A Breakfast Beyond Expectations at Hotel Taj Resorts
The next morning surprised us more than anything else—the breakfast was far better than we had imagined.
Given the modest price of our stay, I hadn’t expected much. But the buffet spread truly exceeded expectations: generous in variety, impressive in quality, and the perfect start to our day at the Taj Mahal. From milk, tea, and fresh fruits to salads, boiled eggs, omelets, poha, bread slices, dhokla, idli-dosa, and parathas—what more could one ask for?
The dining area had a nice blend of Indian and foreign guests, all enjoying the hearty meal. Nisha even struck up a conversation with a Punjabi lady, who kindly offered us tips on how best to explore the Taj Mahal—our main mission for the day.
As we wrapped up breakfast and headed toward the exit, a few people near the Taj Gallery—an in-house shop within Hotel Taj Resorts—invited us to browse through their marble handicrafts. The collection included miniature replicas of the Taj Mahal in various sizes, from palm-sized pieces to larger showpieces for home decor. We picked up a small one as a keepsake—a simple souvenir to remember our visit.
The Taj Gallery was a unique feature I hadn’t seen in a hotel before, adding a thoughtful cultural touch to the overall experience.
Hotel to Taj Mahal
The distance from the Taj Hotel to the Taj Mahal is no more than half a kilometer or one kilometer. If I had been alone, I could’ve simply walked there. There were electric golf carts that charged 20 to 30 rupees per person to take visitors to the Taj Mahal entrance gate.
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| As we sat on the electric cart to reach the Taj Mahal's entrance. Other vehicles are not allowed around Taj Mahal, probably to save the monument from pollution. |
We left our own car parked in the hotel parking lot and hopped onto one of those white electric vehicles. At the gate, the security staff asked for the identity proofs of every person traveling with us. I showed them my Aadhar card, and while I was searching for my wife's, the guard simply let us through after asking about our hometown.Maybe it was in our Himachali faces that he sensed we were far from being any kind of trouble and trusted that I definitely had the card with me. Such incidents give me an unexplainable joy.
At the Taj Mahal
We had already said no to a few guides who offered to take us on a tour of the Taj Mahal. I resisted until we reached one of the gates leading to the green lawns overlooking the white marble monument. Somehow, I gave in to the persuasion of a photographer with a Muslim name—which I don't remember now because it's already been one year since I’m writing this paragraph.
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| As we entered through the Gate of Taj Mahal, the entrance was crowded with many people soaking themselves into the first full view of the monument, also it offered a perfect photo shoot point. That explains the crowd. |
The photographer offered six hard copy photographs, printed within a few minutes. He asked us to pose a few times and clicked the photos. The cover photo of this blog post—the first one at the top—was taken by him. That da
y, I felt I shouldn’t have hired him, even though he charged
no more than 500 rupees. I think it was around 300–400, but I don’t remember the exact amount. Now, when I look at the picture, I feel it was a good decision. It's just that the personal time with family gets disturbed a bit because we’re not very extroverted.
Here was some of the creative poses he asked me to make.
After taking the best poses he thought suitable, he left us and promised to meet us outside the gate with the photographs ready in 15–20 minutes. We roamed around the huge white marble structure for about 30 minutes. I remember the view of the Yamuna from the back—it was beautiful. We didn’t go inside the Taj Mahal.
Piyush was already uncomfortable, probably due to the sun, and was crying intermittently even though we carried milk and water whenever he asked. I think we should have carried an umbrella for him. You should also keep this in mind if you travel with small kids, even in the October sun.
As we tried our best to make Piyush agree for a smiley photograph-
Few more clicks -
Finally, as we walked through the green lawns towards the exit, we saw a few squirrels under the shade of big trees. Piyush was happy to see them and played around for 10 to 15 minutes. It was such a relief to see him in a happy mood.
Clicked from near the exit gate, as we exited:
As we reached the exit gate
As we reached the exit gate, I had already contacted the photographer. He came to us within five minutes and handed over the photographs, and we paid him the remaining amount.
Exiting Agra
We reached the hotel parking soon and left in our car, thanking the guard for advising us about the parking. On the way to the expressway, before leaving Agra, I bought packets of Agra ka petha, the famous local sweet. Since we had planned to reach Delhi in the evening, one packet was for my sister, and the other we intended to take home for Diwali, which was a week or two away at the time.
The route I took on the return journey to Delhi was not via the Yamuna Expressway, but through Mathura and Vrindavan. I hadn’t visited those places yet, and I thought that if the weather, time, and my mood allowed, maybe we could visit them on the way back. Or at least, I could catch a glimpse of the city this time and plan a proper visit in the near future.
Evening at Qutub Minar, Delhi
Although we started from Agra at around 1 PM—and could have easily expected to reach Qutub Minar by around 4 PM—we actually reached there at around 6:30 PM. That’s more than five hours, thanks to the traffic jam we experienced inside Delhi, on the Mehrauli-Badarpur Road. There was some construction going on, perhaps related to the Delhi Metro. The road was fenced in the middle, leaving a narrow lane for vehicles, which caused heavy traffic.
It was already somewhat dark when we reached the Qutub complex. Thankfully, it was easy to get the tickets and park the car. The evening view we got there was beyond anything I had imagined—it was beautiful.
Driving to My Sister's Home in Burari
We started from Qutub at around 7:10 PM, and I followed what Google suggested to be the best route. This was perhaps the most uncomfortable drive I’ve ever had in my few years of driving. At the time, I had been driving for less than two years, as I had bought the car only in June 2022. There was a huge traffic jam somewhere in central Delhi, likely around the Chanakyapuri area where many foreign embassies are located. This happened because I took a shortcut suggested by Google Maps. The traffic didn’t move at all for about half an hour, and it was hot inside the car.
I also had to refill the petrol tank before I could even get near Mandir Marg. To reach there, I took the road behind Rashtrapati Bhavan. (Note: It is “Mandir Marg,” not “Mandi Marg,” and it is connected to the area near Gole Market and Connaught Place.)
Another nuisance we encountered on the road was a tempo or truck carrying massive speakers at full volume, with glass-shaking woofers. They were causing a traffic jam, and I wondered if anyone was even questioning them. It was around Navratri, I think, and they were celebrating—but it shouldn’t have been done that way. The police shouldn’t allow such disruptions. Any religious activity—whether it’s offering Namaz on the road or using loudspeakers for devotional songs—shouldn’t be allowed, because it causes major inconvenience to road users who are there for completely different reasons.
I remember the traffic even on the Rani Jhansi Flyover, and the road ahead. I was relieved of it, only when I took the narrow Rajpur road, which runs along the Kamla Nehru Park and Ridge. After crossing the canal, there was almost not traffic on the Bund road which runs before the Yamuna Bio-diversity Park.
Night Stay at Burari
It was already quite late when we reached my sister’s home, but they had dinner ready and were waiting for us. It felt really nice. Even though my jija ji wasn’t feeling well, they still waited. Even if no one said anything, deep inside I felt a little guilty for making them wait. However, they told us they were used to sleeping late at night because jija ji himself often gets home late.
The plan for the next day was to visit Raj Ghat and maybe India Gate, and then drive back to Chandigarh.
Raj Ghat Was Closed That Day
It was 1st October 2024, and as we reached the area outside Raj Ghat, the police stationed there informed us that preparations were underway for the Prime Minister’s visit the next day for Gandhi Jayanti (Gandhi Ji’s birthday). It was around 10 AM, so without wasting time, I drove towards India Gate.
India Gate
Reaching India Gate felt like a wish come true. Having already seen it in so many photos and videos, I had assumed it would feel normal to see it in real life — but in reality it looked magnificent. The huge arch has inscriptions on it that tell the story behind its construction by the British.
The sun was hot even that day, but thankfully it wasn’t 11 AM yet, when it really starts burning. Our visit was cut short when the security personnel there asked everyone to vacate the area, informing us that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was about to arrive at the War Memorial, possibly with some foreign dignitary. So, everyone was asked to leave. We couldn’t visit the War Memorial or the Kartavya Path, but only India Gate.
Drive Back to ChandigarhOn the way back to Panchkula, we took a short halt at Amrik Sukhdev, Murthal, for the lunch. It was highly satisfying to get the quality food at genuine rates. The Google Maps reviewers of this place are more than a lakh in number, only a few places get so many good reviews.
