Transit to Agra

Today we took the 5 hr car ride to Agra -- originally we planned to visit the Taj Mahal this evening since it is a full moon, but we didn't make it in time. On the way to Agra we stopped at Fathepur Sikhiri a palace built by Indian Emperor Akbar. The palace was built in 1500's and is gigantic. The emperor had 3 wives, one Hindi, one Muslim, and one Christian. Each wife had their own palace within the palace, all architecturally constructed to match their faith. Here are some pictures.

the religious area of the palace

After arriving at the hotel this evening we were invited to join a hotel event which was the Christmas Cake preparation. The hotel had laid out all sorts of bottles of alcohols, flours, and spices and the guests joined in the mixing of all of them. The mixture will sit for a month until Christmas when they will use it for deserts. It was tempting, but NO I did not take a swig from any of the bottles :)

Here are a few more pictures of the trip.

breakfast this morning -- sort of traditional aside from the cheese and ham. I'm loving the fresh squeezed juices here!

another monkey -- this time at a rest stop

Auto Rickshaws -- a popular for of transportation here. I had a ride in one yesterday-- good experience, but not a preferred way of transit for me considering the crazy traffic here. It is common for people to cram into these -- tonight I saw a family of (i think) 10 squeezed into one.

A Wedding Procession for the groom. You can not see the groom, but he is being transported down the street by a horse drawn carriage followed by his dancing friends and a marching band. We probably saw 6 or 7 of these processions on our way back to the hotel yesterday. Wedding season has begun!

Tomorrow morning we head to Taj Mahal for the sunrise -- I hear it is a beautiful time to visit!