Agra - "Our Heritage is Our Glory"

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Today was "Know your Mughal Emperor Day" for me. Akbar, Shah Jahan, Jahangir... I'm getting pretty good at it. On the schedule today: Taj Mahal, Akbar's Tomb and Fatehpur Sikri.

First of all, the night was tough and will need some getting used to. The world's loudest cricket decided to park in front on my window, for some reason all the lights in my room cannot be turned off simultaneously and a power outage at 3:30 caused the noisy fan to stop turning. Cue the heat. Enough to wake me up.

I got in line for the Taj at 6AM. Right before a busload of Chinese tourists came crowding the queuing area. I've been to the Taj before but it's simply unmissable. If you don't really care about seeing the Taj in the morning sky, go early at least for the temperature. Warm but cozy. I easily spent 2 hours just walking in the garden, enjoying the views and making videos.

Back to the hotel for a (kind of) healthy breakfast of garlic omelette and lime soda. Quick shower and off I go to Akbar's Tomb 15kms away. Negotiation time: I managed to bring down the rickshaw trip to 250 rupees but the driver said "275, there's 25 for parking at tomb". Mmm. Here's what we'll do: 250 and I pay the 25 directly to the parking agent. "OK, 250" he said. In the end, as I suspected, parking was free. I gave myself a pat in the back :-)

By the way, my name is Tom and I'm Canadian. That's my new "Please-don't-hurt-me" identity. There's a strong population of Muslims in this part of the country and I don't want to take my chances. Bad timing to be French AND American.

Akbar's Tomb is off the map in the guide. Literally. It's far but totally worth it. The red stone and white marble structure is both peaceful and monumental. The gardens are full of wildlife. Parrots, peacocks, squirrels and even antelopes! You can have the area pretty much for yourself if you go early enough but you can still have some awkward encounters. A man just stood behind me as I was sitting down applying sunscreen on my legs. He was staring me down like it was a peep show. Plain weird.

Options for luch were limited around the Idgah bus stand so I settled for a hotel restaurant. I could use a tiny bit of comfort and air conditioning. My paleness seemed to have illuminated the lobby of the hotel as the dozen people who were there just turned toward me and froze. The Igdah bus stand is REALLY off the map in the guide... They opened the restaurant for me and I munched down an excellent vegetarian byriani.

The bus ride to Fatehpur Sikri was more enjoyable than I had feared. Open windows cooled down the inside and I wasn't stared at too much. The countryside is interesting. That's good, because there's no way you can sleep with that bumpiness (As I am writing this, a grasshopper the size of a Bic lighter just flew into the internet cafe and landed on my leg!).

Fatehpur Sikri is a must-see but avoid seeing it if you're not comfortable with touts, fake guides, etc... It wasn't a very welcoming city today. The mosque is free but people try to make you pay to get in. I had to push away about a dozen "employees of the mosque" who turned out to be working for the souvenir shops. I got screamed at for walking in a scared area holding my shoes in a bag. My fault, but I could have used not having the attention of upset Muslims. The palace complex is safer for walking around as it isn't free. It's also very peaceful and well-preserved. The visit lasted about two hours. Back to the bus station where I managed to slalom around misinformation from ill-intentioned taxi drivers/restaurateurs/souvenir shop workers/overall crooks to find the right bus leaving at the right time.

In Agra, a rickshaw driver didn't know who he was dealing with. "Take me to the Taj, EAST GATE". Of course he takes me to the West Gate, wich is closer but at the complete opposite of where I want to go. He starts involving a cycle-rickshaw who tells me "he can't go further. I take you, free of charge". I get into "Don't mess with Tom the Canadian"-mode and threaten to get the police involved. When a gun-carrying policeman came over they cut the crap. Off to the East Gate!

A quick glance at the Taj at sunset and it was shower time again.

Daily nugget:
One local ice cream company got the clever but not so subtle idea to call itself "Ven & Jerry's". Is Ven really a name?

(Ahh! that grasshopper landed on me again!)

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