Our second day traveling with Mum and Dad and we were up early to drive to Agra for our much awaited visit to the Taj Mahal. The trip from Delhi is about 4 hours via an expressway (or you have the option of a 6 hour non-toll road). The drive was fairly boring but reasonably quick. Pit stops were the side of the road - no servos to be seen. Agra can only be described as 'disgusting'!! It is filthy and chaotic and it's very sad to see such poverty when there is such an amazing Wonder of the World there. I had been given great advice to stay at the Oberoi, where every room has a view of the Taj. It is a very opulent and luxurious hotel and I can only say 'WOW'! Such an extreme to the rest of Agra - you can often see third and first world living side by side.
Our fabulous tour guide Ramesh met us there and we arranged to meet at 2pm to go to the Taj. We paid the extra money to avoid the queues and having Ramesh show us around was a really special experience - if anyone ever comes toIndia Ramesh is your man and you must avoid the queues. The expensive tickets are 750 rupees ($13 per adult) and SO worth it. Ramesh has done tours for so many special people - dignitaries, ministers, Karl Pilkington (he's on An Idiot Abroad), the Aust Cricket Team - he was very proud of his Boony photos. He has such an indepth knowledge of the place and he also knew all the best photo opportunities and how to get a 'crowd-free' photo. We also felt very lucky that he gave his time to us, as his uncle had died two weeks ago and this day was the 13th day since his passing so he had 200 relatives at his home for the memorial/gathering. He had not shaved for the entire period and was in full white garb from the family gathering. When we saw him the next day Max didn't even recognise him in 'normal' clothes and fully shaven.
The Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays for prayers, which I only found out late last week, so Thursday was our only chance to go inside. It is absolutley amazing and everyone should try and see it once in their lives. I have lost count of my Mum's 'Oh My Gods !!'
The beauty and romance at this wonderful mausoleum is infectious, and even with thousands of other people, you get caught up in the splendor. I will not bore you with the many stories and history of the Taj - you must all come and see and hear it for yourselves.
Until the next adventure.........
P. S. I only have my iphone photos to attach to the blog until I get home. So please excuse the quality and lack of captions.
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