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Published: March 9th 2013
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Delhi to Agra
Our return to the Royal Plaza Hotel was fairy easy. We arrived early at the station and were able to view life on the platform and chatted to a teacher here. On the train we were served food virtually continuously but we weren't really hungry. We chatted to the guy next to us for a bit who appeared interested in where we were going.We arrived
at 9.45pm and made our way through busy traffic to the hotel where we were given an upgrade to the Maharaja suite which was delightful but we really weren't going to get much use of it as tomorrow we had to leave at 9, similar to the lovely pool there.After breakfast we met our guide who was Rattin Singh who was a sprightly 75 year old who knew his history and appeared to love the British.We drove to the 'Friday Temple' or rather the Jama Masjid a mosque dating back to the 16th century, it is the largest mosque in India accommodating over 20,000 people. After removing shoes and being dressed in a gown we were allowed to enter and saw people washing various parts of their body in a large central pool, they
have to wash exposed parts before worship. We were told by Rattin that the Muslim's destroyed many Hindu temples when the Moguls arrived in India 400 years ago so few old Hindu temples survived. This Mosque was vast and an amazing feat of architecture and still used every day.As we left a R10 was given for the gowns and man who looked after our shoes, tipping seems to be the only way they can make any money.We then drove through tree lined avenues ( courtesy of the British)to the Red Fort. This was an incredibly impressive building that was built by Shah Jahan in 1638, well he didn't build it but had it built after he had the Taj Mahal built. However his favourite wife died and he moved the capital to Delhi. He had four sons and the youngest killed his older brothers and then locked up the Shah in the fort in Agra until he died so that the youngest became Emperor. The Red Fort covers 2km square and is cooled by pumping water Archimedes style through the floor of the palace, and was called the stream of paradise. The gardens and fountains, although not working now, were
Red Fort Delhi
Marble inside an important feature as the Shah wanted everything to be beautiful. At one time the walls were decorated with rubies emeralds and diamonds, these were all taken as were the gold, copper and silver tiles that adorned the ceiling to Iran by the Persian Emperor Nadir Shah in 1739. It was named the Red Fort by the British because it s made of red sandstone but inside there is marble everywhere.Our next port of call was the memorial garden and cremation site for Mahatma Gandhi who was assassinated in 1948 and learned that Mrs Gandhi was not related its just a common name in India. These gardens are also where the ashes of Mrs Gandhi, her son and Nehru are. The gardens are well tended and full of flowers and it covers a huge area. Our last appointment was a Heritage centre for the Kashmir people as they are going through difficult times the government is helping them out and allowing them to trade in Delhi. However as Steve puts it this was just a front for flogging carpets we don't need or want even though they were beautifully made and took forever with their hand tools. We were served
cinnamon saffron tea and biscuits and told that we would be making an investment over a piece of art that we would love, however we didn't love enough to spend over a £1000 on one or even £500 so I bought some Kashmir shawls instead and I bargained them so left quite happy.We said goodbye to our guide and Harry our driver took us to Agra stopping to take photos on the way. We stopped for lunch at 3 and despite the looks and smell of the place the food was good and after we were entertained by a young girl and her Grandfather, more tips and we were off to Agra.Arriving was disappointing to say the least. The place looks like a war zone and after the organised and clean Delhi we had seen this place was rather like Juliaca in South America. Our hotel didn't look good on the outside but was much better inside and from the roof we could glimpse the Taj as the sun was setting. We unpacked, had a meal here, then exhausted we watched tele how lazy, but a comfortable room.
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car rental delhi
atul devgan
i also love to travel agra
i travel agra some days before. there was unlitmited fun with peoples. thanks car rental delhi