Holiday Inn Agra

... Indian) restaurant. We have been typically paying about 800 Rupees for lunch or dinner plus 10% tip (which I am guessing is good). The equates to about $20 which is very expensive. Considering that we went to a high-end local restaurant in Mumbai and spent about $5 for the same meal, it explains why they looked a bit shocked to see us. Our guide told us about that place, otherwise we wouldn't have found it.

Regarding the time zone change ...

... Mum.

Then the monsoon started (announced by the television along with the news that Indian law may be revised so that homosexuality is no longer illegal and the equally shocking news that Michael Jackson was dead) and my fever broke. The same sense of relief that grip the nation now held me tight. I was well enough to travel-just. However I would still be packing a spare of pants and feeling nauseous. If I come back to India I'm packing a few nappies for those ...

... over a perfectly unspoiled view of the Taj and sipped our G & Ts contentedly, joking next visit to India we'd stay in this hotel. Ha, I don't know which was the bigger joke. The thought that we could afford 1000 USD a night room, or that we'd be coming back to India!!! The next morning it was a 5.30am start to watch the sunrise over the Taj. The early hour promised small crowds and cool climes. Being the slow season there was hardly any foreign ...

... his wife, and he was not expecting to be buried in it until right before his death. His son, who was his youngest, and knew he would never get to rule, decided he wanted the throne, at whatever cost. After killing all his brothers, he traveled upstream and blocked the river that runs in front of and feeds the fort with water. Only if his father agreed to his demands would he unblock the river. Shah Jehan agreed to his son's demands, and after ceding the kingdom ...

... price to enter the Taj itself is a prime example of the disparity between the economy for foreigners and local people, for an Indian person entry to the Taj Mahal is 10 rupees (about 15pence) and for us the price is 75 times the cost at over £11.00. Still it is a truly beautiful building, made entirely of white marble the Taj Mahal shines in the sun, so brightly that it is difficult to look at directly ...

... This is a get-out clause for the fact that nothing runs on time, whether the train actually decides to leave 20 minutes early or whether the train actually decides to come at all. We were told just to adopt a typically Indian sense of humour when dealing with such situations. Said our guide with his character massive grin brimming with excitement! We were lucky, the train came as it was meant to, and as we were going in the opposite ...