We were forced to get up before sunrise by our guide 'to ensure' we got the best light to see India's most famous landmark, the Taj Mahal. Constructed between 1631 and 1654 by a workforce of 22 000, the Taj Mahal was built by the Muslim Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his favourite wife, Arjumand Bano Begum, better known as Mumtz Mahal. Mumtz had already borne the emperor fourteen children when she died in childbirth, and it is the romantic origin...

Today we left Jaipur early in the morning and headed out into rural Rajasthan to visit the ancient town of Abhaneri. Abhaneri is a small town village, situated at a distance of 95 km from Jaipur. The place is popular for the amazing 'Baoris' (step wells) and Harshat Mata Temple. The village of Abhaneri is believed to be established by the King Raja Chand. Originally Abhaneri was named as Abha Nagri, which means the city of brightness, but due to mispronunciation ...

Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan and the former capital of a princely state of the same name. Clothed in pink stucco (in imitation of sandstone), wide-avenued Jaipur is one of the most important heritage cities in India, and home to India's second most visited site, the Hawa Mahal, or Palace of the Winds. It was here that we rode an elephant to the Amber Fort Palace, one of the most spectacular in India. Founded in 1728, Jaipur, or "The Pink City" as i...

We travelled to Pushkar via Ajmer and over Snake Mountain. Site of the world's only temple to the Hindu god of creation Brahma, Pushkar is often called "Tirth Raj," the King (Raj) of pilgrim centers. No pilgrimage of Hindu places is considered complete until the pilgrim bathes in sacred waters of Pushkar Lake; the city is so sacred that no meat, alcohol or eggs are allowed within the city. (Luckily we were on the outskirts on the site of the old fort so...

Here we stayed at Rawla jojawar, a little garrison fort that was once a major principality of the Royal house of Marwar. Bestowed with the title of Rao, the nobles looked after this little fiefdom for about two centuries after its construction in the 18th century. This was rural Rajasthan at its best and we explored this small village by foot and got an insight into the life of the people in rural India. Serge and a few of the other boys from our tour had an ...