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Taj Mahal - the one and only



The next weekend Suzie and I visited the Agra, the city where the Taj Mahal is located. It was really enchanting. We took the train there, which was great! Faster than driving and so easy.

We treated ourselves to massages, this time not so invasive, and a nice hotel, never been so extravagant. It rained like crazy on Saturday and Suzie was sick, so we stayed in the hotel, which was great. Otherwise, I would have felt compelled to go out and wander around. I was so nice to relax. We watched 2 Bollywood films too! Dewall and Brick. Both films with Mr. Big B, a famous Indian actor whose real name is Amitabh Bachchan.

Dewall was one of his early films in which he looses his father and ends up making money with good intentions, but through bad means. Black is more recent and his acting has matured significantly. The first bit felt like I was rewatching the story of Helen Keller, but eventually it changed and a new story was developed.

On Sunday, we went out and saw the Taj Mahal. It was really amazing. Not sure how to describe it as it is something that I've seen pictures of since I was little and now all of a sudden I have pics of myself in front of it. Almost seems like I'm photoshopped in- can't believe I've really seen it in person.



From there we walked to the Agra Fort, which was begun in 1565. Interestingly, in 1658 Aurangzeb seized power from his father, Shah Jahan, and locked him up for eight years in the fort. There were great views back to the Taj from the fort.


On the way out a guy selling a marble elepant followed us to an auto rickshaw and we had 2 people to barter with. The elephant dropped from Rs. 900 to 100 in about 5 mins, while the auto driver rambled on about petrol and the government and wanting to take us to a few places, despite us explaining that all we wanted to do was go to the Itimad-ud-Daulah and then back to the hotel. The Itimad-ud-Daulah has many similarities to the Taj and it predates the Taj. There I nearly got attacked by a monkey, which was a bit scary.



Comments

Unknown said…
Hi,

Good to know, just wanted to know how u guys travled from Delhi/Gurgaon to Agra. Kindly get me your views but witch mode do we need to travel BUS/CAR/Train..
July 30, 2009 at 12:06 AM
sachin chaudhary said…
The grand park hotel gurgaon offer Hotels in Gurgaon Delhi, Serviced Appartments in gurgaon, guest house in gurgaon, Accommodation in Gurgaon and provide Cheap Hotels hospitality in Gurgaon guest house.
April 2, 2010 at 4:16 AM
Mimmis said…
Great photos! I am going to India in a couple of weeks for work in Gurgaon outside Delhi, so really hope I get time to visit Taj Mahal one of the days.

It was nice to read your comments about how you experienced this famous landmark.

I used to write a lot of blogs about my travels but the past couple of years have been a bit hectic with many job trips so I've gotten hopelessly behind... Maybe my next trip to India will inspire me to get started again.
April 12, 2010 at 11:38 AM
Anonymous said…
The Grand Park Hotels in Gurgaon offers cheap hotels in Gurgaon with all facilities like AC, TV, Wi-Fi, and Luxury and slandered Rooms, situated in best location of Gurgaon.
November 19, 2010 at 10:37 PM
Unknown said…
Our motto to give the good production and solid things that are like to everyone.
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October 12, 2013 at 12:33 AM
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