At this point, we headed back to Agra.  We wanted to use our train pass, but the only class available on the overnight train was the Sleeper class, and we didn’t really want to rough it that much. Instead we hired a driver, and it was one of the scariest drives of our life. The road was extremely rough, and filled with cows, people, other livestock…  The driver kept getting lost and was driving extremely aggressively.  Although amazingly it wasn’t till we were finally approaching Agra that he got a flat tire.

We stayed at the Tourist Rest House again, but we’re not sure why – it hadn’t improved since the last time we were there!  Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t? 

It was all worth it though. We saw the Taj Mahal  in the wonderful morning light, on a beautiful sunny day and we were one of the very few people there.  We spent several hours just soaking it in and enjoying the chance to take in all the amazing details.

Then we had lunch at McDonald’s – where there are no Big Macs (Hindus don’t eat beef) and half the menu is labeled
vegetarian.  Including the fries (which are made with beef flavoring in most of the world).  Awesome.  Very expensive, though – the sundae cost as much as it would in the US.  But it was certainly an experience – Wendy has nothing to eat at McD’s back home!

The Upper Class Waiting Room in the Agra Train Station, AKA the urinal. It smelled so bad we preferred to stay on the track, AKA the homeless shelter. The irony on the poster ('Incredible India') was rich.