Agra - The Taj

Day 129 & 130.

We arrived in Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal with little expectations for the town itself. Not only had we been warned to not venture into town or head out at night by literally every backpacker but more worryingly by most Indians we have met too.

Hopes weren't high but we arrived at the bus station relatively drama free, in fact it was much more pleasant than departing Jaipur early that day which upon departing our taxi I'd been tightly grabbed around the ankle by a man missing not only his other arm but both legs also, moving only on a wooden plank with skateboard wheels attached. Having become relatively acclimitased to such sights meant I was only slightly unnerved & moved on swiftly, however a common and sad sight nonetheless.

On a slightly more uplifting note 6 hours after this we were at the Taj Mahal!! After quickly dumping our bags in our nearby hostel we headed straight for sunset on the nearest rooftop, feeling we deserved an ice cold beer after a long travel day. Limbster nailing it with her choices once more delivered the perfect spot for 360° views and most importantly the best view of the Taj outside the city - it was perfect. We sat for hours sharing shandy's and veg pakoda, surrounded only by the local children flying their kites in the wind and the overwhelming presecene of the monument itself.

After opting out of rising at dawn the next day for the most desired Taj photos we enjoyed a proper lie in. It might sound odd but moving about so much and squeezing those lemons each and every day means regular alarms - so it was nice for once to set it for 9.45am. After a leisurely breakfast we headed to the much anticipated Taj, and it did not disappoint.

Feeling budget savy I'd sourced a cheeky free audio tour the night before, benefits of this being two fold, not only did we enjoy a 2 hour humour filled Taj audio tour but the presence of our headphones deterred most shouting touts & unwanted Indian tourist attention from our paths. I say most, it depends how you look at it really, today we were asked for 23 selfies from different groups when in the Taj itself - yes we counted.

After concluding our audio tour (which was amazing btw) we felt obliged to get the typical Taj tourist photos, we're here once after all! This isn't as easy as it looks however, and I promise you every photo you see with no bulging crowds of indian tourists included means soneone has fought hard to get it. Turns out just like the masses we were willing to do just that too and managed a few cheeky crowd free snaps ourselves (they're not winning any prizes but will do for us!)

After a relatively sketchy final dinner (Agra wasn't advertised as a culinary destination after all) we packed our things and headed to our night Bus. It was time to cross East & see what Varanassi has in store for us.Читать далее