After being in Delhi for a week, we were ready to be literally anywhere but Delhi. After some hemming and hawing, we talked ourselves into hiring a driver — which tuned out to be a fantastic decision, as it freed us from bus/train schedules and let us make side trips and detours as we circled the Golden Triangle of Delhi to Agra to Jaipur.

Yes, it felt a liiiiitle bourge to casually mention “our driver”…and yes, it was definitely more expensive than taking the trains and buses. But it was so worth the comfort, ease, and convenience. If I had more than three days to navigate the Golden Triangle, perhaps the train/bus options would have been more alluring…but this was perfect for the three of us traveling as women, alone, and without any local language skills to speak of.*

*Except snacks. We were pros at ordering many, many delicious snacks.

So we were off to Agra! Which we arrived at in time to visit a stunning fort with a distant view of the Taj. Note the red sandstone with white marble inlay…turns out this is the design of 99% of all forts in India. By the end of the trip, it had become a joke — “Man, I could really go for some red sandstone with white marble inlay…any chance there’s a fort around here?”

We caught sunset at the Taj, which was — of course — stunning.

Pic taken by strangers, not even a selfie this time!

And Gabby, the tiniest member of our trio, returned the favor by taking a photo.

The next morning, we left our hotel at 6am to catch sunrise at the Taj. By the time we got in, we were bleary-eyed, cold, and not sure this excursion was worth it…until we saw this view. Oh hello, vision of classic-and-gorgeous-and-fills-all-the-expectations-plus-more beauty, mostly free of crowds.

The ticket price includes these protective booties which all visitors wore.

Post Taj, we headed to the final city in the triangle — Jaipur. Here are some sneak peek preview photos of Jaipur…and what’s that you say, there’s a famous fort? Complete with some red sandstone? And white marble inlay?

Pomegranate details, aka the first of approximately ten million photos in the “Elliot takes close up pictures of intricate carved details with blurry backgrounds” series. Soon to be trademarked.

Coming up next, the rest of the photos from our last stop in the Golden Triangle — Jaipur!