'Round the World with Sarah and Matt!: The Taj Mahal and Agra

After our crazy introduction to India, we were happy to arrive at our first destination: Agra. This sprawling industrial town is home to the Taj Mahal. We planned on staying here for a couple of days to see the Taj, then to head on into Rajastan. We spent the first day resting at our hotel in the Taj Ganj area just south of the Taj Mahal. It's a crazy, alley-filled area that sprung up while the Taj was being built, and really hasn't changed much since. The narrow alleyways are filled with people, rickshaws, cattle, dogs, carts, motorcycles and more, plus the open sewer runs on both sides of the road. As you can imagine, it's not the best smelling area. Nevertheless, it's what amounts to a "tourist area" in these parts. We did manage to find a couple restaurants we liked, usually above street level. Many of the restaurants and hotels in the area have rooftop restaurants, where there are fabulous views of the Taj Mahal. We spent a lot of time enjoying the views over a pot of masala chai.

On our second day there, Sarah was hit pretty hard with a second round of stomach issues (the first being in Thailand), so our 2-day stay in Agra turned into a week! There's not much to do in Agra beyond the Taj and Agra Fort, but we used the time to relax and catch up on blogging, sleep, meeting locals, and of course, getting over the stomach bug. After her second day of stomach problems, we decided to have Sarah start the Ciprofloxin that we brought along. It's a pretty hefty drug, so it kinda wiped her out even more. Good thing we had a comfortable room (it even had a swamp cooler!). The couple restaurants we frequented got to know us well; I even helped take orders one night when our favorite restaurant was really busy!

It was also nice to be around long enough to get to know a few people and have them notice a drastic change in my appearance. My huge beard had been bugging me for a while, so I finally made the plunge and shaved it off. It was funny the kind of response I got -- mostly favorable (including from Sarah).

The real reason to water harvest -- as a monkey drinking fountain

Finally, though it took us seven days, we made it to the Taj Mahal. The admission fee is ridiculously steep (and skewed), but it was worth it. Indians pay 20 rupees to enter (50 cents), while foreigners pay 750 rupees (19 dollars)! That's a massive mark-up! But what a sight.... There really isn't any place like it. Gleaming white marble and simple design -- elegance at it's best. The "masterstroke" was placing it up on a platform, so that there is only sky behind. It was built as a monument and mausoleum by a maharajah for his wife when she died.... and I don't think it's been outdone since. If you ever get to this part of the world, you must visit. Sarah and I visited in the late afternoon, a couple hours before it closed. It was a nice time to be there, with smaller crowds, cooler temperature, and wonderfully shifting sunset colors. Sarah took a bunch of great photos, which I'll post later. The place is very atmospheric, with hundreds of Rose-ringed Parakeets flying around and the Muslim call to prayer playing over the speakers. As we were being escorted out at sunset, several hundred Black Kites took to the air and rode the last thermals of the evening into the pink sky....