Taj Mahal - Agra

Today we went to the Taj Mahal in Agra, about a three hour train ride away from Delhi. You can take various tourist buses there for a princely sum but Kutub and I decided to do it ourselves. The Lonely Planet would have you believe there are only two trains heading there early in the morning, but Kutib, not being very much into getting up before 8am, wasn't keen on my idea that we get the 8.30 train. So we met up at the train station around 9am and he figured out how to get tickets for us both. Turned out there were loads of trains going there, they just took a little longer. We sneaked into second class and when the ticket inspector came around we paid him a little more cash so we could stay in our seats. The landscape quickly changed from foggy urban sprawl to countryside slums.

I've been trying to figure out how to best describe Indiam streets. The best thing I can come up with is to have you imagine taking the entire contents of your local rubbish tip. Imagine several dozen huge diggers each unloading tons of debris directly onto the side of your local street. Scatter it about a bit. Leave large piles at various intervals. Insert several thousand mangy flea-infested stray dogs. Now, take all the cars in a parking lot and honk their horns simultaniously. Double the volume and pipe it into the very same street with all the garbage. Pile onto this the population of India and there you have a pretty good idea of what it is like. The countryside is not much better but at least these people aren't dealing with the severe dust or quite so much noise pollution.

Finally we rolled into Agra around lunchtime adn headed for the nearest restaurant. "Only Restaurant" was located not far from the Taj and I had a wonderful meal of roti bread, chicken curry (ala milch nahi) and basmati rice. Kutub had the Tandoori chicken. Service was excellent.

We'd read that the best time to visit the Taj was just before sunset so we headed for the Red Fort instead. Foreigners 350 rupees, locals 20 rupees. I try not to get angry at this blatent racism... particluray in light of the fact there are so many rich indians with loads more dosh than your joe-average backpacker. I could probably understand it if the difference wasn't such a huge percent but they really take the piss.

After the scandelous entrance fee, we brushed off all offers of personal guides and wandered around the fort ourselves. (nb - Insert various facts about the fort from LP at later date). One of the Taj's son's was mad at him not handing over the crown so he imprisoned his father in the fort for the rest of his life. The father's only wish was to get a view of the Taj Mahal across the river. The first glimpse of the Taj we got from high on he fort and it does take your breath away. It is gleaming white (nb - insert interesting story about how they cleaned it) and situated next to the flowing ....... River. There are no buildings around the Taj (by law) and therefore no traffric noise either.

After the Red Fort we finally got to see the Taj. They had a special women's queue for tickets and a bag-search but this didn't help me because I still had to wait for Kutub. The Taj Mahal's outragous entrance fee was 750 rupees for foreigners, 20 rupees for locals... Ouch!!! Taking the piss big time! When I asked what the 'tax fee' was, I was told it was the maintenance fee. So there you have it - the tourists pay for the maintenance of the Taj Mahal, not the locals. Hmmmm - something wrong with that picture. The LP explains that up until 2000, all tourists paid the same 20 rupees, but that so much 'environmental' damage was being done to the Taj Mahal that they increased the fee (for foreigners only) in order to discourange us from going. (It's that good old Indian 'logic' again). Well, I observed approximately five foreign tourists and approximately 5000 locals, so not sure if it's worked or not, but whose going to come all the way to India, survive the carnage that is Delhi and not see the Taj Mahal?? Finally it was my turn to get my bag searched and I had my mini-calculator confiscated (hmmm... you can see the headline - "Kiwi Sabotages Taj Mahal with Dangerous Matriculation") and was sent back to leave it in a locker. Waiting for Kutub to get frisked, I witnessed the most vicious attack between two women - the Calculator Confiscator (not rooting for her) and another very upset local woman who went for her eyes.... it was a major catfight! All the men just stood around staring and finally some of the male guards with long rifles slung over their shoulders intervened and pulled the women off each other. They continued screaming what I imagine to be Hindi obescenities at each other for quite some time and I don't mind admitting I was a little scared. No idea what it was all about but got the heart rate going that's for sure. I used the time wisely by secreting my calulator into a pocket and banking that Calculator Confiscator woman was too upset to notice - it worked.

Eventually we had made it! The Taj from the outside is a stufy in symetry ~ if you go all the way around it, it is idenical from each direction. We had a nice quite couple of hours there exploring the grounds. The detail in the tiling was very impressive, as were the figures - 40,000 men 40 years of hard toiling and labour to complete. All because the Taj at the time loved one of his wives so much he gifted it to her as a present. She was quite sick and didn't make it to see the completed structure unfortunately but it's the thought that counts.

The inside of the Taj is much much small than it appears from the outside - no bigger than the size of couple of large living rooms really. Inside are the tombs of the Taj and his beloved, but it was so dimly lit I couldn't see properly.

Finally we called it a day and after a brief cycle-rickshaw ride through the smelly markets around the Taj, headed for a light dinner at another great and very cheap restaurant, before getting the express train back to Delhi.