We are boarding our flight, very excited.
It did not take long to realize that in India the donkeys, cows, camels, horses, dogs, and water buffalo are a major part of the traffic jams in Agra. These animals roam freely. The cows, once they are no longer bearing milk, are sent to the streets to live out their lives on scraps of food that restaurants and locals throw out to them to survive. You do not see much grass around here, as the cows and goats keep the grass mowed.
Some of the cows are quite large and you would not want to tangle with them to make them get out of your way, therefore, we waited. I hope I have caputered this well enough for you. In the picture with the man standing and looking away from you, he is coated in a green clay-like mask all over his body. This purifies his skin, keeps him from getting sunburned, is attractive for females to look at??, and is part of his pilgrimage. He may be a Sadu from Nepal. Basically, he and people like him, the Sadus, have dreadlocks, are nomadic, and are very devote Hindu people. He looks to be hanging out at this roadside tent for awhile. As you can tell it is very temporary looking. It also shows you a pile of rocks. There were piles of rocks everywhere you looked here. Either things were being torn down or being built we really never figured it out.
Store fronts were not very inviting. There were signs of sorts and everything had a 2 inch coat of dust on it. There were sweepers and wipers all over but they were fighting a battle they will never win. The dust is everywhere and always will be.
Not many vehicles on the road. They cannot afford the gas for them. Mostly people get around on foot, bikes, rickshaws, horses, or camels.
Sadly, the cast system forces the poorest cast to optimize their position. I was shocked to find out that some people purposefully amputate their children's limbs to make them better beggars. We did not see many beggars at all, so I hope this is a dying profession. Most everyone we saw had something for sale, which was good. Even thought some of the people selling things were 8 and 9 year olds.
Look at these handsome boys. I wonder how much more handsome they would be if they had something to smile about?
A tuk-tuk traffic jam, all because of a few water buffalo in the way!
Cows eat what ever they can find in the street. Some looked healthier than others, but they were everywhere.
This camel had a load to haul. They use donkeys, camels, elephants and water buffalos to haul their goods. They can't afford trucks and even if they could, they could not afford to put gas in them! The beasts of burden still exist here.
Horse drawn carts were everywhere.
The taxi for hire bikes are ready when you are.
Shed-like housing under bridges. Slums. Very sad.
People picking through garbage in a drainage ditch.
All this was out of our bus windows on the way to the hotel. Our hotel was very near the Taj Mahal and every room in the hotel has a view of the Taj Mahal. It was magnificent. By the time we made it to the hotel we felt dirty, tired and hungry. The hotel had a lunch prepared for our group.
Kathleen and Grant found their new favorite Indian food. It is called non-bread. It was sort of like a rubbery pita bread that they serve warm and you put butter on it. I asked the waiter how they make it, so he took us on a tour of the kitchen to see. The man in the black head wrap was making the non-bread. He took balls of dough about 2x2 in size and then flatened them out like pizza dough. He patted and patted and marked it with a "T" (taj mahal) and put it in the oven for my family and me!!!! ( Sorry). He threw it on the side of the clay oven until it bubbled up. It was then ready and offered them to us straight out of his oven. He was very nice and put up with our crazy questions.
Fort Agra. You won't believe this story but here we go. It seems that the Taj Mahal was built as a tribute of love. The love between Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz Muhal died giving birth to thier 14th child when she was 39 years old. While she lay dying, she made her husband promise her 2 things. First, to never have any children with anyone else and secondly, to build a monument to her for her permanent burial place that would express his love for her. After she died, Shah Jahan went into depression and mourning for two years, not really doing anything or seeing anyone. Then he decided it was time to put his talent to work. It seems he had studied architecture and was planning to fulfill his promise to his wife. He wanted to build the most magnificent building the world would ever know. He did. He had people from all over Europe and Asia come help him design and build the Taj Mahal, which simply means, " Dream in Marble". That is what it is. One huge building made totally out of white marble. There are 4 watch towers that you will see on all 4 corners of the Taj Mahal. Those were built for protection and were built at a slight angle away from the main part of the Taj Mahal, in the event there was an earthquake the towers would fall away from the Taj Mahal instead of crushing it. The contruction took 2 decades to complete. It was completed in December of 1631. Who would have thought that all those years ago, they would have been planning to protect this building from disaster?? Too bad they did not build the levys in New Orleans!! The Shah Jahan's fifth son thought his father had gone crazy, as he spent 20 million dollars in their time to build this for his wife and for his mother. Today, it would take over 300 million dollars to build. The fifth son, killed a few brothers ahead of him to gain charge. He put his own father in prison so to speak. However, the prison is called Fort Agra and it was lovely. He imprisoned his father before his father could start the construction of his own tomb which was believed to be situated across the river from the Taj Mahal and his would be made in black marble. That building never got started. Once his father was in prison, we had a long distance view of the Taj Mahal so he could admire his work from a distance. It was here that he stayed for the rest of his life.
These pictues are of the Fort where he was imprisoned. It was very lush. Gardens and fountains galore. Not like any prison you'd imagine.
Made of marble mostly as well it was not a bad way to spend his years.
The reason Kathleen is laughing so hard in this picture is because Nicholas was just attacked (fence barrier) by a monkey!! The monkeys we abundant and we were warned to stay away from them as they have rabies!! This monkey must not have liked Nicholas' Steelers hat. He jumped onto that fence you see here right in Nicholas' face and rattled the fence back and forth like a mad monkey!! Nicholas jumped 10 feet!! If we had captured this moment on video, we would have won America's funniest videos for sure!! Look at the archways. They look much like the Alhambra in Spain.
This is the gate that gets you into the Taj Mahal grounds.
Look at some of the local people that are with us. Their saris are all colors of the rainbow. The women in india are very elegant looking even if they are in a field behind a water buffalo, they have on their wonderful saris.
This is a shot as we were walking into the Taj Mahal. You can barely see through the crowd.
Our first glimpse of the magnificent building. Through the archway. You will see how the entire place is totally symetrical. It was late afternoon and we were here to see the sunset view of the Taj Mahal.
Charles and Bob were taking it all in before we went into where the bodies are entombed. Actually, their real tombs are in the basement of the Taj Mahal and they have made replicas for you to pass by. It seems that there were vandals that came and chipped jewels off the walls and they had to close it forever to the public. You cannot take pictures inside, so I took a picture of the sign to prove it to you that I tried.
You have to put "booties" over your shoes before you go inside. This is Nicholas preparing to go inside.
The Afternoon sun on the left side of the Taj Mahal makes all the embedded stones glisten.
Kathleen holding up the Taj Mahal!! Is she or isn't she??
Family photo time!
Nicholas has been asked in many countries to pose with other people's children. Maybe we should start charging?? Nicholas has a huge smile and these Indian boys look so sad. After the phot they both smiled from ear to ear. I guess they did not want to seem overly excited to have their picture made with a good 9 year old Auburn man with a Steelers cap on!!! Here we are with our Houston buddies, the Billings. Sunset was a marvel. Just like in the travel books. We stood and watched the sun sink behind these buildings and knew we were in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is situated right on the banks of the Yamuna river. I never even knew there was a river near it!!
Steep stairs to go in and out!!!
Goodnight Taj!!! Kathleen and Charles are pooped and ready to get a shower!!
Evening came and morning followed, the second day. You can't say you've seen the Taj Mahal unless you have seen it at sunset and sunrise!!! We got up before the sun to make it there to see the sun come up and kiss the right side of the Taj Mahal. It took longer than I thought. We waited and waited. It was really bug infested as well. That river causes many bugs and they were out in full force that morning. That is one reason they do not light the Taj Mahal. If they had lights on it at night, there would be bugs all over it for someone to clean and over time, just their little bug feet would deteriorate the beauty of the marble.
Everyone is waiting for the morning sun to light up the Taj Mahal!
A lot of waiting....is it worth it to be eaten alive by bugs for this maybe chance that the clouds won't bother our view???
Waiting patiently??
The answer is a resounding YES!!! It is worth the wait! Look at the way the sun brings the building to life. It was amazing. Just when thoughts had occured to me that they should tell you Disneyworld looks different at night so you'll come back a different day....and this happens!!!!
YEAH!! I'm glad we got up early for this is written all over our faces!!
Some of the cows are quite large and you would not want to tangle with them to make them get out of your way, therefore, we waited. I hope I have caputered this well enough for you. In the picture with the man standing and looking away from you, he is coated in a green clay-like mask all over his body. This purifies his skin, keeps him from getting sunburned, is attractive for females to look at??, and is part of his pilgrimage. He may be a Sadu from Nepal. Basically, he and people like him, the Sadus, have dreadlocks, are nomadic, and are very devote Hindu people. He looks to be hanging out at this roadside tent for awhile. As you can tell it is very temporary looking. It also shows you a pile of rocks. There were piles of rocks everywhere you looked here. Either things were being torn down or being built we really never figured it out.
Store fronts were not very inviting. There were signs of sorts and everything had a 2 inch coat of dust on it. There were sweepers and wipers all over but they were fighting a battle they will never win. The dust is everywhere and always will be.
Not many vehicles on the road. They cannot afford the gas for them. Mostly people get around on foot, bikes, rickshaws, horses, or camels.
Sadly, the cast system forces the poorest cast to optimize their position. I was shocked to find out that some people purposefully amputate their children's limbs to make them better beggars. We did not see many beggars at all, so I hope this is a dying profession. Most everyone we saw had something for sale, which was good. Even thought some of the people selling things were 8 and 9 year olds.Look at these handsome boys. I wonder how much more handsome they would be if they had something to smile about?
A tuk-tuk traffic jam, all because of a few water buffalo in the way!
Cows eat what ever they can find in the street. Some looked healthier than others, but they were everywhere.
This camel had a load to haul. They use donkeys, camels, elephants and water buffalos to haul their goods. They can't afford trucks and even if they could, they could not afford to put gas in them! The beasts of burden still exist here.
Horse drawn carts were everywhere.
The taxi for hire bikes are ready when you are.
Shed-like housing under bridges. Slums. Very sad.
People picking through garbage in a drainage ditch.
All this was out of our bus windows on the way to the hotel. Our hotel was very near the Taj Mahal and every room in the hotel has a view of the Taj Mahal. It was magnificent. By the time we made it to the hotel we felt dirty, tired and hungry. The hotel had a lunch prepared for our group.Kathleen and Grant found their new favorite Indian food. It is called non-bread. It was sort of like a rubbery pita bread that they serve warm and you put butter on it. I asked the waiter how they make it, so he took us on a tour of the kitchen to see. The man in the black head wrap was making the non-bread. He took balls of dough about 2x2 in size and then flatened them out like pizza dough. He patted and patted and marked it with a "T" (taj mahal) and put it in the oven for my family and me!!!! ( Sorry). He threw it on the side of the clay oven until it bubbled up. It was then ready and offered them to us straight out of his oven. He was very nice and put up with our crazy questions.
Fort Agra. You won't believe this story but here we go. It seems that the Taj Mahal was built as a tribute of love. The love between Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz Muhal died giving birth to thier 14th child when she was 39 years old. While she lay dying, she made her husband promise her 2 things. First, to never have any children with anyone else and secondly, to build a monument to her for her permanent burial place that would express his love for her. After she died, Shah Jahan went into depression and mourning for two years, not really doing anything or seeing anyone. Then he decided it was time to put his talent to work. It seems he had studied architecture and was planning to fulfill his promise to his wife. He wanted to build the most magnificent building the world would ever know. He did. He had people from all over Europe and Asia come help him design and build the Taj Mahal, which simply means, " Dream in Marble". That is what it is. One huge building made totally out of white marble. There are 4 watch towers that you will see on all 4 corners of the Taj Mahal. Those were built for protection and were built at a slight angle away from the main part of the Taj Mahal, in the event there was an earthquake the towers would fall away from the Taj Mahal instead of crushing it. The contruction took 2 decades to complete. It was completed in December of 1631. Who would have thought that all those years ago, they would have been planning to protect this building from disaster?? Too bad they did not build the levys in New Orleans!! The Shah Jahan's fifth son thought his father had gone crazy, as he spent 20 million dollars in their time to build this for his wife and for his mother. Today, it would take over 300 million dollars to build. The fifth son, killed a few brothers ahead of him to gain charge. He put his own father in prison so to speak. However, the prison is called Fort Agra and it was lovely. He imprisoned his father before his father could start the construction of his own tomb which was believed to be situated across the river from the Taj Mahal and his would be made in black marble. That building never got started. Once his father was in prison, we had a long distance view of the Taj Mahal so he could admire his work from a distance. It was here that he stayed for the rest of his life.
These pictues are of the Fort where he was imprisoned. It was very lush. Gardens and fountains galore. Not like any prison you'd imagine.Made of marble mostly as well it was not a bad way to spend his years.
The reason Kathleen is laughing so hard in this picture is because Nicholas was just attacked (fence barrier) by a monkey!! The monkeys we abundant and we were warned to stay away from them as they have rabies!! This monkey must not have liked Nicholas' Steelers hat. He jumped onto that fence you see here right in Nicholas' face and rattled the fence back and forth like a mad monkey!! Nicholas jumped 10 feet!! If we had captured this moment on video, we would have won America's funniest videos for sure!! Look at the archways. They look much like the Alhambra in Spain.
This is the gate that gets you into the Taj Mahal grounds.
Look at some of the local people that are with us. Their saris are all colors of the rainbow. The women in india are very elegant looking even if they are in a field behind a water buffalo, they have on their wonderful saris.
This is a shot as we were walking into the Taj Mahal. You can barely see through the crowd.
Our first glimpse of the magnificent building. Through the archway. You will see how the entire place is totally symetrical. It was late afternoon and we were here to see the sunset view of the Taj Mahal.
Charles and Bob were taking it all in before we went into where the bodies are entombed. Actually, their real tombs are in the basement of the Taj Mahal and they have made replicas for you to pass by. It seems that there were vandals that came and chipped jewels off the walls and they had to close it forever to the public. You cannot take pictures inside, so I took a picture of the sign to prove it to you that I tried.
You have to put "booties" over your shoes before you go inside. This is Nicholas preparing to go inside.
The Afternoon sun on the left side of the Taj Mahal makes all the embedded stones glisten.
Kathleen holding up the Taj Mahal!! Is she or isn't she??
Family photo time!
Nicholas has been asked in many countries to pose with other people's children. Maybe we should start charging?? Nicholas has a huge smile and these Indian boys look so sad. After the phot they both smiled from ear to ear. I guess they did not want to seem overly excited to have their picture made with a good 9 year old Auburn man with a Steelers cap on!!! Here we are with our Houston buddies, the Billings. Sunset was a marvel. Just like in the travel books. We stood and watched the sun sink behind these buildings and knew we were in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is situated right on the banks of the Yamuna river. I never even knew there was a river near it!!
Steep stairs to go in and out!!!Goodnight Taj!!! Kathleen and Charles are pooped and ready to get a shower!!Evening came and morning followed, the second day. You can't say you've seen the Taj Mahal unless you have seen it at sunset and sunrise!!! We got up before the sun to make it there to see the sun come up and kiss the right side of the Taj Mahal. It took longer than I thought. We waited and waited. It was really bug infested as well. That river causes many bugs and they were out in full force that morning. That is one reason they do not light the Taj Mahal. If they had lights on it at night, there would be bugs all over it for someone to clean and over time, just their little bug feet would deteriorate the beauty of the marble.
Everyone is waiting for the morning sun to light up the Taj Mahal!
A lot of waiting....is it worth it to be eaten alive by bugs for this maybe chance that the clouds won't bother our view???
Waiting patiently??
The answer is a resounding YES!!! It is worth the wait! Look at the way the sun brings the building to life. It was amazing. Just when thoughts had occured to me that they should tell you Disneyworld looks different at night so you'll come back a different day....and this happens!!!!
YEAH!! I'm glad we got up early for this is written all over our faces!!
Inlaid marble tables are all the rage here. We went to a marble factory after we left the Taj Mahal to see them being made.
Who knew that they make purses in India with REAL jems sewn on them??? Yikes!! These were beautiful and reasonably priced. Nicholas is trying to help me decide which handbags to buy.
This tapestry is worth over $3 million dollars. It has REAL jems sewn into it to create the flowers and vase! Amazing.
Kathleen is happy that I finally made a decision about the handbags!!
Years ago, I started taking pictures of our hotel rooms when we travelled. When I saw these rooms after seeing such poverty, it was a welcome sight but to imagine those poor people on the outside of those gates, it leaves you with an empty feeling. We had such a beautiful place to shower, eat and sleep and they were basically laying in dirt.
Our room and our view of the Taj Mahal from our room!
The pool at our hotel! I did not pack any bathing suits as our schedule did not have any room for swimming but it would have been a nice way to spend the day!
Lobby area in the hotel.
Magnificent flowers all over the hotel. This is the entrance of the hotel.
These are fountains outside the front entrance. The man in the middle is playing a flute but there was no COBRA!!! I left India without seeing a cobra! Can you believe it? They say there are cobras in Egypt!!!!
Nicholas needed something to eat before we flew back to Mumbai. He was very happy with his choice of a chicken sandwich (plain) and french fries!!
The bellboys at the hotel saying goodbye.
Our flight to Mumbai was easy and we set sail for Oman. I hope I gave you a good tour. Not many people get to do what we did over the last 2 days. It was a trip of a lifetime. I hope you enjoyed our tour as well.
Who knew that they make purses in India with REAL jems sewn on them??? Yikes!! These were beautiful and reasonably priced. Nicholas is trying to help me decide which handbags to buy.
This tapestry is worth over $3 million dollars. It has REAL jems sewn into it to create the flowers and vase! Amazing.
Kathleen is happy that I finally made a decision about the handbags!!
Years ago, I started taking pictures of our hotel rooms when we travelled. When I saw these rooms after seeing such poverty, it was a welcome sight but to imagine those poor people on the outside of those gates, it leaves you with an empty feeling. We had such a beautiful place to shower, eat and sleep and they were basically laying in dirt.
Our room and our view of the Taj Mahal from our room!
The pool at our hotel! I did not pack any bathing suits as our schedule did not have any room for swimming but it would have been a nice way to spend the day!
Lobby area in the hotel.
Magnificent flowers all over the hotel. This is the entrance of the hotel.
These are fountains outside the front entrance. The man in the middle is playing a flute but there was no COBRA!!! I left India without seeing a cobra! Can you believe it? They say there are cobras in Egypt!!!!Nicholas needed something to eat before we flew back to Mumbai. He was very happy with his choice of a chicken sandwich (plain) and french fries!!
The bellboys at the hotel saying goodbye.
Our flight to Mumbai was easy and we set sail for Oman. I hope I gave you a good tour. Not many people get to do what we did over the last 2 days. It was a trip of a lifetime. I hope you enjoyed our tour as well.
