I get into a room at about 11pm. Around midnight I hear drums, LOUD. They wont stop. Some how I get a little sleep, wake up, fucking drums, middle of the night. I need to get out of this hotel, wtf is going on! What can I do, it is 3am so I stay. 6:30 comes and I've had enough. Take my backpack, pay for my room and go. Front door of the hotel is locked, have to go out the back way. Make it onto the street and there is a festival going on. Went back into the hotel because they have a roof top restaurant and now that I see where the drums are coming from I am interested. Went back and told them I would stay.
Shit you not, this is what was going on outside of my hotel ALL NIGHT LONG after 37 hours of jeep/train travel! Worst part is it sounded like a bunch of noise, not music
It is not a parade, they are all hanging out infront of my hotel. One thing of note is everybody in attendance is male
I was a little delirious after 37 hours of travel and drums all night. After 5 minutes of looking down on the festival I look up and see what appears to be an amazing mosque. Think to myself this city looks amazing. Took about 2 full seconds to remember where I was and realize i was looking at the Taj Mahal. The Taj was closed this day, Drank some beer on a roof top that night with several travelers, nobody being able to sleep the night before was definitely a topic. Sadly, everybody concurred that the drums were a bunch of "noise", not impressive.
Following day went to Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. Taj Mahal was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
It is "Mughal architecture", a combination of Persian, Indian and Islamic
construction began in 1632
20,000 people worked construction on the building
More than 3 million people visit per year
The Taj Mahal complex is bounded on three sides by crenellated red sandstone walls, with the river-facing side left open. Outside the walls are several additional mausoleums, including those of Shah Jahan's other wives, and a larger tomb for Mumtaz's favorite servan
No, I don't know how to grow a beard
The grounds were very very impressive but gotta say I was a little disappointed with the inside. Maybe it is my lack of architectural knowledge preventing me from truly appreciating it but not much to see in there.
AGRA FORT: It is the most important fort in India. The great Mugals, Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb lived here, and the country was governed from here. It contained the largest state treasury and mint. It was visited by foreign ambassadors, travelers and dignitaries. (copied from Wikipedia but word for word what the sign at the
fort says).
Parts of the fort remind me of Topkapi Palace in Istanbul
View of the Taj from the fort
I really wasn't looking forward to my train ride from Agra to Kolkata but it ended up being one of the best train rides ever. Last time I had general seating I had to sleep on the floor with 50 other people in my car, was awful, expected the same. Got in and managed to get a seat. Talked to an Indian med school student for a while who told me he has never seen a foreigner with a general ticket (not surprising) and it was his first time ever talking to a traveler. Train only had 7 stops I believe over a scheduled 21 hours (original train I thought I was taking was 31 hours). At about 7am the train almost completely emptied, had the whole compartment to myself (seats 6). Shocking! Ended up taking 24 hours, from 4pm to 4pm. The following afternoon I returned to SE Asia on a flight to Bangkok
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