Agra and Taj Mahal

We arrived in Agra at sunset to get a wuock first glimpse of the Taj Mahal from a rooftop and check in to a horrible hotel. The next morning we got up early to beat the crowds and to see the sunrise light. We paid our 750ir which includes shoe covers and a bottle of water, went through security checks and got in around 7am. We had a beautiful sunny day. The Taj is a  magnificent white marble homage to Emperor Shah Jahan’s 3rd wife Mumtaz Mahal who died giving birth to their 14th child. The emperor built it as a memorial to her and they are both buried there. It has intricate patterns made of precious stones and if you shine a torch on the marble you can see it’s translucent properties. Even with all the thousands of people that visit, it still seems peaceful somehow. We had a professional camer guy take some photos of us in front of it in ridiculous poses that were delivered to our hotel later and I attempted to coach my dad into taking some with noone in (a difficult task). We saw an eagle fly down onto the grass mistaking a sock for prey. After a few hours, when we had admired the spectacle from every angle, we left and moved to more comfortable Zostel.

We ordered a private car to take us to Fatehpur Sikri about an hour away where Emperor Akbar built a fort and a mosque. We hired a guide who explained the fascinating history. Akbar built a palace for each of his 3 wives. One was Hindu, one muslim and one Catholic, all with corresponding features in the architecture. The mosque was the most impressive part with a special place to make an offering of cloth and tie ribbon in the middle. This is where Akbar prayed for a son which his Hindu wife then gave him so people now come here to pray for family related things in their lives. The touts were cut throat outside the temple for some reason and bullied my dad into buying 3 bracelets!

In the evening we went to Mehtab Bagh park which is the other side of the river tothe Taj and gives you a view of the monument and the sunset with a lovely light shining on the marble. People were sitting on the grass and socialising here which made a good atmosphere too. After we went to the cultural festival and had some food from a pop up  restaurant there. There were stalls selling all kinds of handmade items that I wished I could fit in my bag.

The next day we had planned to go to Jaipur but due to some serious riots where the water supply to Delhi had been stopped, a bus of passengers had been killed and the train rails wrecked all transport had been cancelled. There is a caste of people that were unhappy with their fincancial position. They wanted to lower their caste so they were able to do governsment jobs.There were quite a few people in the same position so we decided to see what the outcome would be later on. I went with a German girl Johanna to see the Agra fort. We got a bicycle rickshaw but the man handed the job over to a younger guy half way saying we were too heavy for him! Despite seeing many forts by now this one was impressive as it had intricate designs in some rooms and great views of the Taj from the main windows. It is a red sandstone structure made by Emperor Akbar when he realised there was no water supply left at  Fatehpur Sikri and later his grandson Emperor Shah Jahan took his favourite stone marble and added features too!

Back at the hostel a.plan had been hatched that we could hore a.private driver. It was hard to find someone who would do it because the main roads were closed which lengthened the journey from 3 hours too 7 hours. 7 of us with all our backpacks squeezed into the car foe the journey which wasnt particularly comfortable but we eventually made it safely to Jaipur.
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