02-Feb-2026, When you think about India it’s very likely you will think about this certain famous mausoleum and a visit to India is not complete without a visit to one of the seven world wonders: The Taj Mahal!

From Goa I fly back to Mumbai for that first date you were able to read about in my previous story. After a few days in Mumbai, I fly to New Delhi to catch up with Jim and other people from the wedding. Jim booked a private tour for three days, including accommodation, a guide and a taxi with driver, to visit the Taj Mahal and other famous sites. This was the perfect opportunity to join in and experience some touristic sites with friends (five of them), including the parents of Jim.

From the airport of New Delhi we hop in a big luxury taxi and it takes five hours before we reach the city Agra. Upon our arrival at the hotel we are being greeted by our two guides for the coming days. The second guy doesn’t say much and seems nice. The first one, the one that does most of the talking gives off a bit of a weird vibe. And during the coming days he proved to have ulterior motives to be a tourist guide. More on this throughout the story.

Jim knows a nice restaurant to have a traditional Indian dinner and everybody is excited to go here, except tour guide #1. Our tour guide tries to convince us to go to a different restaurant. He even comes up with excuses like “the restaurant is not picking up the phone”; “We can’t park there”; “It’s an expensive restaurant, are you sure you want to go there?” Like, what the hell dude, this is our trip, if we want to go there, we will go there. We don’t like to be told what to do. He was trying to take us to a different restaurant where he would most likely receive commission for bringing in customers. By the way, where Jim took us; we had a fantastic meal, parking was easy, there was enough availability and the food is very affordable for the quality we get. That’s strike 1 for the guide.

The next morning, we agreed to meet and leave for the Taj Mahal at 8.45 am. However, Mr. tour guide texts us that it’s foggy so it’s better to leave at 9.30 am. Is the fog really the reason he was late or did he have different priorities? He gets the benefit of the doubt, but it wasn’t working in his favor. As it turned out it was foggy the entire morning. And not only foggy but also cold; fifteen degrees Celsius! This might not sound cold to my European friends, but when you are used to tropical temperatures it is actually very cold and I was happy I brought a jacket.

Thankfully it is the second tour guide (the nice one) that shows us the Taj Mahal and he shares many interesting facts about this beautiful building. It is commissioned by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who (ordered to) build the Taj mahal as a testimonial of love to his late wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is a mausoleum that his wife never got to see. From afar and from up close it is truly a marvelous masterpiece. It is built with the best and finest materials (white and translucent Makrana marble) with very detailed carvings and colors. Especially for that time it is exceptionally remarkable and grand as they did not have any electric tools, and everything is done by hand. It “only’ took 22 years to build. Both the emperor and his wife are buried inside the basement of the main hall. We, the visitors, only get to see an (exact) replica of both tombs but it’s interesting to see nonetheless. Despite the fog and the cold it is a site worth visiting! You will not be disappointed when you are there, I promise.

Check out the short video below:

Lunchtime, tour guide #1 finally gets his way and we go to “his” restaurant. Admittingly it is a nice restaurant with nice food (both traditional Indian and Western food), but he doesn’t have to be so pushy about it. Anyway, after lunch we are on to the next site, the Agra fort. A historical fort that is built in the 16^th century. The weather cleared up; the fog is gone, the temperature rises and the sky is blue. I had no idea what to expect about the fort, but it is yet another marvelous and captivating Unesco site. I will not bore you with some random facts, but these photos can describe it better than I do, and besides I am a bit lazy to write about it.

The fort has lots of chambers and function halls with great attention to detail. The best part might be the view on the Taj Mahal. I enjoyed my time here with my new friends. It was a great day and we wanted to end the day in style; visit a local bazar (a night market). This was a total bust! Just a bunch of random shops along a busy, dirty and dusty road. You can hardly call this a market and after a fifteen-minute walk we turned back to the taxi. Tour guide #1 had a great idea and wanted to show us a marble workshop where they “handmade” all kinds of marble ornaments, tabletops, wall decoration etc.

But what a tourist trap! Photos are not allowed. They first show us the technique on how the carving is done and it seems like the worker just started a new piece, a tabletop. Then the staff shows us their showroom and it’s full, full, full of marble carved items. Beautiful for sure but no way that so many products are made by hand when without an actual order. It’s so labor intensive and I think it’s made in the factory. Although I don’t think they will ever admit this. As soon as they found out we were not interested in buying they almost tried to push us out of the shop. As we left, the guy working on the tabletop had disappeared as well. The show was over, I guess. So once again our tour guide was trying to upsell some products, and this is strike 2. He is on thin ice.

We wrap up the day and at ten in the evening we arrive at the hotel. It was a great day, but tour guide #1 once again had the audacity to blatantly ask for a tip. This is strike three. What the f*ck… the trip isn’t even over yet, and besides he hardly did anything except sitting in the front of the taxi trying to bring us to places we don’t want to go to (read: where he is able to receive commissions). It’s obvious that he is a guide motivated purely by money and has no interest in our wishes and needs. What’s worse? He even seemed a bit high or drunk tonight (red eyes and slower movements). Guide #2 on the other did a fantastic job showing us the Tal Mahal and the fort. You can tell he is passionate about sharing knowledge and showing us beautiful sights without ever mentioning anything about receiving tips. We happily gave him a nice tip and perhaps on hindsight it could have even been more. He was great and very kind.   

Anybody that visits New Delhi, which I don’t recommend in the first place, but if you do, make sure to visit this temple. It’s a relatively new temple, built 20 years ago, but a site to behold. There are many impressive carvings, and it tells the inspiring story of Bhagwan, a young boy who became a spiritual leader. This temple is a tribute to the Indian culture, to spirituality and the architecture. They showcase several exhibitions that strongly reminds me of the Efteling (a Dutch amusement park). The exhibitions are very interactive and lively; it is really nicely done. We are having a great time and I am impressed. I didn’t think I would enjoy it this much. And not having the phone? Turns out to be a blessing in disguise to have a little digital detox from the phone.

Everybody in the group is flying back to Amsterdam tonight, except me. I am still waiting for my Indonesian visa to be approved so I am extending my trip in India. Unfortunately, there is no time anymore to have dinner together and we say our goodbyes after the taxi dropped me off at my hotel. And tour guide #1? He did not come with us today (thank God) but he had the audacity to call Jim not once, but twice(!) during the day. Not to check if we were having a good time but making sure that we would leave him a tip. Never in my life have I ever experienced such a money-grabbing guide. In the end we did leave him a tip but it wasn’t a very big one. We gave the driver a lot more, because we felt he deserved it, he did not mention it once. 

During the long taxi ride earlier in the day, I had the opportunity to plan my next few days. I had enough of big cities and I cancelled my plan to spend a few days in New Delhi. I am getting the hell out of here. My throat is still sore and my head hurts from all this traffic and pollution. I need a break and hug some trees or something to make me feel better.

I had booked a hotel near Delhi airport. According to the photos and reviews this should be a nice place. But man, this place was a total bust, a real dump. On our way to the hotel, the taxi had to drive through small alleys and backroads; this is not a good sign. It is obvious that the photos on Google are fake and I find it incredibly hard to believe that this hotel is rated 4.4 stars on Google. Most likely they just bought all these (fake) reviews. As a young guy with lots of travel and backpack experience, I don’t get creeped out easily, but this place was making me very uncomfortable. The room is dirty, the sheets are filthy, the bathroom looks creepy and the lady at the front desk seemed to be more annoyed by my presence than giving me a warm welcome. In less than ten minutes I was standing outside with my suitcase again. No way that I am staying in this hotel tonight. I am ready to cut my loss and lose those twenty Euro’s altogether that I paid for the night. It isn’t a big loss anyway but to my surprise the manager is offering me a 50 % refund. The only positive experience in this place. I take it and leave.

I thought I would easily find another (and better place) in a short time, but upon a ten min walk through the narrow roads and alleys, with everybody staring at a white boy dragging a suitcase, it turns out I booked a room at a nice hotel but for the wrong date. No availability tonight. I literally spent two hours searching online for a nice hotel in the vicinity, but all the nice hotels are fully booked. It is busy tonight; well, this is New Delhi, I guess it’s busy every night. After two hours I give up and I start walking down the street at 10pm, homeless, and trying my luck by walking in several hotels. My prayers have been answered and after the third attempt I find a decent place. After a price negotiation I had secured a bed for the night.

I had a decent sleep and my next flight is in the evening. I spend the morning and afternoon at a nearby mall. Malls are not my thing, but it is better than spending time in a cheap hotel or roaming around busy and small Indian alleys. At the mall I can relax, and I do some shopping at decathlon for my upcoming trip. I also treat myself to a nice cologne and a new book. I need to smell good and fresh in the nature of course… LOL.

At five pm I have a 2,5-hour flight to Mangalore, a port city in south India. I am not spending any time here but it’s the starting point of my next adventure: a road trip to a hill station near Chikmagalur. So, stay tuned for my next story.

~ THE END ~