No trip to India would be complete without taking in Agra and a visit to the building that is the pride of the nation, the Taj Mahal. A monument that is a symbol of love, a huge marble bulbous dome, one of the seven new wonders of the world or a bit like Brighton Pavillion – whatever and however it is called the sight of this iconic building doesn’t disappoint as you first see it down it’s long corridor of ornamental gardens and the watercourse that leads your eye straight to the domes. The sheer size of the thing, the perfect symmetry, the minarets in each corner and the beauty of the marble – it is every bit as good as you’d expect, seen, read about et al. Quick bit of background info, ready: Completed in 1653, it was built as a mausoleum by Emperor Shah Jahan to his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died giving birth and the main dome is the Cenotaph of Mumtaz – ok, said it was quick. We visited the site at sunrise, one because it’s meant to be a very good time and light to see the marble in, but mainly because the tour groups don’t show up til 9am, meaning you get 2 hours looking around in relative peace and are ready to leave for a late brekkie as everyone else arrives.
With the rest of the day to kill we headed over to the only other thing of note in Agra, the Agra Fort. Built 100 or so years before the Taj and later housing Shah Jahan as a prisoner (imprisoned by his own son!) the fort is actually pretty cool and far better than the Red Fort in Delhi. That is pretty much all there is to Agra, I say all, a cool fort and one of the most recognisable buildings in the world but there isn’t much else to do or look around as the town is very rundown, tired and dirty so at complete opposites to it’s decadent historic buildings, but then again that seems to be pretty much all of this part of India.
So the afternoon was just spent chilling in yet another roof top cafe ordering Lassi’s, by that I don’t mean telling collie dogs to go get help because little Raj is stuck down a mineshaft, they are tasty yoghurt drinks flavoured with pretty much anything you can think of…yummmm
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Jamie Southwell
Yo! Namastay! Not how you spell it I suppose. Reading your blogs now through India has an added enjoyment as you explain a lot of the places we visited and the day to day joys of the place that I remember or you have jogged my memory. We was very young and nieve and was only really interested in having a laugh, so is interesting to hear your more mature take on the places. Hope it continues to grow on you. You’ll probably be disappointed to leave. Though I bet when you get to Perth, the first thing you’ll want to do is to munch out on some western crap like a pizza.
Have fun, watch out for trips to Kashmir and you gotta buy some of the dodgy stripy thin cotton trousers for sale on many stalls in the towns. Think we got ours in Delhi. They’d really suit you Nath. You must have a beard going on – lookin the full part.
Take care J