From Delhi to Agra | The Big Career Break

From Delhi to Agra

From Delhi to Agra: the first report from The Big Career Break. Tackling Delhi as a solo female traveller and the moment it all became worth it.

India isn’t exactly the best place to ease into a return to backpacking after a decade, but I wanted to be here for Holi festival, and I thought it was a good idea to start with one of the trickier countries to travel around. Best to tackle the overwhelm and sensory overload of India when I’m fresh off of the back of one of the most stressful periods of my life, I thought. Best not go in too relaxed.

My first impression of Delhi is how green the city is. Lush parks lined with palm and banyan trees, roundabouts decked with tall hollyhocks and cosmos. My second impression, and the one that will be my impression of Delhi forever more is: my God the NOISE.

The incessant racket of horns blaring! The traffic is absolute chaos, on par with the mania that is thousands of scooters in Ho Chi Minh City. I understand that the timely use of a horn can help stop a deathly crash, but these people were beeping those horns for fun I swear, like a child who’s discovered they can drive their parents truly insane with the repeated sound of a toy they’ve just opened.

You would think the sensory overload that is Delhi would be the thing that helps make it all real, the thing that hits you – you’re finally on this big, life-changing trip. When you’ve spent months, years even, planning and saving to go travelling long term, you often wonder when it’ll sink in that you’ve finally made it happen. Will it be on the last day of work? Saying goodbye to your loved ones? At the airport? On arrival into Delhi, infamous for its culture shock?

Turns out it’s hard to pause and take stock of this big life change when you’re simply trying to navigate and survive Delhi, a city that is pretty much everything I expected it to be: chaotic, high energy, noisy and dirty.

With approximately 33 million people – that’s over 3.5 times the number of people as London in a slightly smaller area – of course it was going to be all these things. I was braced for it.

There are some fantastic sights to be seen in the Indian capital: The Red Fort, Humayun’s Tomb, multiple impressive temples and mosques. There’s some excellent food to be had too, and some exciting fine dining and fancy cocktail options if you’ve got the budget.

I wanted to see past Delhi’s reputation, to see more of the good in the city than the bad, but overall I found it a difficult city at times. I didn’t like the hostel I was staying in (very basic, not that clean), I had to be assertive (no I do not want to sit next to you in front of the tiny tuktuk thank you) and the city didn’t present me with one of those wondrous moments where I could acknowledge that this was the start of a big life upheaval.

I didn’t hate Delhi, but I didn’t particularly like it either.

I did like leaving Delhi though. After a quick Maccy’s (a must in any new country) and having tackled the notorious Indian train system with surprising ease, I arrived at my hostel in Agra in time for golden hour.

Joey’s Hostel is famous in Agra; it’s a mere few minutes walk from the Eastern Gate of the Taj Mahal, making it the perfect place to stay if you plan to get up for sunrise (which you should), but moreover, Joey’s has a rooftop cafe with absolutely incredible views of the pearl of Agra: the Taj Mahal.

I have dreamt of sitting on that rooftop and marvelling at this wonder of the world for a very long time. Sitting up there at golden hour, beer in hand and watching the monkeys play on the rooftops, I had my ‘I made this happen’ moment.

The sensory assault of Delhi faded away and suddenly all the hard work, the sacrifices to save, even the burnout, was worth it. I had arrived to see somewhere that has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember, and me and me alone had made this happen.

Yes, of course I cried! The pride I have in myself for not only getting to India in the first place but surviving Delhi solo took over and I’m not ashamed to admit I had a cry looking out at the final hours of sunlight glowing on the white marble of the Taj.

These big moments are one of the best parts of travelling, and contrary to popular belief they don’t happen every day. Backpacking is full of joyous highs and some brutal lows at times, so when those highs hit it’s important to bask in them.

If you’re planning a trip or about to embark on one, I hope you have an ‘I made it moment’ as special as this one. And if it takes a little while until it happens, I promise you it’ll be worth the wait.

And if you’re backpacking Agra, definitely stay at Joey’s!

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