That makes it a hat-trick !
An incredible final day was had on our Indian Adventure not seeing one World Heritage site but two: The Taj Mahal and Red Fort, Agra bringing our total to 3.
Today was sadly our last full day embracing all that is India. For me it was a day I have been greatly looking forward to and also dreading. This is because today we get to visit one of the 7 modern Wonders of the World, and it’s my 19th Birthday, but also due to our impending departure less than 24 hours away. Pushing this fact to the back of our minds, we set out to enjoy as much as possible in these final hours of our life changing adventure.
We started our penultimate day with an early morning bus ride to the New Delhi train station to catch our express train to Agra. After this sleepy journey was completed we had another quick journey to arrive in the vicinity of the Taj Mahal with it’s dome glistening away in the distance, balancing on top of tree tops.
Collecting our tickets and taking a much needed last minute toilet break we headed through security. This to many of us seemed slightly excessive as we were hardly allowed to take anything in. Our understanding behind these precautions became clear when gazing upon the vast beauty inlaid on the architecture.
The first building we saw upon entering the estate was a red stone building which towered above us. This didn’t quite equate to the vastness or shimmering finish of the distant white dome which only became visible to our eyes when walking along the centre line towards the red building and consequently the further away white marble where we would soon see arguably the most famous building on the planet. With one majestic historical building appearing through the gate of the former the perspective of the observer is not just that of you moving towards, but the overwhelming composition of the most durable stone on earth moving towards you.
Once picture upon picture had been taken to ensure that this momentous moment was memorialised, we proceeded to keep on walking towards the ending to a century’s long love story. One of India’s King’s 3rd wife is who this entire creation is devoted to, commemorating their love and the story of how he had to go through two political marriages before being able to marry his one true love and having over 10 children before her death. Though her death was sad, she asked on her death bed for something beautiful to be created to inform the many future generations of their story and so the Taj Mahal was born.
After learning about the origins of this awe-inspiring creation, this gave the whole experience another layer of amazement. After more pictures and a small walk back through the more natural over slate path, we were back on the coach on our way to a beautiful Indian lunch with something for everyone according to our preferred Indian tastes.
After this, we walked into a seeming insignificant building, however inside lay the descendants of families who worked on the Taj Mahal, who demonstrated how the original stonework was created and the semi-precious stones where inlaid onto the buildings themselves.
Concluding our day, on our last stop of the trip we arrived at Agra Fort, a vast, long and red sandstone rock looking over us. We enjoyed a hot walk around detailed stonework, more easily moulded than its marble counterpart.
We are now on our way travelling back to New Delhi looking forward to enjoying our last Indian dinner in India together.
A brief packing session was then needed by us all to get ready for our flight the following day. After completing as much as possible we headed down to dinner which was fortunately buffet style and I had fish and chips cooked by the chef himself. Reflection followed some more packing, and was unfortunately our last of the adventure.. We all gathered round the table huddling to hear Helen’s beautiful words of poetry, effortlessly summarising the parts of the trip more individual to us. This beautiful rendition was not lost on any one of us. This was then met with all of the Rangers presenting our wonderful team of leaders with a small personalised postcard with messages from all of us written on. This emotional element was then met by Helen presenting us each with a memorable group photo of us in front of the Taj Mahal along with our various nights away badges exciting and pleasing us all!
Following reflections and sharing each of our treasures throughout our trip, I was then completely surprised and overwhelmed by the Rangers dropping in front of me a mountainous chocolate and cream birthday cake 🎂🎈🧁Thank you also for the lovely and heartwarming card, and to the leaders for carrying my present from home all the way across India 🇮🇳! Thank you to all, for making this a wonderful birthday and enabling me to spend it with my second family!
By Rebecca
It was a really early start this morning; Hannah and I set our alarm for 5:30 but we were shocked when Chloe knocked on our door at 5:55 - we were both so tired. Once we were ready we all met in the restaurant to head off for a really fun but busy day. We left at about 6:30 and about half an hour later we arrived at the train station and got the express train to Agra to go and see the Taj Mahal. Once we arrived it was a bit annoying going through security because we all had to take our neckers off because of the flag on it and Indigo ( our mascot ) got taken away but we have her back now! There was another walk before the Taj Mahal but when we walked through it we were all so in awe of its beauty and it was just like a movie - it was amazing!
By Evie 🇮🇳😉
Today was sadly our last full day embracing all that is India. For me it was a day I have been greatly looking forward to and also dreading. This is because today we get to visit one of the 7 modern Wonders of the World, and it’s my 19th Birthday, but also due to our impending departure less than 24 hours away. Pushing this fact to the back of our minds, we set out to enjoy as much as possible in these final hours of our life changing adventure.
We started our penultimate day with an early morning bus ride to the New Delhi train station to catch our express train to Agra. After this sleepy journey was completed we had another quick journey to arrive in the vicinity of the Taj Mahal with it’s dome glistening away in the distance, balancing on top of tree tops.
Collecting our tickets and taking a much needed last minute toilet break we headed through security. This to many of us seemed slightly excessive as we were hardly allowed to take anything in. Our understanding behind these precautions became clear when gazing upon the vast beauty inlaid on the architecture.
The first building we saw upon entering the estate was a red stone building which towered above us. This didn’t quite equate to the vastness or shimmering finish of the distant white dome which only became visible to our eyes when walking along the centre line towards the red building and consequently the further away white marble where we would soon see arguably the most famous building on the planet. With one majestic historical building appearing through the gate of the former the perspective of the observer is not just that of you moving towards, but the overwhelming composition of the most durable stone on earth moving towards you.
Once picture upon picture had been taken to ensure that this momentous moment was memorialised, we proceeded to keep on walking towards the ending to a century’s long love story. One of India’s King’s 3rd wife is who this entire creation is devoted to, commemorating their love and the story of how he had to go through two political marriages before being able to marry his one true love and having over 10 children before her death. Though her death was sad, she asked on her death bed for something beautiful to be created to inform the many future generations of their story and so the Taj Mahal was born.
After learning about the origins of this awe-inspiring creation, this gave the whole experience another layer of amazement. After more pictures and a small walk back through the more natural over slate path, we were back on the coach on our way to a beautiful Indian lunch with something for everyone according to our preferred Indian tastes.
After this, we walked into a seeming insignificant building, however inside lay the descendants of families who worked on the Taj Mahal, who demonstrated how the original stonework was created and the semi-precious stones where inlaid onto the buildings themselves.
Concluding our day, on our last stop of the trip we arrived at Agra Fort, a vast, long and red sandstone rock looking over us. We enjoyed a hot walk around detailed stonework, more easily moulded than its marble counterpart.
We are now on our way travelling back to New Delhi looking forward to enjoying our last Indian dinner in India together.
A brief packing session was then needed by us all to get ready for our flight the following day. After completing as much as possible we headed down to dinner which was fortunately buffet style and I had fish and chips cooked by the chef himself. Reflection followed some more packing, and was unfortunately our last of the adventure.. We all gathered round the table huddling to hear Helen’s beautiful words of poetry, effortlessly summarising the parts of the trip more individual to us. This beautiful rendition was not lost on any one of us. This was then met with all of the Rangers presenting our wonderful team of leaders with a small personalised postcard with messages from all of us written on. This emotional element was then met by Helen presenting us each with a memorable group photo of us in front of the Taj Mahal along with our various nights away badges exciting and pleasing us all!
Following reflections and sharing each of our treasures throughout our trip, I was then completely surprised and overwhelmed by the Rangers dropping in front of me a mountainous chocolate and cream birthday cake 🎂🎈🧁Thank you also for the lovely and heartwarming card, and to the leaders for carrying my present from home all the way across India 🇮🇳! Thank you to all, for making this a wonderful birthday and enabling me to spend it with my second family!
By Rebecca
It was a really early start this morning; Hannah and I set our alarm for 5:30 but we were shocked when Chloe knocked on our door at 5:55 - we were both so tired. Once we were ready we all met in the restaurant to head off for a really fun but busy day. We left at about 6:30 and about half an hour later we arrived at the train station and got the express train to Agra to go and see the Taj Mahal. Once we arrived it was a bit annoying going through security because we all had to take our neckers off because of the flag on it and Indigo ( our mascot ) got taken away but we have her back now! There was another walk before the Taj Mahal but when we walked through it we were all so in awe of its beauty and it was just like a movie - it was amazing!
By Evie 🇮🇳😉
Wow, what a brilliant day! The Taj Mahal looks amazing. Looking forward to hearing all about your incredible adventures.
ReplyDeleteVx
A Huge thank you to all the leaders who made this trip a reality!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing trip with some fantastic memories & friends!
Thank you again on behalf of all the parents