Weekend at the Taj Mahal

We went to Agra this past weekend to the home of the Taj Mahal. Our traveling buddies were Ben Smith and Krista, one of Rachel's friends from work. We took a 3 hr super deluxe "executive class" train from New Delhi at 6 in the morning. Apparently executives are treated very well in India because we got a free newspaper and fresh rose when we got on the train, and then a 3 course breakfast was served to us throughout our trip. Not to mention that we had to lean forward to reach our tray tables because there was so much room between our seats and the ones in front of them. Upon arrival in Agra, we hired a driver to take us around for the day. Our first stop was Fatehpur Sikri. Here's a little Fatehpur Sikri history for you ala Wikipedia: It was the political capital of India's Mughal Empire under Akbar's reign, from 1571 until 1585, when it was abandoned, ostensibly due to lack of water. It is located in what is now Uttar Pradesh, India. It's made of red sandstone, so any of the pictures you see with red stone are probably in Fatehpur Sikri. After that we did a little sightseeing and ended our tour of Agra at the Taj Mahal, truly a wonder of the world. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum that was built under Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. He was later deposed by his son and locked up in Agra Fort. When he died, he was placed beside his wife in the Taj Mahal. According to legend, Shah Jahan cut off the hands of all his workers after they finished the Taj so that they could never replicate their work. Also according to legend, there was supposed to be an exact replica of the Taj Mahal made of black marble built across the river for Shah Jahan's tomb, but when his son deposed him, the building was never constructed. Upon further research, we found out that these legends were unfounded and probably untrue (too bad!) We spent a few hours at the Taj Mahal just sitting on the upper level and watching the sun set over the river. We took the Delux train back in time for church the next morning. On a sad note, the Smith family had to return to the States to take care of their ailing grandparents. We expect them back in a few weeks.