Well I've been in country for one week today, and have experienced Delhi, and Agra. Now I'm on my way to Jaipur to complete the "golden triangle" the standard tourist route.
It's hard for me to separate feelings about a city as a whole from the interactions with the individuals who live there. In Delhi I stayed at a lovely house in a nice neighborhood and had a good taxi driver that made sure I was seeing the standard tourist sites, while giving me the usual touts that all Indians do in one way or another. Delhi just didn't connect with me, no soul. That or possibly I had just not yet been fully emerged into indian culture.
While planning the trip most recommendations had been a day trip to Agra, see the Taj and move on. But I decided to give the secondary sites a chance, I also wanted a sunrise viewing of the Taj, which meant an overnight stay.
All I can say is the people of Agra blew me away, I have never been to a house where I have felt so welcome in so little time, anywhere. N. Home Stay, which I originally thought meant north home stay, but actually is short for Naghma's Home Stay, is a true home away from home. I can't even put to words how good it felt to spend an evening in the kitchen learning the local culinary magic of a wonderful woman. She was incredible, and her cooking truly heavenly. I had great conversations with her two sons about anything and everything. Their tuk-tuk driver, Mukul, went above and beyond to ensure I had a great experience seeing all Agra had to see. I leave Agra with a heavy heart and only hope the rest of India can live up to that experience. Thank you Naghma
It's hard for me to separate feelings about a city as a whole from the interactions with the individuals who live there. In Delhi I stayed at a lovely house in a nice neighborhood and had a good taxi driver that made sure I was seeing the standard tourist sites, while giving me the usual touts that all Indians do in one way or another. Delhi just didn't connect with me, no soul. That or possibly I had just not yet been fully emerged into indian culture.
While planning the trip most recommendations had been a day trip to Agra, see the Taj and move on. But I decided to give the secondary sites a chance, I also wanted a sunrise viewing of the Taj, which meant an overnight stay.
All I can say is the people of Agra blew me away, I have never been to a house where I have felt so welcome in so little time, anywhere. N. Home Stay, which I originally thought meant north home stay, but actually is short for Naghma's Home Stay, is a true home away from home. I can't even put to words how good it felt to spend an evening in the kitchen learning the local culinary magic of a wonderful woman. She was incredible, and her cooking truly heavenly. I had great conversations with her two sons about anything and everything. Their tuk-tuk driver, Mukul, went above and beyond to ensure I had a great experience seeing all Agra had to see. I leave Agra with a heavy heart and only hope the rest of India can live up to that experience. Thank you Naghma
I'm so glad to see that you are really enjoying yourself..lots to experience and memories for a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteWhat a incredible experience. An excellent idea to stay locally. Seems to me we humans do relate if we just be ourselves , be with each other and share common interests. So glad you had that!
ReplyDeleteMaking friends for a lifetime. I hope you got her recipes as the food looks quite delicious.
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