We had to wake up very early in the morning...5:30 for a train at 7:15. But the weather is so lovely at that time of day - no wonder Indian people get up at 4 in the morning for walk!
We thought we had arrived in Agra, but we actually got off at the wrong station, because on the 'Taj Express' there are no announcements or signs at the stations, so we just had to guess by the time. Fortunately the station was the one before ours, so we took an Auto straight to Agra Fort, where the others (6 more Gappers) were already waiting for us.
Agra Fort was huge - we got lost inside it, but it was very beautiful. For lunch we went to a posh hotel restaurant, and it was nice to escape from the 43 Degree heat. After lunch we hailed some Autos to take us to an authentic market, but they insisted on us visiting the shop (only because they would receive commission) beneath the restaurant. We refused, and they took us to a different market (after saying they would take us to the authentic one), which had nothing special and was just a row of shops on a long road...a waste of time!
At around 4 in the afternoon we went to the Taj Mahal. Jo paid 750 Rupees for her entry ticket; Pragya paid 20 Rupees - just for being Indian! After waiting for ages in the queue to pass the security check, the ladies told us we had to go all the way back and deposit our bags, even though we were told earlier that our bags would be allowed through. There were no signs anywhere to tell us this; the whole system was so surprisingly disorganised for such a popular tourist sight, but then again..this is India.
After the stress of getting inside, it was worth it when we had first sight of the Taj through the gate. The building and its surrounding gardens are all perfectly symmetrical, it looked amazing, and when you look at it closely the carvings are very intricate and it looks even more beautiful.It was a slow walk up to it as it took a while to get a chance to take all the iconic photos, it felt like the whole nation of India was visiting the Taj Mahal! We had a look inside, then sat outside to watch the sunset. Jo and the other foreign looking Gappers were constantly harrassed by Indians, who wanted to have their photo taken with them...they must have taken at least 50 photos! It was very tiring for them!
We hailed a couple of autos to head back to the railway station. But instead, no matter how much we refused, they drove us to a shop, insisting we go in and have a look, even though they knew we had to catch a train soon (again for commission). We were absolutely furious, and jumped out the auto without paying and luckily got into another one pretty much straight away. We could have missed our train, but thankfully we got there and even the train arrived late - at Indian timing!
The return journey was more pleasant, and we thought we had had enough problems for one day. But no, there was more hassle with the Auto drivers >
, who this time mostly refused to take us home because we had pre-paid tickets which didn't earn them as much as they could have. We eventually arrived home before midnight (4 of us) in one rickshaw, even though we had paid for two. We were KNACKERED, slept like logs and totally deserved our lie-in this morning!
xx
