Blogs from Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia - page 7

Geo: 26.9847, 78.1019 Early start again with 8am leave. Slow trip out of Delhi, so much traffic and congestion. Cars, tucks, bikes, camels, cows & dogs all share the road, everything is overloaded. Makes for slow & interesting? trip, amazing there are no accidents and everyone just expects it. No road rules, our drive on the horn all the time. Finally made the freeway and sped up but still arrived late to Agra at 1pm. Checked into Jaypee hotel, not as good as Trident but big rooms. Our rooms miles away from Reception & dining room, upstairs, along corridors then downstairs again, easy to get lost. Quick chinese lunch then off to Red Fort. Red Fort, constructed in 1648 by the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, is named for its massive enclosing walls of red sandstone ... read more

Left Jaipur by 8.10a.m. and on the road for the long drive to Agra. Enroute we took an unplanned stop in Abhaneri, just a few kilometres off our route, someone on our tour asked Braham if we could go and see it .....so glad he suggested it...it was a great little surprise and free! It is one of the oldest step wells in Rajasthan, it was built during 8th and 9th century it is 19.5 metres deep and the most amazing maze of steps on three sides ....it is absolutely gi-normous! It is hard to describe and the photos do not do it justice. It has some of the most beautiful carvings that we have seen on our trip so far, and quite different. It is in a very small village but just so impressive. We ... read more

A few of the worlds population are lucky enough to see some of the great wonders here on earth. For instance, I had the pleasure of seeing the majestic Taj Mahal. Every time I get to experience another amazing place such as India, I cannot help but say there is nothing quite like it, which of course is true. However, there is something different with this wonder. Usually, when locals ask what I think about it, I usually say there are no words to describe it, but to Taj even from afar was incredible. So much words can be describe with this wonder. Everything that relates to beauty and elegance an be describe to the detailed marvelous architecture. I am glad I made this a priority to see this year. ... read more

AGRA - 23 November 2015 After our breakfast we departed for Agra (1.7 mill people) - we had 240kms to travel - en route we visited Fatehpur Sikri. The main sight at Fatehpur Sikri is the stunning imperial complex of pavilions and palaces spread among a large abandoned 'city' peppered with Mughal masterpieces: courtyards, intricate carvings, servants' quarters, vast gateways and ornamental pools. A large courtyard dominates the NW entrance was the Hall of Public Audiences which is now a pristinely manicured garden here and was built to utilize an echo sound system, so Emperor Akbar could hear anything at anytime from anywhere throughout the open space. We also saw the Buland Darwaza or Victory Gate, one of the world's most magnificent gateways. This is a 15-story sandstone gate, 54m high, a menacing monolith to Akbar's ... read more

Day 32 - Move on to Agra - Taj Mahal and Agra Fort Mornings are going well. Up and put in good time. Anna and I are working well with each other in the mornings. We got our bags packed, and left the outside the reception before going in for breakfast. Lisa and Bernie joined us about ten minutes later. It's been really good staying in Bissau Palace Hotel. It actually was a palace, many years ago. It is still owned, and managed by the Bissau family. Everything was good there, and here's the but.... The tap dripped all night, it drive both Anna and I nutty! The second thing was the useless wifi, but that could just be an, 'India' thing, so although it drove me crazy when trying to do the blog, I can't ... read more