Blogs from Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia

I’ve gone with the word awesome (one of my favourites) to describe Agra but it’s more my description of the Taj Mahal, than the town itself. The Taj did not disappoint. It is truly awe inspiring. It’s gorgeous from a distance and also up close. But first to our journey……. On the way from Jaipur to Agra we visited yet another fort called Fatehpur Sikri, but much like all the others it was impressive. It was built by a chap called Akbar and he had separate quarters for his three wives. For his Muslim wife he built a small room, for his Christian wife he built a wing of the palace, but for his Hindu wife who gave him an heir he built a whole entire palace! Onwards to Agra where we were greeted by a ... 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

It's time to leave Beijing to explore Agra via New Delhi. The journey to get there was not at all smooth, from Indian visa inspection to luggage check-in to immigration. It starts at Beijing airport. English is not only unspoken in the city, but it is also not spoken in the entire airport. Due to international flight visa inspection requirements, the airline company did not facilitate online check-in. I arrived nice and early without realising that this check-in won't end well. The desk sent me to a shop outside the airport where I needed to print my itineraries as they don't accept digital versions. An hour and a half later, I returned to the same desk with all documents printed out, but they claimed that I still needed to print more stuff, which were irrelevant. I ... read more

The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in honour of the Persian princess Mumtaz Mahal, his beloved third wife, who died in 1632 while bearing their 14th child. He poured his energy into creating for her the most beautiful tomb ever built. The complex also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself, and the Taj’s stunning architecture has made it one of the most iconic monuments in the world. It took around 20,000 artisans and 1000 elephants twenty years to build. The white marble stone is inlaid with floral details carved from precious gems. In places, the stone is carved into delicate screens called pierce work so that visitors can see into the next chamber. All of the floors are inlaid with patterned stone, and incised painting in abstract designs adorns the ... read more

Some of the most stunning architectural structures in India are to be found below ground, these are the stepwells, or ancient water stores. Stepwells are unique to India and from around the 3rd century CE were built throughout the country, particularly in the arid western regions. Over the past couple of weeks we have had the privilege of visiting several of these fascinating structures and today we visited the largest in Rajasthan, Aberhani Stepwells. It will feature in my next blog, but I though I’d give a little more information on just what a stepwell is..... Excavated in order to reach the water table, the purpose of a step well was simple - to provide water all year round. But they also fulfilled other functions. They offered pilgrims and other travellers a respite from the heat, ... read more