Am I as popular as the Taj Mahal?

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Monday November 13, 2006 - What a long day. I woke up at 6am. I didn't quite hear my alarm but I must have heard it a little through the earplugs since I did wake up at the right time. I got ready really quickly and then headed downstairs to find an autorickshaw to the train station. This train to Agra wasn't departing from the station within walking distance - it was about 20 minutes away. I knew from the hotel that a good price to pay was about 50 rupees, so I went out and started negotiating. My first offer was 150 rupees. Another guy came over and offered me 250 rupees. Wasn't bargaining supposed to go get the price to go down? I worked some magic and got it down to 70 rupees. I didn't have the patience or look Indian enough to get it any cheaper (even with my new henna tattoos) and I was worried about missing my train, so I took it and off we went. It was actually really cold outside and being in an open vehicle at those speeds made it feel even colder. I froze the whole way to the train station. My driver offered to give me his sweater and said he could stop by later at the hotel to pick it up. I declined, for obvious reasons.

At the train station I didn't have to wait long before my train pulled in. There weren't as many westerners on the train as I expected, but then again, I had chosen cheap second class seats and maybe the others wouldn't have. The seats in second class were arranged as benches with three butts per bench, with two benches facing each other so that there were six people together. I had a seat at the window, so this made it a bit more comfortable. I passed the three hour journey reading about Agra from the photocopies I had made and planning my day, reading my novel, and staring out the window as India went by. The morning was foggy (pollution haze?) as well as cold, and that made it seem a little more special, or at least look a little more special from the train window. I think I forgot to mention this but it is worth mentioning - whenever the train stops, vendors come on board to peddle their wears, very often milk tea or coffee. First of all, the milky tea in India is amazing. I have never been much of a tea drinker until this trip, and I would never put milk in my tea before, but the tea here is sweet and milky (sometimes just hot milk with a tea bag) and it is wonderful. Super yummy. The guys on the train sell it to you for about 3 rupees, so you can have about 12 cups for a dollar if you were so inclined, and the tea comes in little ceramic cups that you are just meant to throw away. And throwing it away always means throwing it out the window of the train, preferably breaking it on the tracks; you never throw it in the trash can. (What trash can?)

When I arrived in Agra, I started out heading directly for the autorickshaw prepaid line. It seemed the easiest way to get to the Taj Mahal, and I wouldn't have to argue about the price. On the way there several people who tried to get me in their taxi, which is usually a more expensive option, but they were willing to do it for much less than the autorickshaw prepaid price so I took one of them up on it. On the way to the Taj he tried to sell me his services for the entire day - for 250 rupees he would take me to all the main sites in town, and there are a fair few. He finally went down to 150 rupees but in the end I decided not to use him. I could walk or take a free bus between the Taj and the Agra Fort, and it seemed unlikely I would need to go to any more places in the time I had aside from the train station, and it was finally getting to the point where I really did need to save money wherever possible. He dropped me off at the west gate and I bought my incredibly expensive foreigners ticket. It cost 750 rupees to enter the Taj Mahal site, and only 50 rupees for Indians. Huge difference. But after all, my ticket DID come with a small bottle of water and foot covers so it's totally understandable.

Before I could enter I had to leave or get rid of any food or electronics at the little kiosk. I brought my ipod with me for the day instead of leaving it in my room, but then realized this was a mistake as I would have to leave it with the random guards. But what other option did I have at this point? I thought there was a real chance I would never see it again but didn't see any way around it. So I dropped it off, ate the rest of my breakfast cookies, and entered the Taj Mahal.

I went to the Taj Mahal partly out of interest and partly because it seems like the main thing to see if you are in this area. I wasn't expecting to be awed and blown away. I was. It was just amazing. It is far more beautiful and impressive when you see it in person. Emperor Shah Jahan had it built as a mausoleum and memorial for his second wife, who died giving birth to their fourteenth child in 1631. It is described as a monument to love, and was created to be as beautiful as his wife was. It is made of white marble and is still in remarkable condition. The color changes as the daylight varies, though when I was there it was a bit hazy and polluted looking, so I didn't see any change. I arrived there around 11am and decided immediately that I could spend all day there. There is a large pool in front of the Taj and everyone has their pictures taken in front of it, which means there is always someone in your way if you want to take the money shot of the Taj being reflected in the pool. The Taj was also cleverly built higher than the surroundings so that the sky is the only background, inhancing the majestic look. The grounds are fairly large with a large garden and two red buildings on either side of it - symmetry is important here and the buildings mirror each other perfectly. One is a mosque and the other might have been used to house travelers at one time. There are also four minarets, one at each corner, and they serve no other function than to be pretty. The entire complex is seated at the side of the river Yamuna, which serves to make the site just that much more attractive.

In order to walk directly around and inside of the Taj Mahal building itself, you have to remove your shoes. This is why they give foreigners the foot covers, so you can cruise around with your little feets protected. I chose not to however, and just went barefoot. I wouldn't do this anywhere else in India, but the Taj was clean and people seem to respect that is should remain clean, so I walked around like everyone else and enjoyed it. The inside of the Taj, or the accessible part anyway, is fairly small when you look at how large the outside is. Inside are the tombs of the emperor and his wife, or so they wanted you to believe. They are actually false crypts and the real tombs are underneath the building itself.

There were so many tourists, many of them Indian, and the women wear such beautiful clothes that I sat down in the shade both to cool off and try to get some people pictures without being too conspicuous. I needn't have worried, however, as once again I was the spectacle. I can't tell you how many people asked if they could take my picture, either alone, with their family or friends, with the Taj Mahal, or some combination of the above. I was even in some people's formal pictures with the pool and Taj behind us! I had school children sit with me, as well as families trying to take a "conspicuous" picture of me pretending it was just of their family members who also just happened to sit on the same bench as me. It really boosts a girl's ego, or makes her feel like a freak, depending on the day. But it's not so bad to be photographed almost as much as the Taj Mahal! I was in demand. Really, I should have sold picture opportunities with the single white girl and made back my $20 entrance fee.

I stayed for over three hours, but then I was hungry and needed more water so my only choice was to leave. If I had been allowed to bring food in I would have stayed all day. I started making my out of the complex when I noticed a big crowd forming and a few particularly beautiful people sitting in the the general direction of all the stares. I went to stare along with them and saw that there were movie cameras and other professional gear surrounding the pair. I quickly learned that the woman was from an Indian soap and the man was from Bollywood movies. He certainly looked it - always fixing his luxurious hair and looking pompous. I looked on for a while and tried to take pictures along with everyone else. But unlike everyone else, I was laughing - it was just too much and too funny not to. I took some more pictures on my way out and then as I got to the gate I wanted to leave from, I saw the famous ones again and this time they were being filmed walking down one of the main walkways. I don't know if it was for a movie or a tv show but it was interesting to see. They did occassionally sign their autographs for adoring fans, which was both sweet and sad. Like America but the difference between poor and rich is even more pronounced here.

Next stop was lunch, and I ended up at a small, almost cafe that served about three different things. I ended up with a fried egg sandwich and ate it quickly. Then I want to a small park reserve that turned out to be a waste of time and money. Sure it did have a view of the Taj Mahal, but to get there I had to pass several couples who were being far more romantic than I could be on my own. A bit too much in my solitary state. I walked in, looked around and left. Then I was on my way to the Agra Fort, since I had enough time left. I first stopped to pick up my ipod, fearing the worst. But no, it was still on the shelf, keeping everyone else's cell phones company. Yay for honest workers! I did have to give them a tip for watching it, but that was fine.

I was able to find the buses that go to the Agra Fort and this was a change - they were only free for foreigners! Ha! But they still tried to charge me until I said they should be free. Then all of a sudden it was. We took the short ride over there and I was the only one actually getting off at the fort - where were the rest going? It was another expensive prospect for me - 250 rupees - but not as bad as the Taj Mahal. It was quite a nice site to walk around though - plenty of buildings to walk through, little places to get lost, lots of history. Construction of the fort began in 1156 and continued until 1605. It is a beautiful place and quite an impressive site. Emperor Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal also built most of the buildings inside of the fort. Ironically, he was later imprisoned here by his son Aurangzeb, who decided he was ready to be emperor; but he did have a view of his wife's final resting place across the river, and was taken there to be entombed with her when he died.

I spent about two hours walking through this site before trying to find the bus back to the Taj Mahal. I had two main choices - I could walk back to the train station fairly easily from the Fort, where I could have dinner and relax before my train left. Or I could go back to the area around the Taj, have a rushed dinner on a rooftop restaurant and watch the sun set on the Taj Mahal, and then catch a taxi to the train station just in time to make my train. Being me, I chose the more frantic option.

This time the bus only dropped me at the parking lot, which was still about 2 kilometers from the Taj Mahal. Being stubborn, I chose to walk rather than take the pedal rickshaw that kept following me and annoying me. I finally got to one of the restaurants, sat down and ordered the quickest thing on the menu - a cheese and tomato sandwich. I watched the Taj and spoke with a Canadian couple who were on their way to Nepal. The couple was nice to talk to, but the sandwich and the sunset were both disappointing. There was a lot of haze and it just got dark around it, rather than let the light shine through to change the building to all the magical colors that are possible as the sun goes down. But I could see flashes from cameras of people who were actually inside the Taj Mahal grounds reflecting off the building. That was something anyway. Once 6pm came around, I paid my bill and went downstairs to find an autorickshaw or taxi. I did get an autorickshaw and had to bargain him down. He wanted 100 rupees and I wanted to pay 50, the same price I had paid to get there in the morning. He said no so I walked away, confident I could find another, but he followed me and eventually bargained himself down to 50. Tried to bring it back up to 70 but I said no and that was it. End of discussion. I actually only had enough left to get myself back to the hotel in Delhi - tomorrow I need to change some more money!

I got to the train station after a 20 minute ride of so and then still had some time to kill before my train was supposed to leave at 6:55pm. I was again a target for begging children - they often work the train stations. I talked to them and that was it - no money. I can't do it, it just encourages more begging. They were funny though, so it was entertaining enough for me. Funnier still was when one of the little boys came over to the two girls who wouldn't leave my side and pulled out his money to show her - bills, not even coins. I told him he could buy them some food, and he pretended not to understand me and asked me for money! I told him he had more than I did. He pulled out a coin to show me that was all he had and I mentioned seeing all his bills. He pretended he didn't understand and still asked me for more! Really amazing how these 5 year olds can play it. But the train came and I got settled into my window seat where I played a game of hide and seek with a little girl behind her mother's purse before reading my book for the next three hours. I was exhausted when we arrived but got myself another autorickshaw, froze my buns off on the ride home, and then said good night to the world pretty quickly.

I am really glad I went to Agra. It would have been nice to have more time, but I felt I used most of my time in the day well, and I was really impressed with the sites that I saw. The Taj Mahal really is as good as they say. And this ended up being one of those days that I was really glad to be on my own. It was the kind of place where I just wanted to look around and see things at my own pace. I have days like that occassionally - I just find some things much harder to do and less enjoyable when you have to take someone else into consideration. There are definate rewards to traveling alone and this was certainly one of them - knowing you can get where you want to go, see what you want to see at your own pace and really appreciate what you are doing - all on your own.

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