Impossible India

I'm finally back home and it feels great to be back. India was definitely a great adventure and there are many wonderous sights to see, but it also has its share of hardships and difficulties. Here's my first run of photo's these take in the sights from our "Golden Triangle" leg through Agra and Jaipur. The highlights of this part of the tour was Agra Fort, Taj Mahal in Agra and the Amber Palace in Jaipur.

We headed out from Delhi on Sunday morning at 9am with a 5 hour drive in front of us to get to Agra. AkbarsTomb was the first stop on our whirlwind 3 day tour. Our driver stopped here, but since he didn't speak any english, we weren't quite sure where we were. Akbars tomb was quite impressive, though perhaps not considered one of the greater sights in Agra.

Akbars Mausoleum

This is the tomb of the great Mughal king Akbar, building commenced in 1602 and was finished by his son Shaha Jahanin 1612 after Akbars death in 1605. We spent all of 30 mins wandering around the complex.

Main gate

Main tomb complex

Awestruck guys in front of tomb

Impressive archway of main gate

Agra Fort

Agra fort, also known as the Red fort of Agra is a 16th century mughal fort that is a world heritage listed site. Its is referred to as red fort as it is built from red sandstone and its walls extend an impressive 2.5 Km around the various palaces and halls.

Just so we know where we are

Agra fort entrance, we had to cross a small bridge and moat to enter through the Amar Singh gate

The walk upto the main courtyard

View of the keep from within the fort

View from the courtyard to the main entrance of the keep

I don't know what they're called, but these squirrel things are everywhere

A view of the Taj Mahal from Agra Fort

Palace grounds

Taj Mahal

Completed in 1653, the Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan to enshrine his wife. It took a workforce of 20,000 over 20 years to build, stands 55 meters tall and is made from yellow and white marble. The main thing I recall is that the acoustics inside the Taj are amazing.

Main entrance gate to the Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal

Text from the Koran adorn the outside entrance ofthe Taj Mahal, it's black marble inlaid in white marble and is amazingly crafted

Sightseeing can get tiring

Fatehpur Sikri

Fatehpur Sikri is an old abandoned city that was built by Akbar. It is some 37Km outside Agra, but well worth the visit. The city was built in 1585 but was abandoned soon after due to water supply problems. Personally I think it was my favorite place to visit around Agra.

Royal courtyard where Akbar would address his subjects

This is where the ministers would congregate and advise Akbar on matters of government

Stage where Akbars favorite singer and magician perform

Akbar had 3 wives, one Mughal, one Muslim, one Christian. Each wife had their own palace at Fetahpur Sikri

Gate entrance for the elephants, horses and camels

Horse stables

Elephant stables or they could be servants quarters, we're not really sure

The gang at Fatehpur Sikri

Keoladeo bird sanctuary

A whole bunch of migratory birds frequent this sanctuary, its 26square miles of national park and shelters migrating birds from Siberia, China, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. The park was originally a hunting reserve for the Maharaja's, now some 364 species of birds can be found here.

Keoladeo National Park

Going for a ride

Some of the wildlife

Getting some drinks from a roadside stand

Now were off to Jaipur the Pink City...