Leaving Delhi early we drive by coach to Agra, once India's Mughal Capital. First impressions as we approach the city are that it is similar to Delhi with a lot of poverty and people struggling for a day to day existence.....again there are cows and countless stray dogs everywhere and people doing their washing in the river (supervised by the cows!)
First stop is the impressive AGRA FORT with its colossal walls behind which we find some of the finest Mughal buildings in India....it is huge with four different internal palaces, one of which became the prison for 19 years of the emperor Shah Jahan who the Taj Mahal which we can see sitting majestically in the distance. Money talks in India like everywhere else in the world and we were able to bribe a security guard to let us into the fantastic mirrored bathhouse of the queen as was, in the 1650's. The whole ceiling lit up like twinkling stars in a night sky when a couple of candles were lit in the darkened room!
MOVE OVER KAREN BRADY.....Returning to our coach we have the absolute pleasure of meeting a young lady destined I am sure to be the head of a big Indian conglomerate in the future....what an entrepreneurial young lady 12 year old Sonja was....living a very poor life by our standards she was desperate to better herself and earn money for her family during the school holidays...so there she was hawking packs of glittery pens and bangles to the tourist....but she was different from the rest...charming but not pushy and intelligent...turns out she spoke 7 languages (put us to shame) and was willing to chat even if she didn't sell anything.....which made me want to buy of course....and sell on her behalf to all the others on our tour....I wanted to take her home and mentor her...will watch out for her on India The Apprentice in about 10 years time!
SARIS FOR THE TAJ.......Well a suggestion/comment by someone on the bus grows momentum and after lunch we find ourselves heading for a Sari shop and many of the ladies (including myself) buying a Sari to wear for our much anticipated afternoon visit to the Taj Mahal....when in India and all that!
FUNNIEST THING OF ALL....None of us had a clue how to put them on! The lady owner of the hotel we checked into very kindly offered to dress us all and an amazing job she did too in the short time we had to get changed!
The Taj was every bit as stunning as we expected, so beautifully preserved and a true testimony to Emperor Shah Jahan's love for his wife who died after giving birth to their 14th child....Its not hard to appreciate why the white marble mausoleum took 20,000 people 23years to build.
Our sari wearing proved to be a big hit with the other tourists....almost elevated us to Bollywood Celebrity status...with everyone (girls, boys, women, families) wanting to have their photographs taken with us!!!
First stop is the impressive AGRA FORT with its colossal walls behind which we find some of the finest Mughal buildings in India....it is huge with four different internal palaces, one of which became the prison for 19 years of the emperor Shah Jahan who the Taj Mahal which we can see sitting majestically in the distance. Money talks in India like everywhere else in the world and we were able to bribe a security guard to let us into the fantastic mirrored bathhouse of the queen as was, in the 1650's. The whole ceiling lit up like twinkling stars in a night sky when a couple of candles were lit in the darkened room!
SARIS FOR THE TAJ.......Well a suggestion/comment by someone on the bus grows momentum and after lunch we find ourselves heading for a Sari shop and many of the ladies (including myself) buying a Sari to wear for our much anticipated afternoon visit to the Taj Mahal....when in India and all that!
FUNNIEST THING OF ALL....None of us had a clue how to put them on! The lady owner of the hotel we checked into very kindly offered to dress us all and an amazing job she did too in the short time we had to get changed!
Approaching the outside of the Taj Mahal suitably saried for the occasion!
One of those backdrops you would always want to be photographed against
Our sari wearing proved to be a big hit with the other tourists....almost elevated us to Bollywood Celebrity status...with everyone (girls, boys, women, families) wanting to have their photographs taken with us!!!
As dusk starts to fall the Taj becomes even more beautiful to look at.
A VERY SPECIAL DAY IN AGRA!
You are so beautiful on this traditional dress, ms. Colette.
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