Taj Mahal

 Agra - Fatehpur Sikri - Bharatpur - Mathura - Vrindavan

• Given the walk around and marbles that reflect heat, it is best adviced to visit Taj Mahal in Winters. The access roads are blocked for half mile where you need to park.
• Foreigners are charged 20X more than Indian nationals for entry fee. The amenities are almost non-existent and if you go on a weekend, be ready to go through a crawling crowd.
• Book a hotel nearby for a glance at night. People plan their visit on a full moon to see the white marbles glow in the dark.

Taj Mahal is magnificent - a structure unmatched in grandeur across the globe. A rich history and an exquisite location at the banks of Yamuna makes The Taj Mahal a wonder among wonders. My friends who had come from UK were insisting for The Taj. Hence we started early morning in August at 5.30 AM for Agra. Shaun and Nicola were the ones I was giving company. The highway is pretty smooth but the key to trip to Taj Mahal is starting early. We reached Mathura by 8 AM. There is a McD on the highway where we had our breakfast. 

Taj Mahal, Agra 

Stonehenge

• Reaching Stonehenge using public transport is cumbersome. You have to take two trains and a bus if you are coming from London to see the large stones.
• As such the arbitrary arrangement of stone logs is not very remarkable so if you want to really appreciate it, read about the history of these stones.
• You are not allowed to touch the stones which is a bit downer but probably important to preserve them. Round trip hardly takes much time however.

Trip: London > Stonehenge > London

We took the early morning train from Sheffield for Salisbury. There is bus at regular interval from Salisbury to Stonehenge. By the time we reached there it was noon. It was nice to see so many people together at an isolated place in UK. Stonehenge is big crowd-puller.

Stonehenge near Salisbury

Windsor

• Windsor Palace has a well defined path and audio guide to help. It takes couple hours to cover end to end. Walk around the village of Windsor as well which is equally charming.
• The outfit and gear of Tipu Sultan was the highlight for me. The sheer size of the outfit meant he was a giant and a fearsome warrior.
• The ferris wheel outside the castle is good for a high point view of castle. The sentinels are perfect to take a picture with them still and you enjoying.

It was one of those weekend trips in UK. This time we planned for Windsor Castle. The Castle of Windsor is the winter residence of the Queen. The place is well connected with London. We started from Sheffield at 8 and were in Windsor by 12. We started of with lunch near the station. Being a weekend, there was a good crowd there.

Souvenir Shop, Windsor

The trip within the castle is well set and the crowd moves in a sequence. There are points within the castle from where the outside is visible and one can see the large spread of area in which the castle is built. There are a lot of royal stuffs kept there but the most captivating article we found was the armour of The Great Tipu Sultan. It was huge.

View from Ferris Wheel, Windsor

We came out of the other end of the palace and wanted to buy some souvenirs but they were costly. Instead we decided to spend the money on a ferris wheel which was located just outside the gate. From the top of it not only we had a top view of the castle but the entire Windsor city.

London

• A combination of underground tubes and ferry along Thames can take you anywhere within London within half hour. Use both at tandem for highest efficiency.
• All the landmarks are well spread across London but the one to be attempted first is London Bridge which in itself is a museum and is close to London Eye.
• Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus are two most buzzing places in London during day time. Hyde Park is another hot spot.

Although the first time I was in London was in the first week of April, it was only by the end of June that I feel I truly explored the city. That was a weekend when Raghunath mama took me around the city on his new Volvo.

Near London Bridge

We started early morning for Tower of London. It is where the famous Kohinoor diamond is kept among other articles that the Britishers collected during their colonial reign. The establishment and its surrounding is charming enough at the bank of the river Thames. The London Bridge is adjacent to the Tower. We spent the afternoon eating light and sauntering around the place.

St. Paul's Cathedral, London

Started in the noon, we reached Trafalger Square in no time. The place was suppose to open up with a large ground in from of the British National Library. Instead there was a giant structure temporarily built resembling the Jagannath Temple of Puri, India. Free food was being served to an enormous crowd, mostly Indians, gathered at the Square.

Buckingham Palace, London

We ate Indian food quite delightfully and then moved on to a nearby park. Later on we visited Buckingham Palace and clicked few photographs.