Agra - You just have to visit the Taj Mahal....
Trip Start
Nov 16, 2008
1
12
32
Trip End
Feb 07, 2009
Agra,
Uttar Pradesh,
India
Thursday, December 4, 2008
A healthy monsoon this year has given this National Park some lush vegetation and long grasses which has made it perfect for the Tigers to blend into their habitats....... just what we wanted to hear.... One of the guides even proceeded to tell us about trees and how they grow in this beautiful park.... again... just what we wanted to hear!!! Still we met some cool people and the hotel we stayed in (Ranthambhore Bagh) was very nice with friendly staff and great food. We also felt a little better after hearing that two of the cool people we met had been on 8 safaris' and still hadn't even had a sniff of a Tiger (sorry Sriram....had to mention it). If you do plan on going here apparently the best time is from March - June but be prepared as it is very hot during this period
The Fetters at the Taj...
.Agra - The Taj Mahal....well you just have to see it the once if you are in the area.
Anyway..... we joined our driver for the last long journey of our 9 day tour of Rajasthan to head out towards one of the most famous moments in the world.... the Taj Mahal. Mish having visited the city before didn't seem that excited to venture back.... but for the love of a good man she relented and we headed towards the Taj through the famous Indian traffic jams.
We arrived at our hotel the Pushp Villa ( 4 star apparently) which was situated just up the road from the Taj Mahal and obviously the price reflected this. Having been told by the driver that he could have got us a cheaper price or an even better hotel for cheaper we weren't very encouraged upon entering the reception, especially as they asked to be paid up front for the room. Pressed for time to get to see the Taj before it closed we just obliged and then dumped our stuff and headed out straight away. Big mistake.... as upon our return and closer inspection this place was dirty, full of grime, damp and a very poor excuse for a hotel. We could have got a cheaper, cleaner B&B back home for half the price
Mish doing some weird dance....
. If you are reading this blog and thinking about booking the Pushp Villa in Agra.... then DON'T!!!! What was funny was the next morning they asked for us to write a review on their hotel.....Ermmmmm, "sorry dude.... gotta run"!The Taj Mahal was built on the foundations of one man's love for his wife after she died and it is the size and scale of the Taj Mahal that apparently strikes you most when you approach it. There's kind of a wierd twist to our mentality here where back home you wouldn't trample on someone else's grave but here in India at the Taj we only seem to happy too whilst sharing this experience with a million other people..... Ok, a it's more of a tomb and not a grave... but you get the gist.
Arriving in Agra just in time before closing we managed to convince the ticket clerk to let us in on the premise that we would only be in there for no more than 30 minutes..... kind of gave me the impression that we might have the place to ourselves.....still through the gate we went through the main square and headed right towards the Taj and we soon realised that we were sharing this experience with about what seemed a million other tourists....
It is impressive.... in fact stunning, mind boggling but at the same time making perfect sense but lastly heavily over-crowded. Still, it was definitely an eperience worth doing. The pictures in this blog perhaps don't quite do the monument justice but we did end up staying for a bit longer than the 30 minutes that we promised.... well no one else was leaving so why should we.
Nothing much else worth doing in Agra so we headed back up to the hotel on a rickshaw with the smallest guy in the world peddaling.... kind of felt sorry for him half way up the hill as he had to get off and push... bless.
