Sheela Inn Agra

It was now off to the most famous monument in India, the ultimate tribute to love; the Taj Mahal. Construction on the Taj Mahal began in 1631 by Shah Jahan as a memorial to his second wife Mumtaz Mahal who died giving birth to their 14th child. Not long after the Taj Mahal was completed Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son and imprisoned in Agra Fort. Now he rests in the Taj Mahal buried alongside the love of his life.

Chris and I got up very early in the morning to view the Taj. We he...

Got up incredibly early to catch the 7:15am train to Agra, and apparently this is unusual.. it was on time! The Air con in the carriages were quite cold but I think as we had good seats it wasn't quite as hectic as in other parts of the train. First stop was the Red Fort, what an impressive place, we had a great guide who made the tour really fun and enjoyable, definitely worth it. Shame that people stole the gold and that most of the gemstones have gone. We took cycle rickshaws from the hote...

We left the hotel at 6am and took the train to Agra. It was pleasant to sit by the open train door and see the countryside going by. The conversation on the train was generally quiet, except for me as I sat next to Nina. I was not in the mood to talk, and she seemed happy for me not to talk and let her have the floor. If there is a bad reflection on someone it is on me, as I was quite anti social. However even though it was against my will it was nice to talk to her and get to know her a bit....

hoy hemos cogido el tren de jaipur hasta agra fort. Cuando llegamos a Agra fuimos a la guesthouse sheila donde a lo mejor veiamos a Anouk, una amiga de chiel. Pero ella no estaba por alli. Asi que despues de llegar al hotel nos dicen que no tienen habitaciones pero que tienen otra guesthouse que se llama sheela inn y que es igual de buena. ASi que nos fuimos para alla en un cycle rickshaw, pero el chico tenia que ir casi todo el camino andando empujando del carrito bici porque nuestras maleta...

After a reasonably comfortable, air conditioned 4 hour train journey (a bit of a shock when Indian trains instill thoughts of people hanging off the roof and overcrowded sweaty carriages) we arrived in Agra in Uttar Pradesh and were transferred to our also better than expected accommodation, with views of the Taj Mahal from the roof. We had a quick freshen up and then set off to the first sight of the day Agra fort. We were greeted by a local guide who had an excellent knowledge of the fort a...

Each day of traveling in India brought with it new sights, sounds and smells (some more pleasant than others), and our tour group continues to be getting along well and staying healthy! Day 3 (Nov 29): Delhi to Agra ~Waking at 5:30am to catch our early train to Agra ~Making/pushing our way through the throngs of people to board our train at the main (oldest) train station in Delhi ~Viewing towns backing up to the railroad track who dumped all their garbage near the train tracks, lit some on f...

We took a small private bus from the train station to our hotel. As most people's packed breakfast was less than edible we went straight up to the roof-top restaurant and ordered breakfast. The view from the top was great and we could see the Taj Mahal, which was a couple of blocks away. After a quick shower we left by the same bus to visit the Red Fort. We were joined by another Intrepid group and a guide to show us around (Chandra told us he was the best guide in India!). We could only visi...