We get up early to watch the sunrise with the Taj Mahal in the background, for this we go to the restaurant of the Hotel Sani, which has a terrace with a view where we had dinner the night before.
Views of the Taj Mahal from the roof of the Sani
Views of the Taj Mahal from the roof of the Sani
You have to be patient because they make the food at the moment even the purchase, so since you ask, they go to the market and cook it you can wait quietly an hour. But we are not in a hurry, the views are spectacular. There is some mist in the air so you can't see the sun clearly, but the mausoleum is impressive, totally symmetrical with its four minarets and behind it the river, surrounded by high walls of reddish earth.
Rooftops
After breakfast we return to Sheela, we make the backpack and we stay with a room to leave the bags and take a shower at the end of the day, tonight we travel by train to Khajuraho.
Entrance to Taj Mahal
Entrance to Taj Mahal
We walk to get the tickets to visit the Taj Mahal, we are approached by an electric bus. Once you pass the main door the feeling is hard to describe, the main building is perfectly framed between four symmetrical minarets, in front of it beautiful gardens and a pond in which its silhouette is reflected. It is a magical place. There are hundreds of people and it is very early, but there are very few of us Westerners. Indispensable.
Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
We walk through the gardens and arrive at the foot of the building, you have to leave your shoes before going up to the platform on which is also made of marble. It is beautiful, all in marble and precious stones, decorated with verses from the Koran.
People inside Taj Mahal
People inside Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
Sitting girl
It is curious that inside it is as hot as outside. Inside is the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, his favorite wife.
We sit on the back terrace to admire it, the one closest to the Yamuna River. Suddenly a man comes up to us and asks if we can take a photo with his son, we say yes, then more people start to join in and more and more people want to take a photo with us, what a laugh we have. Some of them were taking pictures of us, but less of them. We are almost an hour, he he we are going to be in the photo albums of dozens of Indian families.
Back of the Taj Mahal
We get up and we go to pick up our shoes, a boy asks me for a photo and I say yes, I grab him by the shoulder without realizing it, a friend arrives and asks me for a photo, and then another and another, I start to get nervous and I tell them I don't want any more, the first boy apologizes and thanks me. It was a bit tense, suddenly you are surrounded by a group of boys and you get overwhelmed, they immediately take a lot of confidence.
A cow
We leave the Taj, it's so hot that we go to the bar-beer for a drink, suddenly it starts to rain, the monsoon accompanies us, we want to go to the Red Fort, we take a ricshaw. At the entrance, a lot of people asking, a girl comes with a baby in her arms asking for money, the truth is that it breaks your heart when you see certain situations.
Red Fort
The Red Fort was built under the rule of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. It is a spectacular military fortification composed of a group of buildings surrounded by a reddish stone wall with a moat. We walk inside, huge courtyards separate the buildings, the Shis Mahall or Palaicio de Crital has a room where Sha Majal lived his last years, they say that his children confined him there to take over, decorated in marble with beautiful lattices and views of the Tah Mahal where his last wife is buried.
Red Fort
Red Fort
Interior
Views of the Taj Mahal
Jahangiri Mahal is also a spectacular building inside the Fort. Also the Anguri Bagh, Khas Mahal or the Mussaman Burj. Indispensable.
Red Fort
We go to eat at the accommodation, we connect to the Internet, it starts raining again. We take a rich shaw to visit a nearby market, when we arrive the rain has flooded everything, there is more than twenty centimeters of water.
Red Fort
We go back to Sheela, pick up our things and go to the train station. We buy the tickets to Khajuraho. The Agra station leaves us stunned, you can't see the floor of the platform from the amount of dead insects. There are some big resistances and they fall like flies. A man with a broom throws them on the track, and dogs and rats run to eat them. The smell is unbearable and yet people lie on the platforms waiting for the train.
Family photo in Red Fort
This time we were lucky and were able to book a sleeping car. They give you sheets and blankets, we have about 10 hours until we reach Khajuraho, so today we sleep again in the train.
Accommodation: Sheela Hotel 600 rupees double room with air-conditioned bathroom in a beautiful garden.
Breakfast: Hotel Sani, all very nice and good views.
Train from Agra to Khajuraho: 400 rupees per pax (sleeper).
Red Fort entrance fee: Rs.300 per pax
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