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Agra Travel Blogs

Background: The Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the world, dates back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the northwest invaded about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier Dravidian inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkish in the 12th were followed by those of European traders, beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th century, Britain had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands. Indian armed forces in the British army played a vital role in both World Wars. Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU brought independence in 1947. The subcontinent was divided into the secular state of India and the smaller Muslim state of Pakistan. A third war between the two countries in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. Despite impressive gains in economic investment and output, India faces pressing problems such as the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife.

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By Kai and Danielle
January 15th 2008

wat eten we vanavond... / was essen wir heute...?

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra

Cornflax

The things you eat when you travel... Tja, we zijn al heel wat interessante gerechten tegen gekomen op menukaarten. De foto's zeggen voldoende! Wir sind allerlei interessante Menukarten entgegengekommen. Die Fotos sprechen fur sich! [View Full Entry]

By laukee
January 11th 2008

Town of the Taj

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra

Taj ganj

The Taj Mahel is well camouflaged by the dirty, noisy, tourist area surrounding it. Even standing one block from it, you wouldn’t know it was there unless you were at one of the many rooftop restaurants. The view from these restaurants makes for an interesting clash with coke ads partially obscuring the view of the immaculate Taj. The area surrounding the Taj is (supposedly) motorized-vehicle free to keep the Taj from turning black, but it was no less stressful to walk down the street since each rickshaw seemed to be replaced by someone selling a tacky souvenir. It was not quite [View Full Entry]

By SteveW
January 10th 2008

India - Rajasthan Agra Triangle

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra

First Glimpse of the Taj Mahal
Priceless

India - Classic Rajasthan So my adventures begin…four months in the planning, I take off from Heathrow airport on the 2nd January 2008 at 9pm to land in New Delhi, India at 10.30am on January 3rd. My hotel the Metro Heights arranges to pick me up from the airport for $20 USD, and having not slept on the plane I head straight for my room to sleep. When I wake it is dark and I take a short walk to take look around the district to discover a very dusty, dirty and chaotic Delhi, where the air is filled with [View Full Entry]

By TyLex
January 8th 2008

the toutedTAJ

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra

Tyler, stretch-armstrong
pickin the best gypsy baby

As one not so often has the chance to explore india, and as one would generally do everything in one's power to get the hell out of delhi and never be there again, we decided it important that Lex get to see the mighty Taj Mahal. The same driver who'd picked us up from the airport, Shambu, ended up being our escort for this day. We got up fairly early and so when we finally arrived in Agra some 5 hours after we'd left, we were famished and in need of sustainance. Yet our driver was absolutely determined to show us [View Full Entry]

By Tawa Kiwis
January 5th 2008

28 December - Bharatpur and Agra

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra

Sunrise on Taj

Bharatpur Day 21 of Rajasthan Tour Nothing here, there is a bird sanctuary with about 4 birds in it (apparently they did not come back this year yet as its too cold). We enjoyed ourselves for an hour or two bicycling around the park, but I would not recommend staying here overnight, would not even bother stopping. Hotel was dirty and horrendously over priced - Hotel Pratap Palace - its no palace. Agra Day 22 of Rajasthan Tour Well this is the last night of our tour and we have to say goodbye to our driver, we will be on our [View Full Entry]

By Hege og Stines reiseblogg
January 4th 2008

Agra

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra

Soloppgang!
Slik saa Taj Mahal ut naar sola stod opp:)

Etter nok ei natt med kulde og spylyder, var vi klar for aa reise fra Delhi! Vi hadde ikke et saa altfor godt inntrykk av byen, og kultursjokket fra dagen foer var fremdeles tilstede! Sjaafoeren vaar som skulle vaere med oss paa turen gjennom det gylne trianglet, viste seg aa vaere en morsom og snill mann som vi kaller Baba. Og bilen som var en saakaldt ambassade-car, var en sjarmerende, men ikke fullt saa komfortabel bil! Vi stoppet med jevne mellomrom for aa rullere paa sitteplassene:) Men naa saa ting virkelig lyst ut, fire eventyrlystne jenter paa roadtrip med en kul [View Full Entry]

By Where the hell are Catherine and Matt
January 2nd 2008

That Friday Feeling! (Agra and Varanasi)

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra

Had to be done really!

(Matt) We were scheduled to arrive in Agra on Thursday evening and planned to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise on the Friday. The slight problem with this plan was that the Taj (as the locals call it) is closed on Fridays. Thank goodness Catherine spotted this a few days earlier and we managed a manic bit of re-planning. If it was down to me we would have been standing outside the closed doors at 6am on the Friday! The 'Taj' is exactly as you would imagine it and have seen on TV and in pictures. There is no doubt that [View Full Entry]

One of the many thousands of photos we took between us!

By A Travel Story
December 30th 2007

Taj Mahal

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra

Our friend Genevieve (Gen) is visiting from Portland, Oregon, USA, for Christmas and the New Year. On Saturday the three of us headed south about 120 miles for our first visit to the Taj Mahal. We hired a driver from a travel agent since our driver Sonu is in Punjab for his cousin's wedding this weekend. It took 5 hours to travel 120 miles, because the roads are crazy! Well the roads are actually okay, but the drivers are crazy. As I have mentioned before, nobody drives inside their lane, so I am not sure why they paint lines in the [View Full Entry]

By Doug and Bec
December 29th 2007

The Taj Mahal

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra

The Taj
The classic post card shot looking down the garden with the morning light creating a stunning reflection.

Blogger Bec You know the places or destinations you have secretly locked away in your heart and soul, ever hopeful that it will live up to your overblown fantastical expectations but knowing that they probably won't? For me, that place is the Taj Mahal. I have dreamed of this building for as long as I have known of it's existence. As a dreamy teenager, I had always hoped of a proposal in front of it. As a eager but amateur photographer I have always dreamed of taking the perfect, never before taken shot. As a prolific reader and fairly adventurous [View Full Entry]

By Doug and Bec
December 28th 2007

The Red Fort

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra

The Red Fort
The front gate of the fort.

Blogger Dougo Driving from Delhi for 5 hours was a bit of a drag. We arrived in Agra at around 4pm just as the good afternoon light struck the red sandstone. The ticket office under the gate stops selling tickets at 5pm, so when we arrived, heaps of people were crowding around, totally ignoring the notion of forming an orderly line. One tiny little hole in the wall was totally surrounded by screaming Indian blokes, pushing and shoving to get there first. Chaos reined and things threatened to boil over into a fully fledged riot until the guards came brandishing [View Full Entry]

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