Fatehpur Sikri and Agra

In the morning Catriona was feeling much better and had breakfast with everyone before setting off towards Agra.

Our first stop for the day was another world heritage site, Fatehpur Sikri, built by the Mughal emperor, Akbar. It was only used for 4 years before being abandoned and has many huge buildings with amazing stone cutwork, including a mosque and memorial to a Sufi saint. It also has a Giant parcheesi or ludo game that Akbar used real women as the pieces to move around the board.

  

After our visit to Fatehpur Sikri it was off to Agra where we had lunch before setting off to I'tāmad-Ud-Daulah's tomb often referred  to as the Baby Taj. It is on the opposite side of the Yamuna river from the Taj Mahal and is a beautiful building with walls made from marble and inlaid with semi precious stones such as cornelian, jasper, lapis lazuli, onyx and topaz.

  

After the baby Taj it was off to the Metāb Bāgh or moonlight garden on the opposite bank of the river Yamuna from the Taj Mahal. We stayed their until sunset enjoying the greenery and taking photos of the Taj Mahal from the opposite side of the river. We also witnessed 3 funeral fires just down the bank from the Taj Mahal.

 

After sunset we headed back to the hotel for an hour before having our last dinner with the group at Maya a rooftop restaurant a couple of kms down the road.