Scroll down and click on "older post" if you have not read the 3rd part. Sightseeing and shopping around in Jaipur.
On the morning of 31st March we drove from Jaipur to Agra. We arrived in Agra at the afternoon in a hotel. The name of the hotel is
Hotel Agra Deluxe Plaza. In my opinion the name means the oposite. I guess you cannot imagine how the room looked like, the worst thing was the bathroom... I am not picky, and when I say "
dirty" I do really mean it. I dared not to take a shower. I was so afraid that my skin would get hurt and become ugly if I took a shower. In the next day I felt so dirty as I never have felt before, but it did not kill me though. During the evening the electricity failed so many times, so we had no aircondition during the night. The view from the window of the hotel room was not the best one I have seen. The lift up to the hotel was really tiny, dirty, dark, old and smelled pee... If you prefer the stairs you still can smell the pee, but not as strong as in the lift. In the corners of the stairs there were so much rubbish. I believe that this hotel had once been really clean and nice, so were the rooms too. I could see that from the furniture, the wall, the floor and so one. But maybe they have not been able to renew the building, things started to get old and dirty. The price was not high at all, so maybe it was worth the price...? The hotel's website is anyways very modern and eastern inspired! Click
>HERE< to watch the hotel's website. Well, I do not recommend this hotel to anyone. I forgot to tell you a funny and almost horrible story. It goes like this; as I am brushing my teeth in the evening on the arrival day and the first thing I noticed is the water! The water tastes salty and that is discusting. But the most discusting is when one of us joked with me. She said "Maybe the water was from our room as my son was showering, and so it continued all over the hotel.." Yuck, that joke made me want to scratch my own tongue!
Alright, before the evening we went out for a place where we could see how they shape stones and decorate on a plate of a table. Those employers are related/in family with people who build Taj Mahal. Inside we could see many things that they have made. I bough two mini Taj Mahals made of a special white stone(I do not know the name of the stone), one for me and another one for my BFF. The guide asked me who I will give the other one to, because I should give it to my love, so that he will love me forever or something like that. I said the truth that I am going to give it to my BFF. He laughed as if I was joking. Then I continued "Yes, it's true. Don't you know that she's my wife? We sleep together in the same bed every evening and you can cleary see how much we love each other" Then he stopped laughing but smiling and exchanged look from me to my BFF who just smiled. I think that was the best joke I could come up with... In the evening we went out to eat at an restaurant where we could site outside and enjoy the delicious food and the pleasant evening temperature. The food was really good and also spicy! The toilets were clean, because they got a cleaner there, but he ask you for money- which we all know how rude that is. I am afraid I do not remember the name of the restaurant, but it was really nice there.
On the 1st April at 6 o'clock in the morning we were already standing in the queue to get in to see Taj Mahal. There are two queues, one for males and another one for females. I think it is because of the security you have to go though before you enter. I think it was a wise decition of us to go there early in the morning. In the beginning there were not so many people there, but already at 8 o'clock the number of people just dobbled. In the morning you will get really nice light from the sunrise, if you love taking pictures, you have to get up early! And the temperature in the morning is really fresh and nice. I imagine how hot it could get in the middle of the day, and when you want to walk in the area around the Taj Mahal you have to take your shoes off. So, walk on heated stone in the middle of the day cannot be comfortable... There is a thing that I need to tell my blog followes about Taj Mahal;
DO NOT JUMP! The building is an Islamic building, so respect their believes and religion if you do not want to get in any trouble. I jumped a lot there because I wanted my BFF to take jumping-pictures outside the Taj Mahal, but the guards were really angry and stopped me by blowing in their flutes. I apologized gently, but I think I was thinking "You bloody tourist!".. One of my life's greatest chance is to see the Taj Mahal with my eyes, stand beside it and touch it... It was fantastic being there! You have not been in India if you have not been in Taj Mahal. This is one of the three top places you should go to when you are in India. If you are going to make a plane where to travel in India, the first place you shall go to on your list is Taj Mahal! I also heard that if you kiss someone when you are there the one you kiss will love and be faithful to you. I have a plan in my mind that I shall return to Taj Mahal when I have got a boyfriend, who I believe that I want to spend my life with! Haha... I do actually not believe in such thing... But the thought is quite romantic to be me, because I am unromantic. Click
>HERE< to read about the facts of the Taj Mahal. Anyways, here are some photos. Enjoy!
You have to go through that building when you enter.
The view of the Taj Mahal taken from the building on the last picture.
The first sight of Taj Mahal!
Me and the Taj Mahal. It looks like that I live on diet because of those two bottles of water!
This is a piece of art.
My BFF is holding Taj Mahal.
Over there is where we walked in...
Meditation in the morning. So nice!
The sun is behind me. Making jumping-pictures is lots of fun, but not on the Taj Mahal.
DO NOT DO what I did in this picture.
After we were finished there, as we walked out the shops beside the street have already opened. The sellers were everywhere. For once's sake I am thankful that I am tan, because no seller called or nagged on me and it was so wonderful to walk on that street without be interupted by a seller! As I enjoy the moment, the others got many sellers after them. So thank you that my skin colour saved me that day! The rest of the day we were sitting in the minibus. We were heading to Corbett. The trip was really long, I slept a lot because I could not get much sleep last night at the "deluxe" hotel, but as we arrived in Corbett I was still tired.
See you in the nest post soon!
Dancerwithoutshoes
