From the Red Fort in Agra you can see the Taj Mahal. It stands alone over a green shrubby distance, shimmering white as heat waves flicker through the sky.

The building grows more impressive as you approach it. Looming, imposing and engulfing you as you approach it.

In July my tour group with AIFS toured through Agra in our hermetically sealed air condition van which provided the perfect excuse for Indians to stare at us through the windows. It is an odd stare that you receive as a foreigner. It is a stare that is not fleeting and is not ashamed. It is a stare out of intense curiosity and little knowledge of Western norms. They do not retract the stare when you stare back.

At one traffic jam a group of monkey handlers brought their monkeys up to our van and demanded payment for the photos we took. My window, which could not lock, was forced open. With cameras it is important to make sure you do not have to pay for what you capture. Many tourists sights, along with having prices for foreigners often 10 times that of Indians charge extra for cameras. Usually, though, you can get away with lying that you do not have a camera.

The fort is almost equally impressive building, used by Mughals to safeguard their empire. Like some things in India the entrance over the moat is marred by the putrid smell of sewage and garbage. As a city, Agra is nothing special. It’s only attraction for tourists are its sights. Because this was a planned tour, we felt like real tourists, guided around with little context about the places we visited.

From Agra we traveled to Jaipur, a fascinating city.