India Trip: Agra

After a couple days in Delhi we took a day trip over to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. The highway connecting the two cities was great. As we were crusing down I mentioned to Shveta, "This highway is almost as good as one in the US". She replied, "Yeah, except for the kid taking a dump by the road." Sure enough we zipped by a little boy squatting down by the road watching the cars go by. Unfortunately I was feeling a bit dizzy, which made the ride very nauseating for me, but I made it without incident. Vinay had arranged for us to stay at the Taj View hotel, a really nice hotel that supposedly has views of the Taj Mahal. Unfortuantely due to the smog you couldn't see far enough to tell.

After we checked in, we were anxious to go see the Taj. A guy met us in the lobby saying he was with the car rental company (we hired a car and driver from Delhi), and was our tour guide. We didn't realize that we got a tour guide with the car, but thought Vinay must have arranged it for us.

Soon we pulled up to the Taj, and were immediately awestruck by it. Its just like walking into a photograph, a beautiful white marble building on a raised platform. There were inlaid arabic carvings all around, and it just looked so stunning. It is one of the most majestic buildings I've ever seen. It seems simple, yet extravagant at the same time, and as impressive as you would think. We also happened to run into some Indian soap opera star on the way in, and Shveta's mom got a photo with him :)


We walked around for a bit, then started to wonder if this guide was legit or just some opportunistic guy. We called Vinay and he said that he didn't arrange for any guide, so after we got back to the hotel we decided to ditch him. The driver thought we were complaining about the guide, so he called him in. Apparently he was legit and was now on the verge of losing his job! We felt really bad, and Shveta's mom was calling all kinds of people telling them he was fine and it was all a big misunderstanding. In the end it turned out okay.

After dinner we went to her cousin's house for a little while for a chat. They were really nice, and had two kids who were being a bit shy. After a few hours of tea and talking, we went to bed to get an early start the next day.