Dambulla 5 november 2024

Hi Ann!
Here's a final letter regarding India. The last letter ended with me leaving Pushkar to head towards Agra. Agra—and more precisely the Taj Mahal—which was actually the only thing I had decided at home that I would visit.

On the way to Agra, there was a small stop at Chand Baori. When I googled it, I found out that the place is called a stepwell and that it has 3,500 steps. Apparently, the oldest parts are from the 8th century. It was a place where people in the past could find coolness. But I can say it was anything but cool when I was there. Still, a cool building that was fun to see.

Towards evening, I arrived at the hotel in Agra—the last stop of my two-week trip. I went to bed quite directly since I was to meet my "Taj Mahal guide" already shortly after 5:00 AM. I had wished to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise.

It was still dark the next morning when we set off on foot. The streets were almost empty, and it was cool and pleasant. Or "cool" is perhaps an exaggeration, but everything is relative. So shortly after 6:00 AM, there it was—right in front of my eyes—the mausoleum built as a symbol of love—the Taj Mahal. And yes, it was really worth coming here to see it. So beautiful! And my guide Arun could tell so much that made the visit even more interesting. About the red stones that glittered in the morning light, how the workers inlaid these into the white marble, and what that work did to their fingers. How symmetrical the entire building is, and symmetrical with all the other buildings. I should have written everything down immediately. Now I find it hard to reproduce it correctly. But as I said, it's a beautiful building. You should come here and see it with your own eyes.

Back to the hotel for breakfast before the car turned back towards Delhi. My round trip in Rajasthan was over. For various reasons, I now made the decision to move on to Sri Lanka already. The flight departs on Saturday, so that means three nights in Delhi before I set off toward the next chapter of the journey.

In Delhi, you apparently always find new friends. In these few days, I managed to add another four Delhi friends. I met a girl thanks to a mutual acquaintance. She took me on some sightseeing around the city, and in the evening, we ended up at a nice place with live music. Fun! I also managed to swim 750 meters in the pool and stroll around the city on my own. I like this place!

//Kristina