"A teardrop on the cheek of time" (17th - 20th Dec 07)

The above quote was by an Indian poet Tagore, to describe the Taj Mahal. I really like this quote, as no adjectives that I use will quite compare. But the Taj Mahal is definately one of the most stunning buildings that we have seen on this trip.

The Taj Mahal


The Taj is situated in a city in Northern India called Agra. The beautiful story behind the Taj is that it was built by a heart broken Emperor, who dedicated it to his wife that died giving birth to one of their children. It is made of marble and semiprecious stones and the effect is stunning. Just looking at the detail of the work on various parts, makes anyone fully appreciate the skill in the work.

Us at the Taj


Visiting the Taj is one of the most expensive sites in India, at 750Rupees for foreigners ($25nz). And it is a bit hard watching locals enter for only 20Rupees, but thats the Indian system to have double-tear pricing at tourist attractions. It is a piece of their history after all, so we cant complain too much. But it was worth every penny.

The next day in Agra was Nick's birthday. And we had a few exciting things planned for the day. But unfortunately Nick was up all the night before with his first serious bout of Delhi Belly. Even water was hard for him to have, so we had to stay in bed for most of the day. That night we had train tickets booked to go to a town about 250km away called Jaipur. Nick was adament that he wouldnt be able to catch the train with his sickness. But we had all our accomodation booked in Jaipur and no where to stay in Agra, so we decided to splurge and get a taxi there. The taxi cost no more than from the north shore to auckland city, but for India it was a lot of money. It was worth it though, as it meant that we could travel comfortably with making stops if needed. Thankfully Nicks stomach behaved itself for the trip.

It was pretty crappy birthday for him all around. So the next day when he was feeling his normal self, we made up for it. We went full out shopping and splurging (which is totally unlike us). We spent a few hours at a great western style cafe that do excellent coffee, then hit the shops. We brought a fantastic Indian cookbook, a pair of handmade leather shoes each and some clothing. This is something that we rarely have done on this trip, but now we are near the end we can buy a few things for back home.

Nick drinking a Frappe(!!) with his new Cookbook