The shining Taj Mahal in Agra

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So it’s been three wonderful days in Jaipur and right now, I’m on the train to Agra. This is and will be most probably the only time in the 1AC (seating) car in India, so I’m rather enjoying it. We have the whole 56 seats car for us and another 5 passengers. Such a luxury in India.

I got massala chai, which was delicious with the Nepal-honey from the nice gentleman back at the hotel. Richard is catching up on sleep, since we had to get up before 6am.

The only downside of the location of our hotel in Jaipur was that since it was in the muslim part of the city, you hear the prayers from the mosque every couple of hours - unused to it as we are, it woke me up each couple of times during the night.

The other issue we faced yesterday was discovering that two bottles of mineral water we bought were probably refilled, since the top of the cap was cut (between the top and the side of the closing lid, as to leave the seal intact). The other two weren’t. We bought all of them in the same pharmacy. I don’t know. We still feel alright, so there is a small chance it was just a defect one (or to be precise, two), but it was such a clean cut and with ca 1 cm still at place, I don’t know. Might really be just another way to refill the bottles.

Not worth the risk, we took some medication just in case and hoped - once again - for the best.



Oh, the food arrived. It even looks harmless, so I guess, I give it a go. I’d probably won’t have much chances to do so after arriving in Uttar-Pradesh. (Desert state or not, I miss Rajasthan already.)

Did you ever had pasteurised hot (and I mean almost boiling) milk mixed with boiling water with cornflakes?



The conductor arrived as well.

Lesson one - don’t give the train tickets to Richard, on a train, when he decides to take a nap. Once I’ll need to show them to somebody, it won’t be possible to wake him up. (Or at least he would pretend so, it seems like he enjoys these jokes.)

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So here we are.

Agra, Uttar Pradesh - the place of the last remaining world's wonder - Taj Mahal. To be honest, Taj shines like a lost white pearl.
Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to see anything beyond it (perhaps with the exception of the Red Fort), not even the Gwalior. But we were lucky enough to make a small boat ride on the Yamuna river when Taj was closed (meaning: no tourists).
We met a very nice gentleman who was staying in the same hotel and had some great conversations - to say the truth, that made the highlight of the day. 😊
Perhaps it's because I'm writing this after some other more memorable events (Varanasi, hospital stays in Chennai), but Agra fades in my memory. Although very clean (they were expecting the visit of President Obama who never showed up), there isn't that much to see once you visit the major tourist places.
But Taj Mahal itself - it's incredible. Crowded beyond belief, there are few more touristy places in India, but still - it's a jewel.
I'm sure there is more to see in Agra - but for us, somehow it worked out to be only this. Perhaps next time?

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Photos

Beautiful people
At the first sight, I thought I met Anushka Sharma. And her saree was stunning too.