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Other entries in Agra

Agra

Agra - Sunday 18th, still.........

[there is now an added bit from yesterday in the Delhi section]

Little did we know that the trainride held some surprises... During the 2 hour trip, we were served a bottle of water, 2 cups of tea, a newspaper, some toast and veg croquets, a tetra juice and the traditional sugar and fennel seed sweet.  Better than nothing, which is what we expected (hence the choccy donuts supplies which were not wasted)

 I got a seat by the window, did some journalling and enjoyed the view as the sun rose.

Coming from the Agra rail station to our hotel (swankiest yet) we saw many vehicles of course, including the biggest camel I have ever seen pulling a cart.  

While waiting for check-in we all made the most of the buffet breakfast. I am not sure quite how we did that - must be all the walking and long days.  Anyway I now see that this is an art and have made it my personal challenge to perfect the order of the 6 courses that I enjoy the most (720 possible sequences).

Agra is another different kind of town - our hotel area (Contonement - spell check) was described in the guidebooks as sheltered from the town due to being surrounded by parklands.  From the hotel we went to the Red Fort.  This place is massive and would really have been alot more interesting while the prince was incarcerated within, many hundred years ago.  He had an opulent cell of white marble with a private mosque and a view to the Taj Mahal through though balcony lined with white columns.

Lunch was our choice (dinner was the taxi drivers' choice but v delish) at Maya restaurant on a balcony with a view also to the Taj.

After getting through a v strict bag check, The Taj Mahal was just gorgeous.  You could see everyone hanging out and enjoying it with their loved ones.  I smuggled in my phone (quite an effort) in order to send Dan a text message from the garden. 

The sun set across the shiny white marble in the late afternoon and it was glorious.  It peaked through the turrets of teh other tombs and mosques.  The detail of the coloured flowers set into the walls was echoed through the 3 surrounding buildings.  What can I say - the more you look, the more you see.

Tuesday 21st December 2005

The highlites of Agra following the Taj was having a relaxing restful day. Shopping was the extent of our efforts. Wait til I get back to check it out.  We had dinner at Park restaurant where the ligts kept going out and food was good.

Nat

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