India - Delhi and Agra

So here we are on the last leg of our trip -welcome to H'India (as the Bomber would say!) And to kick off with how about a picture of the icon itself - The Taj Mahal! This isn't the first place we visited (this is Agra, not Delhi) but we went for maximum blog impact!! It's every bit as beautiful as it looks here, this is 6am by the way. It rained all night and we thought we weren't going to see it but we had some luck and just before sunrise the sky cleared.

Do you want some history or do you just want to look at the pictures? You've no choice really! Described as the most extravagant monument ever built for love, the Taj Mahal was built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his second wife who died in childbirth. The job started in 1631 and 20,000 Indian and Asian workers were used to build it. Our guide reckons it's not clear how long it took to build, but judging by how long it takes to build a road here, I reckon at least 20 years! Can you believe that in the early 20th Century it was in a bad state of repair and was even vandalised? Anyway, they got their act together and restored it. A free cup of tea if anyone can tell us what happened to Emperor Shah Jahan not long after the construction was complete?

Enough history - this is Elvis waiting in the airport in Singapore- we got so engrossed in getting the Vietnam blog up to date that we lost track of time and had to run for the plane!

Delhi now (the real first stop), this is Jama Masjid mosque, built by guess who? Only the same bloke that built the Taj - a busy lad he was!

Unfortunately, we had to take turns to visit as they wouldn't let us in unless we were totally covered and as we only had one spare sarong (yes guys, I - Keith - have worn a sarong) so it was one at a time! The next picture was taken from the tall tower on the left and it's a story of cloth almost touched - if you know what I mean!

So there I am standing at the top of the tower admiring the view of Delhi old town when an incredible storm hit - this is the last picture I dared to take before sprinting down the stairs and for cover. It started as a sand storm and then wind, lightening and rain. It was so severe that sixteen people were killed!

This is inside the Red Fort - so named as it's constructed from red sandstone. Any idea who built this one then? Yes, you guessed the only guy who seemed to do any work around here (I know how he feels!) Emperor Shah Jahan! It's quite an impressive site although, apparently nothing like what it looked like in 1648.

Here's a mystical sarong clad lady of the West roaming around the Fort. I love this picture!

This is the non sarong clad me posing in the Fort gardens.

The Red Fort really showing off its redness. This was just after that horrific storm that struck and all the sandstone looks so much more red when it's wet. The fort walls go all the way around and there was once a moat - long since dried up!

Back to Agra and the grounds of the Taj Mahal again, these kids are cooling off in one of the fountains.

Looking back from the Taj Mahal, this is the West entrance gate - the most impressive. The Taj Mahal is almost symmetrical i.e. it looks the same from four directions. The gates are different though and the East side of the Taj faces the Yamuna river.

This is a view down the river from the back of the Taj.

Well it is the monument of lovvvvvvve!

In India, this is how the research part of the trip is handled. Elvis studies the guide book and I study the menu.




This is a picture from the streets of Delhi.

A gorgeous girl that wanted her picture taken in the Taj. Her Dad had a film camera so they were amazed to see a digital picture of themselves.

Speaking quite frankly, even after travelling 11 months, nothing quite prepares you for India. We felt a little out of our depth the first day in Delhi. There's so many people around, so much traffic and the size of the country is overwhelming. Anyway, after slapping ourselves in the face, drinking coffee and eating cake and then getting some research done we decided on visiting three areas and got a plan going. We decided to visit Rajasthan, easily the most cultural part of India and we've hired a driver to take us around. It's very cheap in India to have your own driver - so another wish come true - chauffeur driven!! We'll then fly to the South, to Kerala for a few days and then take a train to Goa for some 'beach work' before flying to ho ho ho ho home (it's not easy to say) . Hey - slow down though, that's all for future blogs!

Cup of tea answers and 'such like' section. First though, Lord Farquar, how dare you bring the blog in to disrepute by using the word 'testicles' in a public forum -we were quite shocked! I'm sure you must have meant tentacles, but still, consider yourself barred from the blog until you learn some English manners! Uncle Keith will kick your a** for this next time he sees you - as he normally does! Paula - the Bomber comment re: finding a phone that works in India was great - we've had a few comments about that one!

Cups of tea to Ginny/Outsourcer for the highest mountain in Asia - Fansipan and one to Birthday boy 'Un Big On' - What steps do you take if you see a Shark - Answer Bloody git big ones (copyright Bomber)!! A cup to Ann (Mam Elves) too who correctly answered Ginny's question. Ann, Ginny's coming over soon so don't forget to get her to make you some tea!! No one bags the tea for guessing how much 'gear' Elvis got made in Hoi An. Good try Mam Elves, the only contender but remarkably the answer is NOTHING! (I hope this is a sign for the future!)