Agra - we made it!

Click on the picture (or on any one for that matter) to enlarge. Here is our first monkey sighting.
A fuzzy picture of my sweet dessert experience
Fancy some chili popcorn - or perhaps magic popcorn...
Bobby - THE man in Agra.

On the 30th we flew to Agra. I must give a mention to Kingfisher Airlines. The flight from Delhi to Agra is about 45 minutes. The plane is a 40 passenger prop plane. The Kingfisher - antithesis to US airlines - experience involves comfort, courtesy and a hot meal (two choices)! Flying does not get any better. http://www.flykingfisher.com/index.asp

We landed at tiny Agra airport. http://agra-india.com/ I think there are only one or two flights a day and were met by a guy from the hotel. Agra is very rural looking and the relatively short ride to the hotel allowed us to observe people walking, riding bikes, driving horse and ox carts and more. The hotel looked nice and Sophia got the Concierge to find us a guide and driver for our two day stay.

An hour or so later we were picked up by our new friend and guide Bobby Kahn. Our driver was a young fellow with a nice "luxury" Chevy. Bobby took us to part of town where we got out and walked around a bit. It was like many other places in India - chaotic, dirty, vibrant and a mix of old and new, rich and poor. While walking down a back road we say our first monkey of the trip. A nice little fellow climbing up the side of a building. there were also many, many, many street dogs of all shapes and sizes.

Bobby took us to s sweets shop where I sampled an Indian winter specialty - a warm dish with carrots, sugar, turmeric and other spices. It was different from anything I've tasted and was quite enjoyable.

We mapped out our Taj Mahal strategy for the next day. We were to meet Bobby in front of the hotel at 5:45 AM so we could see the sunrise and beat the crowds. We headed back to the hotel to try to get some sleep.