Mumbai to the Taj

We flew from Mumbai to Delhi and finally some food. It was a long time from our 9 am breakfast til our lunch on board the plane, but that was delayed til 5 pm after the bumpy flight temporarily stopped the serving of “lunch”. I had a tasty chicken wrap and Hop enjoyed chicken sandwiches. The coffee , totally unlike any coffee I’d ever had, was gorgeous;  sweet and milky and caramelly heaven. My blood sugar was just about zero. It was a two hour flight to Delhi and we bussed past some of the local sights on our way to the Sheraton Hotel, a buffet dinner, the best ever Indian bread, and our beds for the night.

Four am. we were up again, tea, coffee and rolls for a snack and off to the railway station for  the Shatabdi Express to Agra. Hey, the fattest, chubbiest rats I’ve ever seen live at Delhi Station. There were a few bodies asleep around the place here; some on the floor; some precariously reclining on narrow benches; some with suspect puddles beside them! Under advice we declined the breakfast offered on the train as we sped towards an 8.45 breakfast at our next hotel. We boarded the bus for the Taj Mahal!! It was very impressive. We entered through the eastern gate after security checks and the now walk through security screen and pat down; men through one gate and ladies through another with a pat down person of the same sex. The whole area was beautiful from the elaborate gates and walls, the reflecting pools and avenue trees, the mausoleum itself with inlaid precious gems decorating every face and gigantic wall, and the mosques on either side in red marble, red and cream brick and more intricate designs and painting inside. We were there for over three hours and with the temp at 47C and little shade it was long enough. We spent some time looking out over the river that runs behind with packs of dogs cooling off and cows, and rubbish of course. We walked down a side area where trees gave us some shade, photographed squirrels and birds and general recovered til time to go. Time to run the gauntlet of hawkers again. What chaos. Love it.