Saturday April 18, 2026
Hi Gang! We made it to the Taj Mahal! I feel like we were in that movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles! We were up at 5:30 AM, had breakfast at 6, drove to the train station at 7, boarded the train at 8, and made it the Taj by 11:30. Whew, what a morning!
After visiting the Taj we went to this really nice hotel for lunch and then at 3 we went to Agra Fort, another UNESCO World Heritage site not far from the Taj. We were there until about 4:30 then went to the train station for our ride back to the hotel. We had dinner at 9 and were winding down by 10. Oh, and it was 104 degrees the whole day!!
But it was all worth it! The pictures and words don’t do it justice. I see why it’s one of the Seven Wonders of the World. And I love that they gave us shoe covers so we didn’t have to take off our shoes! The Taj took 22 years to build and it took 20,000 people to build it (and no slavery)!
It was commissioned in 1632 by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. We saw both tombs but were not permitted to take pictures.
Agra Fort is a 16th century former main residence of the Mughal emperors. Commissioned by Emperor Akbar in 1565, this massive red sandstone complex features palaces, audience halls, and mosques representing the zenith of Mughal architecture.
But if I’m being honest, while both places were amazing to see and hear all the history, the craziest thing we experienced was the Gatimaan Express train station, especially at night!
Also, just watching the hoards of people on a Saturday night along the roads back to our hotel was eye opening. Not to mention all the cows and monkeys we saw and who can forget the unique smells (especially in 104 degree heat!!).
But we’d do it all over again since it was such a cool experience. Nothing like getting out of your comfort zone! Tomorrow we leave early for the airport to fly to Goa, India to meet back up with the ship. Hope everyone had a great day!
PS: I broke the pics up into three sections. Part 1 is the Taj, Part 2 is Agra Fort, and Part 3 are misc pics.
The Wandering Italian 