People go to Agra for one thing, and one thing alone, the jewel of India-The Taj Mahal. Sure there are a few other sites to see while there, but let's be real. No one goes to Agra to see the "Baby Taj" and there's a reason why the most crowded place in Agra Fort was the room with impressive views of the Taj Mahal in the distance. Agra's other sites are kind of just things to kill time before/after visiting the Taj Mahal.
Having just arrived from Delhi, Agra seemed peaceful in comparison. But, much like Delhi, it was impossible to walk down the street without being pestered by men trying to get tourists into their restaurants and shops. It was here that I learned an effective way to get them to leave me alone was to brush them away with one hand, as if I were shooing a buzzing insect from my ear. It sounds insensitive, I know. But politeness means yes to them. A response of "no, thank you" would result in them following me down the street, yapping in my ear about whatever goods they were selling.
In order to protect the Taj from pollution, cars and other pollution causing things are not allowed within a certain distance from it. Our hotel was located in this pollution free zone, which made walking around much more doable than in Delhi. And the hotel was situated a bit off the main road, complete with a garden courtyard, and a male dog named Fifi. It was a wonderfully peaceful oasis. The food at the hotel restaurant was subpar, but that didn't stop us from eating every meal there. The atmosphere was that perfect.
We arranged for a taxi to take us around for a day. The plan was to wake up early, visit the Taj before it got toooooo crowded, eat breakfast, then meet the driver. We learned quickly that it is impossible to beat the crowds there. We arrived shortly after it opened, and it was already packed. The hoards of people ever so slightly took away from it, but not really. It was beautiful, majestic, and sparkling white. One on side of it is a fake mosque. On the other side is a real mosque. We went to the wrong one.
My Taj Mahal complaint- I read somewhere about bringing a flashlight to the Taj Mahal to shine it on the marble and jewel to see the sparkle. I didn't plan on doing that. But I did have a flashlight in my bag, because electricity is shaky in India. Every place we stayed lost power at least once. So I had a flashlight, and I didn't think it would be any problem. Security to get into the Taj is similar to airport security. There are metal detectors, bag xray machines, guards, etc. So they scanned my bag, and told me I had to have it searched. I had two prohibited items-a pack of gum, no biggie, I usually only chew gum on airplanes, and my flashlight. The guards grumbled at me, and started to throw my flashlight away. I said "NO!" I asked if I could come back for it, they said no. Why? I have no idea. So the best I could do was have them throw away one of the batteries from it. As it turned out, they might as well have thrown away the whole flashlight because AAA batteries are impossible to find in India. And as luck would have it, the electricity in our hotel bathroom was out upon our return to the room, and the bathroom two hotels later had no light. Each time I peed in the dark, I cursed the guard for throwing away my battery.
We met our driver, and he took us around to a few sites in Agra. And like our driver in Delhi, he also took us to some tourist trap shops, one for jewels, one for marble stuff, and I think there was one more he suggested, but we refused. By that point, we'd caught onto their gig-they see foreigners as clueless walking ATMs. We ended up asking him to take us back to the hotel before our time was up. We'd seen all there was to see in Agra, and the temperature was in the upper 90s. We were tired, hungry, thirsty, and hot. We didn't feel like riding around in his car, looking at nothing, just to get our money's worth. We knew it was time to part ways when he dropped us off at some dodgy path in the middle of nowhere, with a camel tied to a tree, and told us to walk down the path to see the "backside" of the Taj Mahal. Ummmm, ok? We did as we were told. As we walked down this deserted path with the sun beating down, we were positive this is where it ended for us. The view, though it was through a chain link fence, was nice, I guess. Was it worth the drive all the way out there in a hot stuffy car with a not hot but definitely stuffy driver? No.
On our ride back to the hotel, the driver was doing his best to persuade us to hire him to drive us to some place whose name I've forgotten the next day, but it would have involved a several hour car ride to the middle of nowhere and skidding back into town just in time for our 4 hour train at night.
-You must see it. Very beautiful.
-No, thank you.
-Yes, yes, very beautiful.
-We are tired. We want to stay in Agra tomorrow.
-Back for your train. No problem.
-No, thank you.
-Yes, ok, for you, nice price.
-I'm sure it's lovely, but no.
-How much you want to pay?
-Ok, give us your phone number, and we will call you about it.
That was the only way we were finally able to end this conversation. I am pretty sure we threw his number away as soon as we got back to the hotel. Though I never found it amusing when I was hungry, tired, and thirsty, I have to give the Indians credit for their persistence. For a lot of them, they rely on tourism to earn their living. If I had even a fraction of their persistence, I'd at least be self sufficient and have a full time job.
Having just arrived from Delhi, Agra seemed peaceful in comparison. But, much like Delhi, it was impossible to walk down the street without being pestered by men trying to get tourists into their restaurants and shops. It was here that I learned an effective way to get them to leave me alone was to brush them away with one hand, as if I were shooing a buzzing insect from my ear. It sounds insensitive, I know. But politeness means yes to them. A response of "no, thank you" would result in them following me down the street, yapping in my ear about whatever goods they were selling.
In order to protect the Taj from pollution, cars and other pollution causing things are not allowed within a certain distance from it. Our hotel was located in this pollution free zone, which made walking around much more doable than in Delhi. And the hotel was situated a bit off the main road, complete with a garden courtyard, and a male dog named Fifi. It was a wonderfully peaceful oasis. The food at the hotel restaurant was subpar, but that didn't stop us from eating every meal there. The atmosphere was that perfect.
We arranged for a taxi to take us around for a day. The plan was to wake up early, visit the Taj before it got toooooo crowded, eat breakfast, then meet the driver. We learned quickly that it is impossible to beat the crowds there. We arrived shortly after it opened, and it was already packed. The hoards of people ever so slightly took away from it, but not really. It was beautiful, majestic, and sparkling white. One on side of it is a fake mosque. On the other side is a real mosque. We went to the wrong one.
My Taj Mahal complaint- I read somewhere about bringing a flashlight to the Taj Mahal to shine it on the marble and jewel to see the sparkle. I didn't plan on doing that. But I did have a flashlight in my bag, because electricity is shaky in India. Every place we stayed lost power at least once. So I had a flashlight, and I didn't think it would be any problem. Security to get into the Taj is similar to airport security. There are metal detectors, bag xray machines, guards, etc. So they scanned my bag, and told me I had to have it searched. I had two prohibited items-a pack of gum, no biggie, I usually only chew gum on airplanes, and my flashlight. The guards grumbled at me, and started to throw my flashlight away. I said "NO!" I asked if I could come back for it, they said no. Why? I have no idea. So the best I could do was have them throw away one of the batteries from it. As it turned out, they might as well have thrown away the whole flashlight because AAA batteries are impossible to find in India. And as luck would have it, the electricity in our hotel bathroom was out upon our return to the room, and the bathroom two hotels later had no light. Each time I peed in the dark, I cursed the guard for throwing away my battery.
We met our driver, and he took us around to a few sites in Agra. And like our driver in Delhi, he also took us to some tourist trap shops, one for jewels, one for marble stuff, and I think there was one more he suggested, but we refused. By that point, we'd caught onto their gig-they see foreigners as clueless walking ATMs. We ended up asking him to take us back to the hotel before our time was up. We'd seen all there was to see in Agra, and the temperature was in the upper 90s. We were tired, hungry, thirsty, and hot. We didn't feel like riding around in his car, looking at nothing, just to get our money's worth. We knew it was time to part ways when he dropped us off at some dodgy path in the middle of nowhere, with a camel tied to a tree, and told us to walk down the path to see the "backside" of the Taj Mahal. Ummmm, ok? We did as we were told. As we walked down this deserted path with the sun beating down, we were positive this is where it ended for us. The view, though it was through a chain link fence, was nice, I guess. Was it worth the drive all the way out there in a hot stuffy car with a not hot but definitely stuffy driver? No.
On our ride back to the hotel, the driver was doing his best to persuade us to hire him to drive us to some place whose name I've forgotten the next day, but it would have involved a several hour car ride to the middle of nowhere and skidding back into town just in time for our 4 hour train at night.
-You must see it. Very beautiful.
-No, thank you.
-Yes, yes, very beautiful.
-We are tired. We want to stay in Agra tomorrow.
-Back for your train. No problem.
-No, thank you.
-Yes, ok, for you, nice price.
-I'm sure it's lovely, but no.
-How much you want to pay?
-Ok, give us your phone number, and we will call you about it.
That was the only way we were finally able to end this conversation. I am pretty sure we threw his number away as soon as we got back to the hotel. Though I never found it amusing when I was hungry, tired, and thirsty, I have to give the Indians credit for their persistence. For a lot of them, they rely on tourism to earn their living. If I had even a fraction of their persistence, I'd at least be self sufficient and have a full time job.
Entering the Taj Mahal complex involved a lot of gates, like this one, which was inside other gates.
My first glimpse of the Lady Taj
I hope when I die someone loves me enough to build something like this for me
I took a whole lot of pictures, most of them look like this or the one above. I'm not very creative.
On the left is the real mosque, not the one we went to.
Side view
Fake mosque, built just to even things out
Every 17th century mausoleum needs a flashing electric sign board
Taj Mahal mosque
If anyone can tell me what a wazoo or a namazie is, I'll for real bake you something delicious
The Taj Mahal is covered in carved things like this, and I can't even cut a loaf of bread evenly.
She's also very bedazzled. The ladies selling stuff on Home Shopping would approve.
Agra had lots and lots of monkeys. Most places in India had monkeys, and I never got tired of seeing them. I had to hold back a squeal every time.
Agra Fort
Agra Fort
Agra Fort
The aforementioned room in Agra Fort with the good view
This is the Baby Taj. I could pretentiously write out its real name, like I knew what it was, but come on now. I'd have to google it. It's someone's tomb, but I don't remember the name. It's something foreign sounding. If you want to know more, you can google it the same as me.
A bedazzler was also used on the Baby Taj
3 comments:
My co-worker (from India) thinks that sign means a special water source for people who are going into the mosque to wash up before they go pray. (Namar is something to do with prayer)
She's going to double-check with her mom, though. :)
Kate's right. Namaz is the Persian word for salah, it's the five-times-daily Islamic formal worship. Tank is for ritual ablution prior to that (fun fact: this particular washing's called wudu).
I'll take my baked goods now.
Thanks Kate!!
And thanks to you as well, anonymous. However, I will be unable to fulfill my promise of giving baked goods to you, as you did not leave your name. I will make you something, but I will probably just end up eating it myself. So I thank you for that also.
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