October 12, 2009 – Day 291 – Agra, India

Up at the hour at which no one looks good, we headed out to the train station at 4:30AM. It was still dark and the streets were not as deserted as you might imagine.

Stunning

Not from party-goers of course but more along the lines of rickshaw drivers and some other random people who looked like they were going somewhere. The train to Agra was a sleepy awkward 4 hours in sleeper class bunks but we got to Agra nice and early. Stepping through the gate into the Taj Mahal complex revealed the very first glimpse of the iconic structure. Against a hazy light blue sky, the white stone seemed dream like and utterly splendid.

It doesn't even look like 5000 people are here

Although the reflecting pools were undergoing cleaning during our visit, the grandure of the Taj Mahal was no less gorgeous. A step inside the main building revealed a surprising small (well, normal sized really but it seems small compared to the whole building) tomb in the center. There are no photos officially allowed inside, seemingly one of India’s many silly rules, but the circular walk about is beautifully decorated with colorful stone cut into pieces to forms flowers and borders around the marble fence partitioning off the area around where the favorite wife was laid to rest. A little distracting are the Indian tourists who yell loudly to hear their voices within the small space.

Enjoying the cool marble

We enjoyed the grounds (no doubt nicely maintained thanks to the $15 entrance fee for foreigners) from a shady park bench to people watch and admire the hazy white Taj Mahal really and truly standing before our eyes.

Us!

A pleasant 15-20 minute walk straight from the west gate of the Taj Mahal is the Agra Fort. Even better maintained and more beautiful than Delhi’s Red Fort, the Agra Fort is more decorative and shows a strong Islamic influence within the architecture. Simple and beautiful, the Agra Fort is more rewarding to visit and explore than the Red Fort. You can find plenty of quiet nooks to sit in and enjoy the surroundings.

Entrance to the fort

Through the empty halls

Gardens

After a close encounter with the monkeys that come out to play around dusk and a tree full of noisy chipmunk-squirrels, we decided we had better be on our way to the train station.

He thinks he is hiding

We still had an hour or so but decided to go ahead to our platform just to be ready. Thanks to a faulty digital sign and muffled intercom system, we ended up missing our train that was…sitting on the platform behind us for a half hour. We considered jumping onto the moving train but by the time we realized it was our ride, the train was moving too fast and we only had about 3 ½ cars left to try to get on. Of course they were not the kind connected by the inside and we would have ended up in the luggage car, the disabled car, or on the caboose. Instead, we sauntered to the ticket office and bought an unreserved no-seat ticket for about US$1.20 for a train leaving in another hour. We would be sure to triple check the platform! Turns out that you have to pay an extra US$0.30 to sit down.

Through the glass

So we had our first experience with train seats on an Indian train shared with a…well-fed Indian family that made themselves quite comfortable sitting almost on top of us (that’s not a joke) and occasionally kicking or ramming a bag or two into us as they rattled around for snacks for the 3 hour ride. Not the most pleasant time but hey, you get what you pay for.