Agra!

After saying farewell to all the staff in the hotel who had treated us like family during our stay the following morning, we jumped in a taxi which took us to Ajmer station around 11, to catch a train to Agra!! Trains in India are somewhat an experience to say the least, especially when you are slumming it like us and taking sleeper class everywhere you go. Never again will we complain about National Rail trains back at home! The beds are no better than an elaborate bench, where we had 4 people squished on each row... After 7 hours we reached Agra, getting a lift with the hotel pickup service with another backpacker. Our driver stopped at the side of the road about 10 minutes into the journey, got out and ran over to a wall next to where we parked up.. we naturally followed, to find our first sitings of the Taj! Despite being dark, just seeing the outline immediately clarified how sensational it is. What makes the Taj Mahal even more breathtaking is that Agra itself is a massive dive; to find this beautiful masterpiece plonked right inbetween slums, shanty's and delapodated housing truly emphasised its beauty. After arriving at the hotel, we caught a quick bite to eat at the rooftop restaurant, which had some of the best views of the Taj in Agra, which we definitely agreed with. Tucking into a cheese and mushroom omelette with those views was surreal.

The following morning we wanted to wake early to catch the sun rise over the Taj while also attempting to avoid the flocking numbers of tourists the it brought in. By 5.45 we were queueing outside, with luckily only around 20-30 people in front of us. We were told by our hotel that we could get in at 6 however upon arriving at the ticket booths, that turned out to actually be 6.30 and so, after 45 minutes of waiting, the queue rose from numbers of 30-40's to several hundreds! Due to the Taj being a World Heritage Site and arguably one of the most beautiful sites in the world, security was tight, taking us about 5-10 minutes to get through the metal detectors, body searches and bag search... The guards initiating the laborious process were suprisingly friendly, however the bag search turned out to be somewhat ridiculous. Obviously waking at 5 to get there, we had a few snacks in our bag to keep us going before we had breakfast, but understandably wanting to keep the site clean from litter no food could be eaten in the grounds. The guards spent time lecturing us about how we shouldnt eat inside resulting in them wanting a 'promise' from us that we would not have a munch walking around... Despite that really being the only notice about forbdden items, what happened next was hilarious, in fact so ridiculous that we thought the two guards were taking the piss and leading us on. They found... our playing cards! So we opened the box to show them that they were simply cards; after examining them for several minutes (we both thought they were going to start a game of whist) they instructed us to either put them in a locker or a bin outside, both of which would mean having to join the massive queue of people once again. Both shocked at the absolute absurdity of the rules and restrictions, Tim had to venture outside once again and bin them... WE WERE DEVASTATED.


Luckily having a laugh with the guards meant that Tim was let straight back in, bypassing the line that by now had grown to what seemed like a kilometre in length! Walking through the south gate alone was stunning, surrounding us with red stone walls with impressive detailing, reaching the main gate and firstt seeing the views of the main attraction was out of this world. Many people say that seeing a photo of a panoramic mountain view or a historic, famous site like the Taj is enough, we both entirely agree. It's one thing seeing a photo, and its something completely different in the flesh.
It was built by Moghul Emporor, Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, standing now as a symbol of eternal love, not a bad memorial if you ask me! The solid marble structure is the finest example of Mughal architecture, combining elements of Persian, Islamic and Indian styles, it truly is the most beautiful building either of us have ever seen. We walked down towards it, passing the fountains and taking snaps as we went. Walking on the marble plinth that it sits on was incredible and we took full advantage perching on the wall and just staring for at least an hour! The image inside of the two tombs, King and Queen together centralised was incredibly powerful. Taking a moment to appreciate the incredible opportunity that we had been lucky enough to experience, we walked back slowly, peering over our shoulders every 30 seconds in sheer astonishment of the view before leaving the site to head back for breakfast!

That afternoon we booked our train tickets up to Sunauli, stoppig off in Lucknow, managing to get a second seat train to Lucknow and have the luxury of 3AC from Lucknow to Sunauli!!