Agra

Agra is a pretty standard non descript (by indian terms) city...oh, except for the Taj Mahal...one of the 7 wonders of the world. the best time to see it apparently is at sunrise, but as we arrived in Agra just before sunset, we decided to take a look. a significant recurring theme of the trip was the pollution. its unbelievable, at times, you cannot see 300 metres in front of you (thats an arbitrary figure...i didnt actually measure, ok, lets say 324 metres). this is caused by the traffic and industry which goes pretty much unregulated.

the Taj itself has more security than most airports due to serious bomb threats. the plan was that our driver would hook us up with pre arranged guides at each location, who would show us around each. the one in the taj was a decent guy, who rattled off the history and names and dates galore...none of which i could remember within 15 seconds (again, arbitrary...erm, 17 seconds then)

we jumped in a tuk tuk from the hotel and made our way to the Taj. when we got there, we were met by a mass of people, stalls, kids begging, kids trying to sell us postcards and trinkets ('very good price mister')...and many other people with numerous ways to get money from us. its incredibly hard to say no sometimes, they are probably the best salesmen i have ever met. but, you just have to be polite and say 'no thank you, but thank you' (this didnt last the 2 weeks i can tell you)

kamala is malaysian by birth, but her parents are from sri lanka, and her descendents from india, so, she looks indian. i mention this only as she was charged 20 rupees for entrance (£0.25) for being 'indian', where i was charged 700 rupees (£8) simply for being a 'whitey'. not for the first time on this trip, being a whitey became more expensive.

the taj itself is incredible, yes, we've all see the pictures, we all know what it looks like, but as you walk through the entrance gate and the white marble structure is there in front of you, its awe-inspiring, i cannot describe it, its just jaw-droppingly amazing. even with the mass of people there jostling for position, its an incredible sight. it almost looks like a 2D picture drawn onto the sky in a 'Trueman Show' style.

2 facts that i do remember:

1 - it was built by the Maharager as a monument to his second wife upon her death. unfortunately, before it was finished, his son deposed him on the throne, imprisoned him in the nearby Red Fort and claimed it for himself

2- if you look at the 4 towers, they lean outwards ever so slightly. this was at first thought to be an optical illusion, then an engineering error, however, the current belief that it was done so deliberately so that if there is an earthquake, the towers fall away from the Taj and doesnt destroy it.

3 - (theres a 3rd) the Taj uses no cement to hold the marble together, each piece has a locking device to attach it to the other, so if one fell, the whole building would collapse

the weird dark photo with spots on...well, thats just a shot taken with flash, the dots are simply to airborne pollution...this is what you are breathing in all day and night. not nice

the restaurant photo still makes me laugh for 2 reasons. 1, we ordered indian made wine....oh my god...its the worst taste i have EVER tasted...jeez, its soooo bad. 2, we learned a valuable lesson that night, that our driver (who does these tours a lot) has specific restaurants and shops that we happened to be taken to...we since learned that he takes a commission from these places to take us unsuspecting tourists there, hmmm...