India (3): Agra

Agra: Jan.4, 2009
I took the night train from Varanasi to Agra. I left Varanasi at 5:00pm and I was supposed to arrive in Agra at 6:00am to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. Unfortunately, due to fog, the train was barely moving and took 18 hours (instead of 13) so I didn't arrive in Agra until noon. It was actually okay with me because I was feeling weak and sluggish from having been sick and I was really not in the mood for sightseeing.

I disembarked from the train and went to the coat check to store my backpack for the day (10Rs: $0.20). An Indian guide found me and convinced me to take his day long taxi tour for 400Rs ($8). I agreed and once the taxi began moving, he started speaking and never stopped. Agra was very brown and dusty everywhere I looked.

Taj Mahal
Our first stop was the Taj Mahal. First you buy a pricey ticket for 750Rs ($15) (Indians only pay 20Rs ($0.40)). Then you go through security. You cannot bring in any electronics or lighters. I had to store some items in a locker. Once inside the area you first see a large red sandstone gateway. Through this are ornamental gardens and fountains leading to the Taj.Unfortunately, the day of my visit was overcast and I was unable to see the legendary reflection in the waterways and the lustrous glittering of the white marble. It was still beautiful though. Before climbing the stairs to the the Taj platform you either need to remove your shoes or put shoe covers on. Then there is a long queue to enter the Taj. About 90% of the visitors were Indian.My guide was very knowledgeable and spoke English very well but I forgot half of the information. The Taj was built as a monument to love. The mausoleum was built by the Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife that had died giving birth to their 14th child. Construction began in 1631. It took 22 years to complete and about 20,000 people helped build it.It is made completely of white marble with extensive inlaid designs and writings from the Koran made of precious stones. All of the marble was carried across the country by elephants. The entire structure and surrounding area is perfectly symmetrical. There are two red sandstone buildings on each side of it: one a guest house, the other a mosque. The tragedy is just after its completion, the Emperor was overthrown by his malicious son. The son killed his 3 older brothers and imprisoned Shah Jahan in the Agra fort where he could only gaze at his masterpiece until his death. Shah Jahan and his wife are both buried in the Taj. (The rumor is the son took power because he felt his extravagant father was wasting all the countries money. Plus the son was kinda evil.)

Behind the Taj Mahal is the Yamuna River and legend has it that the Emperor had plans to build and exact replica of the Taj Mahal in black marble on the other side of the river. Another legend is that the Emperor wanted to cut off the hands of the artists that did the inlay work on the Taj so they could not use their skills again. He finally decided to just cut off their thumbs and pay their families a settlement fee for losing their wage earner.

Leaving the Taj, I bought two bananas from a roadside fruit stand. I started peeling one and all of a sudden a gang of monkeys appeared out of nowhere and encircled me. My guide instructed me in a nervous voice to drop the banana quickly or they would attack. Even more monkeys appeared and I dropped it as fast as I could. They took it and and left. It was quite frightening and creepy.

Agra Fort
Next we headed to the Agra fort. It was built in 1565 and was mostly a military structure. It is very large and mostly built of red sandstone and some white marble. Back in its heyday, there was a moat around the immense structure that had crocodiles in it. Beyond the moat was a large red wall and further was the fort. The Emperor Shah Jahan lived in the fort with his family. Each of his two daughters had their own sections. There is a tower where the Emperor was later imprisoned by his son.Marble Artists
My guide took me to see how the artists made the precious stone inlays in the marble (like the Taj had). Although it was really just a trap to try and make you buy something it was still interesting. Two guys had spinning wood wheels and tiny pieces of stones. They first draw a design onto the marble and the carve it out. They choose the stones to fill the carvings and use the spinning wheel, water, and a wood tool to shape them. Using some kind of resin, they fuse the stones together and seal them into the marble piece. It seems like it would take forever to make one small plate nevermind decorating the whole Taj Mahal.Train Station: Agra to Delhi
My guide wanted to take me to more "artists shops" but it is really just a tourist scam and I wasn't in the mood. There were a few more sights I had wanted to see in Agra but I needed to get some food in me. I was just feeling really drained. I asked him take me back to the train station and I ate lunch in a restaurant there, retrieved my backpack, and waited for my train to Delhi.

While waiting on my platform, I people watched around the station. There were some old men working on the tracks below one platform with goats wondering around them. There were a few women and men that would race up to any arriving train and try to sell them food through the windows. The men had baskets on sticks they shoved toward the windows, while the women wore baskets upon their heads for passengers to reach in. Nervously, I witnessed many people crawling underneath trains as a shortcut to cross from one platform to another to save from having to walk up the stairs, the sane and safe alternative to crossing platforms.

There were many impoverished women with babies sitting on the sides of the walkways to beg for change from passersby. Dirt-covered children in rags also wandered around begging for change. Two of them teamed up to perform acrobatic stunts and then collect money from the audience. Once on the train and departing the station, we passed fields of trash piles with groups of children playing cricket or huddled around campfires. There were children as young as five just roaming around.

On the train, I shared my compartment with the most adorable Indian family. The mom, her two daughters, and a man (possibly her boyfriend) were so giddy. They played around and laughed the entire time. They didn't speak a word of English (and I don't speak Hindi) but somehow they made me a part of their family, buying me chai tea (from the guys who continuously roam up and down the train cars with their chai pots), offering me some of their dinner, taking photos with me, and helping me find my train stop.

They were so cute. At each stop they would run up to peer out the windows and scrutinize the station, debating with each other if it was my stop. They even recruited a man on the other side of the train to look out his window too. There was one person in my train car that spoke English and she talked to me for awhile. She said she would come back and let me know when the train reached my stop. Surprisingly enough, 5 hours later when we arrived, she came back and let me know, just as promised.My train arrived in Delhi at 9:00pm. I found a taxi to take me to my hotel, Hotel Rak International (the same as my very first night in India). Once checked in, I requested my hot water heater to be turned on and 15 minutes later, I showered. Then I passed out, exhausted and excited about exploring Delhi.

Click on the link for all the photos from Agra: Agra Photo Album

Stay tuned for Delhi...