Agra

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We made it to Agra safe and sound. We flew from Amritsar to Delhi and had a driver from Delhi to Agra. The road is good - it's part of the popular Delhi-Agra-Jaipur (aka Golden) triangle. However, we had to take a detour, but the was no explanation given by the driver. I think it was because we asked to stop for lunch and he took us to a large tourist rest-stop that had adequate food. The roads were poor on the detour and we were definitely in the country-side where all the farming was.

I know it was a detour since we drove Agra back to Delhi today on the good road in much less time. It was interesting to see all of the various animal life - pigs, cows, water buffalo, camels, horses - you name it. The birds are so beautiful.

Where we stayed in Agra was outside the downtown area in a fairly nice hotel. The security at that size hotel with the tour buses coming and going was interesting. All bags are scanned upon entering the hotel, and you have to go through a security scanner like at an airport. It gives you both a feeling of security and concern that they should even have to go to those lengths, but all was well.

Agra is a very noisy, busy city, with tourists coming and going, just to see the Taj Mahal. We arrived on Thursday and did not feel up to it that day, and Friday it is closed. So we took a day-trip to Fetehpur Sikri, which is about an hour outside Agra. This large complex was built by one the get Great Moguls, Akbar the Great. He built it as the capital of his empire in the 16th century. However it was only used for less than 20 years and the capital was relocated to Agra - no one knows for sure why, but it is an arid area of the country and it is thought that there was not a good water supply to sustain the capital.

The grounds consist of many building that are all intact - it's amazing that this nation has preserved so many historical sites. A few of the highlights were: Raja Birbal's Palace - which as the haram headquarters; Panch Mahal - the 5-storied palace which was the pleasure palace for the enjoyment of the emperor and his ladies; the Hall of Private Audience - which was where Akbar would receive guests perched on the Lotus Throne Pillar while the audience was on the floor below; and Friday Mosque where the shah would have his services. The biggest disappointment to this part of the trip was the people who were trying to sell us souveniers before entering the site, and in the mosque are - they are very aggressive. Good thing I know how to say NO and we were in a good group.

And now for the highlight of the whole trip - the Taj Mahal. It was so spectacular that words cannot describe it. We were feeling a little down leading up to our outing since we have all been sick with some type of respiratory problem - probably from the bad air here in India. Well the visit to the Taj picked us all up. The grounds around the Taj are serene and picturesque. We had such a sense of calm. And the Taj itself was so amazing with the motifs of inlayed gems in the white marble, you could feel the love that went into the building of this triumph. The inside of the Taj is the mausoleum where the tombs of the Shah Jahan and his favourite wife lay. The tombs are magnificent works of art with the same marble and gem designs. I bought a few pieces to this type of marble I was so in love with the way they are designed. The day was a little hazy, so we could not get a good view of the Yamuna River where the Taj is situated, but it did not put a damper on the day.

Across the Yamuna and a little ways down is the Agra Red Fort. We had our driver take us there for a tour of the grounds. It is where the shah lived, and the grounds of the fort were also very amazing. The haze had cleared a little when we were there, and we could just make out the Taj from the fort - there were so many vantage points where you could see the Taj from the fort, we stopped at many of the views to have another look at it.

Wow, well that was an amazing couple of days in Agra. The driver we had both days on our excursions was very sweet - the best one so far. He said there are four important things you need to drive safely in India: good eyes, good horn (they honk instead of signal), good brakes, and Good Luck!

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