Ashoka Hotel Agra

... in the world for her. Started in 1632 and was finished in 1653. In 1658 the emperor's son overpowered his brothers and imprisoned his dad, Shah Jahan in Agra Fort. Shah Jahan lived the rest of his life under house arrest staring across the river at the Taj where the love of his life was buried. The Taj is built on white marble – the dome and spires are decorated with floral patterns and Quran verses in Arabic script. Jewels are inlaid in the marble to create designs. For the hours ...

... Again built in red sandstone it is a vision of architecture, carvings and tranquility. Pools and shaded terraces, formal gardens and spectacular views it was truly remarkable and so different from the Taj that it was a complimentary and not competing. No other tomb or temple can bear any comparison to the Taj Mahal and these two sites are both amazing, but in different ways.
Wanting to enjoy the tranquility of the place we opted to go without a guide and managed ...

The morning started with Tommy & I on the table tennis table in the Jaipur Inn - it must be years since we did that. A realtively easy drive by Indian standards & arrival at Fatephur Sikri which again has changed over 3 years with a formal parking area now. Liz got the Jaipur Inn cafe man to make up 6 picnics which was great as the Indian infrastructure is very light on cafes still even at the big tourist sites. This is a splendid ...

... off. Met the major of the cadets who was also a professor doing his PHD in forestry - army thing is part time. Had an interesting time discussing globalisation, economics, effect of over propulation and heaven knows what else! His boys meanwhile were mostly flat out asleep - they had been at the Nepalese/Indian border for 3 days training so where shattered and only wanted to sleep! They had been travelling for something like 2 days already and would ...

... children playing cricket. on the outsides of the grassy areas, shallow pools of water sit, surrounded by box hedging and neat rows of brightly coloured flowers. in the distance, at the other end of rajpath, the president's palace stood silhouetted by the sun, reminding me too much of buckingham palace.
fortunately, up close the two buildings bear little resemblance. the road up to the palace is surrounded by government buildings, all decorated with large pillars and domes, all ...

... be getting back up.



Agra itself was absolutely incredible and Steve had booked a hotel with an amazing view of the Taj. It truly is one of the most beautiful and perfect buildings in the world - if not THE most perfect. The story behind it is incredible as well and so romantic! No wonder Alison and Taylor got engaged there. We've got some spectacular photos and we'll post them at the end of the week. :)
Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India brewercarrico

... to go see it up close.

Early the next morning I joined the small crowd of tourists at the east gate and we made our way in to see the Taj. Once you head through the outer courtyard you come to an arch that reveals the classic view of the Taj with its long pool stretching out before the beautiful white marble building. I have to admit, the sight exceeded my expectations. It really probably is the most beautiful building in the world. And the fact that it was built out of ...

... sites. Plans for the future... ummmm, we need to look into that. Try and borrow someone's lonely planet or something and move on, but first we are taking a couple of rest days as we are both still feeling a bit ******. We think we have about another month possibly one and a half months left in us or should I say in our budget! (A bit more than we first expected because it is so bloody cheap here J) I'm personally looking ...

... had been built to match the mosque on the other side of the Taj just so that the gardens stayed completely symmetrical. Crazy.

We went back to our rooms for some breakfast and then a small nap, then off to Agra Fort on the other side of town in the new city. The new city was not like the old city, in that it was large and sprawling, with not many tourists. We made it to the fort in our auto-rickshaw, and weaved through the tour groups congregated outside. The fort is famous ...

... through the list of scams that others had been subjected to started off as amusing but ended up as downright alarming. It prepared us well to read these and, over the next two days, we encountered some of the more harmless scams. For anyone thinking of visiting Agra, this may be useful:-

- The rickshaw wallahs are of course instrumental in many of the scams. The most common one is to agree with the 'victim' to a one day tour of the city (taking in the highlights) where you ...