Agra


Journeyed east of Jaipur to Agra, it took about 4 hours on the road. On the way to Agra, we made a pit stop at Fatehpuhr Sikri located 45 minutes outside of Agra. A World Heritage site, the palace is very impressive. As long as you can fight your way through the beggars and street hawkers, the interior is quite peaceful. It also helps that you have to pay to get in and I think it keeps most of the populace outside. There are still people trolling inside offering "tours" but one can waive them off easily (at least in comparison to other places in India).



After touring the palace, the group decided to visit the mosque next door. Although a very nice looking mosque, the hordes of beggars and street hawkers inside this mosque should deter your interest. You can't walk in and view the area without constantly being harassed by the local population to either buy a trinket or give money. Unfortunately, the mosque is free to the public and hence the hordes of locals waiting inside. After being chased out, we continued on to Agra and checked into the ITC Mughal, Agra. Part of the luxury collection under the Starwood portfolio, the ITC hotels is actually part of the tobacco conglomerate in India - India Tobacco Company. It is also the "greenest" luxury hotel chain and there were various signs around the hotel claiming it met LEED standards. Whatever your environmental policy is, the hotel is a very nice complex and I wished I had more than a one night stay here. On a clear day, you can see the Taj Mahal from the observation deck at the hotel. It was too foggy to see very clearly when I went but I was heading over there anyways. :)


Went to see the Taj Mahal. It is an amazing structure and I can't imagine the kind of skill and devotion it would take to build such an impressive monument. In the modern age, nothing would take 22 years to build and definitely not to this level of craftmanship.




Afterwards, went to the Agra Fort. Another World Heritage site, the fort is impressive with two marble mosques within the complex. There is a tower where you can see the Taj Mahal at a distance and it still looks impressive from another venue. :)To be honest, after seeing so many forts on this trip, they are beginning to run together for me. It is still interesting to me that the Indians could build so much and yet today are known for things like Tata cars.

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