Grand Hotel Agra

... fabric into paper, this was an NGO to help the woman get some income but they now own it and have diversified as well, of course we all bought some things from the shop. The train was my first overnight train experience in India and was pleasantly surprised. While it was an hour late and changed platforms with no announcement, the beds were ok and blankets were provided, not that we needed it as it was quite warm even in an AC ...

... She had officially quit her job at KPMG but with an informal offer of an open spot should she choose to return, which worked swimmingly since in the meanwhile Sidd got the green light to transfer from New York to London. So she'll pick up her old job in London where she left it, and leave everyone wondering what all the leaving drinks fuss was about in the first place.<br><br>After the coffee and some not-as-good-they-look confectionaries, Komy took me ...

... sheet or towels ( and you never get toilet paper wherever you stay!!!). Later in the streets were wedding parades accompanied by trucks with music blaring , the wedding guests dancing wildly and behind the dancers the groom on a white horse covered in bright red cloth ,face covered and the guests beside him collecting money from well wishers and lastly the women who do not dance as only the men and boys do up front. The noise is so great it draws you out to the roof to watch the ...

... as soon as you feel your behin grinding against the wood beneath you, and realise how painful two hours of this is going to be.<br>the safari, however, was much better this time. being so high up, and on such a large animal, made for a much quieter and safer method of travel through the parkland. within fifteen minutes, we had stumbled across a herd of spotted deer, who were amazingly unconcerned by our presence. shortly afterwards, we spotted a mother and calf rhino grazing in a ...

... skin contrasting against the white of the marble. We stopped to chat with a few curious families. The interior was not so interesting with the false tombs of Mumtaz and Jahan and not much else but it's an exhilerating feeling to be inside such a beautiful structure nonetheless. We made our way outside to view the mosque and jawab and get some more Taj views through the large archways. The whole thing is in pristine condition.<br><br>On the way out i noticed alot of people having their ...

... that if he wanted 30 INR, then he would have to take us to where he promised. He finally agreed and then took us to the East Gate. So we got out and paid the man.<br><br>We walked around in one of the two possible directions, which brought us to another disgusting slum, and we turned around rather quickly to head the other direction which seemed much more promising. We knew that the hotel was supposed to be around 650 meters from the gate, and we ...

... knowledge of the fact that it was indeed a very beautiful building, nothing more registered. There were tons of tourists milling about, foreign and Indian, more tourists than I had hoped for arriving at that early morning hour. At May, the hottest month of the year in this country, just before the cooling saving grace of the monsoon downpours, I guess tour groups were making their visits earlier to avoid the incapacitating Indian sun.

... managed to get off to sleep. As I woke up in the morning I was in what can be coined a 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' position with one of the young lads but this is nothing new for me so took it all I my stride. For this trip it is barely even noteworthy. I have, after all, slept with an Ewok. Bless those lads though, as we headed off in different directions they even invited me to stay at one of their parents houses near Varanasi later on in my trip ...

... 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:-<br><br>- 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 ...