October 24th - Agra to Gwalior

Having been to the Taj Mahal yesterday evening, we did not join the majority of the group who went at 6 am to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. Instead we went to see the Red Fort. It was following the decision by Akbar to make Agra his capital that the construction of the fort was started in 1570. It was then continued by Shah Jahan who built his palace within the fort in white marble. Shah Jahan was then imprisoned for the last seven years of his life in the Red Fort by his son, Aurangzeb. The Red Fort gets its name from the red sandstone used to make the huge walls as well as the first palace.

It has always been used as a military garrison and following the end of Moghul rule the British and then the Indian army, have occupied the majority of the fort. The palaces and other royal buildings take up less than 30% of the total area. As we walked up to the gates we were approached by a guide who, for 150 rupees (£2), said he would show us around. We decided to do this and Rashid then proceeded to give us a detailed history of the fort and show us how magnificent this building was, and is to this day.

The terrace from where Shah Jahan, whilst imprisoned in the Red Fort, looked out across Agra to the Taj Mahal.

Whilst walking around we saw these four Sikhs in wonderful dress.

A close up of a magnificent Sikh face.

At the end of the tour Wendy took this photo of me and our guide, Rashid.

Below are a series of photos of the Red Fort, starting with the main gates.

The massive walls of the fort.

Exquisite marble decoration inside Shah Jahan's palace.

A detail showing the Pietra Dura work on one of the dozens of columns supporting the myriad of roofs.


We spent about an hour there and then took our tuk-tuk back to the hotel, but not before calling at a marble shop to see some wonderful examples of Indian Pietra Dura craftsmanship. We were shown a small round white marble table with the inlaid design taken from one of the Taj Mahal's intricate patterns. It didn't take us long to decide to buy it and have it shipped back to England. Another memento of India for us to treasure when we return. We returned to our hotel, packed the car and left for the shortest drive of the tour, just 136 kms to the city of Gwalior. As we drove out of Agra we passed some road works where the road was being 'repaired'. On the way we passed through a village that was having a cattle market and we snapped the picture below showing some of the crowd with their livestock.

The road south was mainly on expressway and it took us just over two hours to arrive. Our hotel here is the Maharajah of Gwalior's guest house. It was built in the late 19th century and was used by George V and Queen Mary on their visit to India in 1906. When we arrived we learnt that Mick Jagger had just left the hotel after a night's stay. Apparently he is on holiday here. Later on we were taken to see the Maharajah's palace which was next door to the hotel. On the way we passed these three little tots sitting in a horse dawn carriage.

I showed them the photos of themselves and the happiness on their faces when they saw themselves was great to see. A few yards further on and we entered the palace gates. The palace is a huge building with a colossal bronze canon mounted in front of it.

Tomorrow we continue our drive south to the city of Khajuraho, which is the site of a deserted capital.