http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , India , Uttar Pradesh , Agra en-us Sat, 05 Dec 09 03:07:06 +0000 Sat, 05 Dec 09 03:07:06 +0000 After the rickshaw ride from hell in Delhi I arrived in Agra simply wanting to go to bed and try to sleep it off. Instead my rickshaw from the station was charged by a herd of cows and I only survived thanks to the quick reactions of my driver Sultan. Unfortunately for saving my life he seemed to think that I i was somehow blessed by God and therefore important and ii owed him something http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-455481.html Day 3 started with a trip to another fortpalace outside of Agra. Deepak was again the guide. It is obvious how much he loves the Mogul history and the Taj Mahal. It was a wonderful and interesting palace with some great photos. Deepak took over my camera again and took the photos. I had forgotten to recharge the camera battery so it gave out during the tour. Once the camera was gone Deepak http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-454112.html I am now in a very posh hotel in Agra called The Mughal. The whole place is lovely...and it smells wonderful. I think they do something like the big casinos in Las Vegas and perfume the air. The day started early. We left Delhi at 800 and began a very long 4.5 hour drive to Agra. The traffic here is amazing. Not amazing in a good way. Well maybe it is a good way because I haven't seen an a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-453348.html Day 12 Agra We woke up on our sleeper train to find that everyone in our compartment had a resonable nights sleep espicially Nicky who had taken a sleeping tablet and said that she had the best nights sleep of the holiday so far. We hadn't been up long before we were treated to the sound of the chai waller coming along the carridge. This is a man with a large tea urn which contains the hot spi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-449302.html Day 11 KanhaAgraWe arrived at 5.45am and had until 10.30am to spot a tiger which is when the park closes for the morning. The unlucky bus was split up with Dan and Nicky going in another jeep and Mark coming with us instead. We drove straight to the midway point to register our jeeps for the tiger show if their was going to be one and we were jeeps 13 and 15 which the guide said was an okay http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-447515.html The Taj Mahal in Agra India is one of my most anticipated sight seeing events. Anticipating it allowed me to get through the tedious and annoying visa application process in Rome that took 10 days. A breathtaking wonder of the world it is faced in weather defying marble. It costs foreigners 750 rupees or 15 US dollars to enter. 250 of those rupees go to the Archeological survey of India to pr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-446660.html T257j MahalMain article Taj MahalThe Taj MahalAgras Taj Mahal is one of the most famous buildings in the world the mausoleum of Shah Jah257ns favorite wife Mumt257z Mahal. It is one of the New Seven Wonders of the world and one of three World Heritage Sites in Agra.Completed in 1653 CE. the T257j Mahal was built by the Mughal king Sh257h Jah257n as the final resting place fo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-445742.html Agra English pronunciation 712593720609r601 Hindi 2310232723522366 Urdu 1570 171115851729 is a city on the banks of the Yamuna River in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh India. It finds mention in the epic Mah257bh257rata where it was called Agreva7751a 2309232723812352237523572339 or he border of the forest. Lege http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-445586.html The early morning five hour train ride from Orchha to Agra was much more like what I thought travelling by train in India would be like. The overnight train from Varanasi was air condition with small sealed windows and nothing much happened except sleeping. This morning we were in the nonair conditioned class though the seating was the same sitting on the bottom bunk. There are three big fa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-445106.html Sorry our last episode ended so abruptly our connection in Agra wasn't so good and by the end of it we were getting rather frustratedSo I shall continue today...The train from Delhi to Agra was suprisingly the best train we have ever taken included in the standard price we were given bottled water newspapers in english tea and biscuits and a full breakfast it was brilliant and air condit http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-444886.html Breathtaking. Absolutely positively breathtaking. Irsquove been waiting all my life to be here at the Taj Mahal one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The cost of entry for an Indian is 10 rupees and the cost for foreigner...750 rupees Thatrsquos the biggest gap in price discrimination Irsquove ever witnessed haha I could have paid for 75 Indians to go in But no doubt it was worth eve http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-444254.html Mentiin paivajunalla Agraan. Junassa juteltiin Punjabista kotoisin olevan kaverin kanssa. Meita oltiin vastassa asemalla. Majapaikka Rose Home Stay oli mukava. Ehdimme kayda viela Agran linnoituksessa ennen auringonlaskua. Sen jalkeen poikettiin ostamassa marmoria ja vaatteita.Majapaikassa ei ole nettia joten teksteja pitaa kirjoittaa jalkikateen. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-444063.html We went to Agra on an overnight train that was supposed to be 12 hours. It was my first time navigating a train station and I was a little overwhelmed. The train stations embody everything that makes India India the mix of smells and people and cows the beggars the travelers the wanderers different religions different classes and castes etc. We found our car which was 2nd Class AC just f http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-443792.html Agra. What a dump. Now don't get me wrong every Indian city we've been to has had the usual rotting garbage in the streets being feasted on by animals open sewers bad smells exposed high voltage cables and general grime but Agra has taken all of this to a whole new level. Thankfully it makes up for all of this with its two redeeming landmarks the Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal which were the m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-443776.html The Taj Mahal is everything thing they said it would be. Itrsquos beautiful and it is easy to see why it is one of Indiarsquos most photographed sites. Even though it has been attempted hundreds of times before we join the rest in trying to get the perfect picture. As we snap pictures we are first approached by the other travelerswho ask in broken English with thick Japanese accents for us http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-443251.html Herasimme jo ennen viitta jotta ehdimme Taj Mahaliin auringon noustessa. Siella vierahti pari tuntia. Taman jalkeen oli vuorossa intialainen aamiainen. Kavimme katsomassa pari pienempaa nahtavyytta. Riksakyyti oli oma kokemuksensa. Liikenne on taalla kaoottista mutta sujuvaa. Iltapaivalla kaytiin viela taksilla hylatyssa kaupungissa jonne oli matkaa 40 km. Maantien kunto vaihteli. Valilla oli hy http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-442315.html Taj Mahal http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-434165.html Thousands of workers toiled for 30 years to make a monument to prove that a man was indeed deep in love. The monument of course is the Taj Mahal. And the man Emperor Shah Jahan who spent millions pick a currency of your choice in the 17th century to built this eternal classic in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Expensive proof but proof nonetheless.I was driving from Gwalior to Delhi. And u http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-431769.html La India Agra TajMahal...nombres que con solo evocarlos ya nos trasladan al mundo del exotismo y el misterio.El TajMahal una de las 7 maravillas del mundo...y yo estaba all saboreando el poder haber hecho realidad uno de mis ms acariaciados sueos. Nada ms pasar la gran puerta de acceso me qued impresionado con lo que mis ojos estaban viendo permanec all de pie ms de diez minutos http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-429578.html El buffet del desayuno en el hotel Jaipee era impresionante muchos platos calientes includos muchos indios fruta mucho dulce... estupendo y el servicio muy pendiente de nosotros y con unos uniformes elegantsimos.A las 900 nos esperaba el gua y fuimos al Fuerte Rojo fortaleza y palacio en un permetro de 24 kms pero slo se ve el 80 porque el resto lo usan los militares. Resultaron imp http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-426188.html