20
Location: Delhi, Agra, and the Taj Mahal
Yesterday was our travel day. We woke up at 5.30 and had a 4-hour car ride from Norbulingka to the Amritsar airport. From there we took the plane to Delhi. We arrived at our nice hotel at 5 o’clock in the afternoon. Most of us were tired and just wanted to stay at the hotel, but Sophie, Alex, Sarah, Wen and I still wanted to see some parts of Delhi. So we went to a park near our hotel which was supposed to be 10 minutes away. As our driver got lost, it took us 50 minutes to get there. After we visited the park, we went to Hauz Kauz, the hipster-part of Delhi. Wen brought us to this awesome cafe where we all got a nice soda and had a delicious chocolate dessert. Back at the hotel, we all were tired. As we were looking forward to an important day at the Taj Mahal, we fell asleep early.
Today was probably one of the best days of this program: we went to the Taj Mahal! Wen woke us up at 4.30 in the morning, and we left our hotel at 4.45. With an Indian train, it took us two hours to get to Agra where we arrived at 8. Even though it was early in the morning, it was already 100F, and the sun was shining. Everyone was sweaty the moment we stepped out of the air-conditioned train.
With another taxi, we finally arrived at the Taj Mahal. With our tour guide, we started to explore the beautiful area of the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is not the only pretty building there: 4 different entrances, a guesthouse, a mosque, and various other buildings complete the Taj Mahal compound.
We spent about 2 hours taking pictures and enjoying the beautiful views on the Taj Mahal. We even got to see the inside and saw the fake tombs of the king and his wife. After that, we were all so hot and tired that we needed to get food and some water. At a hotel in Agra, we had a good lunch and prepared ourselves for the 4-5 hours car ride back to Delhi.
Back in Delhi most of us took a shower and rested until we went to dinner at 7.30. The dinner was really good. We had Japanese and Chinese food at a market place near our hotel. After we came back, we moved some mattresses into the hallway to end our awesome program with a sleep-over!