Agra - Blogabond

After leaving Varanasi and it's lovely, friendly, helpful, honest rickshaw drivers we boarded the night train for the ride to Agra, mainly to see the Taj Mahal. We initially had lots of room in the carriage, there were us and an Indian couple in a carriage for 6, but this soon changed as they spread out and basically hogged like you wouldn't believe !! The train was late into Agra but we were soon at the hotel, a shabby chic affair, whose only plus point was the amazing view of the Taj - never mind, there's not really any other reason to visit this crowded and polluted city. Later that afternoon we had a tour round the city, taking in Agra Fort and Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb (also known as the 'Baby Taj')

Baby Taj

At the end of the day we headed down to the Yamuna river to see the Taj Mahal from 'the other side', witness an amazing sunset and chat with all the crazy children than come down here to chat with the tourists.
The following morning we were up before the crack of dawn to see Sunrise at the Taj. It's a bit of a con as entry for Indians is 25 Rupees but they charge us Westerners a whacking Rs700 !!! Anyway, musn't grumble, it's a fantastic experience to see the Taj change colour as the sun rises. We took about a million photos, and here is one with us both in...

The Taj

At night we nearly got proper ripped off by a pharmacist buying malaria tablets (nearly but not quite) and then wandered the crazy streets enjoying a festival (not sure what it was about) that was taking place.

written by

jonnik on January 4, 2008 from Agra, India

from the travel blog: Jon & Kenty's Grrrrrand Tour

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