An early start to Agra gave us the opportunity to see the countryside awake. The road trip (4 hours) took us past service stations - in wooded sheds, cows strolling at roundabouts, camels walking along the road and monkeys.
It is one of those iconic buildings you have seen hundreds of times before - but somehow nothing can quite prepare you for seeing the Taj Mahal. There was a really good "park & ride" system for visitors - with everyone given a "goodie bag" containing plastic socks to cover your shoes and water. The road leading up to the Taj was full of people trying to pursuade you to buy their tat - which somehow we resisted.
Maybe it was partly the lack of sleep (leaving at 4.45am) or partly the fast paced events over the last week - but the first sight was quite emotional. Firstly you recognise the familiar building and then you notice all of the details the "standard" photo doesn't show. The two other buildings either side, the extensive gardens and then close up - the detail of the building - the intracut stone carving, the beautiful inlayed coloured stone and the brightness of the white marble.
We spent about an hour there and were very pleased that Monsieur Sarkozy did not change his travel plans any further. Apparently he was due to visit the following day - but decided to change his visit to the same day as us in order to watch the sunset, so soon after we had left the place was promptly closed and all visitors asked to leave!
We then went on to the Red Fort in Agra - which is still partially operational. From there some superb views of the back of the Taj.
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