Pushp Villa Agra

... puzzle, we were on our way and eventually in Agra.<br><br>Dad and I decided to go to the Taj Mahal very early to try to avoid the thousands of tourists. After fending off every guide and rickshaw driver wanting a piece of us, we got to the Taj. (Dad and I have gotten very good at getting people off our backs. Our latest method is to pretend we are deaf and start signing at each other. The Indians get very confuse and eventually leave us alone ...

... dad fritter away the remainder of his inheritance on what amounts to an encore performance, dedicated to himself, at his own behest.<br><br>The drive back to Delhi witnessed, unsurprisingly, some ghastly traffic, but at least it was entertaining. Now driving up the wrong side of the highway into oncoming traffic due to the 100 yard misalignment between the gap in the central divider and the driveway we were trying to pull into? Meh. You see that kinda ...

On June 17, 1631 Mumtaz Mahal died, after delivering her fourteenth child "Gauharar". Shahjahan stood dazed, unable to comprehend the situation. She had died leaving all her children, mother, and relations to his care. But he had promised her never to remarry and to build the grandest mausoleum over her grave. Shahjahan had already acquired from Raja Jai Singh a plot of land on the riverside. Here was to be built the Taj Mahal. Work on the tomb started in a frenzy ...

... the ticket, you do get entrance into other Agra places like the Agra Fort included in the cost, but you must go on the same day you went to the Taj.<br><br>Tomorrow we leave on the 8:00 pm train back to Delhi, where we will immediately head for the airport and our flight to Bangkok, which arrives around 6:00am local Bangkok time. Hope to write more from Bangkok, though I don't expect us to spend much time there before heading south to the beaches.<br>

... 1643 after 12 years of work by 20,000 workers. Built entirely of white marble the main structure (dome) is 144 feet high and is surrounded by 4 minarets, each 130 feet tall. The structure is not only magnificent in its size but also in its details and proportion. When you first see it you don't appreciate it's enormity until you notice that the tiny little figures around the entrance are visitors. Inside, you appreciate the ...

... mosquito spray in India and that night went out to a restaurant with his wife. On the way there the mosquitoes were absolutely everywhere and he was being bitten to shreds and chased down the street. Even once they entered the restaurant they were swarms of the things all around them. The other diners complained so much that they had to leave before the food even arrived so he could go and put some bite cream on and get away from the pestering ...

... guesthouse owners were gradually being squeezed out of the scene and that, in a few years time, all the normal guesthouses in the area would have been taken over by the government (he had already been given an offer, which he felt was derisory).<br><br>Anyway, we bit the bullet and paid out forty dollars to get into the grounds of the Taj at dawn one morning. It was certainly a great experience watching the sun rise like a giant blood orange and seeing the white (actually greyish ...