Agra

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Agra
From the hotel we travelled along a tree lined avenue to the impressive Red Fort of Agra. We could only see 20% of it as the rest was being renovated but what we saw was impressive. Entering through an archway we walked along a newly renovated concrete alley towards the main building. Another archway and another and then before us was a white palace and another. Inside the palace the floors and walls were made of marble and then inlaid were semi precious stones of malachite, mother of pearl, onyx and coralline. Most of this had been removed but what remained still looked attractive. This was where the Shah had been imprisoned but actually just kept under close guard. The Shah wanted to build a palace of Black Marble but his son did not want him to spend his money doing that. Inside the fort was a huge marble pillared open air room where the people would come and visit the king with their problems. The people lived in the fort protected by their king, or in this case the kings son. You could see a glimpse of the Taj from here. We left the fort and continued on to the baby Taj. This was built before the Taj and was commissioned by a previous emperors wife to commemorate her parents and inside were the tombs of her parents. Another impressive building built on the banks of a river and also contained a small mosque on one side. From here you could see the river and the water buffalo that were wading in it. The government closed the factories around this area to prevent pollution damage to the majestic buildings.The Taj is closed on Fridays but our guide said that for R100 each we could go to the rear of the complex and get a view of the Taj from here. We walked through some beautiful gardens and there before us was the Taj in all its glory. Four towers on each corner were built leaning outwards so that should they fall they would not damage the main building. On either side are a mosque and a guest residence that no one has ever used, it was built just to give balance.We met some young boys who were keen to have a photo taken with us and then a couple of lads from Delhi who asked us to take their photo (we must look honest). One of the lads had studied for an MBA in Leeds ( Married But Available? no, he said Master of Bad Activities!) the other had studied in Auckland and both had returned to Delhi for jobs but still no luck for them so they decided to take a SAP course and hope that that will improve their chances. They wanted to see the Taj but had to go home that evening or suffer the wrath of their parents. They were both about 24 yet could not go against their parents wishes, a different country and culture. We decided to opt out of the inlaying technique display as we did not want to sit through another sales delivery. We went to the ATM and noticed some lads playing cricket. One of them asked Steve if he was any good and soon Steve was bowling for them, oh dear! The first went wide and the second the lad knocked for six the other side of the duel carriageway, the end of Steve's cricketing career in India and all found it highly amusing. We wandered down to Costa Coffee and guess what it was the real thing in India.

We met up with a couple from Sussex, they were touring for a month around India and we had some interesting tales to tell each other. That evening we decided to have a meal with them up on the terrace of the hotel with views of the Taj in the distance. Spectacular.

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