays in London and arrive on time we, will be leaving in a few days to visit the holy city of Varanasi.

Just yesterday I was watching Fox Traveller and witnessed two Australians visiting the iconic city.  Rummaging through the crowds and seeing the holy men praying and meditating to the gods alongside the Ganges River.

Madame WanderingTrader & Me, The Wandering Trader

Varanasi is where the Hindu faithful go to die and happens to be the oldest living city in India.  Nothing can describe the uniqueness of Varanasi in comparison to other cities in India. India is already an extremely unique place to visit and Varanasi just adds to that fact.

We will be spending a total of 5 days in Varanasi which is quite a long time considering that we flew through 7 cities over 15 days on a recent trip to Rajasthan.  We wanted to make sure we would really experience the city. Five days would give us more than enough time to wander and get in touch with the locals.

After Varanasi we will be spending the night on a train for an overnight trip to Khajuraho.

Following a short visit to Khajuraho we will finally visit the city of Agra.  Within Agra lies the reason why everyone visits India, to see the majestic Taj Mahal.

Many find it hard to believe that the Taj Mahal is a Muslim shrine.  A mausoleum that was built for the wife of great Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.

A few tips to keep in mind while you are planning your trip to Varanasi and the Taj Mahal.

Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays

As a Muslim holy center, the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays for prayer.  As most tourists don’t spend much time in the city make sure to plan around the last day of the week to ensure that you won’t have any problems on one of the most important visits to India.

January has poor visibility

As most tourists visit India in the winter  try to plan outside of January as the climate may create poor visibility.  The cold mornings and warmer afternoons create an extremely foggy environment in Agra (and other regions as well).  On our 15 day trip through Rajasthan we found the weather and visibility getting worse as we moved further into January.

After this trip we will be leaving India and getting back to civilization.  We have already begun to work our India travel guides to ensure that you know the best practices of the most visited routes in India.

It has been quite an incredible trip so far and one can only  imagine how unique the holy city will be.  Just imagine how unique it is to experience Jerusalem. The holiest city for roughly 34% of the world (Christians) and the 3rd holiest city for Muslims (roughly 23% of the world population).

Onward to the holy city!