Agra

Let's just say Agra's not the nicest place in India. Fortunately (and more by luck than judgement) we are staying away from the Taj Ganj area, which is full of lame restaurants, filthy guesthouses and persistent rickshaw drivers. Our accommodation is nice and the area is relatively hassle free with a few nice South Indian restaurants serving great Dosas. The Taj Mahal was mightily impressive, an architectural masterpiece that looks too perfect to be real even when you are stood right in front of it (shame about the ridiculous entrance fee). The Red Fort is also a very impressive sight, but, again, overpriced by Indian standards. Indeed, as we are now within a day trip of Delhi, many things are much more expensive than in the rest of India. This is mostly due to the sheer number of tourists that visit this area without any idea of the value of things in India. As a result the inflated price becomes the price and it's very difficult to negotiate a reasonable price. There's also an unbelievable amount of sellers and rickshaw drivers trying to extract money from you, which can be very tiresome. We are looking forward to heading into Rajasthan and should be in Pushkar (home of the famous camel fair) for the Hindu festival of Diwali.