Upon arriving at our beautiful hotel in Agra, we were greeted with a flower garland, which was a lovely way to start our stay there.
A few hours later we went to the red fort, or Agra fort as it’s also known. The fort is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is actually a walled city.
Below is the emperor’s bedroom – the bed was situated in this alcove and its location made the most of the breeze that came through the lattice ‘window’ which of course had no glass.
The Taj Mahal can be seen from Agra Fort.
After visiting the fort we went to a public garden the other side of a river at the back of the Taj Mahal. It’s a good place to see the Taj with a lovely golden glow at sunset .
Local ladies were carrying bundles of grass.
The next morning we were up bright and early to get to the Taj before sunrise. We had an excellent guide who knew exactly where we needed to be and when.
This shot just had to be taken!
After the ‘Princess Diana’ photograph had been taken, he hurried us to the side so that we would be looking directly at the sun rising. Each side of the Taj is identical and symmetrical however.
It’s such a beautiful shape that I decided to take a silhouette photograph with the sun rising behind it.
I’d been aware several times of being stared at with curiosity, and much to my bemusement this group of people wanted to have their photograph taken with me. The man on the left was FaceTiming his family and showing me to them! I assume it’s a combination of my very short and blond hair that makes me interesting to them? When I look at this photo I’m also struck by how tall I am compared to the other ladies.
The end of the garden near the entrance has a lovely shaded area and it took some patience to get a shot with nobody else in it!
That’s another iconic destination ticked off my list! I thought that the Taj Mahal is stunningly beautiful, but strangely, it’s also much smaller inside than it looks from the outside. Sort of like the TARDIS but in reverse:) (For non-uk readers who have never seen Dr. Who and don’t know what the TARDIS is, it’s a sci-fi police box that’s bigger on the inside than the outside) After visiting there we went back to our hotel for breakfast and then an afternoon drive to Jaipur, our final destination of our trip to India.
I’m running a trip to India in 2025 with the aim of photographing tigers and the Taj Mahal. Here is the link with details. Non photographer partners are very welcome.
