The Golden Triangle, Privately

The journey.

The most travelled route in India, done the way almost no one does it: private, early, and with the doors that stay shut to groups quietly open.

The icon The Taj Mahal at sunrise from the right bank, then inside before the day's tide — with a conservationist who knows the marble's secrets.

The cities Delhi's layers from Mughal to Lutyens with a historian and a food walk to match; Jaipur as a guest of the city's old families — a private haveli dinner, the City Palace after hours, and the bazaars with a jeweller's eye along.

India's greatest hits, played on better instruments.