Getting to Agra involved another difficult train journey for
us. We’ve wisened up to checking one of the many websites that tell you a
train’s actual progress and when it is really expected to arrive. We arrived at
the station after it was due and waited and waited but finally we departed on
our 13 hour trip. Unfortunately, when we woke up in the morning, expecting to be
close to Agra, we were told that we were about half way! Five hours later we
finally rolled in to Agra. much later than planned and after the check-in time at our hotel, so we didn't have to sit around twiddling fingers before jumping into the much-needed [cold] shower!
After the mayhem of the old city area of Varanasi we found
Agra surprisingly spread out. Lots of big roads, green areas, large barracks,
even a golf course in the centre of town. Heading out of the station on the
tuk-tuk it seemed to take forever to get past the impressive red sandstone
walls of Agra Fort, clearly a place to be investigated later.
Our hotel turned out to be quite different from the little
guest house we had been in beforehand (or since, he says with hindsight). Rows
of units overlooking a large private garden area, all protected by a security
gate. Very quiet! The room was clean and huge, almost perfect if you ignore
the sewerage smell from the drains in the bathroom. Sigh, nothing is quite
perfect. Our first evening we noticed small [non-biting] flies in our room, which were dead on the floor in the morning. The next night they were worse, but not as bad as they were in the office - we had to dash through a cloud of them to get to the office door, and close the door quickly behind us. There were still plenty inside and they had a full-size fly-zapper set up on the floor which was constantly 'zapping' - it was like listening to a string of miniature fire-crackers being let off. The staff said it was because of the lawn - all the flies hatch there then head for the lights at night - we were grateful for being upstairs and for having a better sealing door! Still, very comfortable, quiet and the hotel's room-service food was
excellent. Best Kadhai Paneer yet (new favourite)!
For our first venture out we wandered around Agra Fort. Just
inside the gate was a little alcove with one of the many little Indian Palm Squirrels eating a
biscuit. Possibly the cutest animals ever! The rest of the fort consisted mainly
of large courtyards on different levels, and tourists. As Agra is the home of
the Taj it must be the most visited place in India so not surprising
there were so many people about. We enjoyed the armoury with its amazing
collection of old swords, daggers, blunderbusses and armour. While there was
little info about the items – and no photos allowed – it was very impressive.
As were the views across the bend in the river to the Taj, whetting our
appetite to get there.
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| Testing us for tomorrow ... |
Before dawn we were up and queuing at the gates of the Taj –
different lines for male and female. Security is tight everywhere, all the
major sights and railway stations have x-ray machines to scan luggage. And most
sights have different prices for Indian nationals and foreigners, with extra
charges for cameras. However, the moment the Taj comes into view all is forgiven.
How could it not be the most beautiful building in the world? The scale is
enormous which tends to hide the thousands of other tourists, though the queues
for the prime photographic spots like the directly down the ponds to the
frontage or “Diana’s Seat” are rather large. Actually, being India, “queue”
should always be replaced with “scrum”. We enjoyed wandering for hours
including the magnificent-in-their-own-right outbuildings.
With not a lot of time available we enjoyed seeing just the
two major sights at a leisurely pace and left the other main attractions to the
other tourists.
Plenty of options while waiting for the train to depart ...
And ...
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| Because you can't have too much cuteness! |
So check out the video
here for some more of the Indian Palm squirrels.
First stop: as we headed up through a small village we
stopped at a local temple and popped in to hear some chanting and collect a real
flower garland each. The Hindu temples are always interesting with their
decorations and multiple gods. Outside there was a herd of cows milling around
and they enjoyed feeding on our garlands!
Second was the Monkey Temple (at least that is what they
tell English-speaking tourists it is called). A series of Hindi temples built
around a spring that provides water to baths, which humans and friendly monkeys were enjoying. It was a very peaceful spot.
There are three big forts running along a ridge back towards
Jaipur. We started at the biggest and the best – the Amer (or Amber) Fort. It
is a huge complex nestled on a ridge but with walls running along the neighbouring
ridge tops, much like the Great Wall of China. Once again there were many
courtyards and rooms to wander through. Another few hours went so quickly. As the
sun was going down by this time we drove up past the next fort, Jaigarh, and
onto Nahargarh Fort to watch the sun set over Jaipur. As is the norm around
here the sun is a large orange/red disc as it sinks into the murk above the
horizon and disappears completely before it hits the horizon.
