Our first adventure started with a 3-4 hour train ride from Delhi to Agra in sleeper class, one of the lowest classes on the train, just above the one where no reservations are necessary and everyone piles in on top of one another in every nook and cranny. The sun was just rising and my eyes were fixated on the scenes around us. Trash littered the ground, more so than usual, and foul putrid smells of rotting garbage, urine, and feces wafted through the open windows, clinging to the warm air. As the train began to speed off we saw men and women squatting next to the tracks, doing their morning business. Already we spotted noticeable differences from what we had seen traversing Southern India. The fatigue started to waft over us and we drifted in and out of sleep. I jolted awake to find my phone taken from right beside me where it had been charging. It jolted me back into reality realizing how sheltered we had been in Manipal and what a different world we had entered. I was so annoyed at myself for this mistake and couldn’t stop thinking of all the things I could have done differently. I also couldn’t believe this was the second time a phone had been stolen this semester alone. Once I had managed to wipe away my anger and disappointment, I focused again on the scenes below and on our adventures to come. Poverty seemed so much more blatant here than we had seen yet. Agra is in a state called Uttar Pradesh, one of the most failed, lowest performing states in India, whereas most of the Southern states are rather high performing. We spotted slums with dwellings made from blue tarps and sticks almost leaning up against the train tracks, precariously placed beyond the more permanent looking homes.
We pulled into the Agra station just after nine and were immediately bombarded with drivers offering to take us to the Taj Mahal. We first checked our luggage into the cloakroom at the station and ended up submitting to the government taxi drivers who insisted on taking us. We decided on getting a tour at the last minute after we had purchased our tickets when the guide offered us a really good rate for off-season. It ended up being the best decision we had made yet because he knew all the best picture spots and techniques and was very handy with a camera. Not to mention he had a lot of great insight to share and was just a generally sweet man. Getting our first glimpse of the Taj seemed like something out of a dream. Despite the heat in the air we could feel goose bumps on our skin. It was just like the amazing pictures on the Internet, but there it was, right before us, huge and magnificent. There are just no proper words to correctly describe the feeling of seeing it and it was easy to understand its designation as a wonder of the world. However, the inside of the Taj itself is nothing particularly special.
After we got our fill we headed over to the Agra fort after stopping to buy a few small things along the way. The Agra for seemed endless. We kept wandering into rooms and courtyards that led to other rooms and courtyards in a bit of a maze. Incredibly tired at this point and melting in the heat we definitely didn’t get as much from the experience as we could have. We skipped the guide and quickly hopped between rooms after long breaks n the shade. From one side of the fort you could see the Taj from across the river, which was pretty amazing. The fort itself was magnificent in its grandeur and intricate details, each part with its own unique character. I wish we had given it a little more attention, but then again we would be visiting numerous forts in the next few days and we needed a rest.
Having absolutely no guidance, we asked an auto driver for a café/restaurant recommendation and ended up at this pretty obscure place, though the food ended up being pretty good. We hopped over to another restaurant that was more café-like, discovering the general lack of cafes and anything remotely catering to outsiders, outside the Taj of course, being that the city itself is less than great. We hung out in the upstairs of this café for the remainder of the day until our train that evening to Jaipur. Abby and I ordered mango lassis that ended up tasting strange so we left them pushed off to the side of our table. We ended up being there for hours, reading our books to pass the time and dozing off in our wicker chairs. The restaurant was hot and not particularly comfortable. We were the only ones there and the only sounds were the buzzing from the generator in the back.
Eventually, we meandered our way back to the train station, picked up our bags from the cloakroom, and waited. Our train got delayed an hour so we found a spot on the platform to camp out, sitting on our bags and munching on some snacks we bought from a nearby vendor. Our train finally came and we eagerly hopped aboard, off to our next destination in Jaipur. We arrived late after a long train ride. Lauren and I managed to curl up on our bench in the train and to get a bit of sleep along the way. A charming taxi driver got us to our hostel after following us from the Jaipur station and finally agreeing to only Rs 100 for the ride, probably less than an auto would have cost. Later we found out how lucky that was, as our hostel was pretty out of the way and explaining its location to an auto driver could have been another challenge in and of itself. The hostel was beautiful and the staff that met us were incredibly accommodating, especially since it was already past midnight. Thus far, it was easily the nicest hostel we’d been to but mostly we were just grateful to take showers and for beds to sleep in.
We pulled into the Agra station just after nine and were immediately bombarded with drivers offering to take us to the Taj Mahal. We first checked our luggage into the cloakroom at the station and ended up submitting to the government taxi drivers who insisted on taking us. We decided on getting a tour at the last minute after we had purchased our tickets when the guide offered us a really good rate for off-season. It ended up being the best decision we had made yet because he knew all the best picture spots and techniques and was very handy with a camera. Not to mention he had a lot of great insight to share and was just a generally sweet man. Getting our first glimpse of the Taj seemed like something out of a dream. Despite the heat in the air we could feel goose bumps on our skin. It was just like the amazing pictures on the Internet, but there it was, right before us, huge and magnificent. There are just no proper words to correctly describe the feeling of seeing it and it was easy to understand its designation as a wonder of the world. However, the inside of the Taj itself is nothing particularly special.
After we got our fill we headed over to the Agra fort after stopping to buy a few small things along the way. The Agra for seemed endless. We kept wandering into rooms and courtyards that led to other rooms and courtyards in a bit of a maze. Incredibly tired at this point and melting in the heat we definitely didn’t get as much from the experience as we could have. We skipped the guide and quickly hopped between rooms after long breaks n the shade. From one side of the fort you could see the Taj from across the river, which was pretty amazing. The fort itself was magnificent in its grandeur and intricate details, each part with its own unique character. I wish we had given it a little more attention, but then again we would be visiting numerous forts in the next few days and we needed a rest.
Having absolutely no guidance, we asked an auto driver for a café/restaurant recommendation and ended up at this pretty obscure place, though the food ended up being pretty good. We hopped over to another restaurant that was more café-like, discovering the general lack of cafes and anything remotely catering to outsiders, outside the Taj of course, being that the city itself is less than great. We hung out in the upstairs of this café for the remainder of the day until our train that evening to Jaipur. Abby and I ordered mango lassis that ended up tasting strange so we left them pushed off to the side of our table. We ended up being there for hours, reading our books to pass the time and dozing off in our wicker chairs. The restaurant was hot and not particularly comfortable. We were the only ones there and the only sounds were the buzzing from the generator in the back.
Eventually, we meandered our way back to the train station, picked up our bags from the cloakroom, and waited. Our train got delayed an hour so we found a spot on the platform to camp out, sitting on our bags and munching on some snacks we bought from a nearby vendor. Our train finally came and we eagerly hopped aboard, off to our next destination in Jaipur. We arrived late after a long train ride. Lauren and I managed to curl up on our bench in the train and to get a bit of sleep along the way. A charming taxi driver got us to our hostel after following us from the Jaipur station and finally agreeing to only Rs 100 for the ride, probably less than an auto would have cost. Later we found out how lucky that was, as our hostel was pretty out of the way and explaining its location to an auto driver could have been another challenge in and of itself. The hostel was beautiful and the staff that met us were incredibly accommodating, especially since it was already past midnight. Thus far, it was easily the nicest hostel we’d been to but mostly we were just grateful to take showers and for beds to sleep in.