Gwalior

Gwalior is a town roughly equidistant between Agra and Jhansi. Its only real claim to fame is its hill top fort that looms over the sprawling town. The fort is fairly impressive in size, housing a number of different palaces, temples and ruins and with incredible views of the town and surrounding area. Also to be found in Gwalior is the Jai Vilas Palace, home to the Maharajah. It's a massive building, built around a central courtyard and lawns. The rooms are enormously extravagant affairs, with some of the most hideous chandeliers I have ever seen, and, in true Indian style, lacking in cleanliness and any real effort at effective maintenance. Still, an interesting experience.

Due to various restraints we found ourselves in Gwalior for two nights and three days - definitely too long. Budget accommodation is not really Gwalior's strong point either, with a few run down looking places near the train station. We stayed in what we considered to be the best of the bunch, although the TV didn't work, there was no hot water and we shared the insanely filthy bathroom with a number of cockroaches. We're off to Agra this afternoon, home to the famous Taj Mahal.