It was hot Sunday morning and I had nothing better to do. Sitting in my matchbox room in U-Block(God knows for whom these rooms are designed for, but surely not for humans) , I  thought of Gatiman Express and all its hype. For those who don't know about Gatiman Express, Here is some trivia:

• Gatiman Express Train is equipped with a 5400 HP locomotive, run between the national capital of New Delhi to Agra at a speed of about 160 km/h (99 mp). The train will take a travel time of 105 minutes to cover 195 KM journey, faster than Bhopal Shatabdi Express.

• Gatiman Express will have train hostesses who will welcome travellers, a soft music plays in the background. The services offered on board the train will match those of airlines.

In a nutshell, It is a train which has train-hostesses, yes , (Girls) and it will take you to Agra from Delhi in 100 Minutes(Really?). So My friend and I got two tickets for the next day and were all set to visit Agra , where I had never been to. 

Came next day , we were all set at 6 AM from Gurgaon(GuruGram??) , Reached Nizamuddin Station by 7:30 and saw our beautiful train waiting for us. Here are some images of what the train looks like:

Here is food which was served:

And those who may ask, No this is not us , these are some random  images from Internet. I am not that lucky ( :D ).

Before I proceed , let me inform you about Agra, Its a very warm city , both in terms of hospitality and temperature, so plan your travel accordingly. Mercury goes up to 45-47 Degrees in here. We Boarded an auto next and went straight to Agra Fort , which is also a must see. Agra Fort, as my Auto-driver cum Guide told me, is bigger than Red Fort and was built by Akbar and is really BIG. Here are some images I took there:

This is Agra Fort:

This is how it looks from inside:

This is its garden which is very beautiful:




Agra fort will take up almost 3-4 hours of your time and basically you will find yourself in a foreign nation once you are inside. Reason being that small one liner-line in front of National Tourists and full-fledged twin line in front of FOREIGN TOURIST Ticket counters. There are a lot of them (which is a nice thing) in Agra. Wash room is at 2nd floor , just in case. And Yeah , Taj Mahal is visible from Agra Fort(3 Kms far), so bring a DSLR , it will be worth it, or else you'll be stuck with the picture like we this one with an iPhone:



So You see, don't go without DSLR to Agra Fort. Also , Foreigners are so well versed in dealing with local shop-venders here that that will make you think again ki is dukaan wale ne kahi aapko bhi choona to nahi laga diya hai ;)

After spending 3-4 Hours in Agra Fort  , we headed for Taj Mahal. Took Rickshaw@30Rs. We were so hungry with all the walking inside Fort when someone told about sabse-sasti market for local delicacies adjacent to Taj. We went there and had Panchi Petha(Most famous one) , Agra ke Samose and some Sprite. Full Charged now, Taj was 400 Metres from here. Cloak Room is available. No , You cannot bring charger inside.

We knew Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton visited Taj Yesterday hence security will be tight.




And yes , It feels good that this renovation of a minar not only distorted my shots , but it did to their highnesses images as well(haha?).

So quickly ,some trivia about Taj-Mahal:

1. The construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632 and was completed in 1653. It took a total of twenty two years to complete the construction of this monument.
2. At different times of the day the Taj Mahal appears to be in a different colour. Some believe that these changing colours depict the changing moods of a woman.(No Kidding here :P )
3. The Taj Mahal has a mosque in its premises, which is why the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays and only those going for customary prayers are permitted inside the Taj Mahal.(Also, gatiman Express doesnt run on Fridays)

This is how they earn at taj Mahal, price difference being so exorbitantly high that you thank yourself for not being a foreigner:

Once you take Ticket and cross lines , you will find yourself here:



This is Taj Garden and the white dome in top left is Taj Mahal. This garden is very beautiful and you can spent an hour here easily , if you can suppress your excitement to see Taj first , that is. :)

You can also go inside Taj Mahal , if you were wondering , but you wont be allowd to stay long inside and you will have to wear foot-plug to cover your (relatively) dirty feet. inside there are two faux-mazars . There is a mosque adjacent to Taj Mahal also as seen in this Panorama:



A word of advise for selfie-addicts , please do bring a selfie stick . It will be worth the effort and will reward you with beautiful pics like this:




or like this:




Also , Please do click this Taj Mahal meri anguliyon mai wala shot. It is so bad that it is good :P . If you are a photographer like me , the best time to visit Taj Mahal is around 4:30(PM). But mind you , entries after 6 PM have to pay double . So ensure that you are inside by 5. When the sun rays play with Taj , you get so so beautiful pictures like these:





Do write in comments if you guys want more pics or want to know about the angles. Remember , it all depends on the angle.


So, we were at Taj Mahal till 6 PM. There were so many foreigners that many times you get confused ki mai kahan aa gaya hu ... But at the same time , you feel good that your country has so much to offer to other people. :) .

If you have deposited your luggage, The cloak room opens only till 6:30 and ATM is 1 Km from Taj so keep yourself stuffed. If you are from Delhi, The buses (from Expressway) to Delhi Ply from Agra  Fort . We boarded 7 PM bus and by 10 PM we touched Gurgaon with 823 photos and videos and unlimited memories. 

It was a really great trip. Do visit Taj Once in your life kyunki kisi ne sach hi kaha hai :




Signing off on that note and with this last picture, I hope you guys liked my travel blog. Please do comment and share .. Thanks for Reading :)