It was 10th of october 2008 the day after dussehra we visited the city of taj mahal. we went by Taj express early in the morning from Delhi. In three hours we were in agra. We hired the taxi from prepaid taxi stand at agra cantt rly station. After spending some time in hotel, we left for agra visit. saw sikandra monument first which is where the greatest mughal emperor Akbar rests. If you like history, you may find the place fascinating. Many of his family members are also buried there.
after that we went to the tomb of Itmad-U-Daulla (sorry if any spelling mistake) which is like mini taj mahal. This is the tomb of noorjahan’s parents, now plz don’t ask who was noorjahan. If you insist she was the begum of jahangir aka salim and mother of mumtaj mahal in whose honour Taj was built by shahjahan.
Now it was lunch time and after taking the food, we left for agra fort, the place where Mughal emperors usd to live. You can hire a guide if you like and they charge 250 something because fort is large in size. We enjoyed there for some time. After that we call it a day. came back to hotel....a a a on the way to hotel went to a mall and spent some time there.
The next morning, we left for Taj. It was great to see the mega scale of it. Really a superb piece of history. After making some faces for snaps, we spend some time there. U know it surprises me how the emperor think of it, to make a grand scale monument so that people from all over the world will visit him and his begum centuries after they left this world. There is a small museaum also having few things you may like. I will not spoil your trip by telling you all here in the review.
Came back to hotel in the noon after having quick food at macdonld in the mall. In the afternoon we left for fatehpur sikri 45 km from agra by hiring prepaid taxi from agra cantt rly station. Visited the dargah of baba sekh salim chisti who blessed the Akbar a son that was known as salim aka jahangir. It was nice to be there. Then visited the palaces. Saw Diwan-a-khas, panch mahal, birbal’s palace, jodhabai’s palace, etc. I will advice you to go to fatehpur sikri in the morning because palaces are closed by 5pm (or maybe 6pm). I can’t recollect the exact timings.Confirm the timings before you go. we saw the palaces in hurry because of shortage of time. After seeing the palaces, we left for Agra.
After reaching agra, we decided to go to the market before going to our hotel, So left the taxi at sadar bazaar. we spent the evening there and it was really great to be there. After that we left for hotel by autorickshaw. The next morning we came back to delhi.
Overall a great experience. Don’t go in summer as it is hot out there. So best of luck friends.