Agra

After saying bye to Hendrik and Marieke and Pip who I may meet in Africa me and Juan went on with the night train to Agra via Delhi (you all will always be welcome in Switzerland). Agra is home to the Taj Mahal. We had a room in Taj Ganj. We checked out the Baby Taj which is actually a bit older then the real Taj. It is also badly maintained and cant match the beauty of the Taj Mahal. After seeing a few sights including the fort from the outside we decided that the only thing in this city really worth seeing is the Taj Mahal.
And it really was. Symmetrcial to every detail, bigger in size than anticipated, with strong Islamic influences it is a masterpiece of grand architecture. The park offers some silence which contrasts to the streets outside. Most of the mausoleum is constructed out of marble. The two mosques on the sides are very airy and thus a nice place to hang out. It reminded me in many ways to the palaces and forts in Rajasthan.
Tourism is big: elderly, wealthy, foreign tourists mix with their Indian counterpart . Backpackers on the sidelines.
Juan and me watched some matches and drank the low tax alcohol. We could not leave the day we wanted because the foreign tourist quota tickets are regularly sold to tour agencies, who then sell them to the tourists who should have gotten them at the original price in the first place.
Next was Varanasi...