Agra

Us and the Taj
see all photos »

When we stepped off the overnight train in Agra, we could sense that the levels of hassle we were about to receive were on the increase. After asking the people who were following us around the station to leave us alone several times to no avail, we ended up in a childish situation where we pretended they didn't exist and ignored everything they said even though they were constantly in our faces talking at us for about ten minutes. They looked on in utter disbelief as we eventually escaped their clutches by getting in someone else's autorickshaw to take us to the hotel.

Twilight
see all photos »

We booked into a cheap hotel right next to the Taj Mahal and quickly set off to see Agra Fort. Agra was the first place we had seen cycle rickshaws and as we were walking to the fort we gave into one of them who was pleading for us to get in for a very cheap price.The journey turned out to be really awkward as the 'driver' or cyclist was very elderly and began really struggling as we started going up a slight hill. We felt terrible and wanted to get out and push but he insisted on carrying on. The whole thing was very wrong and we left, giving him a tip and vowing never to use one of the cycle rickshaws again!

Home of the Taj

Agra Fort
see all photos »

We enjoyed our morning looking around the red fort and then had lunch at a rooftop restaurant to get our first views of the Taj Mahal. After lunch, we spent the whole afternoon until sunset at the Taj Mahal, which is a truly beautiful building. It's set in lovely gardens and was just a fantastic place to spend the afternoon.

We went to another rooftop restaurant for dinner to try catching our last glimpses of the Taj by moonlight. In the morning it was an early rise to catch the train to Jaipur.