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Finding our sleeper bus was not easy, about 30 buses all the same with no signs on them. This was no executive bus like we were promised it was dirty and cramped and no beds only seats, good job Agra was only 4 hours away. The 2 kind gentlemen in front us decided to put their seats right back so we couldnt move a muscle! We tried asking them to move their seats a little but they didnt seem to understand. Even after trying the classic trick of kneeing the back of the seat they still didnt move it. After a long 5 hours we reached Agra at 4am, stepped off the bus and realised we werent dropped off at the bus station as planned. We were dropped off in what seemed like the middle of no where with just a few tuk tuks waiting around. As we hadnt booked anywhere to stay out came the trusty bible and also a lesson learnt,if your arriving somewhere in the early hours of the morning book a room even if its only for 1 night.
The tuk tuk driver decided to take us on a little sight seeing tour at 4:30am! We were knackered after not getting any sleep and definatley not what we wanted at this time in the morning. We eventually found a half decent hotel 1 hour later. The Taj Mahal opened at 6:30am so the plan was to go there and see it at sun rise then come back and have a sleep....we slept through our alarm and didnt eventually wake up till around 12ish!
As it was too hot to see the Taj Mahal in the middle of the day we decided to chill out for the day and go to the post office as we had a few things to send home. The post office was an experience in itself, we ended up being there for about 1:30hrs and sitting behined the counters! We were passed around to a few different people eventually someone told us that the person we needed to see was on their lunch and to come behined the counter and wait. All of the locals then started to stare at us for the whole time we were there lol. One of the things i was posting was my booklet from the astrologer, 1 person noticed it popping out my bag and took and it started to read it and copying the charts. It then got passed around a few different people some of which started giggling, no idea why. I think we were the entertainment for the day for the people working at the post office lol.
We then went on the hunt for some food (weirdly there was a pizza hut and starbucks next to our hotel). Driving around away from the Taj Mahal you see the real Agra and daily life of the locals. There really isnt much here to see apart from the main attraction, i can now understand why the guidebooks say to go for a day trip from Delhi. After food and the temperature cooler it was time to go and see the main attraction but it was closed by the time we got there!
The next morning we eventually got to see the Taj Mahal. We arrived at 730am and it was already very busy. We hired a guide to explain the history of it. He was a student and was a guide to practice his english (which was very good) and to earn extra money. Its hard to describe how nice the Taj Mahal is close up and how clean it is compared to the streets outside. It's stunning to see all of the tiny details and all the different tiles that are used and was also interesting to hear the history of it. We spent a few hours hours wondering round the buildings and the gardens.
Next stop is a train back to Delhi and get a flight to Nepal!
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