Today we traveled all the way from Delhi to Agra which is where the Taj Mahal is!!

We got picked up from our crappy hotel after a rubbish nights sleep at 7am by our driver Mohammed!! It took around 5 hours (snooze time!) to get there after a little stop on the way for breakfast and to see where Hare Krishna was apparently born. The traffic/driving in India is horrendous! They have no wing mirrors - partly because they just don't use them and partly because it means they can't get a close to each other as they'd like! They NEVER check their side windows, they just blow their horns to let each other know they're there, or overtaking, or behind, or in a rush... basically they are CONSTANTLY blowing their horns!!!!!! And the cows/buffalo sleeping in the road don't help!

Anyway, it cost 750rps (about 10 pounds) each to get into the Taj Mahal and when we got there Mohammed arranged for a tour guide for us to take us round which only cost 200rps (about 3 pounds... there are no pound signs on Indian keyboards and we still haven't found wifi so can't use the netbook!). The Taj was AMAZING! Absolutely breathtaking. The tour guide was brilliant - he took us through a different gate so we didn't have to endure a 3 hour queue, and he was with us for 2 hours giving us facts about the Taj (such as the fact that no paint was used in the Taj - all the colours are precious/semi-precious stones which have been embedded into the white marble - stunning!) and advising us on the best spots to take pics from! After the tour the guide took us to the place where generations of the same families who built the Taj in the 1600's still use the same techniques to refurbish it, and we were shown how they carve the marble using a chisel and grind the coloured stones into tiny shapes to place into the marble - we even had a go ourselves!

BHARATPUR
We were going to stay in Agra for the night but our driver suggested we drive a further 60km and stay in Bharatpur (which, conveniently, is his hometown!). He only goes home around 5 times a months so we didn't mind at all - we're free so we can go wherever we want!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We hadn't booked any accommodation before we left so used the Bible (aka The Lonely Planet Guide!) to pick a cheap guest house, which was much, much nicer than Delhi - it actually had windows and the hot water worked!!! It was really nice actually, and cheaper than Delhi - only 400rps! (was supposed to be 500rps but Rich bargained a bit!). Mohammed invited us to his home for dinner so off we went! It was a proper Indian home - only 2 small concrete rooms, a small kitchen where his non-English-speaking wife proceeded to cook our meal on the floor (joined by another mouse!!!), an Indian toilet (hole in the ground)... and 2 buffalo's, who we named Bill and Bob!! They also has a tiny 2 month old puppy called Tommy!!! And 2 children - Bundi (son) and Pinkie (daughter). It was such a lovely little family home and the food was really nice! We bought some beer too so got a bit tipsy! Mohammed also took us to his sister's house and his 'cousin-brothers' house to show us off!!!! Haha! He's lovely! A real experience!

Off to Ranthambore tomorrow for our tiger safari!!!!!!!!

Love you all millions! xxx