Taj Mahal

March 3rd I think it was that we arrived in Agra. But I have yet to tell you about our driver, Sanjeev. At first we thought he was really nice and informative, but we found out very soon that he could be pushy. By that I mean if he had a "suggestion," he would not let it go even after we said we had something else in mind. For example, we had read that the morning is the best time to visit the Taj Mahal and we got into Agra around 3pm so we were going to go the next day. But our driver kept saying sunset is the best time to go and we felt pressured to follow his 'advice.' As it turns out, sunset was a great time to go (although I'm still convinced that Sanjeev's real reason for wanting us to go at sunset is because it fit his plans better for leaving Agra in the morning.) But aside from the Sanjeev situation, the Taj Mahal was AMAZING to see in person! It was well worth an entire trip to India. The pictures don't do it justice.

When you're on the top most platform (and you can actually enter the Taj, although there's really nothing to see inside) you have to either take off your shoes, or cover them with slips as we have on here. Most people just walk around barefoot, but there is dust and bird poop everywhere so I wouldn't recommend it. Besides, the shoe covers come free with your entrance ticket.

Delhi

Okay, first let me say that my last blog entry did not post correctly. It only posted the very beginning for some reason and made India seem like the worst place ever. Don't get me wrong....it has a lot of negative aspect, but there are positives as well which include some pretty amazing sights.

So as I mentioned, Gina and I decided to hire a personal driver for 14 days, which began with a tour of Delhi (which seems so long ago to me at this point.) Here are the sights we say back on March 2nd:

First stop, a large temple where the scam artist tried to work their magic and make us a pay a ridiculous price to watch our shoes. You have to take your shoes off, but technically, no one has to watch them. Guys just decide to sit outside the temple and pretend to be official 'shoe watchers.' Our driver had warned us this would happen and that we should at least give them a small tip, which we tried to do but the shoe watcher got so angry! But then he realized his threats didn't scare us and refused to take any money at all.





Gotta love the beautiful robes they made us wear! :P

Next stop was an extensive area that was primarily built in honor of an emperor in the 16th century.














That day we also when to a nice park (which seemed like a haven from the rest of India). There was a memorial, the Raj Ghat, for Ghandi who was cremated there after his assasination in 1948. Nothing too exciting to see though. Then our last stop was the president's residence right down the road from Delhi Gate.


The next day, on our way out of Delhi, we stopped at a Fort and then a Bahai Temple, know as 'Lotus Temple' because of its shape.





P.S. Sorry for the spareness of my comments, but I'm going to try to speed through India, because I've already been in Nepal for 2 week and have tons of pics from the Everest Base Camp trek. So much to post!