Taj Mahal
We boarded the overnight train to Agra – our first AC1 (Air Con first class) journey and an expensive journey in Indian terms. We found our birth and were soon joined by a couple, their 2 month old baby and several of their relations. Luckily the extended family got off when the train started to move so it was just the five of us left. With an eye mask and ear plugs at the ready we eventually settled down to sleep. The ear plugs came in handy when we were later woken, not by a crying baby but the loud snoring of the father!
We arrived into the smog of Agra at around 8.30am.. a couple of hours behind schedule so practically on time! We got to the hotel, (Hotel Sheela – good location, poor in every other way) and after wandering around Agra and having some lunch we made our way to the Taj Mahal – the must do stop on any tourist’s journey in India. Despite all the crowds it’s still a very awe inspiring site.
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Agra Fort
After dropping our washing off with a very cheery laundrette man and having some breakfast we made our way to the Red Fort. With the Taj closed on a Friday the streets were very quiet, still the rickshaws were out in force and with few customers around they were even more desperate for business than usual. For the 2km walk from the Taj we were accompanied by a very chatty rickshaw driver who followed us all the way to the gate. On our wander round we had a few very excited Indian tourists asking if they could have their picture with us.. you kind of get the feeling what it must be like to be a celebrity here!
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I’timad-ud-Daubah
The rickshaw driver was still waiting when we got outside so we decided to visit the Baby Taj. After that he tried to take us to a bazzar so he could get some commission but we managed to avoid that one. The streets were busy with everyone doing their last minute Diwali shopping. Caught a bit of NZ’s woeful start to the 1st test at lunch. That night we headed to a rooftop restaurant to watch the fireworks going off around the city, they continued through the night and as were discovered later, for the rest the of the week the night times were filled with the sounds of a war zone.
