Agra is about 204km from Delhi in Uttar Pradesh. We were picked up at 9am, as is becoming usual, a A&K rep was there to make sure we got away OK. Our driver was his usual happy self so all was good.
Being Saturday morning New Delhi was pretty quiet and there was very little traffic (for this city 🙂 ). In the last year or so a new toll road has opened between Delhi and Agra, cutting about an hour off the trip and making the driving much easier. At times on the tollway we couldn’t see any other cars in front of us, which was very weird. Along the way we read up on Agra and took in the sights of the road trip.
We have found Delhi to have very bad smoke haze all the time and this extends way out into the country. So our sight seeing from the car was limited to about 500m to 1 km.
The areas we passed through were mainly agricultural, with farmers growing all sorts of things, from rice, corn, sugarcane and wheat. They plant the wheat in the rice paddies during the dry winter months. There were bullock carts stacked high with cane storks and farmers ploughing up their fields ready for the next season crop. At times there were many large smoke stacks dotting the country side, as we discovered earlier, these are for brick ovens, everyone needs bricks!
We passed a lot of new develoments, they seem to be building new towns based on the electronics industry all over the place.
Our driver showed us the Indian F1 track, it was a bit hard to see through all the smoke haze, but it looked impressive with huge grandstands all around the track.
As I said before we took the toll road, what found out is that they have speed cameras on the toll road, and if you get caught speeding, they simply add the fine to your toll at the next toll booth. I’m not sure if I like that system, but over here I guess it is the only way they have a chance of being paid the fines.
We arrived on the outskirts of Agra at about noon and were in our hotel about 45 mins later, the traffic getting in was chaotic, even by Indian standards. We caught glimpes of the Taj Mahal as we drove towards our Hotel.
Hi Deb here 🙂
I think it was about 10 years or so ago, that I thought of going to India to visit the Taj Mahal. For me, like many others no doubt, it is not just about the monument but also the story behind it. The Taj Mahal is a monument to romantic love. The Emperor, Shah Jahan built the Taj to enshrine the body of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal who died after giving birth to her 14th child in 1631. It took 20,000 men over 20 years to complete it, in 1653.
After checking in, we were shown to our room, and as we entered, there before us was the Taj Mahal, I had goosebumps! We were so close. Not one to miss an opportunity, we ordered room service and we ate our lunch on the balcony taking in the Taj Mahal. It was quite a surreal moment.
By about 3pm we were with our guide in the complex, taking in all of her glory. For she is definately, feminine and elegant. The magic of the Taj Mahal is undiminished by
the crowds of tourists (most of whom are Indian), the people are insignificant in the face of the immenseness of the Taj Mahal. It was definately a wow moment, standing there taking it all in. We had to cover our shoes, then could go up inside the mausoleum. Shah Jahan died in 1666 and his body also lies alongside his beloved wife. I have read numerous times that there are better ‘buildings’ to see in India, and one should not bother to go to the Taj – but I thought it was a stunning ‘building’ and I am very glad we did 🙂
Afterwards we visited the Agra Fort, finished in 1573, made of red sandstone, it was a stronghold for the Mughal Empire for many generations, there have been a few restorations made to the Fort, so only parts of it are original – It is a magificent Fort – It always amazes me what people built in the past without today’s technology, and they are still standing.
We had a delicious Indian meal in the hotel for dinner. Tomorrow we are off to Rathambore National Park tomorrow and hopefully some tigers!
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Wow, feeling overwhelmed reading this – fab writing as usual – feel like i’m there. Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
I think we need to do a trip to India……..Deb and Greg style:-)
So pleased you are having a wonderful time…
I have to agree with you. There may well be ‘better buildings’ but visiting the Taj Mahal is an incredible experience and anyone who has the opportunity should not pass it up. I visited in October 1987 and it remains one of my travel highlights.
Sounds absolutely amazing! I definitely hope to visit one day.