TD and TM in Agra

Hi all,

Well, the inevitable has happened, I got Shiva's Revenge. (I am now calling it this after the Montezuma's Revenge people get in Mexico. I have specifically named it Shiva's revenge because as the destroyer, Shiva has destroyed my digestive track.) I am not quite sure where my really upset stomach came from, but I have a few contenders at the top of the list (#1 being the pizza sauce that came with my pizza last night). But you never know here, the dishes couldn't have been properly washed or maybe the fruit in my fruit tart last night wasn't as well cooked as it appeared and felt. I think the best thing to do is come prepared with medication and to be very careful.

But, enough with that, I was feeling well enough to go out and be a tourist today. First we went to the Taj Mahal. Our driver, Manoj, had arranged for a tour guide for us, who was very helpful. Investing is a guide is well worth it, epically considering he only charged us Rs500 (after a 200 rupee tip, this all came out to be $14 for a professional guide). We had to be dropped off about a kilometer from the entrance and take an electric cart to the entrance, as the Indian gov't doesn't want the the pollution from cars to harm the Taj Mahal. This is done with good reason because The Taj Mahal is hands down the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The view from far away doesn't do it justice as the beauty is really in the detail. As we walked closer to this beautiful tomb we were able to see the great detail that went into it. The building is made of a beautiful white marble with a decorative inlaid pattern of precious gems. After walking inside, we could see the tomb with his wife in the center and him to the side. (He had originally intended on building a black version of the tomb across the river for himself, but his son placed him under house arrest for the latter parts of his life and this was never created, so he was buried next to his wife.) Also, I found out that what I was taught in 6th Grade was not true, the mogul king DID NOT cut off the hand of the architect. History has made him out to be mean, when he was kind and his son was the draconian ruler.

Side Note- Slumdog and the Taj Mahal: One fun fact, Slumdog Millionaire filmed briefly at the Taj Mahal, but did not have the proper permission to film, so they shot it really quickly and ran out. The Indian government only got wind of this once the movie became wildly popular. Also, they now give you a large mesh sock to slip over your shoes so you don't have to take them off. Unlike the movie, there were no beggars at the Taj Mahal, but there were many at the Red Fort.

Our next stop was the Agra Fort, this is the beautiful fort that is often referred to as the red fort, because it looks so much like the real red fort in Delhi. While the fort/wall itself is kind of cool, the interesting stuff is inside the fort. Most of the stuff inside the fort (Including the King's private mosque) is shut off to the public, but his old palace was visible. It is a shame that we couldn't spend more time there (it was brutally hot) because it was incredibly advanced in terms of architecture and art, very interesting!!

After this, our tour guide dragged us to one of those horribly touristy stores where they make incredibly overpriced crafts . I was irked by this because I could easily tell it is one of those deals where he gets paid for taking us there. After seeing the craftman's demonstration here and hearing just how over priced the crafts were (they wanted $400 for a set of coasters), we left and the tour guide lost a little bit of his tip.

After this, we returned to our hotel to take the afternoon off. We have seen all of the sites in Agra, and frankly it is a gross and dirty city. I am recovering from my stomach ache and have a massage scheduled for later this afternoon (once again, something that is less than half the price than in the states). Our hotel has one upscale restaurant where we will be eating dinner.

Also, today is independence day in India, so there has been a lot of excitement in the air with people singing and wearing special ribbons. I do find it strange, however, that India is a dry country on Independence Day.

We are heading to Jaipur tomorrow and staying at the Rambagh Palace. Check it out: http://bit.ly/8Y6gux