At the Taj Mahal

Trip Start Jan 09, 2006
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Trip End Dec 21, 2006


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Thursday, May 4, 2006

A fantastic day. The Taj is a truly fabulous building. And despite the heat it was wonderful just to be there. I sat for hours looking at its exterior and sitting in the ornamental gardens. Chipmonks hopped around at my feet and the tranquility was only broken by occaisional photo requests from Indian tourists. I also met a really lovely American girl, Ilsa, who I had a long lunch with.

Sadly though, Jean Jacques was unable to visit the Taj. Apparently he constitutes a security risk so he spent the duration of my visit behind closed doors. Poor boy. No one could explain to me why, although the locker man did a comical pantomime of Jean-Jeaques attacking an innocent bystander.

This afternoon I visited Fatehpur Sikri. This ruined city is about 40km from Agra 01 First view of the Taj
01 First view of the Taj
 . Apparently it was all designed and built by a visionary king, sadly his vision didn't stretch as far as ensuring the city had a decent water supply, and soon after his death the city was abandoned. It was a magnificant place with a vast mosque outside its gates. In the baking heat, strips of cloth soaked in water made a walkway cool enough for our bare feet.

One of the most fun/scary aspects of the day was the driving in Agra. It seems that driving here is considered to be akin to the dodgems, with the added interest of cows veering out into the street. I also had a brief argument with my taxi driver who tried to persuade me that petrol wasn't included in the price. I'm going to stick with cycle rickshaws from now on!
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