I had a week in India in September 2017, visiting The Golden Triangle, Delhi, Jaipur and Agra.

What a country, unlike anywhere I have ever visited before.

If you are looking for a unique experience and are prepared to see a multitude of different sights and sounds then give India a visit.

Amazing sights such as The Taj Mahal, The Amber Fort and Palace of the Winds.

Wonderful experiences such as Banga Sahib, a Sikh place of worship which has an open kitchen that incredibly feeds 15,000 people for free each day and a visit to Chad Boori which is the grandest Stepwell in Rajasthan.

Hundreds of Grand Palaces, many of which have been converted into the most unusual hotels.

My favourite stop and most treasured memory was a visit to Lakli, right in the heart of old Jaipur. This is a charity that we visited using the schools own, very battered school bus. It provides a training programme and schooling for the street kids.

What an incredible place and the kids and the staff were lovely. Check out their website.. ladli.org to see their work.

What a humbling experience!

During my week in India I laughed, I cried and I also fell a little bit in love with the country and it’s beautiful, colourful people. One day I would like to return to see some of the other incredible experiences that India has to offer.

TOP TIPS..

Be careful to study the weather carefully before making your travel plans many months of the year are extremely hot and best avoided and the time around December/January can be fairly foggy and overcast. not the best for trying to get that iconic Taj Mahal photograph.

Do not worry about the food and sanitation. Obviously you won’t contemplate eating the street food but all the hotels have a very good choice of Indian and European food on offer. Hotel standards are very high and the washroom facilities at most sights are adequate. Just remember to take some sanitizer hand gel and you should be fine.