Last weekend, 10 of us went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. After an incredibly long bus journey that involved a 4-way intersection on the highway, getting lost, and discovering that we had a big blue flashing light on top of it, we got to our hotel only to discover that they had sold our rooms. Naturally, this was after they had taken us up to the rooftop restaurant that has a view of the Taj. They had booked us rooms at an unnamed hotel across town and wanted us to get in rickshaws (tuk-tuks) to make the journey. This was not OK considering it was about 10:30 PM and we were in an unfamiliar city that has a reputation for being sketchy. With the help of a member of the program staff via cell phone and our bus driver, we made it over eventually and all was well.
The next morning we set out to see the Taj. Our new hotel was close enough to walk, so we made the journey along with countless other tourists. We get to the East Gate entryway, and are informed that you actually had to purchase tickets 1 KM back. We were unaware of this fact, but our bus driver offered to go back and get the tickets for us, and rolls up about 20 minutes later on a motorcycle with our tickets, bottles of water, and little red booties to put over our shoes. Looking back on it, we had a pretty cool buildup to actually seeing the Taj in person: first seeing it from the rooftop of the hotel that wasn't, then walking up with the masses, and finally getting through security and walking through the gate. It surpasses any hopes I had for how beautiful I thought it would be in person. It looks unreal against the sky, and no picture could ever do it justice (but here's one anyway):
The only thing that was anticlimactic was the inside - it was a small, circular area filled with people so it was uncomfortable and stuffy. But I wasn't expecting much anyway - I figured that if the inside was spectacular I would have heard something about it before then. So after we had made it through the inside, we sat ourselves down on a ledge to relax and enjoy the scenery for a few minutes. All of a sudden, a group of Thai tourists comes up to us and asks to take "just one photo." We said yes without realizing that "just one photo" means one photo per person, per camera. So we were trapped smiling with random strangers' arms around our shoulders for a good 5 minutes. No less than 30 seconds after they walked away, a giant group of Sikh men in brightly colored turbans comes up and asks to take pictures with us too. So we say yes again. This process continued for about 10-15 minutes because we got in on the fun too - when were we ever going to be surrounded by Sikhs in brightly colored turbans again? Though an enjoyable experience, when that was done we decided to move before we became a permanent sideshow to the Taj.
Seeing the Taj was the first time that I had ever been to an Islamic religious site of any kind. It was a weird realization to have because it was something I had never thought about before but I think is interesting.
After the Taj we headed to the Agra Fort, which was equally beautiful and seemed to go on forever. It also had a view of the Taj, which was beautiful except for the intense haze. I definitely could have spent the afternoon there - someone said that it felt like a giant playground for grownups. At one point a few of us were sitting somewhere and surprise! A giant group of Indian tourists swarms us for photos. We (stupidly) said yes and spent what felt like forever being pulled around and by the various members of the group looking for a photo opportunity. They finally left and a few minutes later another group just came up to us, sat down, put their arms around us and started taking pictures. They didn't even ask permission or acknowledge that we were humans. Which, of course, was incredibly frustrating and prompted me to get up and walk away without saying anything.
By the time we left it was about 4:30 and any other monuments in Agra would be closing soon, so we just went back to the hotel. That night, there was a wedding across the street - at the Leprosy Research Institute, which I found confusing, funny, and somewhat disturbing. Not my first choice for wedding venues. A parade went down the street in front of our hotel and we could hear music for most of the night.
On the way back to Jaipur the next day, we stopped at Fatehpur Sekret, an Islamic holy site/World Heritage site along the way. It didn't cost anything to get in because it's still an active pilgrimage site, but that also meant that street vendors could come in and try to sell us stuff the whole time. So though I wish it had been more regulated for my own touristy pleasure, I can definitely understand why it isn't.
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