Another early morning this morning. But this was probably the most exciting destination. Probably because it is the only place where we knew what we were about to see.
The train to Agra took close to two hours to get there. We were taken to our hotel to drop off our stuff before a day of sight seeing. The hotel had a "view" of the Taj Mahal on the dining rooftop. Barely. First was the Red Fort. This was amaaazing. We got a guided tour from a local aswell. Granted it was a struggle to understand him, but this didn't matter because the fort was great. From parts of the fort we could see the Taj Mahal which added to the excitement! However we had decided to see it first thing in the morning the next day so we would have to wait.
Next on the agenda that day was the carpet factory, named "factory cum showroom." It was fairly interesting and we learnt how carpets were made etc. The older generations enjoyed it more though it seemed. We could tell you the cycle for making carpets if you wanted... Maybe another time. Eventually it resulted in a discounted sale for someone else from the intrepid group.
Next was the Baby Taj. Felt like a bit of a let down really... Nothing much else to say except we had a slum dog millionaire moment when a boy jumped into a sewage infested river and demanded money.
That evening we sat behind the Taj Mahal in Moon Gardens and watched the sun go down. This was a nice picturesque end to the evening. We were looking forward to the 5.30 start tomorrow to see the Taj up close...although at that moment in time I was questionning the so called necessary wake up time...