Agra

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We arrived at Agra, the city famous for the Taj Mahal on Monday 13th Feb. By now we feel quite well adjusted to India and were more than prepared for the barage of touts that met us at the train staion. We didn't have a hotel booked so just asked an auto-rickshaw driver to take us to a place we'd read about on the 'net called Hotel Sheela. It turns out that Hotel Sheela is literally a stones throw away from the Taj. It's a bit of a dump though but it suits us nicely for one night :-) As it turns out there is a full moon which means tourists are allowed into the Taj at night to see it's beauty under the light of the moon. You need to book this in advance and it costs a clondike so we are not doing it. Instead after dark we go for a walk in search of a nice roof-top restaurant with Taj views. We find a couple but as they say here, the moon is cold (i.e, it's cloudy) so we don't bother. As we're walking along we happen across the Oberoi Hotel. Oh My God. We couldn't resist but go in. This place is like nothing I have ever seen in my life. It's just stunning. I can't describe how luxurious it is but I think it's fair to say it outshines the Bellagio by a long shot. We go in for a drink (Kingfisher, 125rs a bottle, not bad, plus free peanuts and Indian snacky things - definitely worth every penny:-). The people that were staying there looked totally loaded. I was hoping I might see somebody famous, but no luck :-)
Next day (today) we got up at dawn to go see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. To be honest both of our expectations had been lowered a lot having seen the temples and forts in Jaipur and Delhi (old, run-down and dirty), but my god, were we wrong. The Taj Mahal is everything you would expect it to be. It is strikingly beautiful and to be there at dawn to see the different affects of the light on the marble was fantastic. We actually got to see it by moonlight too as it was still dark when we arrived. There is something so captivating about it, it's hard to leave the place. It's certainly the most beautiful structure I have ever seen.
Tonight it's on to Delhi and then a flight to Goa in the morning.

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