Danhauser Travel Blogs

  10/17/24– We maybe get only three to four hours of sleep as we have early tickets to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. Last night was a good trial run to see how things work, so hoping all goes as well as can be expected. We grab our box breakfast from the hotel staff and eat what we can in our room, as no food of any kind is allowed at the site. Then we book an Uber, which takes us five minutes to get to the East Gate (same as last night so we are familiar) and walk briskly to the trolley, avoiding the guides hocking their services. All we hear is, “My friend, get tickets here” or “Come to my shop” or even more boldly “You’re going the wrong way, let me help you”. Turns out we are going the wrong way for a second, but it all works out. Once off the trolley, we head for the security line and see how long it is already (at 5:40am). I calmly walk toward the front and mingle in as Sharece waits back in line (not going to wait behind hoards of tour groups). After a moment, I find ...

  10/16/24– We prepare for our driver to pick us up at 11:30am. I’m a bit nervous since we booked late last night and haven’t really heard from the tour operator. We go to breakfast and shortly after we finally hear back 45 minutes before our pickup time. At least there’s that. We check out and the driver arrives twenty minutes late. Not good as we have plans in Agra tonight and need to be there by a certain time. Also, he has no room in the small car for us and our luggage to fit comfortably, so he puts our suitcases on top of his car (in a rack at least) and grabs a strap from the trunk to wrap around. This does not make me feel at ease but I trust that he’s done this before. Of course, not even ten minutes into the drive, the strap comes loose and he has to pull over to re-tie. Sliding, honking, zooming and swaying every which way seems to be the theme in India, and this driver is no different. I come to wonder if their horn stops working then perhaps they consider their ...

  10/15/24– I’m glad we opt for the hotel breakfast, which is served buffet style. I try several different dishes as a taster to see what I may or may not like and surprising find it quite good for the most part. They even have ice coffee (well “cold” coffee as they put it). We spend a few hours this morning going over our next hotel change, as we don’t want a repeat of what we call “The Jaipur Incident”, and find a very nice one for our next destination.. Excellent! At noon, I get an Uber to go to Amer Fort while Sharece stays back at the hotel. As I get in, the driver insists I sit up front, which should’ve been my first red flag, and on the way he repeatedly tries to sell me on him as a guide or stopping at places along the way. I show him the destination on Uber and state that is all I need, thank you. Once we arrive, he practically demands 500 INR from me for whatever reason. I show him the app again and say the amount I paid to Uber is for this location, I owe you noth...

  10/14/24– I wake up to Sharece typing away on her phone. Apparently, she found a new hotel for us to move to in Jaipur, as this one obviously is not ideal. I take a quick look, trust her judgment and book it without thinking twice. We’re on vacation, we need the stuff! We check out of our hotel around 11:30am, much to the confusion of the hotel staff who are wondering why. We tell them our plans changed and leave it at that. Then we book an Uber to take us the fifteen minutes to The Fern Residency Hotel. Just looking at the lobby makes us very happy with the choice, and luckily they have our room ready. Man oh man, what a difference as we’re on the top floor with a gorgeous view of the city. There’s a rooftop bar, a pool and the place looks like a castle from the outside. Sharece did an excellent job. After spending only about ten minutes putting our stuff away, we are eager to get the day started. First is food, and seeing that we are in India we opt for something famil...