When people talk about India, one of the first things that comes to people’s minds is of course the Taj Mahal, located in Agra and that’s exactly where I went. The last time I wrote, I was getting a bus from Rishikesh and let me tell you, it set the tone for my time in Agra.

I got to the bus stop and could feel the clouds gathering all around me. The definition of ‘bus stop’ is rather loose here, as it consisted of a small dirt area for buses to pull into and one or two little shops round the corner selling sweets, crisps and other snacky things. The setting sun was made far more dramatic by the clouds, but I had a bit of time on my hands and went to one of the shops to get something to eat for the journey. As I left to walk to the bus stop (only 30 seconds away) the heavens opened and I sprinted as well one can do with a rucksack back to the shop. I waited there for about 15 minutes until I had to get the stop. By this time, the rain had subsided a little, so I thought I’d be okay. Besides, the bus would arrive shortly, right….RIGHT?

WRONG

The rain started again, this time worse. I didn’t have time to get to the shop and didn’t want to risk missing the bus, so I hid inside a tuk-tuk, with my feet still feeling the brunt of God’s tears. This was ok until the tuk-tuk drivers who had so nicely allowed me to stay there all got in their vehicles and drove away! What was I meant to do? As it turned out, there was a tiny area covered with a plastic tarp. I hid there with a couple of local guys and just hoped the bus would arrive. Eventually it got there (30 minutes late) and I found my sleeper birth. Guess what, friends. It was wet. The window had not been enough to prevent the rain getting through, so I had to change to a different, smaller and far less comfortable bed, but it was okay and I slept through till the morning….Only joking, the bus tossed and turned and I hardly slept.

In Agra, I went straight to the hostel and rested the whole day. Fortunately, the hostel owner ordered some food (50% discount, so I wasn’t going to complain) and I planned to get up early the next day for the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal was constructed as a final resting place for the King’s great love. I really don’t think he expected it to become a massive tourist destination, with thousands of people walking around, clamouring for selfies and feeding monkeys on a daily basis (except Fridays…it’s closed on Fridays). I woke up at around 4:30 AM and walked up the road to the Taj Mahal, with a wonderful Japanese guy called Shuma. When we arrived, we got our tickets and waited for the gates to open at 6AM. After the standard bag check, we went through and were able to see the sunrise from within the grounds of the Taj Mahal. To be honest, it was stunning, but within 15 minutes of the opening, the gardens were packed. I was very fortunate to get some photos with very few people, but those going later in the day would probably miss out on this.

Shuma and I went to the mausoleum proper quite early, before many other people and from here we were treated with a beautiful sunrise coming toward the Taj, one which I think the others missed out on. Inside the Taj itself, one cannot take photos, but don’t worry, you really are not missing out on a lot. I think the reason they don’t want you to take pictures is that they know how disappointing the inside is and don’t want to put off any tourists! That being said, the grounds are beautiful, despite the swathes of people and I would still recommend it despite the hefty 1000 rupee price tag.

After this, I went back to the hostel with Shuma and again rested. Two consecutive days of super early wake ups had taken it out of me and I really did not feel well. This meant that sadly I didn’t get to see much else of Agra, as I was leaving the next day for Jaipur, the Pink City.

Jaipur

Unlike the journey to Agra, the journey to Jaipur was painless: A simple train journey and I was there. I arrived in the evening and made my way to the hostel. I’m not going to name names, but I was disappointed. There was hardly anybody there and it was not at all social, so the next day I decided to move to the Moustache Hostel. I’ve stayed at several of their hostels and the service they offer is excellent. Immediately on arrival, I knew this was the right hostel. As I checked in, a guy came to reception and the only word I remember hearing was ‘coffee’. We became friends right away and after dropping my bag off, we went to get some breakfast at a lovely little place. Super cheap and great iced coffee. The guy, called Jorge, came from Colombia and had been travelling for several months in Europe. He was super friendly and made everyone we came into contact with laugh.

Together we explored Jaipur. We walked to the centre of the city and felt hungry again, so tried to find some good food. My word, that was difficult. After settling on one place, we were heavily disappointed from the food, so went somewhere else and finally got our lunch. A classic aloo gobhi and naan and we were on our way. First of all, we visited the minaret, which provided an excellent view of the whole city and then we went to the Hawa Mahal. Here, we made the decision to take a tour guide who showed us around not just this, but also the astronomical park and the palace. Though he was quite knowledgeable and shared a lot of information about Indian culture, we did feel rather rushed. My favourite part was the astronomical park. As a child, I loved learning about the stars and planets and it was amazing to see how people centuries ago studied the heavens. The park included an incredibly large sundial, but alas, we were not allowed to climb it.

After leaving the palace, we decided to get a tuk-tuk, but this started a whole crazy chain of events. First, we met our guide, Sheikh, who was not only super smiley, but had impeccable English. He even showed us a photo of him with Mirian Margoyles (she plays Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films). His charisma was infectious and he took us to the water palace (though we were not allowed to go in, we just got to look at it from afar) and then on to the textile factory. Here we saw how the textile designs are made. The printing process was all done by hand and made by organic plants and herbs. After much deliberation, Jorge and I decided to purchase a few tailor made shirts. As I write this post, I am wearing one of them. Though they cost a good bit of money, they are incredibly comfortable and I love the designs.

The following day I wanted to explore some parts outside of the city, including the famous Amber Fort. Together with Ari and Florian, two wonderful people I’d met in the hostel, we got in a tuk-tuk and went all the way there. At the fort, we got a tour guide who was incredibly informative and was able to tell us a lot about the fort. It was constructed in four main phases by different kings. One of these kings had nine, yes your read that right, NINE wives, who he housed in the fort, each in their own rooms. Not only this, he had secret tunnels, so he could visit whomever he chose without the others knowing. I’d certainly recommend visiting the fort and getting a guide if you visit. It was inexpensive and without his knowledge, I think we would have missed out.

That’s it for my current post. My next destination is Pushkar, a quiet town in Rajasthan and after that I’ll be heading on to Jodhpur. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post. If you have, please give it a like and share on Facebook.

Thanks,

Tom 🙂

PS, if you like my photos, there are more available here