Agra and the Taj Mahal

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I spent the weekend in Agra and it was a typical "Indian Adventure": quite enjoyable and quite frustrating in equal measures.

I booked a car and driver for the weekend as well as a hotel in Agra. I declined all offers of guides in Agra as I didn't want them and just wanted to see the sights myself at my own pace. I was worried that my driver, Jai, wouldn't show up at 7:00am as planned, but I got a phone call at 5:53am saying that he was waiting outside my door! I told him to wait until 7:00am when I would be ready. He didn't look too happy when I came down at 6:45am, but we were soon underway. On our trip out of Delhi, we had to stop once for 15 minutes so he could pay his mobile phone bill and then we stopped again for 20 minutes so he could do another errand. He didn't speak much English so it was a quiet ride once we were actually underway.

Sikandra is located just five miles outside of Agra and on the main road. This is the site of Emperor Akbar's Mausoleum which he designed and started building while he was still alive. I wanted to stop here for a few minutes and asked the driver, but he refused! I asked again and he said "no" again. I said that I really wanted to stop and just for 20minutes so he finally pulled into the parking lot, but when I tried to get out of the car, he wouldn't let me and quickly backed up and drove out of the site and back onto the road. I was just a bit annoyed, but decided to let it go. When we got close to Agra, I said that I wanted to stop for a quick lunch and then go to the Taj Mahal. Jai started saying "hotel?" over and over while I kept saying "nahi (no)" over and over. He also asked about a guide a few times and each time I said that I didn't want a guide and hadn't booked a guide. He finally said that the guide was at the hotel and I said yet again I didn't have or want a guide. At this time, we pulled into the hotel! I was going to refuse to get out of the car, but the hotel greeters, three of them, were upon me instantly and I had no choice. I told Jai that I wanted to leave again in 10 minutes, but he just drove off to the parking area.

I checked into the hotel and fell in love with my room which offered a view of the Taj Mahal from the window. There was a lovely chaise in front of the window that I made a mental note to relax on later. I dropped my stuff and headed back down to the car, but Jai was nowhere to be seen! The hotel peson who met me when I got dropped off was as annoyed as I was and started paging Jai over the parking lot intercom. About 15 minutes later, Jai showed up and we went off to the Taj Mahal. I'm not sure he'd ever been to Agra before since we got lost twice on the way. We could see the Taj, but he couldn't find the right roads to actually get there. We finally got to the parking lot and Jai again started asking about a guide. I said "no" another 20 times! When we pulled into the parking lot, we were instantly surrounded by six men, three of whom were...you guessed it: guides! Two were selling trinkets and one was begging for money. Jai knew one of the guides so he let him into the car and wouldn't let me get out. I said for the 50th time that I didn't want or need a guide! The guide was ticked as was Jai who would have goten a 40% cut of the guide fee.

The Taj was a 15 minute walk from the parking lot and I was happy to walk it, but I was being pursued non-stop by guides and trinket sellers and rickshaw drivers and horse cart drivers so I finally hopped in a bike rickshaw just for some peace. The driver was nice and only charged me 50 rupees. When we got the the ticket office for the Taj, I was again beseiged by several people, including more guides and also people from the nearby stores. I was as polite as I could be, but I justed wanted to be left alone. I bought my ticket and went through security and I was finally inside the grounds. After dodging two more guide offers, I made it to the main gate, walked through, and saw the magnificent Taj Mahal!

It wasn't overly crowded, probably due to the riot in Agra earlier in the week. I had my excellent guidebook and was prepared to have a good look around. When I was at the Taj in 2005, the whole experience seemed a bit unreal and it was hard to concentrate when your mind just keep repeating "I'm at the Taj Mahal! I'm at the Taj Mahal!"

I walked around some and was focused on composing a camera shot when a guy came up next to me and grabbed the camera right out of my hand. He startled me and I asked for it back and then demanded it back. He was an older gentleman and he said he was a gardener there. I asked for my camera again and he said he's give it back if I let him take my picture. I said no, but he was clearly not going to give me my camera back easily. There were people around, but no one was either paying attention or willing to get involved. I finally let him take my photo and then asked for the camera back again. He asked for 100 rupes, I said no and we went back and forth for almost a minute. I was getting a bit upset, particularly since it was clear that no one was going to help me, so I finally gave him the 100 ruppes ($2.50). I figured it was worth it to get my camera back. He took the money and left, no doubt to accost another foreigner.

I decided to proceed so I took off my shoes and went up onto the Taj. It was about 100F that day and the marble was HOT! As a foreigner, I had the option of shoe covers rather than going barefoot, but I figured I should act like a local since I do live here. That was a mistake that I regretted pretty quickly! The red marble was really hot, the yellow marble was pretty warm, and the white marble was bearable. I hopped my way around and people were laughing at me. I'm mostly used to that by now so I just ignored them. There was a pool outside the mosque where people were colling their feet and also drinking the water. I was walking towards the mosque when a guy started following me. At first he just wanted to know where I was from, how long I was staying in India, etc. I answered quickly and kept walking. He then asked for my phone number which I declined to provide. We were almost at the mosque when he asked for something that I'm not sure is appropriate to do in a mosque. I again declined and he told me I was boring. I thanked him for the compliment and went off in the other direction.

I really took my time and looked at the Taj and the decoration and the stonework. I sat down at intervals to rest my poor, smoking feet. One nice American women came up while I wa sitting and asked if I was alright. I said yes and admired her shoe covers. She offered to go get my shoes, but I declined since I was doing OK at that point. I finished looking around and then went to get my sneakers back from the free shoe storage. The guy working there got my sneakers, but then wouldn't give them back to me until I gave him 50 rupees! I paid my second ransom of the day, walked around the gardens for a bit, and then headed back to the car. I was accosted again as soon as I left, but stopped only to buy a Diet Coke (which cost 40 rupees, but for which I paid 60 rupees since the guy didn't have the right change), and to look in one shop. They tried to sell me a little white marble box with pietra dura for 1500 rupees! I said that I could buy the same thing in Delhi for 200 rupees. They said theirs was real while the ones in Delhi were fake. I had no intention of buying anything, but we went back and forth until I finally walked away. The guy came running after me and kept dropping his price until he got to 200 rupees. I just laughed and kept walking. My rickshaw driver was waiting so I took a ride back to the car. The whole way back he told me about how poor he was, how many kids he had, how hard he worked, etc. When we got to the parking lot, I gave him 70 rupees instead of 50.

I found my car, ignored the trinket sellers and beggers as best I could until Jai showed up about 10 minutes later. I asked to go to Itimad-ud-Daulah's Tomb and Jai said no. I said yes, he said no, and we went back and forth yet again. He finally gave a big sigh and we took off in the right direction. We drove around for a while and then he started saying "hotel" again! I said no, that I wanted to cross the Yamuna River and see the Taj from the other side. You can do this from Itimad-ud-Daulah's Tomb or from several other points. He finally found a bridge and crossed it, but we were clearly on the wrong bridge (and could see the right bridge from the car) so once we had crossed, Jai turned around and headed back. It was only 4:00pm at this point and he sarted talking about the curfew. I was so tired and discouragd at this point that I asked for Itimad-ud-Daulah's Tomb once more, got another no, and finally just stopped talking altogether. I ended back at the hotel about a half hour later. I think Jai knew I was annoyed so he offered to stop at the Agra Fort, but this time it was me that said no!

The Taj View Agra is a very nice hotel so I was able to take a shower and then relax in my room with a very cold Kingfisher beer and some "Hide and Seek" cookies which were my favorite last time I was in India and which I have rediscovered. I had a clear view of the Taj out the window and just sat and looked at it for a while. I booked a manicure, pedicure, and massage in the spa and made a reservation for a tandoori dinner by the pool.

The spa was nice, but I kept telling them that the bottoms of my feet were burned and they could see the blisters for themselves. The lady must have touched them 25 times between the pedicure and the massage. I said "ow" every time and she said "ow" right back. She spoke enough English to understand me well enough so I'm not sure what the problem was. It was definitely not the relaxing experience I was looking for.

Dinner was good and there was a ton of food. The waiter was hovering and asked me after alomst every bite how the food was. It was good and I said so each time. Then, the chef came over and the two of them watched me eat! Again, it was hard to relax and enjoy myself. They forced me to eat more than I wanted to, but they kept bringing me different things to try and insisted I just try a little. I was so happy to see dessert appear! I declined coffee and was finally able to escape after almost two hours!

My bed was comfortable, the AC worked really well, and there was a flat screen TV. I was pretty tired and couldn't stay awake for long. I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for another day. My feet were swollen and the blisters were full, but I could walk OK with my sneakers on. I went down to breakfast and not 30 seconds after I sat down, the chef from the night before was at my table! Luckily, he was working the custom-made omlette table so he couldn't stay and talk for long. I was feeling very American so I had pancakes with syrup, bacon, and scrambled eggs for breakfast. None of it was quite American, but I had a killer cappacinno so all was well.

It was off to Fatephur Sikri...

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Photos

Taj Mahal #10
Reflection perfection

Taj Mahal #14
Me at the Taj Mahal (the camera ransom picture)

Taj Mahal #1
A first glimpse of the Taj Mahal from my hotel room window!

Taj Mahal #2
The first look at the Taj Mahal after passing through the entrance gate

Taj Mahal #3
A look back at the entrance gate to the Taj Mahal and a view of the surrounding gardens

Taj Mahal #4
Me at the Taj Mahal (this is the problem with asking other people to take your photo!)

Taj Mahal #5
The mosque at the Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal #6
The Taj is much more colorful than most people realize

Taj Mahal #7
Close up of the pieta dura, intracately carved floral designs inlaid with precious stones

Taj Mahal #8
Close-up of the caligraphy panels - the size of the Koranic verses increases as the arch gets higher, creating the illusion of a uniformly flowing script

Taj Mahal #9
Floral sprays (this one is on the mosque) carved in relief on marble and sandstone are framed with stone inlaid borders, symbolizing the central paradise theme

Taj Mahal #11
The Taj sits on the bank of the Yamuna River - the Agra Fort can be seen in the distance

Taj Mahal #13
Key members of the lawn maintanence team at the Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal #12
One last look...