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We arrived in Agra, looked around a few hotels before settling on the lovely Sheela inn, where we unpacked and had breckfast (lemon tea with honey with pakoras for izzie, and toast and chai for Si!) on the rooftop terrace overlooking the outline of the Taj! Then we caught a cycle rickshaw to Agra Fort which was incredible, you normally only see the front of it on postcards, its all red sanstone and white marble inside its more a palace then a fort. We wandered around the maze of rooms and gardens for a few hours, looking out at the views over Agra plain and the Taj. We then took it in turns to sit on Shah Jahan's black marble throne (after watching a guy strike unashamedly bollywood poses on it while his girlfriend took pictures!) Then we set off for the Taj, after a small dispute with a rickshaw driver about not buying his knock off tickets and dodging lots of street sellers we finally made it inside at about 3pm. Wow. It is nothing like the pictures, it was very surreal and pretty mindblowing! We found a quieter spot to the left of teh building and sat and watched the sun set - everyone was just sat mesmorized by it! After sunset we went in and looked at the interior tombs, despite the warning signs not to take photos loads of people where photographing the tombs, which was a shame as it damages the paint work inside. The stone work up close is amazing, all the little semi precious stones are cut to fit into the walls to create the intricate patterns, but you can only tell really close up - they almost look painted! Then after a slow stroll through the gardens, and a last look we went back to our hotel for a dinner under the stars - with the Taj sitting outlined in the dark next to us!
We spent the next day lazing in the gardens of the Hotel Sheela, working out our plans and drinking lots of Chai (Si!) then we caught the sleeper train form Agra fort to Sawai Madhopur, we were the only westerners on board!! but we had sleeper class tickets, so less staring once we were aboard! we sat on our bunks and played cards, before trying to work out which stop was ours (we think the Indian people have bult in sat-nav, they seemed to always know where they were - even if they had been asleep the whole journey!!) Then we caught a rickshaw to our hotel - the lovely Hotel Tiger Safari, and went to sleep as our morning safari was at 5.30!
Much love Izzie and Simon xxxxxxxxx
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