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After a semi decent nights sleep, with only a few interruptions of people shouting outside our hotel room door, we headed for breakfast which was again toast and jam with some sweet lemon tea. Our driver Khan came to meet us at 9am outside the hotel. He made sure we didn't pay for our hotel room as the tourist company were paying for everything. Already, I liked the fact he was looking out for us. He knows the score here and that people will try anything but it really feels as though he is taking us under his wing... and we need that wing!
As the Taj Mahal was closed, Khan took us to some other interesting spots that Agra had to offer. First he took us to the gardens that look onto the back view of the Taj Mahal. We were quite a way off but just to get a glimpse of it was amazing! We sat and chatted in the gardens for some time before walking back to where Khan was waiting for us with the car. He's basically our personal chauffeur which is an absolute luxury here. Next, we had a wonder around one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites, Agra Fort, for 500 rupees each. This Fort is the former resistance of the Mughal Dynasty.
On the way in we had to go through a security scanner which beeped on both of us. I was anxiously expecting this as we both keep our penknives in our bags. However, they didn't search us or even bat an eyelid to it. Matt noticed it too and later when we spoke to Khan about it, he told us they are more concerned about people coming from Pakistan due to the conflict between the two countries.
The Fort was incredible, it was basically a city within walls. We were blown away by the sheer size of it and the architecture was stunning with lots of white marbled buildings. We really enjoyed looking around it. We were stopped again by lots of Indians and their families to have photos taken and this time also Facebook add offers... we're moving up in the world!
After the Fort, we headed to our new hotel for the night as Queen's Palace was full which was a shame. Khan dropped us off at the Pearl International Hotel and we checked in. Our room was a little dingy but the hotel was yards away from the Taj Mahal and as we were getting up at 5.15am, it didn't really matter too much. After dropping off our bags, we headed down the road for some food at the Maya Restaurant. We shared a vegetable curry and mutton rice which was really very nice, but we didn't fancy the look of the mutton. Matt is really starting to miss meat now. After food we went back to the hotel for a nap before the evening.
Later, as Agra is famous for Indian Marble, Khan picked us up and took us to a good quality marble shop that he knew of. He warned us not to buy any marble type products anywhere near the Taj Mahal as it was all fake. The factory outlet he took us to sat us down and explained all the different types of stone they used for decoration within the white marble. Each stone represents something. My favourite was the turquoise colour stone which represents Happiness, so I was quite keen to buy something. They had hundreds of different marbled products in there from tiny elephants to huge table tops which were just stunning. They told us that every single item in there was handmade and so different from the next one. Matt bought himself a little marbled elephant and I was keen on the tea light holders but wanted to have sometime to think about it. The owner of the shop was quite pushy. He took me into a different part of the shop where the scarves and cashmere products were while Matt was paying, and when I told him the product were lovely, he flung his arms around me... full on hugging me for quite an awkward length of time. I laughed nervously, but he kept hugging. Eventually I felt the need to pull myself away and edge back towards Matt who was chatting away to the sales assistant blissfully unaware! On our way back out, Matt had to grab his hat from the other room and the owner ceased another opportunity to hug me again... what the hell?! I didn't hang around this time and started to walk away mid squeeze.
Khan then took us to a massage spa that he knew of. It was very quaint and smelt lovely. I love massages so I opted for the cheapest back massage on the menu. I was whisked into a room by a lovely English speaking Indian lady. Matt didn't fancy a massage as he was convinced it was a brothal. The reason for this- because everyone in there was pregnant and was wearing red lipstick... Righty-ho Matthew! The massage was lovely although the red lipstick lady did ask me to turn onto my back so she could massage my front which I declined as I had only paid for a back massage... maybe Matt was right?!
After, we headed back to chill in the hotel. We managed to find ourselves in Dominos down the road and bought two large pizzas for 900 rupees, our most expensive meal yet! We took it back to the hotel and I FaceTimed my Auntie Hess and my parents (who were at work) before bed. It was really good to speak to them and we all laughed about our crazy experiences so far, I'm sure there's plenty more to come!
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