Agra

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We were headed to Agra and our group leader, Danesh, had warned us that the accommodations in Agra were going to be very, very, very basic. We were all worried what this meant since we’ve stayed in some pretty bad places already. As we arrived at the bus station we saw the bus that we were supposed to take. There were three seats on one side and two on the other which is one more seat that normal. Waiting around we saw one man lean out the window and vomit out all over the side of the bus. Elyse likes to come up with catchy names for each mode of transportation and naturally this instantly became the vomit bus to Agra.



We all looked at the group leader and said you might as well just book us a private van now. It was getting late in our trip and we all wanted a little upgrade here and there. Yes, we were on the basic tour but it’s all a matter of interpretation of what basic is for each person. This was India basic which is well below our American and Australian basic. Leaving the station we decided to see how much the tour company was paying for these bus tickets; turns out the price was a whopping $1.00 for each ticket.



The van was comfortable and we were relieved not to have to ride the vomit bus. For the last ¼ mile or so we had to walk the rest of the way to our hostel because petroleum powered vehicles are banned near the Taj Mahal. There had been some discoloration of the Taj Mahal which was contributed to pollution. In the past 10 years over 72 factories have been shut down to due preserving the Taj Mahal and reducing the air pollution.



The streets were lined with the touristy shops and the common chaos you would normally find on the Indian streets, dogs, cows, garbage, etc. Our hostel was in a great location and had a really nice courtyard. It was setback from the street and had a very relaxing atmosphere. The rooms consisted of a bed and bathroom and that was it not even an outlet to charge our electronics.



The power was out for a lot of the day and hot water was only available for four hours, two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. The rooms were indeed basic but not as bad as I had imagined. Later I would truly see how run down the place was when washing my hands the sink literally fell off the wall and water began gushing everywhere. Fortunately it was when we were checking out so it was going to be someone else’s problem.



While in Agra we spent the first day checking out a rug factory where Elyse and I were thinking of buying one as a nice memento. We selected two that we wanted to save so that we could take a day to consider the price. There were several indications that the place was only geared toward tourist, which means you are for sure going to get ripped off. Later, I would find on my trading website from other factories in the same city that these were overpriced by 30%. The following day we returned and I tried to negotiate and let the sales guy know that I wanted to buy one but at the going rate for the area. No deal was made so we walked away.



There are two main tourist attractions worth visiting in Agra, obviously the Taj Mahal and the other is the Red Fort. The Taj Mahal is a lot bigger than I imagined. It was a beautiful setting which is supposedly the most photographed building in the world. There were four entrances divided by gender and then again by Indian Nationals and Foreign Visitors. As a foreigner you pay 37.5 times more than the Indian counterparts. Entrance fee: 750 rupees = $15 for foreigners and 20 rupees= 0.40 cents for an Indian National seems fair right? This was standard all over India for any attraction fees as well as paying to use your camera.



Elyse cruised right in and waited for me for about 15 or 20 minutes while I stood in line.

There are a three main gates and several other buildings that make up the Taj Majal grounds. The building in the middle of the courtyard is the one most are familiar and is spectacular. I’ll let the photos do the talking. We arrived around three and stayed for sunset then headed back to our hostel. Along the way we bought our magnet that we typically get in each country.



The Red Fort was a great attraction as well. We ended up getting a tour guide who walked us through the fort and explained to us the history and pointed out things we would have missed without him. It was well worth the money to pay for this service. We spent a few hours touring the grounds and taking photos.



Afterwards we headed back near our hostel and Elyse and I went and sat at an internet café. The owner lived in the US for about 15years and we had a nice conversation about India and listened to his opinions on the political and social topics as a native Indian. The ongoing theme from nearly all Indians who we spoke with was a genuine dissatisfaction with the government and overall corruption on nearly all levels. According to this man the power outages were simply a ploy by one party to undermine the other party and to ensure less power outages if the people were to elect that particular party in the upcoming elections.



Stayed 1 night at Hotel Sheela – great location near Taj Mahal East Gate Entrance but rooms were not up to our standard.

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