Agra

We may have only been in Agra for a short time but it was great! I was feeling better and excited for the couple of days of the trip but first we had to get there. We took a  5 hour train ride from Jaipur to Agra which was an experience in and of itself. The train station is crammed full of people which makes getting around (with your bags) a challenge. The ride was a good time to relax and think about my time in India. Once in Agra it was another complex maze out of the station to our bus and to the hotel.

The plan was to walk to the Taj Mahal to get a night view but it happened to not be lit up the night we were there and with the walls that surround it we were told we wouldn't be able to see it from outside. We spent some time on the roof top patio before deciding to find a bar or someplace to spend our last night together. According to the tuk-tuk driver the place was only 1km away - now I don't know the metric system super well but where he took us was much, much farther than 1km. Luckily it was closed so we ended up at a place closer to out hotel. We had been told to be cautious about the places drivers take you because often they make commissions for taking you to certain restaurants or stores. We actually experienced this in Jaipur so we had a pretty good idea what was going on. We ended up at "Zee-Bar" probably one of the only bars in the city since drinking isn't a major past-time in India. We had a good time, lots of laughs and a nice last night.

The next morning was the day we were so excited for - the Taj Mahal! “The Taj Mahal was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is widely considered as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and stands as a symbol of eternal love.” Now I know I shouldn’t cite Wikipedia but this isn’t a research paper and I swear our tour guide told us the same thing!!! Apparently before she died she asked him to build something beautiful in her honor and this is his grand gesture. It took over 20 years to construct and many of the thousands of workers lived on site in the courtyard rooms. It was absolutely beautiful and I was so impressed to find out that all of the color is actually stone - there is no painting at all on the building. We also learned that the work done on the Taj Mahal is done by family members of the original workers. The skills of how to repair the inlay work have been passed down from generation to generation. This is just one example of the familial loyalty that is so prevalent in India to this day.