A tourist bus to Agra, India

I was planning to go to Agra after my training is done but lo and behold, I didn't imagine the training coordinator had plans for us to go there during the weekends. Bus included.

We weren't able to use the government bus as it was on the weekends and not on official duty. Haha. So they rented a tourist bus for us. And I was very, veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy happy! (This change in itinerary have helped saved me a lot of time and money) The Agra trip was on held on a Saturday, 8th of December 2012.

And this in fact helped to accomplish No. 44 on the 49 journeys you'll never forget list published by CNN Travel. =)

"44. New Delhi to Agra, India 
SMT: Tour bus
Define “tour bus” anyway you like, but the roads out of Delhi are so much nicer when someone else has to drive them. A mere 200 kilometers southeast of this madness takes you to Agra and that checklist-notching date with the Taj Mahal. "

The writer was right. The bus ride from Delhi to Agra was pure madness!!! The vehicles don't stick to the road lines, the drivers simply love pressing their horns (beep! beep! Almost every minute!) and our driver in particular, had Hindi music blasting loudly in his bus. He also had this weird looking ornament in front that's full of tiny lights.

Thankfully, we arrived at Taj Mahal in one piece... four hours later (because we stopped for breakfast, it usually takes less than three hours). =)

Once we got down, we all got on this camel carriage as seen below to get to Taj Mahal's entrance. They charged us per ride and not per head. Somebody helped pay for this so I don't know the price. Hehe.

A camel ride to Taj Mahal from the parking lot. It was actually not that far! We could actually just walk! Grrr!

Taj Mahal entrance tickets:

• Locals - 20 rupees
• Foreigners - 750 rupees (what the hell kan?)

But it was worth it!

Clockwise from upper left - Flower carved unto the marble (outside wall of Taj Mahal), Darwaza or Main Entrance to Taj Mahal, the interior design of Darwaza's ceiling, and Taj Mahal.

You could pretty much see the complete layout of Taj Mahal complex below. We came from the "main entrance" as pictured in the below picture and went through Darwaza where we first caught a glimpse of the magnificent Taj Mahal.

Taj Mahal is noted as the "tomb" on the far right of the picture. (source)

Once we have reached the tomb, we were required to put a cloth-like cover on our shoes. For some, they prefer to open their shoes instead. 

The layout of Taj Mahal. (source)

To enter the mausoleum complex, one goes through the main gate, called darwaza. The tomb is at the far end of the garden. It sits on a podium, or plinth. At each of the four corners of the plinth is a minaret. On both sides of the tomb is a pair of buildings that are mirror images of each other. The one on the left (west) side is the mosque. The one on the east side is another building that is the mirror appearance of the mosque, called the jawab.

Clockwise from upper left - a minaret, delicate exterior design, the mosque at the side, and the 3-D effect on one of the corners.

Well, I wouldn't want to explain what Taj Mahal is... because you could read it yourself here.  I'm only gonna blog about the pictures I took. Hahaha! *maaf, aku pemalas.

And so that ends our day trip to Agra and to Taj Mahal. We headed home after stopping by for late lunch and caught a sunset on the way back.

Adios Agra. Till we meet again. =)

Next site visit is the Delhi sight-seeing trip on the next day. More on that in my next blogpost. Bye! ^__^

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