The horror bus journey with the Taj Mahal at the End!

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So....the day we we're going to see the wonder that is the Taj Mahal.

Woke up at 5.15am ready to get our bus at 6.00am.

We were the first ones on the bus and what felt like 3 hours passed before they picked up everyone else. The bus was full of indians and we were the only westerners on it!

It took another hour to get out of delhi and then we were finally on the to Agra (a small city about 200km from Delhi).

We stopped just outside of delhi to use the toilet and to get snacks but we stayed on the bus to avoid everyone staring at us (it's their national sport out here!) Helen is convinced that they could win the olympics if it was an actual sport!

Anyways.....so we got back on the bus and after 8 hours of a bumpy, rickety, noisy bus ride we arrived in Agra at 2pm. There had been constant torrential rain in delhi and floods but so far the weather was holding up! (or so we thought!)

We went to see Agra Fort which was nice and we could see the taj mahal in the distance. We took some photos and saw loads of chipmunks! One ran over my (maz) foot and i freaked out like a lunatic! Animals in india huh?

Got back on the bus which then took us to a restaurant for lunch. As soon as we got off the bus the four of us just couldn't stop laughing at the name of the restaurant. I can safely say i had my worst curry in the 'Gaylord' restaurant (owned by Mr R Gaylord of course!).

After lunch the bus then took us to a place where descedants of those who built the taj mahal work making ornaments out of the same marble and semi precious stones used to make the taj mahal. The descedants see it as their life's work to keep the legacy of the taj mahal going. Me and janine bought a tiny marble elephant with orange and blue stones in it. Very indian!

We then got on the bus for the finale and what we had all been waiting for - The Taj Mahal!

We parked in a car park and then had to get a rick shaw to the entrance. We paid 750 rupees to get in (expensive for India) and it began to pour (and when i say pour...i really mean pour!) with rain. We all got soaked and had to walk around the taj mahal liked drenched rats! kind of ruined our picture taking fun but we got to the see the taj mahal which is pretty spectacular!!! The detail on it is amazing and the story behind it of why it was built is really lovely! The ruler of India at the time buried his wife who died in childbirth on that spot and built the taj mahal there because he loved her so much.

We then got back on the bus with the AC and all froze because we were soaking wet and headed back to delhi. after a couple more stops we finally made it back to delhi at 4.00am after 10 hours on the bus! I have never been so exhausted!!! We all passed out in bed!

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