We arrived in Delhi in the afternoon and got picked up by a taxi right there at the airport. In Bangkok we had called and arranged for a taxi driver by the name of Raju to pick us up. He had been recommended by a friend of a friend that drove around with him for 2 weeks. And there he was standing there at the airport with our names on a piece of paper. We were glad he showed up because over time we have had quite a few taxi no-shows.
There was no need for us to stay in Delhi, so Raju took us to Agra-home of the Taj Mahal. The drive was about 4 hours with a samosa stop on the way. Mmmmm, samosas, our first taste of Indian food, it was great! He took us to a good cheap hotel called Maya Hotel, only about a 10 minute walk from the Taj Mahal. That evening we ate some really good Indian food for dinner. Indian meals usually work by ordering a few different dishes and sharing them, with some roti or naan on the side to dip with.
The next morning we had an early start in order to be at the Taj by 6am. Wow. Wow. Wow. The Taj Mahal was AMAZING! It was so much more than I expected! The whole entire thing is made of beautiful white marble. From a distance it just looks nice, but you can't fully take it in until you have been up close. The intricacy and detail is mesmerizing. It is full of what looks to be flowers painted onto the walls, but they aren't actually painted, they are inlaid. Every single flower is carved of numerous semiprecious stones and then inlaid into the marble. These stones were shipped from all over the world just to make the Taj. The Taj was built some 350 years back by an emperor named Shah Jahan for his third wife Mumtaz Mahal. He built it for her as a memorial, as she died giving birth to her 14th child. It took an estimated 22 years to build by 20,000 workers. Now every day about 10,000 people visit the Taj Mahal everyday.
After gazing in awe at the Taj for a while, we headed back to the hotel for some breakfast and rest. Once rested and well fed we headed out again to do some souvenir shopping. By far the most popular souvenirs in Agra are made of marble, lots and lots of marble! I bought a miniature Taj made of marble and my parents bought a pile of other marble stuff.
My mom and I continued on to visit the Agra Fort, while my dad went back to the hotel to rest his sore knee. The Agra fort was amazing, a really unique style. It kinda reminded me of a medieval fort with the huge red brick walls and moat with a drawbridge. Part of the interior continued on with that theme, while other parts were marble. The fort is very old and has been passed along through many generations but there is one story that most people know it by. I should of mentioned earlier that the Taj cost over $500,000 to build 350 odd years ago! To give it more perspective it would cost about $40million dollars to build today. As you may think not everyone in the picture would be happy with Shah Jahan spending that much money to build something for his dead wife. The person who showed their dismay most was Shah Jahan's own son Aurangzeb. Shortly after the completion of the Taj Mahal, Aurangzeb overthrew his father and imprisoned him in the Agra Fort. Shah Jahan was imprisoned for eight years (until his death) in the Agra Fort. Probably the most important thing to mention about the Agra Fort is, where Shah Jahan was imprisoned there was a great view of the Taj. I guess it would be bittersweet looking out at your creation everyday for eight years and knowing it was the reason you were in the situation you were in. But it would probably also give you some emotional strength knowing your beloved wife was buried inside of there and waiting for you. And after those eight years he got reunited with his wife at last, his body got brought down from the fort and buried beside his wife inside the Taj. After seeing the area where Shah Jahan was imprisoned, I didn't really feel that sorry for him, it was really a gorgeous place with white marble and stone inlays and a spectacular view of the Taj and the river below. I enjoyed walking around the fort, it is huge above ground but it also has many blocked off corridors and dingy rooms used to house servants underground.
We headed back to the hotel and booked some train tickets to Delhi for the next morning. Once we arrived in Delhi the next morning we hopped on a plane to Srinagar.
There was no need for us to stay in Delhi, so Raju took us to Agra-home of the Taj Mahal. The drive was about 4 hours with a samosa stop on the way. Mmmmm, samosas, our first taste of Indian food, it was great! He took us to a good cheap hotel called Maya Hotel, only about a 10 minute walk from the Taj Mahal. That evening we ate some really good Indian food for dinner. Indian meals usually work by ordering a few different dishes and sharing them, with some roti or naan on the side to dip with.
The next morning we had an early start in order to be at the Taj by 6am. Wow. Wow. Wow. The Taj Mahal was AMAZING! It was so much more than I expected! The whole entire thing is made of beautiful white marble. From a distance it just looks nice, but you can't fully take it in until you have been up close. The intricacy and detail is mesmerizing. It is full of what looks to be flowers painted onto the walls, but they aren't actually painted, they are inlaid. Every single flower is carved of numerous semiprecious stones and then inlaid into the marble. These stones were shipped from all over the world just to make the Taj. The Taj was built some 350 years back by an emperor named Shah Jahan for his third wife Mumtaz Mahal. He built it for her as a memorial, as she died giving birth to her 14th child. It took an estimated 22 years to build by 20,000 workers. Now every day about 10,000 people visit the Taj Mahal everyday.
My mom and I continued on to visit the Agra Fort, while my dad went back to the hotel to rest his sore knee. The Agra fort was amazing, a really unique style. It kinda reminded me of a medieval fort with the huge red brick walls and moat with a drawbridge. Part of the interior continued on with that theme, while other parts were marble. The fort is very old and has been passed along through many generations but there is one story that most people know it by. I should of mentioned earlier that the Taj cost over $500,000 to build 350 odd years ago! To give it more perspective it would cost about $40million dollars to build today. As you may think not everyone in the picture would be happy with Shah Jahan spending that much money to build something for his dead wife. The person who showed their dismay most was Shah Jahan's own son Aurangzeb. Shortly after the completion of the Taj Mahal, Aurangzeb overthrew his father and imprisoned him in the Agra Fort. Shah Jahan was imprisoned for eight years (until his death) in the Agra Fort. Probably the most important thing to mention about the Agra Fort is, where Shah Jahan was imprisoned there was a great view of the Taj. I guess it would be bittersweet looking out at your creation everyday for eight years and knowing it was the reason you were in the situation you were in. But it would probably also give you some emotional strength knowing your beloved wife was buried inside of there and waiting for you. And after those eight years he got reunited with his wife at last, his body got brought down from the fort and buried beside his wife inside the Taj. After seeing the area where Shah Jahan was imprisoned, I didn't really feel that sorry for him, it was really a gorgeous place with white marble and stone inlays and a spectacular view of the Taj and the river below. I enjoyed walking around the fort, it is huge above ground but it also has many blocked off corridors and dingy rooms used to house servants underground.
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