Today, we made the long trek east towards Agra.  It was mostly an uneventful day across the small villages and countryside.  As always, in India, there is lots of interesting things to see along the way…

 And numerous temples ever few kilometers…

The big business for many is how they dry the manure from the cows and buffalo into round patties that can be used for fuel for fires and stoves.

We stopped for lunch at a re-furbished Laxmis Villas (palace) near Bharatpur for a nice local lunch.

Have to enjoy the smell of freshly picked flowers before lunch.  And, finally – I found some Indian rice pudding for desert!

We then toured the famous Akbar fort which was the residence and royal palace for the third Moghul Emperor.  This was found in the city of Sikri.

I have to admit that the size of the grounds and different summer and winter living spaces were one of the largest ancient (castles) I have ever seen.  It is of the scale of most equivalent Roman structures I have visited or seen over time.

The one interesting tidbit I learned today: this is where the game Parcheesi was invented.  Many people still play it here.  Back in the 1500s, it was played with women dressed in different colored saris instead of small board pieces.

It is hard to see, but if you look close, you can see the squares.

The city of Agra is packed with one road as the main thoroughfare into the city.  We have a good hotel with an interesting view to share…

More on this tomorrow 🙂  See the next blog post!