India/Istanbul Trip Day 2: Party bus to the Taj (2/26)

After hanging out in the rooms the previous night, we got a little bit of sleep and then get up and ready to hit the road to go down to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Was told we should have cash so I head to Kahn market, while we wait for stragglers to come down, to hit up one of the ATMs there. Check 3 ATMs and all of them are out of money. Didnt really look into the reason behind this but apparently it is not an uncommon thing so I guess I will either have to use my card or figure out how to get cash later. Get back to the group and we load up the vans and head out. Our bus has bottles of liquor and snacks and music going the whole way down (4 hr drive or so) so the party rages on.

Leaving the city with some cool domes in the distance.

There are quite a few of those temples all around.

Thats one way to get around. 

Some of the brick making chimneys that we saw; a few of them are in operation as you can see the smoke billowing out.

A hut in the field with a family working the land next to it.

As we drive out of town, we pass some beautiful architecture and then get into the countryside. Get on the toll road and they have different speed limits for different vehicles (buses are 60km/h whereas cars can go 100km/h - drive can be half the time if you dont go in a bus). As we are going slow enough, have plenty of time to check out the beautiful area around us. The farms have straw huts dispersed all over the place and tons of tall brick-making chimneys littering the vista. Highway has trees all long the sides which makes taking good pics from the van somewhat difficult. There are also universities every 5 miles it seems all along the highway. After a couple hours in the van, we take a pit stop at one of the highway turnoffs so people can go to the bathroom and get some snacks. Get back in the vans and head down to the taj. Park and get electric golf carts to the ticket window (had to pay a little for the ride). I see a sign for a bathroom and so while they wait to get tickets, I run to the bathroom (not knowing there are bathrooms inside) but the bathroom is actually like a mile away which is very misleading and annoying as I am just walking and walking and eventually I find it; not clean in the least and glad all I had to do was pee. Hurry back to the group and since I was gone so long, they are all in except the guide and Ritika, so they give me my ticket and get me in (I felt horrible for being gone so long). We gather up, he starts telling us some of the history and the buildings are beautiful.

Carting to the Taj.

We made it!

Beautiful, but I feel like it looks a little different than the pics.

That looks a little more accurate. Now just gotta get to the other side of that wall. 

Very symmetrical and beautiful of a building.

Close up of the artwork on the building.

Lower part.

Front view just as nice. Next stop, through the entrance gate.

Part of the wall and another entrance gate.

There it is in all its glory.

Because you cant go to the Taj and just take one picture.

Gotta take a couple

Because it is beautiful.

The reason for the season.

There was a museum of types about the Taj that was roped off for some reason.

Whole area so beautiful.

Different perspective.

Getting out of the sun a little bit as it is hot.

One of the towers of the Taj.

Beautiful grounds from the front of the Taj.

Throughout the tours, he would stop and try and sell stuff, even though R and her mom kept telling him no. We go through the Taj and we are all wondering around taking pictures and guide gets more and more upset. We finish our tour, get on the vans to go grab a late lunch and on the way, we drop the guide off where he insults us, tells us we act like a bunch of animals and that he gave The Oprah a tour before so he didnt appreciate our group. We all were just looking at each other and laughing as none of us quite knew what just happened. Get to lunch, were told there was a pre-negotiated rates for dinner. It is a 3-4 hour lunch as the service was once again slow (guess large groups arent a thing or something) and we were halfway done paying when I noticed our discounts werent on there. They have to go back and refund people money (I finally got cash :) ) and get new receipts for those who hadnt paid - was a huge mess. Get back on the road eventually to go back to the hotel and the way back the shuttle was dead; everyone was sleeping as the sun just tore everyone up. We just chill for a little bit once we get back and then people decide to get a good night's sleep, which I agree with wholeheartedly :)

Lobby of the hotel where we ate lunch.

A bar in the hotel.