Namaste

We left Jaipur and Rajasthan behind on the new road heading for Agra. Unfortunately the road was the only thing that was new. We passed through village after village where the houses were made from various materials like mud and corrugated steel and even sticks and potato sacks. The women farmed the land and the men sat drinking tea or driving tractors.

It took us 3 hours to reach Fatehpur Sikri, which was the capital of the Mughal Empire at one point and built by Akbar (not the fella in Bradford who owns curry shops!!!) in 1524 AD. It did not remain the capital for long as it became a problem providing water to the city, so it ended up a ghost town. We spent a few hours walking around and the building was a fantastic reddish colour and changed as the light changed.

We also took a walk around the Jama Masjid Mosque which again was pretty amazing and the big archway was a replica of one at Mecca. We were hassled by hawkers all the afternoon and eventually Mel told them straight and in no uncertain terms that we did not want to buy anything, even the dancing monkey on a rope!!!!

The weather had remained cloudy today which made it bearable with a cool breeze, we are now in Agra and are gearing up for our 5am (11.30pm UK) start to go and see the Taj Mahal for sunrise.Then it will be onto the Red Fort before heading to the train station for our overnight train to Varanasi and our first experience on Indian trains. Will be in touch from Varanasi to let you know all about it.

Lots of Love

M & M

xx