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Published: December 14th 2009
4th Dec - 5th Dec Agra is famous for the Taj Mahal and smelly open sewers... we came to see the former and hoped to evade the latter! We arrived on a Monday when the Taj is closed so we decided to do the sights around Agra with the help of a taxi driver we met at the railway station. The drivers English was good and he took us to a few hotels to review and compare rooms, a must when you are trying to keep to a budget! We went to Fatehpur Sikri a fortified city which was abandoned hundreds of years ago due to a lack of water. It was an amazing complex of palaces, mosques, gardens and temples, the most stunning we had seen so far in India. We hired a guide (bargained from Rs. 500 to Rs. 250!) which was extremely useful as the place was massive and he helped to give us an insight into the history.
Nat had a bout of dodgy stomach which had lasted a few days, the first on our trip so far. It wasn’t bad enough to stop us doing anything so fingers crossed we won’t experience any worse!
Agra is an old city; the centre is cramped with old buildings packed tightly around narrow winding streets. The sewage system is open (as in most Indian cities) but worse than most other places and the smell and sights cannot be described! Cows, sheep, goats, mopeds, cars and people jostle their way through; vehicle horns and people shouting fill the air constantly from dawn until well past dusk.
Early the next morning we set off to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. It is set in huge grounds, beautifully maintained, and a real oasis as traffic is not allowed within a block all around making it nice and quiet. The Taj Mahal was amazing, we spent a good amount of time exploring it from all angles and seeing it change colour as the sun rose. We managed to take some great photographs before it became too busy.
The final sightseeing stop was Agra Fort, also known as the Red Fort. This was another well maintained sight and our first big fort in India. We also had another first... our first flat tyre! Luckily our driver had a spare... but no wrench. We were in a busy street so
off he ran to find one with us parked half on, half off the road. We obviously attracted attention and before he returned, 40 minutes later, we had been gawked at, asked for money , and had the police come to check we were OK, all whilst stopped next to an open sewer, local dog toilet and rubbish dump... quite a forgettable experience!
We had planned to stay two nights in Agra but after seeing all the sights within a day and a half, we decided it was time to start our tour of Rajasthan....
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