Taj Mahal and India

After a couple days recovering from jet lag in Bombay we hoped a night train to Agra and the home of the Taj Mahal. The train was our first taste of the fabled Indian rail system. Night trains and me don't really go well together. Inevitably I'm to tall for the bunks, so my feet stick out into the walkway and get continually knocked. Along with the multitudes of staring people the constant sound of 'chai, chai, chai' echoing through the compartment, the journey didn't lend itself to a relaxing night sleep. When we stepped off the train the next morning we were in much worse shape then when we had left 21 hrs before.
Agra itself is a total dump, not disimilar to the rest of India. However, probably the one thing in India that exceeds all the billing, the Taj Mahal, is nestled within the madness. The Taj was built by the ruling king in the 1600's as a mausoleum for his deceased wife who died giving birth to his 14th child. It is simply stunning. I won't even try to describe it. It is an architectural gem of brilliant marble and semi-precious stone, probably unparalleled on the planet. The four perfectly symmetric sides glisten in the sun.
After Agra we headed west into Rajastan to Jaipur. Jaipur is the so called 'pink city' due to its painted old town and fort overlooking the city. Unfortunately by this stage India had run its course with us and we made the difficult decision to seek greener pastures. We got a flight back to Bombay and headed to Goa and the beaches.
Goa is a lush area of meandering rivers and forests falling onto palm fringed beaches. We spent a few days in the capital Paniji while I recovered from a hefty dose of 'Delhi Belly'. You have to stop and wonder why after 5 months of street food in Africa with no ill effects I all of a sudden get a shocking case of the runs within a week of landing in India, hmmm? After I had sufficiently recovered we moved onto the beach at Palolem. Undeniably, the beach and water is beautiful, however it's all tainted by the rubbish on the sand. We were told it takes a small army of women to clean the beach each day in the high season so that it looks respectable for the tourists.
After Goa we spent a couple more days in Bombay before flying out to Thailand. Our last couple days coincided with the finish of the annual Ganesh festival. Millions of people bring statues of Ganesh (Elephant God), small and large, down to the beach and put the statues into the sea. Its quite a site seeing the people singing and dancing while they transport their cherished idol to the seafront.
It's unfortunate that we didn't enjoy India, I'm sure it has many wonderful things to see and do. However as anyone who has ever visited will tell you, you either love it or hate it, and we tended towards the latter.