THE LUXURY TRAVEL
MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT
TRAVELLERS

The average guide-book may say that the road between Delhi and Agra is uninteresting, but for us, nothing could have been further from the truth. It's not every day that you see a bus intended for forty-five, that contains over a hundred people (not including those sitting on top of the bus), twelve passengers to a rickshaw intended for two, or a family of four on a motorbike. Then add to the mix cows, donkeys and water buffalo missing near head-on collisions with your tour operator's car, women on scooters riding side-saddle, and trained monkeys plastered to your window begging for change when your driver goes off to pay the border-tax, and you've got the makings of real entertainment. Boring? You must be kidding.

We arrived at the extraordinary Oberoi Amarvilas that afternoon, exhausted because we were too mesmerized during our drive to catch a few winks. The hotel is a splendid combination of Moorish and Mughal architecture, and upon entering you must pass through a ceremonial entrance pavilion complete with fountains, filigreed stone bridges and tall pillars topped by torches. The effect is stunning. The lobby itself, with geometrically painted dome, a marble floor and huge arched windows, only six hundred meters from the Taj Mahal, was literally conceived as a visual frame for the Taj and the effect has been realized beautifully. There is a view of the Taj Mahal from every guest room, bathroom en-suite and common area of the hotel.

For those of you who know the story of the Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, you’ll probably share the sentiment of the sheer romance of being so close to this monument to love. It was built in white marble by Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum in memory of his Queen, Mumtaz Mahal. It is most stunning at sunrise and sunset, when the white marble of this immense structure glows a golden orange. The structure of the tomb, a gleaming white marble colossus, is surrounded by four huge 137 foot minarets which seem to be standing guard, and the long reflecting pool in front of it, the surrounding gardens and sandstone buildings add to its grandeur and importance. The decorative work, both inside and out appears to be the most magnificent fresco detail, but as you draw nearer, it becomes evident that it is comprised of an inlay of precious and semi-precious stones, fitted together with such fluidity and dexterity, that it seems as if one individual was responsible for the placing and polishing of every stone. Instead, it took 20,000 laborers, twenty-two years to complete it. The Emperor spent the last years of his life imprisoned in a tower which looked upon it, where he is said to have sat staring at the monument he had created, talking endlessly to his long gone beloved, until his own death. If that's not romantic, I don't know what is.