So we left Delhi and went to the less noisy while more touristy Agra...home of many impressive sights, including the Taj Mahal!!!
DAY ONE
Our early morning (6am) train got us to Agra ready and eager for an afternoon of sightseeing...
First off.... Agra fort. Much nicer than the Red fort in Delhi, this is actually very beautiful and well looked after.
We went from the fort straight to what the locals call the "baby Taj". Built years before the better known Taj, it's incredibly detailed and beautiful. I couldn't see how the size of the Taj Mahal could compete with the intricacy of this monument.....
Last up for our first day (of two) here, a visit to a park that overlooks the TAJ MAHAL!!
Jane managed to ruin many attempts at a classic photo, so I gave up. Here is the best attempt.
Now is probably the time to bring up something that is happening more and more. We have been asked to pose for photos with people....and the frequency of these requests is increasing. Today I posed for at least 15. Apparently it's because Indians coming to see the monuments from smaller, more remote areas, have never seen a white person in real life. Jane is usually the star attraction, but I sometimes get drafted in as an extra. In this park were asked about 10 times, culminating in this great family portrait.
DAY TWO
Up at 5am again, for a 6am visit to the TAJ MAHAL, we finally made it in only for Jane to ruin another photo. Notice the people in the background running to get to the famous Diana bench... Little did we know we would have to queue for that.
Jane on the Diana bench at the Taj Mahal.
And then Jane having her photo taken with people near the Diana chair (this lasted 15 minutes), which in fact started a separate queue.
Finally...me in front of the Taj Mahal.
And it's incredible. We walked around it, inside, looked at the gate houses (which in their own right are amazing), and just chilled in the rapidly disappearing calm as more and more coaches of tourists arrived having had a good sleep and breakfast. But if you ever come here, arrive at 6am... It's worth it.
After a nap and some breakfast, we took a car 40k into the country to visit Fatehpur Sikri, an abandoned palace and mosque that was built after a prophesy by a monk who lived in a village here, that the king would have a baby boy, came true and no one thought to check there was adequate water before building this massive set of buildings.
It would have been great if a 13 year old boy acting as our tour guide had not have led us to more and more obscure things, leaving the other guides to show their customers the actual historical artefacts. After an hour in which he had a fight with another boy, and led us around the walls but not into the palace or mosque, I had to fire him.
I like to think he learnt a valuable lesson, and one he would not have got at school.
......if he had gone, instead of bunking to be a sh#tty guide.
He did tell us this is the tallest gate in Asia though. That may or may not be true, but it was tall.
We finally retired to our hotel, and chilled by the pool....
...and then found out we could see the TAJ MAHAL from the roof!
The Taj Mahal is pretty important here, and really, the only reason to come to Agra..... So now it's done, onwards to Jaipur!
Chris
Near the Taj Mahal
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