India: Agra

The second city that we visited in India was Agra - it was a 5+ hour bus ride from Delhi - filled with constant car horns, cows, monkeys and motorcycles packed with 4 or more family members including babies -it was quite a trip!

The highlights of Agra were:


-The major highlight of Agra was the Taj Mahal. We visited at sunset and the light was amazing.



-Celebration of the Holi Festival: http://www.holifestival.org/
We literally were advised to stay at our hotel and not go outside on the day of Holi as there are many celebrations as people put 'the color' on each other. and basically party all day and night. Lauri and I went out to dinner (at a neighboring hotel less than a mile from our hotel) and our cab driver took us back through the town showing us the bonfires that people were building. You can see some color on people in some of these pictures.



-I had a few of the best meals of the trip in Agra. One was the dinner that Lauri and I had at the other hotel. I got in the habit of eating a combination of daal, (lentils) either yellow which were more mild or black which were a bit more spicy and robust, with yogurt, naan, and a local vegetable curry for most meals. At this dinner we had the best black daal of the trip and at a lunch in Agra, I had the best local vegetable curry- Navratan Korma. It was a combination of sweet and savory with a hint of spice. Would definitely recommend it and will try recreating it at home. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSJBiL5dsNI

Full pictures from Agra are here.