Agra, India
December 6, 2004 - December 8, 2004

My friend Amit once told me never to bother with Agra.  It's a shit city.  And he was right.  But it was on the way to Bombay, and I wanted to see the Taj Mahal, so I stopped in for what I hoped would be a day trip.  The same British couple I went to Varinassi with came with me on the train to Agra and we arrived at 7AM.  I decided to head to the antient abandoned city of Fatehpur Sikri 45 Km outside the city, so I transfered immediatly to a local train and headed out there.  It was a remakable place that looked like I imagine Rome to have looked like 1000 years ago.  It was built by a very powerful ruler who wanted to build the perfect city.  And indeed this is a perfect city... with one exception.  It's nowhere near a water source.  Consiquently, the city was abandoned when said ruler died 20 years later.  Well, all the better for me!  The city has been kept free of destruction and war over the years, and is now only inhabited by a few animals and weeds.

After a day of walking around this huge city, I headed into Agra and called it a day.  I planned on going to the Taj Mahal at dawn to see the sunrise reflect on teh marble building, and then I'd catch the train to Bombay.  Well, as I'd been told, booking a ticket to Bombay less than 2 weeks in advance is nearly impossible.  I spent that evening trying to bribe people to find a solution, but went to bed with no new answers.

The next day I packed up and headed to the Taj Mahal.  Wow! What a beauty!  Now, I still can't say it's entirely worth getting there and away if Agra isn't already on your route, but if you're near, or in Delhi, you've gotta see this place!  Dawn is the best for the color, and the crowds.  My guesthouse (also named the Shanti Guesthouse) had a fantastic view from the roof, so I saw the Taj at sunset as well, but strongly recommend getting up early to see it at dawn.

After the Taj I made it to the train station in hope of sorting out a ticket myself.  This was the beginning of a long day in which I'm still not sure if I got scammed.  Essentially, some tout got me a ticket to Bombay for midnight that night, so I decided to let him take m e on an all-day tour.  Big mistake.  By the end of the day I'd seen 4 marble and rug shops (which I explicitly said I didn't want to see) and bough him and his friends 1400 rupees worth of food and drink - I only offered to buy him one beer... But alls well that ends well.  At least I was on that impossible train by 1AM.

Fatehpur Sikri

A beautiful Muslim mosk

The marble screens in the mosk are unbealiveable!

Instead of paying the 450 rupees (tourist rate) to get into the city, I thought I'd walk around it and maybe find a back entrance.  No luck on the entrance, but the city sprawls far beyond the main wall, and after giving in and paying to enter, I decided the surrounding city was better anyway.

One of my misguided attempts to sneak into the city walls landed me in some tunnels.  I could hear rats.  Lots of them.  The ground was literally made up exclusively rat droppings!  I was using my mini flashlight to navigate the tunnels hoping no rats ran over my feet.  At some point however, I realised these rat squeeks were coming from the cieling!  Bats!!  I was outta there after this second picture which woke them all up.

One of the most ingenious designs of the city was their use of water drainage.  Water ran everywhere in little
artificial channels and waterfalls and invariably emptied into a pool or midevil "hot tub".

Another set of rooms I discovered in my attmepts to sneek inside the city

This was as close as I came to getting in for free.  I made it to the top of the surrounding wall, but all I got was a view.

...So I decided to suck it up and pay.

The next day I got up early and headed to the Taj Mahal.

The foggy river behind the Taj

And later in the day, once I realized I wasn't getting on any train until midnight, I went to Agra Fort (a.k.a. Red Fort)

Taj Mahal as seen from the Red Fort

This is the sketchy guy who took me around, and his 2 friends.  He's the one pointing. 
The guy next to me was actually nice.  The fat bastard was a corrupt police official.