Delhi and TAJ MAHAL

November 25 (Friday):

Wake up call at 8:00am.  Had breakfast and then took the Metro to Chadni Chowk.  Crazy crowded.  Walked around, went to the Red Fort, and took a bicycle rickshaw to Juma Masjid; various shops and back to Chadni Chowk.


Took a motorized rickshaw to Phargang,  Walked around and then went to a roof top restaurant for early dinner.  Met and talked to some more tourists.  Took a richshaw back to the hotel - packed and settled account with the hotel.  Went back to Phargang for a drink at a roof top hotel.  Back to the hotel.

Spent the night at Bright Hotel.

November 24 (Thursday):

Got a wake up call at 6:00am.  Got ready - Sunderpal came to pick us up at 6:45am.  Drove to the parking lot and took a tram to the Taj Mahal.  Unfortunately it was very foggy and so we couldn't get a good view of the Taj.  As we started walking towardes the gate at 8:30am, the fog strated to clear up - very, very lucky as we would have missed this if we had left 5 mins earlier.  Spent another hour looking at the magnificient Taj.

Back to the hotel for breakfast.  Had breakfast at the top floor (reserved for guests in the Executive rooms).  Had a distant view of the Taj Mahal.

Checked out and left Agra at 11:00am.  Another long, tedious drive.  Stopped by enroute at Sikander Fort.  Arrived in New Delhi at 5:00pm.  Did a tour of Qutub Minar, President;s Palace; Parliament Buildings; Government Buildings.

Drove to Bright Hotel, said goodbye to Sunderpal, gave him a good tip and checked in to the hotel.

Spent the night at Bright Hotel.

November 23 (Wednesday):

Boarded the flight from Muscat just after midnight at 12:40am.  Arrived Mumbai at 4:35am.  Long journey from Mumbai Internationl departures to domestic departures.  Departed Mumbai at 7:00am.  Arrived Delhi at 9:00am.

Initially couldn't see our taxi driver and guide, so started getting worried.  Finally Sunderpal arrived some time later.  We headed out of Delhi at around 10:00am.  Although Agra wasn't that far, it was a long journey - crazy traffic; cows; tractors etc etc.  stopped enroute for lunch.

Arrived in Agra at around 3:30pm.  Went to see Agra Fort, then checked in to Radisson Hotel.  It was a grand hotel, just built 5 months ago - and to top it up, they upgraded us to an Executive room.  Showered and freshened up - Sunderpal came to pick us up at 7:00pm, and took us to Mahal restaurant for dinner.  This was a grand restaurant frequented by tourists.  A gentleman from England (Greg) came and started talking to us and joined us for dinner.  Back to the hotel for an early night, as very tired.

Spent the night at Hotel Radisson.