Agra

5 am jet lagged start Tuesday in the freezing cold for dawn train to Agra.

Worth it though, served 'breakfast'-sweet tea and curry- in s/c a/c car as sun rose over Indian countryside.
The tent people who line the railway were my first glimpse of the grinding poverty I've already got used to-by now - the sight of beggar children is so commonplace it seems normal.

In Agra the first of many tuk tuk rides, post restorative lunch (more curry) and a fascinating guided tour of Taj Mahal, Baby Taj, Agra Fort and the sunset over the river.

The sharp contrast of  the stunning beauty of the Taj and the burning bodies in the crematorium alongside as the sun set moved me to tears.

The group is good fun, 16 of us, mainly young, but a retired couple and another more senior gentlemen, so I'm not the oldest, and everyone is very friendly/easy going, and it already feels like a 'family'