Agra
Today began with a leisurely, and at times (more often than not) scary drive to Agra. Agra is 185 km from Delhi. We will spend the next two days there. Agra is the home of the Taj Mahal. We will visit first thing tomorrow morning. We will have a special guide that will tell us all about the Taj. I was told the following story yesterday. After the Taj was completed, the Emperor wanted to build an identical Taj next to the original using all black marble. His son told him no, and locked him up in the Taj to prevent him from carrying out his plan.
Half way to Agra we stopped for chai. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I had nothing to worry about, the chai was divine. It was served in a small unglazed ceramic cup. When you are finished you throw the cup in a recycle bin. All the cups are recycled and made into new cups. This is a very practical and also very sanitary practice.
Chai stop along the the way to Agra.
One of our in-country hosts (Akash) has taken me under his wing and has adopted me as his second father. It’s charming. He looks after me and makes sure I have everything I need. He takes great pleasure in explaining things to me and making sure I get a hot cup of chai whenever there is one available.
My new step-son.
We arrived at our hotel in Agra at 3:00 pm. We sat down in the hotel restaurant for a late lunch early dinner. We had rice, sag paneer (a creamy spinach dish) naan, and masala. Very simple, but prepared to perfection. It was marvelous.
After dinner we all went to a silver shop. The jewelry was exceptional. I bought a black onyx ring. It reminds me of a ring my father used to wear. The price was very reasonable. Black Onyx is from Belgium. Interesting fact, the Sanskrit in-law work on the exterior of the Taj is all in black onyx. The interesting metaphysical property of black onyx is that it is respected because of it ability to ward off negative energy.
A few of us went for an Ayurvedic massage after our visit to the silver shop. Also known as a hot oil massage, I’ve never experienced that before and it was extraordinary. I’m back in my room at the hotel now and feeling relaxed and ready for a good rest. Tomorrow is going to be another exciting day.