Hotel Royale Residency Agra

We took the train first thing in the morning from Delhi. That was a little adventure in itself as the taxis pulled up at Delhi Central station. We crossed the carpark of usual pandemonium with the addition of suitcases strewn across the paths, and huge carts carrying boxes and cargo blocking the pavements. We entered the forecourt and swam through the sea of bodies on the floor. It was hard to say how long the sleeping people had been there. Was this their home or were they just waiting for t...

30/1/06 After a rather long drive and at times hair raising drive, we made it to Agra, as for the drive, imagine driving to Port Pirie from Adelaide, picture the outskirts of Adelaide and that there becomes less and less the further you go - can you see it? Then imagine the outskirts almost like the centre of town, double the distance and you are starting to get some understanding of how far this place goes. Then think of Port Wakefield, imagine it on a Monday at the end of a long weekend, th...

If you've ever wondered where that shady character that used to hang around your neighbourhood went to, its possible he ended up in Agra. That scheming taxi driver that fleeced you and your friends that Saturday night? Agra. Most escaped convicts? Yes you guessed it Agra. If you look up aggravation in the Oxford English Dictionary, its very likely it'll read: aggravation Pronunciation: ˌa-grə-ˈvā-shən : that which succeeds in driving you ever more round the bloody bend (fr...

We have to get up very early this morning to catch the 7 am train to Agra, but it is okay as we have a 3 hour journey on wich to sleep! The train is old but comfortable and airconditioned and i end up with a seat with a table so i am happy! I watch the senery for about 30 mins amazed by the number of people who walk and farm right by the train tracks. There are cows and pigs everywhere along the tracks. I manage to sleep for a couple of hours and then wake up to play cards with Nathan and Lau...

Thankfully we were picked up early to head to Agra and we headed off on this new adventure via the towns of Brindavan and Mathura. Brindavan is a town of 5,500 temples (luckily for you I didn't take a single pic!) where Hare Krishna once lived. Somehow we ended up in the main central Krishna temple chanting with some guy on the floor, only for him to charge us $500 for a day’s 'prayer pass’. Naturally I laughed in his face and gave him 250 rupees and made a quick exit! The next st...

Aman: Agra fort was the seat of the Mughal king Akbar until his capital was moved to Fatehpur Sikri. It was very interesting architecturally, as it represented the Mughals at their architectural height. They had the capability to collect rainwater, and to do it efficiently. The original part of the fort was built for fortification, and so the older parts of the fort, except for Jhodaabhai's palace, were not very beautiful. Jhodaabhai was Akbar's Hindu queen, and the mother of Jahangir, Akbar'...