India 04

We arrived just as the sun rose at the Taj Mahal, and for half an hour were in a long queue (actually two of four queues, as there is one for men, one for women, and one for each  of men and women with Indian citizenship). Yolanda's queue was slowest, so Bob and Shanoo waited for her and then everyone proceeded to the main gate together. We both welled up at our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal in the rising sun. It was wonderful to be there together and we passed a very nice morning wandering the grounds and then walking on the terraces and in the mausoleum.

On the way out, we stopped with Shanoo at a marble inlay factory and although the works were magnificent, we were not swayed to purchase any. Having risen early, we then took a break at the hotel until 2:00pm working on our blog site. At one point, we went out to get cash, and were offered several rides, but did not accept, as we wished to walk. The ATM that was very close was not functioning, as the tuk-tuk driver had said. So we wove across the street to another, which also did not work.

When Shanoo and driver Madan arrived, we asked to first go to an ATM and then to the Mughal Agra Fort, which was an amazing spread of structures in many styles. Shanoo told us interesting stories about those who lived at the palaces within the fort.

Our second to last stop of the day was to see the Taj Mahal at sunset from the Mehtab Bagh park across the Yamuna. It was beautiful and a lovely end to a great day. But, it was not the last activity of the day, as earlier in the day Shanoo invited us to dinner with his family at his house. His wife Charisma was lovely and his daugther-4, Rhyma was a lot of fun. Also at the house were Suphia-2, Ahmed-2mo, brother Samir and Shanoo's mother and father. The cooking was done by Shanoo's mother and wife and it was a delicious and generous treat.