I arrived in Agra via train around 7:30 a.m.
It was a cozy train ride. This was my nook for the 13 1/2 hr train ride. I managed to sleep for about 7-8 hours. I had the middle of three stacked bunks--not the best bunk to have but it was the only one available. My seven bunk mates were from Canada (3 beds are on each side of the car and 2 are along the aisle). A man asking for money placed a bindi on my forehead before I could say anything.
I hired a tuk tuk to take me to the Heritage Home Stay near the Taj Mahal. Twenty dollars a night gets you a great breakfast, a clean place to stay and good company. I was greeted with a Indian breakfast--a paratha (naan stuffed with seasoned potato), some homemade yogurt, guava juice and some chai. I got the inside scoop on roti v. naan. Roti is made from wheat flour and is cooked in a pan whereas naan is made from white flour and cooked on a clay oven.
Swarn, the owner of the house, is an engineer who also owns a mechanics shop in town.
His son owns a gas station and his wife makes mighty fine parathas. The house was built by the British.
My bedroom. Swarn follows Varsu (similar to feng shui) so the head of all the beds in his home face east. He also made his property into a perfect square. He swears his luck has changed since adopting this practice. I chatted with Swarn over a cup of chai a couple times during my one night stay. He told me about Rakhi, a holiday which celebrates the union between brothers and sister.
To celebrate the holiday, the sister places a bracelet like this is around her brother's wrist to symbolize her love for her brother. In return, he gives her a gift. Swarn's mother was nice enough to give me this bracelet.
My driver, Rajesh, picked me up around 10 a.m. I'll be with him for the next 15 days. Our first stop was the Red Fort. I decided to wait and tour the Taj Mahal when Monica, who I heard was best guide around, was available. It was a good decision, considering my guide for the Red Fort told me a few crazy things.
The Red Fort in Agra is very similar to the Red Fort in Delhi, so I won't say too much about it. Although similar, it was still worth the visit. It is huge (I believe something like 94 acres) but only 30 percent is open to tourists. The other 70 percent is used by the Indian army as offices. The Moghul Emperor Akbar built this fort in the late 1500s. Successive emperors, including Shah Jahan (who built the Taj) continued to add to it.
Main entrance. The emperor's bedroom was underground for security reasons.
The fort has underground tunnels that lead to the Taj Mahal. You can see the Taj in the distance.
The inner courtyard. They often held women-only bizarres here where gold, marble and other items were sold.
The emperor's bathtub, which was a gift to him from his uncle. It was covered with gold on the inside and outside, but enemies later stole the gold.
Hall where the emperor heard the people's grievances.
Another inner courtyard.
Location where the emperor's throne was located.
A cute squirrel. I momentarily forgot they can carry rabies. I won't be picking up another any time soon....
But they are cuter than those found in the U.S....
This is a double chamber room with hollow walls. They would pump cool water between the walls to keep the room cool.
A small drawbridge.
From here we went to a factory to learn how they make inlaid stone marble using the same techniques used to make the Taj Mahal.
The blue is lapis lazuli. During the 17th century when the Taj was built, they collected it from Afghanistan. Now, because of political tensions between India and Afghanistan, it comes from Chili.
They use a hand powered wheel to cut and shape the semi precious stones. A red stone called carnelian is one of my favorites.
The stone glows when you shine light on it.
The nonporous marble (stronger than Italian marble) is painted with henna to create more color contrast when the pattern is drawn on the stone. The marble is then carved out to create a space for the stone inlay. One single flower can take about 20 small pieces of stone to make. This is one reason why it took 22 years and over 20,000 workers to build the Taj Mahal.
Speaking of henna, they also like to decorate their cows with henna and paint the cow horns different colors. His horns are yellow. This is not the most colorful cow I saw, but I was quick enough to snap a picture of him as we drove by. The cows don't seem to enjoy having blue, yellow or red horns.
I suppose this is what a stubborn donkey looks like. He was standing in the middle of traffic as cars, trucks and motorbikes buzzed past him.
My first camel sightings...two camels pulling wagons through the street. They are much bigger than I remember. I promise to get a better picture someday soon.
It turns out you can get too close, even in India. We had a minor run in with a truck, but nothing serious. The white car is Rajesh's. He took care of business and sent me off for some sightseeing at the baby Taj.
This was built before the Taj Mahal.
The Moghul architectural style had a lot of Persian influence.
Monkeys like to hang around just about everywhere. No worries, I didn't try to pick him up.
Tomb of Shukrullah, built in 1628 when Shukrullah's was still alive. Most of the semi-precious stones have been stolen from the tomb.
A watch tower at the tomb.
We picked up Monica, who was my guide for the Taj Mahal, around 4 p.m. She is a getting her master's degree in history. Her father is a sanskrit professor, one of the most prestigious jobs in India. She was a wealth of knowledge about all things India and curious about every culture. We headed for Mehtab Bagh, the gardens across the river from the Taj, to watch the sunset over the Taj.
We got there early, so we hung out for a bit. She taught me how to meditate and answered all the questions I had that other guides were unable to answer.
View of the Taj Mahal from across the river. I'll give you the details on the Taj after I tour the inside.
Waiting....
Monica and me. Sunset finally came, but it was a little cloudy so we didn't get to see the Taj change colors.
But we did befriend Spaniards and took fun pictures.
There was a small area along the river where local children were walking.
This boy was taking his goat to the field for feeding.
She was carrying a hefty load on her head.
And so was she.
And her too. I need to learn how to do this....
Rajesh held a dinner to welcome me to India. He served fried peanuts as an appetizer--they are a serious upgrade from the roasted version--and mutton (goat) with rice and roti as the entree. It was all delicious, but I still get nervous drinking out of a glass from anywhere but the hotel restaurant. So far so good....
I was exhausted and went to bed around 8 p.m. Tomorrow I am meeting Monica at 6 a.m. to visit the Taj at sunrise.
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Location:Agra, India
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