Day 2 Overland trip
Our wake up call was at 3.45am on the dot! After a quick breakfast we were on our way to New Delhi train station for our Shatabdi express train to Agra. After our 2 hour journey we arrived at Agra and were transferred to our hotel for breakfast before our visit to the Taj Mahal. Our visit to the Taj was amazing... the highlight of our holiday so far. The Taj Mahal means "Crown Palace", was commenced in 1632, built over a period of 22 years and is the 7th wonder of the world. Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj as a tomb for his beloved wife of 19 years who died at age 39 after delivering her 14th child!! It was a true labour of love...a real love story and a remarkable and beautiful building with at least 35 different types of precious gems used in inlay work.
We then went back to our hotel for lunch before our visit to the Red Fort built in 1565. The true tragedy of the Taj Mahal lies in the final years of Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan had a desire to build a replica of the Taj Mahal in black marble as his own mausoleum but fate intervened. When he was 65, his son imprisoned him in the Red Fort at Agra and he became the successor of the throne. In the last years of his imprisonment and until his death in 1666 he could gaze at the Taj Mahal through the grill work of the prison in the Fort.
After our visit to the Fort we went to the obligatory carpet showing and inlay exhibition which was quite interesting and very labour intensive although I could have given the carpets a miss.
On our return to our hotel, the beautiful Sheraton we had time to freshen up before the Kathak Dance show at 7pm which was a bit on the boring side if I am to be honest. Dinner was the usual curry spread that we had now been having for breakfast lunch and dinner and I was starting to become a bit curried out!
Another big day and another early wake up call in the morning...
On board the Shatabdi express train in Delhi
Arriving into Agra
Tuk tuk taxis waiting at the station
The foyer at the Seraton at Agra
The view of the Yamuna river from the back of the Taj
Inside the building at the side of the Taj.
The mosque next to the Taj
One of the 4 elegant tapering minarets on each corner of the plinth. Each of the minarets is 41.6m high.
The Red Fort at Agra
Inside the Fort.
The beautiful inlay work.
The view of the Taj from the Fort.
The domed building on the left was where Shah Jahan was imprisoned.
These monkeys were jumping from building to building and this one had a little baby on her back!
The beautiful inlay work.
The carpet demonstration.
The Kathak dance.
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