We were met by our enthusiastic guide named Ishi and wore shoe covers to walk the famous marble structure decorated with precious stones inlaid in white Indian marble.

There is a special line for foreign tourists who have to pay a little higher (rupees 1000 approx USD15) while locals pay just a dollar or 60 rupees entrance fee. Families and hordes of domestic local tourists line up for two hours to get frisked and finally be allowed to enter the mausoleum. Foreigners get whisked through a special lane and the whole process just takes a little over half an hour.

The building is really majestic and worth a visit in one's lifetime. After all, it took 22 years to build and thousands of workers to complete the iconic structure. The inner court is a dark hall of stone inlays, precious gems embedded and laid out in floral and intricate designs on the walls and ceilings.

There are symmetrical mosques flanking the big structure and on Fridays the whole place is closed to the public in observance of the Moslem ceremonies held on this day. So we were lucky to visit on a Thursday despite the huge crowds one must expect on any day. "About 15000 to 20000 visitors come each day" says Ishi who has been a guide here for the last 32 years (he is now 57) and has visited the Taj 9,800 times!

"Licensed" photographers take souvenir shots of tourists and each guide has a deal to let the photographers follow you through a series of "touristy" poses. Smooth operators - these tour guides even have a deal in the dark hall to have someone hold a flashlight to show you the translucence of the marble and to light up each gemstone in the inlay to oohs and ahhs of the crowd. That's 200 rupees tip earned by the "flashlight" man.

These guides are enterprising and they already know the drill of who to tip and who to hire for other services we needed. I actually had to hire a wheelchair and a man to assist as I injured my foot the day before. Ishi slips in a 500 rupee note to him and then turns around and charges me 2000 rupees ($30).

I just smile as I pay him because I could not have racked up 5000 steps up and down the stairs without Ishi taking my hand as I held his arm as we went through staircases my wheelchair could not manage. He deserves all the profit and tips he made that day.

After an early dinner in Agra we drive on to Jaipur – another 5 hour journey into the night, this time westward. As I chart our drive in Google Maps, we pass tollway after tollway and look for a stop to stretch and get some potato chips and for Raj to have a cup of Chai masala. Driving 500 kilometers in one day is a feat for his gentle Delhi man.

In Jaipur we would meet our next tour guide Warun or "Varun" as he says it with an accent.  Though we had a long list of places to go, Varun decided we see Amber Fort as it is a bit of a drive through Jaipur's traffic – something that would put Manila or Jakarta traffic to shame. Jaipur traffic is epic. Sights and sounds of electric and motor rickshaws, jeeps, buses and just crazy traffic you cannot imagine.

When you take a rickshaw, you’re at your most vulnerable. With its open sides, you’re two inches away from the next motorbike.  We had to keep our arms and legs within the rickshaw's 30-inch width to avoid getting sideswiped by anything.

At Amber Fort, we climb the steady path in our car and soon get off and take the long and winding walk up to the palace. In all fairness, this guide with 5 years’ experience knows the history of the moguls and the maharajahs enough to entertain us for a good two hours. The palace has a 400 year history of amazing engineering as it serves the king's family well during both summer and winter months. Details, for example, of how they did the air conditioning during those ancient times is amazing. The use of cool water and curtains as an air conditioning system is a forerunner of today's cooling systems.

The fort is fenced by what looks like the "Great Wall of China " except this is in the Rajasthan state in India. Amazing engineering marvels like these protected the rulers of yore from invaders.

What we realized after the Amber Fort visit is that one day is not enough to see and appreciate the Pink City of Jaipur. We still had a long list of places and museums but time was not on our side. With just a few hours of daylight remaining we decided that it was time to hit the markets. Rather than the fixed air conditioned textile emporium Varun took us to, we opted to leave our car, take a rickshaw and braced ourselves for the route to Hawa Mahal market or Tripolia Bazaar.

Slippers, kurtis, textile, leather— name it and it's here. One shop after another, we walked to discover most shopkeepers were male and they were aplenty. Men selling us embroidery and textiles just made me think – where are the women?

The merchandise can leave you breathless – beautiful wood block prints, fine cotton tablecloths, sandals and bags.  All you need is extra luggage as the goods are too good to pass up— blouses made of fine cotton, beautiful leather, saris and kurtis in typical bright Indian colors. But please haggle.

I think it is an exercise both seller and buyer know they have to engage in before a deal is done. Haggling here is not for newbies. This is Haggling 505 if there is such a course. To begin with, many items have no prices and shopkeepers will first size you up before quoting a price.

That's why I appreciated a shop called “Gulab Chand” which had prices stuck to the blouses and makes one have a starting point before the "haggle". It could be very exhausting for the beginner; the inexperienced will be better off shopping at the airport.

Still, Jaipur is an experience to test one's patience and magnanimity. I know I can come back to again enjoy its cuisine and the shopping even if it's a challenge to traverse its streets and to endure the traffic.

After two nights at the Lalit in Jaipur we start early for our 287 kilometre drive back to Delhi.

And what a nice day trip it has been. You will see camels, elephants and cows on the highway. You will see monkeys and makeshift stands of a man selling bananas so tourists can feed the monkeys around him. And you will see markets in each town with its Saturday set-up of fruits and vegetables and lots of people.

Onwards to Delhi, we are looking forward to end our road trip with a little more shopping at the famous Khan Market.

Three days on the road and we've seen a lot of India that guide books will probably never be able to describe. And this is just one part of the subcontinent. We have just covered two states: UP and Rajasthan. They have 27 states, all in all.

My next journey will take me north eastward to Guwahati in Assam State. Meanwhile let me have some paneer, some dal baluchi and garlic naan. And have some Chai Masala to refresh myself before the next part of our Indian journey.

You can book a tour with the hotel like we did at Lalit Hotel in Delhi. Car and driver for three days and a tour guide meets you at Agra and Jaipur.