India travel diary – Part 8: Agra & Bharatpur

have been in India for 21 days—exactly three weeks. And… I might be getting used to it? I’m not sure. When I’m with other people in a relatively quiet place, I think “this isn’t so bad after all!” but then I experience the chaos of the road again… But then I see beautiful places and think it’s all worth it. Conflicting thoughts all the way, as you can see.

With everything I ate yesterday, you’d think (and I also thought) I wouldn’t need a breakfast—wrong! My stomach is ready for action again.

On the road to Agra

For the next week or so, and until I leave India, we’ll be traveling in a bigger van, that can accommodate around ten people. This time M. is coming too, along with Julien and Claire. We also have a new driver.

Once everyone is ready, and that luggage are attached on top of the van (I’m grateful for having only a backpack, this doesn’t look safe!), we’re on the road again (again). I haven’t chosen the right seat: the one in front of me keeps reclining all the way down, leaving me very little space.

Agra is about 90 km south of Aligrah, which corresponds to a 3-to-4h-long journey. On one hand, the drive is relaxing because not much is going on (except for the minor annoyance of having the seat in front of me 10cm away from my face). On the other hand, it’s also during this time in between beautiful private places, that I’m reminded of where I am, and what it actually looks like. Eh, I probably don’t need to stress that again after all these posts!

The plan is to go see the Taj Mahal tomorrow morning. Today, we’ll visit another place, the Agra Fort. Like the one in Delhi, it’s quite red! It’s a huge space. As usual, the space around the entrance is quite busy, so our driver drops us there, and goes find another place to park. It’s already half past four, and we have little time to visit.

Built in the 16^th century, the place is huge¹, and filled with tourists—mostly Indians, but also foreigners. I find it quite beautiful and relaxing. There’s no circuit or tour to follow, so our group kind of scatters, and I end up going my own way, enjoying going from court to court and room to room, almost getting lost.

Some of the best preserved area are not accessible to the public, but we take a peek to see inside.

After a while, a whistle is blown, signaling the monument will soon close. I find the others without too much trouble, in spite of the size of the place.

The sun is setting, and everybody’s slowly leaving, which means it’s going pretty slow. Our driver picks us up, and we go to our respective hotels / guest rooms. In the evening, we meet at a rooftop restaurant nearby. It’a already late, and the waiter takes so much time to take our order (half an hour?) that I just go back to my room and sleep for the early visit tomorrow.

Taj Mahal

We meet at 8am the next day, hoping to be early enough to not have many people at the Taj. It’s not a long drive.

The entrance isn’t directly accessible by car. We get dropped at the parking. From there, there’s a fifteen-minute walk to the actual entrance, for which there’s also a shuttle. We choose to walk there, taking advantage of the large, dedicated sidewalk. The closer we get, the more people there are selling stuff (like over-shoe tissue to get inside the Taj), and the last couple of hundred meters are bordered by numerous souvenir shops—which reminds me a bit of the Mont-Saint-Michel. Note that there are two tickets: one to get access to the outside, and another one to get inside the Taj Mahal, which might be confusing at first.

As you can see, many people have gotten there before us. What’s a bit more disappointing is the fog: the white building with a white background, and diffuse light, isn’t as impressive as it could be in good weather. It is fine though, we barely have to wait to get a ticket and go inside.

I don’t know if it’s the weather, or if I unsconsciously had high-expectation, but I found the experience underwhelming. So underwhelming that I forgot to take any picture from inside. That might sound a bit crazy, but here’s the thing: you cannot just hang out inside. It’s a short one-way tour between two fences in a snake-shaped crowd, and a couple of minutes later you’re out. It sure is beautiful inside—complex patterns meticulously carved in white stone—but I was expecting big open spaces, a bit like a cathedral. But they’re rather small rooms, not at all what it looks like from the outside¹.

The exit is on the backside of the monument. From there, you can see the Yamuna river down below. Some unrecognizable objects float peacefully in there.

On both sides of the Taj, there are smaller buildings. But overall, there’s a lot less to see than in Agra Fort. Taking a last look before going back the way we came.

Tomb of I’timād-ud-Daulah (or “Baby Taj”)

A lot less famous and busy, this place constrasts quite a bit with the Taj Mahal. Right, it is a lot less impressive, but there’s something else. I’m much more into the mood here: it’s quiet and charming, even if the building itself isn’t in its greatest shape.

The inside is not incredibly well preserved, but it’s like I can feel the history there. It’a much more intimate experience to be alone in one of these rooms, rather than in the crowded space of the Taj Mahal.

And like in a lot of places here, there are also monkeys roaming around, living their life (and maybe sometimes stealing food).

Fatehpur Sikri

On the road to Bharatpur, there’s an ancient city, abandonned four hundred years ago. It was founded as the capital of the Mughal Empire, and is now a UNESCO site.

One does not step into Fatehpur Sikri alone. First, you go to the big parking space which is outside of the old city, and then take a very old bus that takes you to the site, higher on a hill.

This place is quite nice although a bit empty. And like many monuments in India, there’s no explanation about history, architecture, or anything.

We just roam in the place—it’s pretty big. There isn’t a whole lot to see, unfortunately.

There’s one last thing to see: the mosque. It looks like any other mosque in India, except for a small building at its center: the Tomb of Salim Chishti.

In the whole site, and especially at the mosque, there are a tad too many people trying to sell trinkets or scam tourists.

A last bit of road

We still have some distance to cover to get to Bharatpur, or rather to a small village near Bharatpur where we’ll stay for two nights, New Year’s eve included. The road is long and straight and the night falls. Until we take a right turn, on a road that gets suspiciously twisty and degraded.

Some time later, we arrive in a small village. There’s some confusion as to what the right way is. We end up on an unlit dirt road. At the end of it, is our hotel! It wasn’t the most direct way, but we got there. People in the village kind of stare at us.

The place is a traditional housing converted to a hotel, of which the staff seems very proud. They take us on a small tour around the property, and then to our rooms.

The rooms are cold and the furniture very basic. Some beds are missing, but hey are prompty brung. Although the property is quite special, it’s still a bit disappointing for the price (for which would have gotten us something more comfortable even in Europe).

The hotel’s restaurant (which is of course the only option we have for dinner in this village) is by the pool. It’s good. It’s Indian food like everywhere though!

Enough for this part. See you next time, dear reader!