We awoke early Thursday morning, ready to take on the famous Taj. We crammed a lot into our first full day in Agra, so this post may get lengthy – click on over to Shutterfly if you'd rather just see the pictures.
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| The Taj Mahal!! |
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| Three Entrances into the Taj Mahal |
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| Main entrance to the Taj, outer courtyard |
Our hotel was located a mere 500m from the East Gate of the Taj Mahal. There are a total of three gates through which you can enter the Taj: East, West and South (the north side of the Taj is on a river bank). We purchased our tickets, and made our way to the gate. [Aside: Just like the Bara Imambara in Lucknow (and most attractions in India), there were two different ticket prices: one for Indians and one for Foreigner. Two tickets cost us Rs. 1500 – a bit steep, but it is the reason we came all the way to Agra, so it was worth it. Had we been Indian, two tickets would have cost us Rs. 20. That's a 99% discount, presumably subsidized by the government! Okay, rant over.] We arrived at the gate –
no lines! – and made our way inside. Once inside, we entered a court-yard of sorts, here all three gates lead to the main entrance to see the monument.
A little background: The Taj Mahal is an enormous white marble mausoleum built between 1631 and 1648 by emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife. The mausoleum is iconic India, and perhaps one of the most recognizable images in the world (*
not a scientific claim/fact). The name Taj Mahal means
Crown Palace. The grounds where the Taj is located include several other buildings in addition the main mausoleum, including a mosque, a guest house, several reflecting pools and fountains, and many ornamental gardens. The mausoleum is identical and symmetrical on all four sides, and made entirely out of white marble, inlaid with other stones in exquisite detail. The mosque sits to one side of the mausoleum, and the matching/identical-looking guest house on the opposite side (since mosques all have to face the same direction).
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| Funky shoe covers |
It was wonderfully cool as we walked around the grounds, taking our time to soak it all in. We took plenty of pictures. As you approach the mausoleum itself, you are required to remove your shoes (or wear the super-stylish shoe covers provided). It is unbelievable how huge it is, especially when you're up close! And the detail is remarkable. I had to keep reminding myself that it was completed over 350 years ago – no wonder it took them 17 years to complete it. The Taj Mahal is located pretty much in the center of the town, and it is visible from many points throughout the city, so we continued to see the Taj Mahal throughout our trip. We opted not to get an audio guide (perhaps because we were still reeling from the high ticket price), and maybe we missed out on some interesting information. But I sort of enjoyed wandering around in the relative quiet, enjoying the cool morning and just taking it in.
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Detail on the mausoleum - the colors are all inlaid stones,
and this intricate detail covers the building |
It was a great way to start our visit to Agra. As we were leaving, we noticed the crowds were starting to grow. Brandon was thankful for my research and planning that allowed us to enjoy the Taj without the masses. [Aside (2): When we were packing to come to India, I hunted around my parents' house for a baseball cap, because I knew it would be hot, and I thought I might want something to keep the sun off my face. Brandon thought this was ridiculous, and told me over and over:
Indians don't wear baseball caps; you will look ridiculous. I left the baseball cap at home. Well, as we were leaving the Taj, we saw many different tourists groups just coming in. Apparently, many of these organized tours give people
baseball caps to wear so they can stay together and spot the group. We also saw many Indians all over Agra, not in tour groups, wearing baseball caps. To Brandon's credit, I have not seen a single person in Lucknow sporting a baseball cap, so maybe it was okay that I left it at home. I don't really like wearing hats anyway.]
After spending a few hours wandering around the Taj Mahal, we were hungry for some breakfast. Joney's Place came highly recommended on several travel websites, and it's located near the Taj – so we gave it a try.
It is a tiny hole-in-the-wall with seating for three tables of four and a small counter where you can watch your food being prepared. It did not disappoint – especially for $4 between the two of us. The walls inside were covered with notes from previous travelers: raves about the food, professions of forever-love, dates of visits, funny drawings, poems – you name it. They also showed us a guest book with notes written by travelers from all over the world. Brandon was delighted to find an entry from Anna from Budapest – in Hungarian! Definitely more familiar to me than Hindi. All-in-all a quaint place with cheap food that we returned to several times over our three days in Agra.
After breakfast, we were off to our next destination: The Agra Fort. This area of India was once ruled by the Mughal empire (including emperor Shah Jahan, who built the Taj), and the Fort is another of their contributions. There is another famous fort in Delhi, but it was partially destroyed by the British. The Agra Fort has been very well preserved. Now, the Fort was a considerable distance away – too far to walk. One thing we quickly learned about Agra is that rickshaw drivers are eager to snag a fare. (We also soon realized that this is not an ideal time to travel to Agra, because of the heat, so drivers are even more eager to give you a ride…we were constantly hounded by drivers).
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| Entrance to the Fort |
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| There was a lot of detailed carving throughout the Fort |
We found a cycle rickshaw, told him we wanted to go to the Fort, and negotiated a price. Now, I find it a little awkward to ride in a cycle rickshaw. It always seems the driver is really eager to give you a ride (it is how he makes money, after all), but once we get going I always feel really bad because it seems he is working so hard, and I know we're only going to pay him 45 or 50 cents for his efforts. Anyway, we were on this particular cycle rickshaw for what seemed like a really long time. We finally stopped…at a train station. Umm…I thought the Fort was a pretty well-known destination? To his credit, the train station was (sort of) near the Fort, and it was called Agra Fort Station. But we didn't have any luggage with us, and we clearly were tourists, going to a touristy place. After a little confusion, we finally arrived. Again, we opted not to get an audio guide, but just sort of wandered around.
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| Gardens inside the Fort |
By this time, it was pushing into the afternoon – and it was HOT! This place was huge! The Agra Fort was built between 1565 and 1571 by King Akbar. (I realized after-the-fact that we visited the sites in reverse chronological order of construction). Akbar became king at age 14, and first built his palace further to the west (we'll get to that tomorrow); when that didn't work out, he came to Agra and built an enormous fort/palace out of red sandstone. Emperor Shah Jahan later added to the Fort, and eventually ended up a prisoner in it after his own son killed off the rest of the family and overtook the thrown. The Fort, of course, offers beautiful views of the Taj Mahal (you have to wonder if Shah Jahan was able to see the Taj from his prison cell…).
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| View of the Taj Mahal from the Fort |
We probably would have benefited a little bit more from a guide on this one. We wondered around, got lost a few times, and got really, really hot. The Fort seemed to serve as both a palace and a defensive structure. After we exhausted our wandering, we headed outside and back to the hotel to escape the heat….except I had booked a non-air-conditioned room (in an effort to save a little money)…no A/C when it's 90o (the temps in early April when I booked the room) seems doable. No A/C when it's well over 100o? Not as fun. We ate dinner that night at a place called Green Garden Restaurant. It was decent, but nothing special. It was a long, hot day, but fun to finally spend some time just the two of us. It took me back to our first year of marriage where we were basically each other's only companions most of the time (and when we got to travel together a lot).
Thursday's Stats:
- High Temperature: 107o F
- Liters of water consumed: 8.5
- Requests to pose for a photo: 3
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