Also in Agra...

After the Taj Mahal it was off to Agra Fort, also on the banks of the Yamuna River. The place is huge. Still fighting a cold, and with a cough keeping me up half the night, for me our visit was mostly about just putting one foot in front of the other under a hot sun. But looking back, such aspects of travel start to fade and you're left with the sights and impressions of a place unlike any other. Not that people don't try - the Amber Fort we visited in Jaipur was apparently modeled after Agra Fort.





Our last stop in Agra was Akbar's Tomb. Yet another spectacular architectural masterpiece.

We obeyed the posted signs and did not try to bring any paan masala onto the grounds. Actually, Paan chewers are actually a nuisance at monuments all over India, as they spit the stuff all over the place leaving ugly red stains - pretty gross!)

I also encountered a local teenager trying to charge me to use the bathroom (just trying to make a buck, I know, I know. But he was still a punk). Given that the tomb gets far fewer tourists than the other major sights, there were plenty of young couples spotted all over the complex. Must be a good place to avoid parents and other inquiring minds. Who know history and romance went together so well?

By the time we left, Lori was holding up well, but I was monumentally wiped out and just wanted to sit around like these guys.

I got my chance that evening as we caught the train to Delhi, capital of India.