Day 4: (20 December) - Jerry: Fatebar Sigri palace and temple, Abanajri Stepwell, Ranthambore


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Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra
December 25th 2012
Published: December 25th 2012
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We rose at 7am today and had breakfast in the home-stay dining room. The owner was regaling stories of the previous night when some young female guests had tried to sneak out and meet some boys them had met on the train; an activity the owner clearly very much disapproved of.



Vijay arrived at 8am and we set off through the busy streets of an already-awoken Agra. Driving west, we passed a number of military facilities, with their gate guards of old tanks and aircraft looking rather forlorn in the morning rush. Once out of the city, the congestion lightened a little, but still the every present characteristics of Indian driving conditions remained. Whilst they have retained from the colonial days the steering wheel on the right, driving on the left is clearing more of a guideline rather than the law. Sitting in the front, it is interesting to say the least to see a tractor with a huge trailer overloaded with some farm produce coming towards us (in the outside lane). The prodigious use of the horn and flashing lights (nobody dips headlights; always on full beam) would get you beaten up in UK. Perhaps the Italians would be the only Europeans with a kindred appreciation of active road ‘participation’.



We arrived at Fatebar Sigri, a huge castle / palace / temple built in the 1500s when most of Europe was still wallowing around in mud. The ruler at the time was from the Persian Dynasties, so the predominate religion was Islam. However, the Great Akbar was a religious tolerant and so allowed, and indeed encouraged the other great religions. To reinforce his view, Akbar had taken three wives; one Christian from Goa, one Hindu from Agra and one Moslem from Persia. (However he also had around 300 concubines, all guarded by an army of eunuchs.) The palace contained three mini-palaces in which the three wives were housed, along with a number of other buildings where his advisors would meet. Attached to the palace was a Mosque where even to day the faithful and the gullible come to pray and offer wishes (for a fee). Apparently the last celebrity to visit was Carla Bruni (current wife of the former French president Sarkosi).



We returned to the car at around midday and set off again. Our aim was to get to the National park before nightfall; however Vijay wanted to show us a ‘step well’ that was slightly off the beaten track and bereft of foreign visitors. The structure was amazing; with a huge hole in the ground being lines with steps to allow the locals to get down to the water table level without the use of ropes and buckets. The well also functioned as a meeting place and a forum for the people to meet the local leader.



We climbed back into the car and continued our journey; arriving at the ‘resort’ hotel. After a slight delay we were shown to our rooms and had an early night. It is amazing how tired we are even though we spend a huge amount of time sitting down in the car.

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25th December 2012

Happy Christmas!!
Hope you have an amazing day and enjoy the camel trek! It's cold, wet and windy here so you definitely in the right place. Missing you all. Lots of love, Louise xxx

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