Taj Mahal Mid MorningTaj Mahal with reflecting pool in mid morning light. Agra, India. We arrived in Agra at 6 am, and were immediately “found” by a rickshaw driver. He seemed pleasant enough, so we went with him. He took us directly to the Tourist Rest House without any hassles, and wants to take us sightseeing. The hotel doesn’t open officially until 7, but we were able to leave our packs.

Our driver, Reshes, took us to the Taj Mahal. It really is beautiful. We were both impressed--the first place worth seeing in India! We were there almost 2 hours, and took plenty of sunrise pix. It is much better maintained than anything in Delhi.

On the way back to the hotel, we could see more, and we decided that Agra isn’t all that bad…

We went back to see the museum and sunset on the Taj. The place was really crowded with tourists, both Indian and Western, and that created a very different atmosphere than the tranquil feel of this morning. I had my monopod concealed under my pants becauseI was not permitted to bring it in this morning, and was charged for storing it. Very subversive of me!

Upon returning to the hotel, the inevitable money discussion came up with the brother of our rickshaw driver. Although he said money was “no problem”, it did seem to be. Anyway, we think we settled it for today.