28th August 2012, 11:45
| #16 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Gurgaon
Posts: 753
Thanked: 805 Times
| Re: Monsoon drive photologue - Varanasi, Agra, Chunar & Churk! continuing the TL Arch inside an arc inside and arc - alternatingly dark and light  TaJ on a platform - it is same from all the sides, with nothing to distinguish its back from front.  Closeup view of the main body of the Taj Incidently I had just finished reading the books on Mughal dynasty by Alex Rutherford - and that was making this experience all the more surreal for me.  Did you notice the hooks on the dome? They were put there to cover Taj during one of the Indo-Pak wars where Pakistan had threated to blow it away. It was covered with black cloth to protect it.  Mosque on one side of Taj  Royal Gate and Garden - view from Taj. The royal gate has 22 small minarets, 11 on each side. Legend had it that each one of the minarets depict one year that it took to construct the Taj. 22 meaning - it took 22 years to complete building the Taj  Intricate stone inlay work on marble - all such work in Taj is stone inlay and nothing is painted  Intricate design carved out of a singel block of marble  Another view of the Royal gate from Taj.  to be contd... Last edited by sach.sri : 28th August 2012 at 11:48. |
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28th August 2012, 14:56
| #17 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Gurgaon
Posts: 753
Thanked: 805 Times
| Re: Monsoon drive photologue - Varanasi, Agra, Chunar & Churk! Continuing the TL Last set of pics from the Taj The mosque  Royal Gate with storm clouds overhead  While it was cloudy through out, sun came out for a short while Taj in sunlight   Warmer tone    Parting shot - same place from where we took our first shot of the Taj  We completed our Taj visit in around 2 hours and were back at the hotel around 11 am. We had already packed our stuff - tied up the loose ends and checked out. Were on the road by 12 pm. On the way back we had decided to take the YAmuna Expressway to try out the newly opened road. It was a good experience, the road was dead straight i could use my cruise control effectively. My father had already warned me of the speed cams that were installed on the expressway and so i was cautious and drove at 100 kmph barring a few bursts. I should mention here that the speed cams were not into service that day - and there were a lot of cars overspeeding and passing us by even when my speedo showed 100 kmph. It was 14th Aug - and the toll was to start from 16th Aug, so had a free ride instead of what would be a Rs. 320/- toll one way. next post - some pics of the expressway to conclude this TL. to be contd... |
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29th August 2012, 13:16
| #18 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Gurgaon
Posts: 753
Thanked: 805 Times
| Re: Monsoon drive photologue - Varanasi, Agra, Chunar & Churk! continuing the TL Entry to Yamuna expressway from Agra is on NH2 (Agra Kanpur highway). One needs to go around 15 odd kms on this highway to get onto the Yamuna expressway. Like i have said in my last post - it is a great road and we had fun driving on it. The only issue was the lack of any eating joints on the whole stretch. The guy at one of the toll plazas said that Haldiram has taken up the contract of operating the eating joints and they will be operational by 16th Aug. However, on the road - one could not see any activity which gave any indication of opening preparations. Anyways - we had some munchies in the car and we munched along. It was monsoon time and along the drive we had patches with dark clouds, white clouds, rain showers, sun  Start of the Expressway - beautiful wide concrete road and clouds  White puffy clouds and electric blue skies - cant get enough. They were one constant feature of this trip. Every where we went - we saw amazing skies and clouds. Monsoon drives rock!  Black Tarmac and blue skies   Black rain clouds - looks like rains!  Mathura exit There were exits on the expressway other than Agra and Greater Noida. I had not expected any exit near Gurgaon - but could see a board for Palwal also. I guess, that is the option to be taken while going to Agra from Gurgaon  Sun-n-shade  Toll Plaza - looks so neat now. Wonder how it will be in sometime - will it see the mad rush of traffic that we see on our other toll booths? I guess Jaypee definitely would like that   After a rain shower - spray of the tyres  Objects in rear view mirror  Beautiful skyline  Thanks - visit again  This concludes the TL. We had a lot of fun on the trip and now again reliving the trip with this TL. Hope you have enjoyed it as much as we did making it. So long........ till the next trip and TL |
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