Spoiler: we made it there! |
Agra,
home to one of the most iconic monuments in the world and, as we
would soon find out, approximately 90% of the world's fly population.
In honesty, our expectations for Agra were very low. The general
buzz from other travelers seemed to be, “Yes, yes, see the Taj.
Definitely. Then get the hell out. As soon as you can.” So with
that in mind, we allocated one night for the 'Taj' before a mad dash
to Varanasi and across the Indian/Nepalese border.
We
arrived by a 2nd class AC sleeper train from Udaipur,
which was our most delightful train experience by several miles (or
would that be kilometers?). A private cabin, lovely cool air, a
surprising lack of “chai chai chai” vendors coming around during
the wee hours. We were absolutely delighted to say the least. So
after a dozen hours or so on the train, we floated out of our private
cabin on a beautiful soap bubble, which instantly burst upon our
arrival. After we navigated a swarm of pests (no, not flies,
rickshaw drivers) and some dubious pricing at the fixed price
rickshaw booth, we headed into town with a driver we liked reasonably
well. (He flatly told a group of drivers to stop bothering us.) So
we decided to look at a guesthouse he recommended. Even with his
commission, it was substantially cheaper than our first choice, and
I'm not entirely certain we sacrificed much on quality.
Getting
a decent driver can really make or break your experience, so often
it's worth paying a bit more for somebody who is reasonably honest.
With that in mind, we decided to hire him to assist us with planning
our exit from Agra and a trip to see the Taj from across the river.
From the rooftop of our hotel, we got our first sneaky peak at the
Taj (very exciting) before having a nap. Suitably refreshed from our
nap, we were ready to confront the challenge of purchasing rail
tickets. We had tried to purchase these tickets four days in
advance, but they were already sold out. (Grrr. Honestly, it's one
of the worst bits about traveling India, you're constantly worried
you will be marooned somewhere and will never be able to move onto
the next town.) Thus, most of our time in Agra, we were obsessing
about our ability to leave it.
After
arriving at the train station, we approached the ticket booth,
requested tickets, and received our first “no,” which we treated
as a jumping off point for negotiation. There was a bit more of
“Nothing. No, all full, no. All sold out. Next week?” Then a
lot more of insisting from us. Then our rickshaw driver got
involved. Then there was more insisting,. Then this escalated for a
request for a Taktal (which I think is emergency) ticket. Several
forms later, and a trip to xerox our ids, we had the tickets in our
warm little hands and were awash with relief. It was touchingly
comic how sincere our driver was when he said, “Good man! What a
good man to issue the tickets.” He shook his head, “Most just
don't want to work.” (Because apparently 'working' in this context
means refusing our requests for several minutes before taking a half
hour to process our forms.)
We
then headed off for a sunset view of the Taj, and it was rather
spectacular. It is a rather odd experience to see such an iconic
building in real life. It's very much a, “Hey, that looks exactly
like it does in the photos!” Naturally, it wasn't without its
minor hassles, several kids tried to extort money and we also had to
demand legitimate tickets for entry into the nearby gardens. (They
tried it on twice by not
giving us tickets then giving us used tickets. We had contemplated
jumping through a hole in the fence, because that was what the locals
were doing, but thought better of it; the guards carried their
machine guns in a way that was just too flippantly casual for my
liking.) Anyhow, although it wasn't the most cooperative sunset, it
was still magnificent to see the Taj in the afternoon light. Jon and
I snapped some photos and just lolled about in the gardens, watching both the Taj and the gardeners until
closing time.
The
next day, we set our alarms for 4:45 in the morning, giving us plenty
of time to make it to the Taj for a quiet early morning viewing.
Although we were the first people in the queue, we experienced some
setbacks when Jon was denied entry on account of his attempt to carry
a weapon onto the premises. (Technically, it was a Swiss army multitool
with nifty features like pliers, screwdriver, and can opener along
with a penknife, but weapon makes him sound a little more badass and
their objections more founded.) While I darted off for some photo
ops, Jon was mired in bureaucracy. He was directed to some lockers
to store his weapon, a ten minute walk away, but said lockers did not
open for another 1.5 hours. So he simply folded it up and squirreled
it away at the base of a tree. We then spent the next 3 hours or so
exploring both the building and the grounds.
The
story in brief is that Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal for his third
and favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal, and quasi political advisor, who died
shortly after giving birth to their fourteenth child. Although they
had wanted to marry from the age of 15, it took several years to fix
an auspicious date for the wedding. He had married in the meantime
to help solidify his status as a man, and it seems like for all
intents and purposes, he was mostly a one-woman man. Apparently, he
fell to pieces after she died—leaving a power vacuum seized by one
of their sons, who imprisoned him in the nearby Agra fort until his
death.
So,
the Taj Mahal, the reason so many people come to India, one of the
world's “modern” seven wonders. How did it measure up? Well,
many have spoken of a slight disappointment with the Taj in real
life, but I think it is worth a lot of the hype. However, to
enjoy it to its maximum potential, one must fight the urge—somewhat
paradoxically—to see it too closely. So much of the magic of the
building rests in its silhouette against the sky. Standing on the
plinth itself, the view of the bulbous dome is obscured and the magic
of the building is diminished. Inside the Taj, in the faux tombs
themselves, there is delicate marble work that is inlaid with
semi-precious stones, but you can't really see the detail very well
unless you bring a flashlight! So I think spending the time to view
it from afar is the way to go.
Slightly distorted view from the plinth |
We
spent about three hours at the Taj, and emerged to find Jon's Swiss
multitool weapon was no longer squirreled away in the hollow of a
tree, but was still there, lying a few yards away! Yay! We celebrated by eating a
lackluster breakfast and napping before liaising with our rickshaw
driver to take us to a couple more sights. Specifically, we stopped
by the Red Fort and a mausoleum known as the “Little Taj.”
The
Red fort is a sprawling complex of massive sandstone walls and
numerous important state buildings, although several areas were
closed to public access, including the underground labyrinth that
served as the harem. We did see some of the compound where Shah
Jahan was held captive, which had a view of the Taj Mahal, and lore
suggests he spent his last years looking at the mausoleum and pining for his wife.
The
Red Fort also featured a perfectly proportioned Jon-sized door!
The
real standout of the afternoon were the tombs of Mumtaz Mahal's
grandparents, which is rather dismissively referred to as “Mini-Taj,”
but is absolutely extraordinary. The exterior of the building is
completely covered inlaid marblework, and the attention to detail is
phenomenal.
The
area around the tombs was comparatively quiet, and we made friends with a
few monkeys, birds, and the little guy below! It was actually rather nice to
have some time away from the honking of the horns.
After
we completed our round of sightseeing in Agra, we headed back to our
hotel to pack up, then grabbed dinner at a rooftop restaurant with
views of the Taj. Unfortunately, the weather got the better of us,
because it started to rain, but even then the Taj still seemed to
glow dimly in the moody grey sky. After a delicious meal, we bid
adieu to one of the world's most famous buildings and headed off to
board our train. Next stop Varanasi!
Rooftop View |
WOW ! how did you manage to explore the Taj that empty?
ReplyDeleteIt was early, slightly drizzly--which put some people off--and a lot of waiting for people to move out of the shot. :) Excellent site btw!
ReplyDelete