Let's go to Agra!

From Delhi we made a day trip to Agra and the Taj Mahal.

Since about one month, there is a new express highway from Delhi to Agra, which reduces the driving time to  3,5 to 4 hours by car one way.
Still a long ride, but at least we did not have to take the train at 6 in the morning;-).

So we hired a taxi with driver, who -ofcourse- right away tried to push a guide for the Taj Mahal upon us. For a while we refused, but in the end we gave in, especially since that guide would lead us around all the hassle that you encounter there as a tourist.

Our taxi.

Ok, hit the road, Jack!

The first hour and a half, before the new highway started it was the usual traffic jam. As soon as we entered the -expensive (toll)- highway, the road was....empty!!!!

How  you succeed to hit and kill a crossing doggie at a completely empty 3 lane road is a mystery to me. (We passed this driver, his damaged car and the dead dog lying on the road. It made my stomach turn:-(. )

This area is all agriculture and farming: green, green, green.....rice fields, sugarcane, cows, oxes, goats, etc.

Not the best pictures, since they were taken through the window of our fast driving taxi, but at least they give an impression of the landscape.

Another big thing in this area are clay-ovens that make bricks out of the red clay earth.

Finally we arrived at Agra, where we picked up 'our' guide before heading towards the Taj Mahal.

Agra was crazy! So hectic and so full hustle and bustle! 

The holy cows were everywhere in the city and on the streets.

This cow had one leg stretched out very far over the road. I hoped that traffic would not accidentally run over his leg!

There were monkeys running through the streets:

There were a lot of horse-drawn carriages:

And ofcourse a zillion other means of transport. 

Here is an impression of Agra in some more pictures.  

I always wonder wether there are accidents with those saris been caught up in the wheels or so. It seems risky to me, but I guess they know what they are doing.
It is very remarkable though, that you may see the bike-drivers with a helmet, but the passengers on the bike rarely. Often the father rides the bike, then a small child squeezed in the middle, then the mother with a baby in her arms, all without a helmet. Scary!

Uh, yes, there IS a guy in front on this bike, transporting this huge cargo!

Don't know what he is carrying, but it looks colorful;-).

You see this all the time: bikes, motorbikes, cars, vans, autorickshaws....they are all overloaded! People are hanging on the outside, out of the windows, stuffed upon each other, etc. Amazing!

The mail man.

Statues of Mughal's on horses seem to be present in every city.

Ofcourse our guide (more about him in tomorrow's post about the Maj Mahal) persuaded us to visit a shop. Brought to us a a story about the marble factory of his uncle bla bla bla;-). We said to each other upfront: "We are not buying anything!" And I added: "I bet that they will try to sell us a marble elephant or something...". And indeed, they DID! Hahaha... But we did not buy anything. 

We just enjoyed the little 'demo' of the piedra dura technique, which was interesting, and then we got out of there.

Motivs are carved out of the marble, to be inlaid after that with other materials.

With results like this furniture.

In the restaurant where we had lunch, they had these puppets hanging. They are traditional and I hope to buy a nice one when we are in Rajasthan next month.

So, tomorrow I will show you the famous Taj Mahal. Have a nice day!