lotus-temple
Car trip
Further south of the city, we will visit the beautiful Lotus Temple. Built in the format of its name, it belongs to the religion called Bahá'í, founded in the XNUMXth century. XIX, in ancient Persia, when visiting it we will all be invited to be silent for a moment. An interesting opportunity and experience in the midst of this great bustling city. After visiting the temple, which is sometimes open, further along the way out (before turning right to the street gate), there are stairs that lead to an exhibition about the history and work on this religion. Interesting to take a look and get in touch with brief expositions about his thoughts.
In this same region, we will also visit a temple belonging to the famous ISKCON organization, known as Hare Krishna. Devotees of this eighth avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, this is an opportunity to observe how this tradition practices its method, with a lot of music, here in India.
Then we will travel to the capital of the state of Rajasthan, Jaipur.
Tip about starting the tour tomorrow: it is possible to go up to the fort with the help of an elephant. A few years ago they started to limit the number of climbs per elephant, a great measure to avoid overloading and stressing the animals. So there is a limited number of elephants and climbs for each of them. Talk to your guide later in the day to make sure they leave your hotel at a time that they arrive at the head of the queue at a time that will ensure as much of an elephant as possible if you prefer to make the ascent.
Amber Fort
Jantar Mantar
City Palace Museum
Hawa Mahal
We'll start our day early to climb up to Fort Amber, with the possibility of an elephant's help on this climb. See note at the end of the previous day on the number of elephants, please. We will walk through the halls, gardens, chambers and secret passages, with views of the region of the palace of the rajput and general of Akbar's army, Man Sing. In the same village of Amber, near Jaipur, we have the option of visiting a museum about the 'block printing' painting technique, set up by the Anokhi store.
On the way back to the pink city, as ancient Jaipur is known, we will stop on the shores of a lake where there is a palace on an island, called Jal Mahal. A restaurant suggestion, quite old and traditional, very funny actually, where we ate approx. 20 years is the LMB. In the old part of the city, everyone knows it. One of the good options is the Veg Thali, a combination of several Indian foods (rice, lentils, vegetables, yogurt, see if a butter nan or plain nan is already available if you don't order it, it's delicious). Ask not to come spicy but it should come a little or a little. So a sweet or banana lassi to go with it can be great!
After a good lunch, we will walk through the old city. We will visit the Hawa Mahal, or Palace of the Winds, built by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh in 1799, so that women could see the movement of the streets without being seen. We will also visit the City Palace Museum and Jantar Mantar, an astronomical observatory also from the XNUMXth century. XVIII, now protected by Unesco, constituted by great instruments of incredible precision until the present day.
Free day to explore Jaipur. We had very good feedback from an Ayurvedic massage clinic and a cooking course if you are interested, okay? There is a restaurant with Rajasthani dancing for dinner (reservation required). There is a large hotel, an old palace, where if they are receiving people who are not staying with them, they have a very good dinner too.
Tip on tomorrow's start: the sooner we leave, the more time we have for Red Fort in Agra. Possibility to have an early breakfast. Arrange with your driver, please! If we can help, we are always available, please call us to think and organize together.
Fatehpur Sikri,
Red Fort
After our breakfast, we will travel today on a new road to Agra. The time we leave Jaipur will greatly influence how we enjoy the afternoon in Agra. See the suggestions for the end of today below. Perhaps having breakfast early in the hotel's opening hours and then leaving, or even if you prefer earlier, would be a good option.
On the way we will visit the city of Fatehpur Sikri, built by the Mughal Emperor Akbar. A student of the philosophy of the great religious traditions, he was the first Mughal emperor not to levy higher taxes on those who were not of his religion, such as having a Hindu general commanding his army. In addition to visiting its city, used for a very short period, we will also visit the Emperor's Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque) and the mausoleum of a Sufi saint, from the time of this empire.
It will probably be better before we check in at the hotel to visit the Red Fort. This Red Fort or Agra Fort, more beautiful and with more history than the one in Delhi. It was first used by Babur, the first Mughal emperor, in the 17th century. XVI, and built in its current form by Akbar. We will visit its gardens, public and private audience halls, mosque and quarters, including where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son and what Akbar built for his son, with symbols of all the main religious and philosophical traditions of the time.
Tips on starting tomorrow:
– A suggestion to rest well that day, not ending too late, to visit the Taj very early tomorrow. In addition to the possibility of beautiful light, it is also quieter than during the day. There may be a fog, which will almost always open at some point (and then come back). But even if it doesn't open, quite rare, it's still quite beautiful. All travellers to this day were grateful for having gone early.
– To calculate the departure time from our hotel, we use two main pieces of information: time when the Taj gates are opening (varies from month to month so we asked the guide and at the hotel) and time of sunrise in Agra on that day (here). Are approx. 10-15 min drive from hotel to car park, then approx. 5min by electric cart to the gate where there can be a queue and we have to wait for them to open (we suggest arriving a little before opening time to avoid queues even if there is a specific queue for foreigners). Then, skip the queue, another 10-15 minutes for inspection and walk to the platform where you can see the Taj. – Leave food at the hotel, creams, travel knife, nail trim, practically everything except camera, cell phone for photos, temple kit and, depending on the time of year, a coat. Talk to your guide about what can and cannot be taken as it also varies greatly from season to season. – Confirming the time the breakfast ends with the hotel can also be of good help in calculating time to return from the tour tomorrow: from the Taj to the gate and then to the car.. 30-40min, plus 10-15min by car to the hotel.
Taj Mahal
Car trip
Humayun's Mausoleum
Today we will wake up very early for our visit to the Taj Mahal (see suggestions above at the end of the day before). Built by Shah Jahan for his wife, Muntaz Mahal, in the 20th century. XVII, thousands of workers and architects from different regions of the world, for XNUMX years, used the famous white marble of India and precious stones. Early in the morning, in addition to the possibility of beautiful light, it is also quieter than during the day. Our local guide will tell you many stories about this monument. Return to the hotel for a good breakfast.
Trip of approx. 5 hours. We can think about activities and tours in Delhi (keeping in mind the day of the week: it will be a Monday).
One suggestion might be: of the six major Mughal emperors, Humayun (1508-1556), his mausoleum was built in Delhi, the first with architecture associated with a garden and use of red sandstone stone on this scale in India. Like the predecessor and similar in beauty to the Taj Mahal, there are those who consider this monument even more beautiful.
Transfer to the airport for flights back to Brazil. Suggested transfer time: reporting time 22:50 pm and departure from the hotel at 23:05 pm
Flights
24JAN Qatar QR579 Delhi 03:40 Doha 05:30
24JAN Qatar QR773 Doha 08:15 São Paulo 16:50