08/03/22 - Taj Mahal

 It has been a VERY busy couple of days. So much to do, see, experience and enjoy. Accessing wifi has been a low priority as I have been simply trying to take in all that Incredible India has to offer. 


August 4


Today was espectionally warm. We made a spectacular stop at the stepwell on our way from Jaipur to Agra. It is a bit of a detour, but so very worth it. Many Bollywood films have been made here, as has a scene from one of the Batman movies. The well is fairly shallow now, and of course not maintained as a water source. However, the frogs seemed to love the algae!

This particular area is known for its “homemade BMWs”. The cars are entirely wooden with an engine roaring in the front. Most had rubber tires of some sort. Definitely not a lot of tread on the rubber, good thing it’s hard to hydroplane on mud, dirt and cobblestones. I always  learn something new when I come to India. Today it was a lunch time cooking tip. Emma had an awesome vegetable sizzler. They cooked it wrapped in a cabbage leaf!! This gave it extra moisture to steam the veggies and to prevent the potato and sauce from burning to the tinfoil. Brilliant. Definitely the way to go next time we are at camp making tinfoil dinners!!Our afternoon could not have been more special. Bhanu surprised us with horse drawn cart rides! The ride delivered us to …the Taj Mahal. 


The Taj was built to commemorate the passing of the Raj’s favourite wife. When he was imprisoned by his usurping son, his one request was to have his “prison” view that of his beloved’s memorial. after visiting the Taj Mahal and view the incredible opulence and glory, we were taken to a family run marble workshop. We learned ou the marble is laid within a cavity chiseled from the blocks of marble. 

The semi precious and precious stones are first cut, shaped and polished. Then the marble is chiseled out glue is added to the empty space and the stones are then set it is quite the process and involves 100s of hours. A little rum and Coke served to shoppers makes both the time and the rupees fly :)


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