Welcome to Agra! Another bustling city in India. Here you will find people, people, and more people. And oh, yeah, the Taj Mahal!
When we first drove into Agra, we drove through a very busy market street in the early evening when people were shopping for dinner. Oh my goodness! There was sooooo much to look at in every direction. So many things going on at once. I seriously wish that I would have taken Josh's GoPro camera and had it mounted to the top of the car. That would have been so cool! Then I could relive that awesome scene again and again.
Here's a picture Matt snapped through the car window. We were stopped by this jeep PACKED with people which was not unusual at all in India. What I love is that they are happy, smiling people just going about their business.
We stayed at a Radisson Hotel which was full of European tourists. It was a nice room with a nice toilet that you can put toilet paper in. You have to realize that that was a big deal for us in India. Enough said.
Matt spent five minutes with the hotel's palm reader. It was a bit freaky to hear what he said. He was right on about a bunch of stuff. He certainly isn't putting his faith and trust in this guy, but it was pretty darn interesting. I now wish I had had my palm read. I wonder what he would have said about me.
Agra was a good experience, but it was the beginning of a week of stomach issues that ultimately had to be knocked out with a large dose of antibiotics. So the last couple days of our trip were tainted with unpleasantness.
But onto the beauty of Agra's jewel... the Taj Mahal. The Crown Palace. It was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife who died while giving birth to their 14th child. They are both buried here. After 20 years and 20,000 workers, it was completed in 1643. The symmetry, proportions, and details in the workmanship is incredible especially when one remembers just how long ago it was built.
These were the horse stables. So cool looking.
The Taj has many inlaid jewels in its gleaming white marble. Here's a very small example.
After seeing the Taj Mahal's inlaid work, we were taken to a place where we could learn about how it was and is still done today. It's a dying art that this family participates in. They make furniture and other pieces with inlaid work and ship these orders all over the world. It's a ton of work that takes months to complete. I can only imagine the cost. These two pics show a man sharpening something by hand...can't remember what he was doing. And the next pic shows a work in progress.
Next stop in Agra (after lunch of butter chicken and naan), we went down the river (the Yamuna River) to where Agra Fort is located. This was the residence of the royal families in Agra since the 1500s so it predates the Taj. It's made of sandstone. I'm sure it was amazing back then. It was fun to explore.
Here is poor Shah Jahan's view from his palace room where his mean son, who took over, imprisoned him for 8 years. Jahan was the king who built the Taj, and he could only admire it from down river until the day he died. BTW...the Yamuna River used to be much fuller, actually coming up very close to the palace.
Last on our list of sites was the "Baby Taj". It is thought that the Taj's design may of been patterned after this marble tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah since it was built before the Taj. This building marks the transition from the red sandstone architecture to the refined marble. It is a much smaller structure and so we weren't quite as impressed with it and just did a quick walk-around. While there, we stood and watched a group of kids playing naked in the Yamuna River. Right along side them were big, black water buffalo, the source of milk for many indians. Not a very clean place to play.
Good-bye Agra! Onto the big daddy, Delhi!
When we first drove into Agra, we drove through a very busy market street in the early evening when people were shopping for dinner. Oh my goodness! There was sooooo much to look at in every direction. So many things going on at once. I seriously wish that I would have taken Josh's GoPro camera and had it mounted to the top of the car. That would have been so cool! Then I could relive that awesome scene again and again.
Here's a picture Matt snapped through the car window. We were stopped by this jeep PACKED with people which was not unusual at all in India. What I love is that they are happy, smiling people just going about their business.
We stayed at a Radisson Hotel which was full of European tourists. It was a nice room with a nice toilet that you can put toilet paper in. You have to realize that that was a big deal for us in India. Enough said.
Matt spent five minutes with the hotel's palm reader. It was a bit freaky to hear what he said. He was right on about a bunch of stuff. He certainly isn't putting his faith and trust in this guy, but it was pretty darn interesting. I now wish I had had my palm read. I wonder what he would have said about me.
Agra was a good experience, but it was the beginning of a week of stomach issues that ultimately had to be knocked out with a large dose of antibiotics. So the last couple days of our trip were tainted with unpleasantness.
But onto the beauty of Agra's jewel... the Taj Mahal. The Crown Palace. It was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife who died while giving birth to their 14th child. They are both buried here. After 20 years and 20,000 workers, it was completed in 1643. The symmetry, proportions, and details in the workmanship is incredible especially when one remembers just how long ago it was built.
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| I was told to sit like a princess since this is where Princess Diana sat |
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| Check out the reflection in my sunglasses. |
These were the horse stables. So cool looking.
The Taj has many inlaid jewels in its gleaming white marble. Here's a very small example.
After seeing the Taj Mahal's inlaid work, we were taken to a place where we could learn about how it was and is still done today. It's a dying art that this family participates in. They make furniture and other pieces with inlaid work and ship these orders all over the world. It's a ton of work that takes months to complete. I can only imagine the cost. These two pics show a man sharpening something by hand...can't remember what he was doing. And the next pic shows a work in progress.
Next stop in Agra (after lunch of butter chicken and naan), we went down the river (the Yamuna River) to where Agra Fort is located. This was the residence of the royal families in Agra since the 1500s so it predates the Taj. It's made of sandstone. I'm sure it was amazing back then. It was fun to explore.
Here is poor Shah Jahan's view from his palace room where his mean son, who took over, imprisoned him for 8 years. Jahan was the king who built the Taj, and he could only admire it from down river until the day he died. BTW...the Yamuna River used to be much fuller, actually coming up very close to the palace.
Last on our list of sites was the "Baby Taj". It is thought that the Taj's design may of been patterned after this marble tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah since it was built before the Taj. This building marks the transition from the red sandstone architecture to the refined marble. It is a much smaller structure and so we weren't quite as impressed with it and just did a quick walk-around. While there, we stood and watched a group of kids playing naked in the Yamuna River. Right along side them were big, black water buffalo, the source of milk for many indians. Not a very clean place to play.
Good-bye Agra! Onto the big daddy, Delhi!
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