Everyone has heard of the Taj Mahal and this was our next stop. Situated in the city of Agra, the Taj needs no introduction, but we were both quite ignorant as to the history behind this magnificent building.

Our journey to Agra was by the now familiar overnight sleeper. These journeys were proving excellent for Gemma who could sleep easily on the train, but not such good news for Craig who could not. Time was limited and we found ourselves restricted to two days and by sheer coincidence there are two main attractions in Agra; the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. We arrive in the early morning, but not early enough to visit the Taj at daybreak so we decide to check out Agra Fort on the first day and save the Taj for our second.

Agra Fort is a great spectacle which came as a very pleasant surprise as we hadn't counted on visiting it. The Fort is very similar to the Red Fort in Delhi with its mixture of red sandstone walls and fine marble within, which is unsurprisingly as Agra Fort was also constructed by the Mughals. By chance we also stumbled across Itmad-Ud Daulah's Tomb, a mausoleum known colloquially as the 'Baby Taj' which is a very beautiful building acknowledged as a precursor to the Taj Mahal.

A visit to the Taj Mahal inevitably involves an early start to avoid the crowds. We did our research and even though we were out of the hostel (which is next door to the Taj Mahal complex) at 5am, this wasn't enough to secure first in the queue as we were pipped by a couple of climbing instructors living in Thailand. With our tickets in hand we dashed through security (it's tight, one man was refused entry with a stuffed toy!) and then through the gates to grab our first breathtaking view of the Taj Mahal. At that time of the mist still enshrouds the Taj and it takes a couple of hours to burn off at which point you can see the Taj in sharp definition in the sunlight. Not that this spoils the experience, in fact it only enhances it. We were both surprised at how enormous the Taj is and it is remarkable how, despite its size, it is so perfectly proportioned and shaped. In short The Taj Mahal lives up to all of the hype and is quite possibly the most beautiful building either of us has seen.

That evening we discover that the Muslim festival of Muharram is almost upon us and lined up and down the street where our hostel is located are banks and banks of suspicious-looking speakers. At around mid-afternoon the obvious happens and they begin to blare out religious music at unthinkable decibel levels. We've both been to a large number of music festivals and gigs, but nothing which could match this level of noise. We are also advised by a friendly restaurateur that this will continue through the night until 7am the next day. The bad news is that we have to be up at 3.30am to catch a train. Another night of sleep deprivation ensues.