Day 1: Delhi to Agra
We arrived at the Delhi airport and were picked up by our guide. We had little time to spend in Delhi itself. But we hit a few of the highlights like the India Gate, the national monument of India. Built in 1931, it was constructed to commemorate the 90,000 soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the British in World War I.
We also visited the Indian Railway Museum. The Indian Railway carries over 30 million passengers and 2.8 million tons of freight a day making it one of the largest systems in the world. Gowri and I have always been fascinated with trains and this museum has many of the historic trains that ran during the British reign over India.
The highlight of Delhi was Humayun's tomb which was a warm up for the Mughal architecture we would see in Agra. It was built in 1533 and was the first use of red sandstone at this immense scale. This would set the stage of other Mughal emperors to build amazing monuments in future years. Humayun's tomb is a Unesco World Heritage site.
Inside the decorations are very ornate like the beautiful colors on the ceiling.
After a whirlwind tour of Delhi we made our way to Agra to spend the night. We were a bit anxious about the 3 star hotel we had booked in Agra but it turned out to be nice. The next morning, we were set to visit the Taj Mahal at sunrise.