03.28.2024 Agra to Jaipur, India

Welcome to sunrise at the Taj Mahal in Agra in India. Our guide picked us up at 5:45am this morning for a sunrise visit to the Taj Mahal.
The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658) to house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.
What an experience. The tile work, the marble, the precious stone linkage were beautiful.Photos will never do it justice.
We returned to our hotel the Jaypee Palace, a beautiful hotel for breakfast and to shower, repack and get on the road. Before leaving Agra, we visit a marble factory where we learned how they inlay the gemstones. Fascinating.
We then proceeded to a carpet store where we learned how they make hand knotted carpets. Diana got to burn the carpet. (all part of the process). They were beautiful, extremely labor intensive and expensive.
We left the city and headed to Jaipur.
A holy cow (dressed up, so he is sacred) and the milkman. It is true the cows just roam the streets wherever they wish. The children were so enchanting. They loved us to take their pictures.
We arrived at the Hilton in Jaipur around 6:30 pm. Got checked in and headed to the bar with our crew and Don and Kully from our ship joined us.
We ordered a pizza a beer. Off to bed we have another early morning tomorrow.Read more