07 Feb 2023
Both my wife and I are registered South African Tourist Guides from Cape Town and initially thought we could do Agra on our own. On the recommendation of a friend in Mumbai, we decided to use Chandan Verma as our Tour Guide for the day..
We started out early the morning and requested different modes of transport including a car, a Tuk-Tuk and a rickshaw. We did some extensive walking as well. Chandan arranged everything. At the Taj Mahal we spent around 2-3 hours, listening to his amazing commentary. His English is very good and knowledge is excellent. As Tour Guides ourselves, we had much more questions than a normal / standard tourist would have. At all times he answered all our questions and concerns about safety walking around Agra.
He arranged a professional photographer at a very good rate and made us feel like a young honeymoon couple with all the photos that was taken. After our visit to the Taj Mahal, we explored Agra and Chandan did not get tired of showcasing his home city. He arranged our train tickets from Agra to Jaipur at the rate for locals.
I highly recommend Chandan as a Tour Guide, not only for the Taj Mahal and Agra, but for the other tours he offers in Delhi and Jaipur (Golden Triangle). Whatever information we missed out in Delhi and Jaipur, Chandan did justice to India as a tourist destination and to Tour Guides in general. At no stage did he try and get us to buy from specific shops in order to get commission which is common all over the world. He never indicated that he expected a tip/gratuity for his services which surprised us, as in many countries tour guides will remind tourists that tips/gratuities are compulsory. It was a pleasure to give him a generous tip for all the extras he did for the low daily rate he charged. We met Chandan Verma as a stranger and left Agra, India as old friends. On our next visit to India we will book him for the fourteen days in the different towns and cities we will be visiting.