Agra, India

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This has been a busy day. I saw a lot and have more pictures to share than I have space to show them. This morning I left Delhi early - we were on the road at 0700 - and my driver took me to Mathura, a city on the banks of the holy Yamuna River. I wanted to see an Indian ghat, a word that translates as “wharf”, but is used for many different activities. For example, the famous ghats in Varanasi (on the holy Ganges River) are used to cremate the dead and scatter ashes. I am not going to Varanasi, so I stopped here to see a ghat that is used by Hindu pilgrims to splash water on themselves and swim in the same place that the god Vishnu once did. From there we drove on south to see the tomb of the Mughal emperor, Akbar the Great. There I connected with a new guide who is better than the one I had in Delhi. He speaks better English and is more attuned to what a tourist such as myself is interested in hearing about. I am glad to have him for this part of the trip. Back to Akbar: the gateway leading to the tomb is more spectacular than the building itself, but I was pleased to see both. And then we arrived in Agra, our destination for the day. We visited Agra Fort, built up by a succession of Mughal rulers and containing some impressive buildings and pretty (and symmetrical) gardens. Our next-to-last visit of the day was to a Mughal tomb that is commonly called The Baby Taj because it was built just before the Taj Mahal and is felt to have inspired features of it, primarily the white marble with stone inlay work. And finally we drove to a spot just across the river from the most beautiful building in the world, the Taj Mahal. It is really true that no matter how often you read about its beauty, it is still breathtaking when you actually see it in person. My guide said that the Taj is so striking that you can’t help taking picture after picture, and that is true, too. I will share only one - at least for now.

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