An early start to beat the traffic in Delhi was required today as we were off to Agra to see the fort and the Taj Mahal.  I had always thought that the Taj Mahal was going to be the highlight of this trip so I had very high expectations.

Driving in India requires the nerve and reactions of a fighter pilot (that turned out to be rather apt later in the holiday) and sitting on a coach you need a steely reserve so that you don’t shout “look out” every 10 minutes or so! The road system and driving requires a separate episode of the blog on its own, and I have enough photos of the strange things you see, so watch this space!

We were dropped off by the front entrance to the fort and were immediately mobbed by beggars and hawkers.  It was slightly unnerving to have to battle through the crowds towards the gate of the fort and to get to the relative peace and quiet of its confines.

Once we got inside, not only was it beautiful but everything was a lot calmer. There were still a lot of people around but there was a sense of order and all we had to do was look out for Sunil’s black flag and we knew we were all going in the right direction!

Jane couldn’t wait for her lunch so she had a quick snack while she waited for every one to catch up!

Agra Fort was built between 1565 and 1573 by some 4000 builders who worked on it every day until it was completed. Shah Jahan was probably the most famous resident and it was he who built the Taj Mahal for his favourite wife…………..

And here is a picture of my favourite wife with the Taj Mahal in the background!  This picture was taken from the top of the fort at Agra and it looks great from here so I can hardly wait for this afternoon’s visit!

Well, we have booked in to our hotel, had our lunch and its now nearly time for the main event!

It’s getting closer, now if only these people will move out of the way then I can take a photo, or two or three, or maybe more!

Here is a shot of the motley crew that we shared our coach with.  Well when I say motley, I really refer to myself I suppose!

Oh how lovely……..

Well you can’t have too many photos in front of this majestic building…………

I was just overawed at the sheer spectacle of this place, and from whichever angle you looked at it, it was all in perfect symmetry.

The colours of the many other visitors added to the brilliance of the day.

Well if its good enough for Princess Di!

I took so many photos it seemed a shame to waste them!

So to sum it all up then, this place far exceeded my already high expectations.  It truly is one of the 7 Wonders of the World!

(Not too much history to read, but plenty of photographs to view!)