LOVE ON THE ROAD

THIS WEEK ZOË GETS A SURPRISE AT THE TAJ MAHAL

Last night, enjoying a G&T on the bar terrace at the Oberoi hotel in Agra, I noticed Train Man looking pleased with himself.

We aren't staying anywhere as posh as the Oberoi and had only gone there for views of the Taj Mahal and to find some loo roll.

"You excited about tomorrow?" I asked. We'd planned to wake at 5am to see the sun rise over the world's most iconic ode to love.

This was our first glimpse. It was amazing. "Yeah," he nodded. But he was hiding something. Cool-as-a-cucumber Train Man was unusually animated. "Why are you so smug?" I asked, but he changed the subject.

My mind flicked back to Jaipur last week. We'd been to the Gem Palace shop to buy a birthday present for my mum, and I'd hoped Train Man would go AWOL for 10 minutes and buy me some bling.

But he didn't take the bait when I suggested he wander off to look for something for his mum. I couldn't blame him, I wasn't at my most endearing in Jaipur. The harassment, the dirt and the taste of exhaust fumes . . . it made me moody.

I had butterflies all last night, wondering if he'd ask me to marry him at the Taj, but I convinced myself that would be a cliché. Still, I put on make-up when we got up before dawn and wore something that wouldn't date in photos.

Sunrise over the Taj Mahal was so beautiful, I forgot all about me, me, me and gasped in awe at the token of another man's love. Then Train Man snapped me out of it with a gift.

"Happy anniversary," he said, handing me an envelope with ‘KarmaKerala' written on it. More thoughtful and less clichéd than any man I know, he'd booked a houseboat on the Kerala backwaters.

We kissed under the rose-tinged marble then, just like every other couple at the shrine, Train Man made me pose like Princess Diana for comedy homage.

Miles covered: 154

Terse sentences exchanged: Six, but only in Jaipur

Surprise gifts: One, and it's a corker

Next week: Zoë makes a bid for freedom