Mausoleum of Love

Sunrise, Taj Mahal, Agra, India
see all photos »

Nik and I arrived at the Hotel Host and were shown our room that was pretty bad with stained sheets and no light in the bathroom. We asked for another room which was next door to the original one we had seen which at least had better sheets and a light in the bathroom and a poster of a young Britney Spears on the wall. However, the bathroom was pretty grim, smelling of urine and could have done with just 10 minutes of a good cleaning with bleach. Normally, we would have walked away, but given our long day and that we were only going to be in Agra for a total of 16 hours and that most places were full, we decided to suck it up. Plus, it was only 300 Rs (approx $7.69) - although with that said, I have stayed at places for the same price that were so much better. We believe that a couple that had been on our train ended up with our first room - good thing we showed up first!

Nik, Taj Mahal, Agra, India
see all photos »

We immediately headed out for dinner and chose a place that was supposed to have a good view of the Taj Mahal from the roof top restaurant (almost all restaurants seem to be outdoors, despite the cold weather). I guess during the day it might, but even with the full moon you could only see the outline.

Given that it was very cold out we had a quick dinner and headed back to our lovely guesthouse. When we switched rooms, they ended up giving us a small TV which I was happy about hoping to see the Bollywood movie "Bride and Prejudice" on Star Movies I had been wanting to see. Unfortunately, it turned out that the TV had a fuzzy green picture, not conducive to watching anything - not that we could find much that wasn't in Hindi and no Star Movies. Dejected, we opted for sleep. Nik had been smart and had brought with him a sleeping bag. I had to do my best with my sleep sack and the blanket provided and a few extra layers. Overall, my night's sleep wasn't the best.

Taj Mahal, Agra, India
see all photos »

The alarm went off early as we wanted to be at the Taj Mahal for the sunrise. There was no way either of us were going to shower in the nasty bathroom, so we were out pretty quickly. Agra was the coldest place we had been to so far, so I ended up layering up, with a tank top, t-shirt, two long sleeved shirts, a cardigan, Nik's socks (I only had very short ones with me), one of Nik's fleeces (but you can tell that from the photos because it was orange - big surprise!), jeans and a pashmina. Despite all that, I really wished I had a hat and gloves!

Taj Mahal, Agra, India
see all photos »

It was just a few minutes walk to the west gate where we were told that we couldn't bring our guidebooks in or water. So we deposited these items in a locker, of course for a fee! Nik and I got in separate queues, one for men and one for women and we got the pat down as we entered, after not having to wait at all. We crossed over a courtyard before heading into the entrance building that in itself was very beautiful. As we stepped out on the other side, we saw the Taj Mahal standing before us some distance away. It was still quite dark with the sun beginning to rise so for quite some time, you could only see the outline. We jockeyed for a decent position, a little off center and stood and watched as the sun came up. There were definitely quite a few people, but nearly as bad as it could have been. I bet in warmer weather many more people would be up for coming out for the sunrise.

Taj Mahal, Agra, India
see all photos »

The Taj Mahal was definitely an impressive structure and was truly magnificent, all in white with some beautiful detailing. As I walked to meet up with Nik who had gone ahead, the reflection of the Taj Mahal gleamed in the pool of water that lead up to it. Normally, you would have to take your shoes off, but thankfully (for a small fee) you could get white booties to go over your shoes - phew! Too darn cold for no shoes! On each side of the main building of the Taj Mahal beyond the minarets were two red buildings that definitely reminded me of Humayan's Tomb that we had seen back in Delhi. Once inside the Taj Mahal, it was actually quite small. In the center was the shrine that had been sectioned off. The Taj Mahal was built back in 1648 by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal out of love that he had for her.

Nik, Taj Mahal, Agra, India
see all photos »

After a couple of hours, Nik and I decided to head out and went in search for breakfast and something warm to drink. We found Joney's, a little hole in the wall, but not bad food. After breakfast, we headed back to our crappy hotel (Host Hotel) to check out, but the lights were out so we told them we would check out an hour later than the allowed time.

We then jumped into a rickshaw and headed over to Agra Fort, just a few km away. The fort was an impressively big structure. We headed in opting not to get a guide as we were under a time crunch, as our driver was meeting us at 1pm. The fort was quite immense with lots of buildings and many courtyards. We noticed a lot of parrots around, apparently they roam fee, kind of like pigeons, but so much cuter! At one point, there was a view of the Taj Mahal, but it was quite far away to really see it that well.

Taj Mahal, Agra, India
see all photos »

Done with the fort, we went back by rickshaw and checked out of the guesthouse, but leaving our bags until our driver came. We then headed out in search of a blanket and some socks, but with no luck. However, we did find a SIM card place, which was located back in the alleyways of Taj Ganj. After a confusing time with which SIM card option to get, the one month (which was all I needed) that took more out each time you topped up, or the three month which took less out with each top up. I finally opted for the three month and filled out the paperwork and handed over a passport photo, but didn't have the photocopies of my passport and visa that I had been carrying around for days.

Nik and I, Entrance to Taj Mahal, Agra, India
see all photos »

Not a big surprise, but there was a photocopying place, just a few stores down. As I walked up to it, I failed to look down and what should I step in to, not with one foot, but two? A big pile of cow shit. Ugh. Thankfully, I had been wearing my hiking shoes, but it still oozed around the edges. With my photocopies handed in and my SIM card taken care of, we walked back to the guesthouse with me trying to scrape the cow shit off my shoe by dragging my foot. That only worked so far, so I then tried dipping my foot in some running water on the side of a road, but that wasn't doing the trick either. A guy saw me and kindly offered me a bowl of water, but that didn't really help. I was going to have to wait for it to dry and hopefully fall off.

Entrance to Taj Mahal, Agra, India
see all photos »

Back at the guesthouse, our driver arrived but had to park a good km or so away as that was the closest he could get with the car. So, we all piled into a rickshaw and made our way to the car, a Tata Indigo which was a mid-size car for India. We then took off with our driver Ram who was decked out in a leather coat that never came off.