So after our monkey encounter in Jaipur, we headed east towards Agra, for the Taj Mahal -good news. Bad news is that it was still very humid.
Not even particularly hot, just dripping wet. And then when it is starting to get unbearable, torrential rain descends bringing a coolness for about 10 minutes before the humidity starts to rise again.
So it was on one of these particularly humid occasions when we stopped about 15kms short of our hotel for a lunch stop. Slightly bemused, we got out of the truck and immediately had to flee for cover from a barrage of locals trying to sell their tat, entice you into their shop or just rob you. So very quickly 40 people all came into the only restaurant in the place and ordered food. The owner almost died of a heart attack so while some people tried to revive him and coax out their food, a group of us found out that there was in fact a world heritage site 3 kms up the road, which is why we had stopped. So we hopped into the shuttle bus for the hefty price of 5p each and made our way up to the place while our stunned chefs went about starting to prepare the food.
It turns out it was a palace that used to be brilliant but now was slightly less so. So we wandered around and then decided to head back as we thought the others would be staring to eat soon.
The buses were every 5 minutes so we went back to the bus stop. And waited. And waited. No bus for 15 minutes. No problem, we thought it wasn't far so we could walk it and hail a bus an route.
We walked for 30 minutes and got all the way back to the restaurant before seeing a single bus. When we got back, everyone else has finished their food and were on the truck and there were 6 buses, all lined up, with their drivers eating their lunch! Rubbish. So we apologised profusely and ran to grab our food, through the gauntlet of shopkeepers, and we were back under way.
The guide book told us it was free to get into Agra fort on a Friday, and as it was late afternoon on a Friday, we thought we would head down for a quick little look. Turns out that either something has changed or the guide book never told the Indians as it isn't free, just tax free. Throughout India there is a very variable tax amount added to anything, ranging up to about 30%, and apparently almost entirely at the billers discretion. This time it was the tiniest amount so it was like having no discount at all so we decided we would go when we had some more time to see it.
The Taj was poking out the cloud along the river bank so we thought we would have a walk towards it. We stumbled upon a Hindu funeral parlor a couple of hundred metres from the Taj. It was really interesting to see as they were cremating the bodies and throwing the ashes into the river. But soon our presence started to draw a crowd so we decided to leave in search of food.
The next morning we stood in the pre-dawn darkness and torrential rain waiting for the gates of the Taj to open. It was definitely worth the early morning as when we rounded to corner and saw that iconic view, there was no one else there.
This majestic mausoleum is even more amazing when you get up close and go inside. Supposedly the worlds most symmetrical building, was built by a grieving king to house the body of his late wife. As soon as the Taj was finished, the king was overthrown by his own son and was imprisoned for the rest of his life, only able to see his wondrous creation from Agra fort. This is the view he had of it from within the fort.
Other than the Taj and the fort, Agra is very little more than a rubbish tip. With people using the street as a public toilet, and cows wandering aimlessly, while locals discard their rubbish or waste on the sides of the road. Like the rest of India, there is a constant overwhelming smell. It is either a spice/incense or a poo/rubbish smell that is constantly filling your nostrils.
Agra isn't worth coming to, but the Taj most definitely is.
Not even particularly hot, just dripping wet. And then when it is starting to get unbearable, torrential rain descends bringing a coolness for about 10 minutes before the humidity starts to rise again.
So it was on one of these particularly humid occasions when we stopped about 15kms short of our hotel for a lunch stop. Slightly bemused, we got out of the truck and immediately had to flee for cover from a barrage of locals trying to sell their tat, entice you into their shop or just rob you. So very quickly 40 people all came into the only restaurant in the place and ordered food. The owner almost died of a heart attack so while some people tried to revive him and coax out their food, a group of us found out that there was in fact a world heritage site 3 kms up the road, which is why we had stopped. So we hopped into the shuttle bus for the hefty price of 5p each and made our way up to the place while our stunned chefs went about starting to prepare the food.
It turns out it was a palace that used to be brilliant but now was slightly less so. So we wandered around and then decided to head back as we thought the others would be staring to eat soon.
The buses were every 5 minutes so we went back to the bus stop. And waited. And waited. No bus for 15 minutes. No problem, we thought it wasn't far so we could walk it and hail a bus an route.
We walked for 30 minutes and got all the way back to the restaurant before seeing a single bus. When we got back, everyone else has finished their food and were on the truck and there were 6 buses, all lined up, with their drivers eating their lunch! Rubbish. So we apologised profusely and ran to grab our food, through the gauntlet of shopkeepers, and we were back under way.
The guide book told us it was free to get into Agra fort on a Friday, and as it was late afternoon on a Friday, we thought we would head down for a quick little look. Turns out that either something has changed or the guide book never told the Indians as it isn't free, just tax free. Throughout India there is a very variable tax amount added to anything, ranging up to about 30%, and apparently almost entirely at the billers discretion. This time it was the tiniest amount so it was like having no discount at all so we decided we would go when we had some more time to see it.
The Taj was poking out the cloud along the river bank so we thought we would have a walk towards it. We stumbled upon a Hindu funeral parlor a couple of hundred metres from the Taj. It was really interesting to see as they were cremating the bodies and throwing the ashes into the river. But soon our presence started to draw a crowd so we decided to leave in search of food.
The next morning we stood in the pre-dawn darkness and torrential rain waiting for the gates of the Taj to open. It was definitely worth the early morning as when we rounded to corner and saw that iconic view, there was no one else there.
Other than the Taj and the fort, Agra is very little more than a rubbish tip. With people using the street as a public toilet, and cows wandering aimlessly, while locals discard their rubbish or waste on the sides of the road. Like the rest of India, there is a constant overwhelming smell. It is either a spice/incense or a poo/rubbish smell that is constantly filling your nostrils.
Agra isn't worth coming to, but the Taj most definitely is.
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