01 May 2017
The day started badly. Although we had confirmed by text our hotel address in Jaipur and had received a confirmation that this had been received and that our pick up time would be 6 am, our driver didn't arrive until 6.50 am. He hardly spoke any English and my husband couldn't understand where he had been. When we eventually spoke to the driver's superior, we were accused of giving them incorrect details of our pick up location. We did refer him to our text but received no apology. We had already used taxis and drivers in Delhi, all of whom supplied clean, comfortable cars with drivers who spoke English. The car supplied for our very long four-and-a-half hours drive to Agra was not comfortable or of the quality we expected, and our driver drove erratically probably because we were behind schedule and seemed surly and unfriendly. Even if we couldn't converse, he could have been more attentive and friendly. It was a long, uncomfortable in every sense of the word drive. We eventually arrived at Fatehpur Sikri and met our guide who did try to apologise for how the day had started. He was very informative and knowledgeable throughout the day. The Taj Mahal was everything that you could wish for and Agra Fort was amazing - more majestic than the Red Fort in Delhi. Our lunch venue was fine - they seemed to cater for tourists who were doing Agra, but the food was fresh and tasty. Although we had been warned about not accepting guide's offers to go shopping, we actually had a great time. We visited several shops and watched real craftsmen at work. The intricacy of their work made us realise why some items seem so expensive. Our drive back to Jaipur was then delayed because the car we were using had a flat tyre and then, when our Agra guide left us, our driver became quite lost and our journey back took even longer. We arrived back in Jaipur at about 9.30 pm. It had been a long, exhausting and expensive day. With hindsight, the journey could have been made using the train.