Agra, India

INSANITY
One of my many definitions of insanity is 'repeating the same process in the hope of a different result'. I would like to be able to write that I took a nice afternoon stroll around Agra but in reality I was haunted every step of the way by rickshaw and tri-shaw drivers. I had nowhere especially to go - I just wanted to see what the city was like on foot rather than from the back of a ride. Just saying "No" doesn't work very well as demonstrated by one eager fellow who followed me for about 10 minutes. Sensing that he was more persistent than most I decided to count the number of times I said No to him. During the course of our conversation, which ranged from where I was going to where I was coming from, he asked me no fewer than 37 times if I would like a ride on his rickshaw. It was quite comical in the end but I finally managed to convince him that I wasn't really going anywhere but he was welcome to ride beside me in order to keep all the others away.
I ended up going to the Agra Fort in the late afternoon because I had walked right up to the entrance gate by about 4pm. I decided to visit the Taj the following morning for sunrise rather than trying to do it today but the views from the Fort were superb. Entrance to the Fort cost Rs300 ($6.25) for tourists but only Rs20 (0.42c) for Indians. The Taj Mahal is even worse with a hefty Rs750 ($15.60) entrance charge but again only Rs20 for locals. The prices used to be even higher for foreigners (at one stage over $20 to visit the Taj) but thankfully a successful petition to the Supreme Court a year or two back reduced the prices somewhat. I wonder what my Father paid when he visited in 1961.

Agra Fort

The entrance to Agra Fort

TAJ MAHAL
This morning I got up early and walked down to the Taj Mahal a few kilometers from the guesthouse. It was one of those exciting times when you know you're about to see something spectacular. At the entrance I had to leave behind my morning newspaper and Discman before being permitted to enter which ruined my plan to listen to Matchbox 20 while reading about the War under the shadow of the Taj. Entering the main complex and seeing the Taj Mahal for the first time sent shivers down my spine - a feeling comparable to seeing the Pyramids of Giza, Angkor Wat or the Great Wall for the first time. I've seen pictures but nothing compares to standing in front of it with a perfect reflection in the watercourses in the stillness of the early morning. Better still I had made it well before 7am and the place was virtually empty. Indians are charged Rs110 before 7am but only Rs20 after, so of course there are NO LOCALS at the Taj between 6am and 7am.

Me at the Taj Mahal - couldn't get that guy to my right to move

Unlike elsewhere in Agra (and possibly anywhere else in India) the grounds of the Taj were peaceful and quiet. It was wonderfully relaxing with very few people around and the mausoleum looking superb in the bright morning sunshine. I stayed for a few hours, sitting in various shady areas and admiring the views before walking around the raised marble platform and into the central chamber with the false tombs of Mumtaz Mahal (for whom the Taj is built) and Shah Jehan who ordered the construction of the mausoleum after his wife died during childbirth in 1631. The real tombs are locked in a basement room below the main chamber away from the prying eyes of the tourists.

Taj Mahal and reflecting pool