Blogs from Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia

Agra All tours to India would never miss the city of Agra because that is where the iconic 'Taj Mahal' is located. Completed in 1643 by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his favorite wife Mumtaz, this magnificent structuer deserves all the acclamations travelers piled on its reputation, it is breathtakingly beautiful! This 'garden-tomb' was designed to replica a house of paradise. All exterior walls were covered with India white marble embellished with exquisite floral designs. I was told that only 15 families in India have the knowhow of hand shaping the minute pieces of precious stones into petals inlays in the marble. Needless to say that it is a complicated and slow process. When we visited one of the marble workshops afterwards, I couldn't tear my eyes away from these amazing marbles, each rose was inlayed ... read more

Travel in India, where do we start?! We'd heard of the numerous scams, people telling you " that train isn't running today " that hotel burnt down last week , I take you to mine " We heard them all. We had our train tickets booked and all the hotels too, we just needed to ' join' everything together when we were here. In Delhi a tuk tuk driver dropped us off at ' the government tourist office' . We hadn't asked him to he just did! It turned out to be an agent. A very persuasive one. He looked at our plans so far. He checked the train times were still on schedule and said it was good but he could help by providing a car and driver at each stop. He would collect us ... read more

Home to the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world, Agra is situated on the banks of the River Yamuna in the state of Uttar Pradesh, 200klm SE of Delhi. This beautiful city, where the Mughals have left a permanent impression, is rich with India’s heritage and culture. The magical allure of the Taj Mahal draws tourists to Agra like moths to a flame, and it never fails to mesmerise. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with magnificent Agra Fort and the deserted imperial city of Fatehpur Sikri. There are also many other buildings and tombs from Agra's days of glory as the capital of the Mughal empire, which we hope to visit. I had bought e-tickets to the Taj Mahal before I left home, timed between 6-9.00am, but after the fog ... read more

We got an early start today, probably too early, as it was still dark and foggy when we arrived at Monkey Temple. We decided to have a look anyway, as we were here, though we couldn’t see much. The place was filthy, the ground covered in monkey poop and littered with banana skins, and a lone cow wandered around. The monkey residents were just waking up, fighting savagely amongst themselves and screaming into the early morning air. We had to use a phone torch to light our way up the steps and didn’t stay long. Just as we were leaving, the call to prayers started over the loud speakers. Yep, definately time to go.... Located 10klm east of Jaipur in a town called Khania Baslaji, but only a 15 minute drive from downtown Jaipur, this series ... read more

Agra Fort was built in the 1500’s and is really a walled city... completely beautiful and AMAZING! it was home for Shah JaHan who built the Taj Mahal... which you can see from the windows.... read more