Up early today and into our comfy car with Rishi as we set out on the 5-hour drive to Agra. I asked Matt if he wanted to watch a movie with me on the way, which he declined, but I don’t know what I was thinking when I said that. I was too busy looking at the little towns, the countryside and snapping random pictures when we wound our way through those towns.
And the traffic, that deserves its own mention. There are cars, 90% of which are white with some silver sprinkled in, motorbikes, hundreds of tuk-tuks that are emerald green on the bottom and yellow on the top (and for those of you who aren’t familiar with this term, it’s a small motorized vehicle with two wheels in the back, one in the front, kind of like a metal shell dropped on a tricycle motorbike), bicycles, rickshaw bicycles and horse and cow carts. Everyone using the same roads (and all also be sharing the highway). No one pays attention to traffic lights until about 10 am, and when it suits their purpose, they will drive the opposite way in the lane. Somehow it all works, though, perhaps because they are constantly tooting their horns like the quacking of ducks talking at each other.
We finally arrive at our first stop, Akbar’s tomb. I am tired and a little cranky because I’ve slept about 5 (interrupted) hours each night. We wander through the tomb and learn its history.
Beautiful tile work, still in pretty good shape:
We then drive to hotel, hop in the golf cart, and off to the Taj Mahal we go. It’s in a no pollution zone, so everyone much go the last half mile by rickshaw bicycle or station wagon sized golf carts. We enter thought the east gate, and there it is. A bigger-thank-life jewel set on the bank of the river, surrounded by the requisite 4 garden quadrants like all such mausoleums.
It is a “paradise” garden, derived from “para dieza” which means “walled garden”. Each of the four gardens is then divided intoto another four quadrants, separated by canals. There are scads of tourists, of course, as the monument gets 5,000,000 visitors each year. It is like a gleaming, icy jewel with its 4 spires, each of which was built leaning slightly out. This way, if any of them fell, it would fall away from the monument. One of the spires is a working minaret, used to call everyone to prat five times a day. The other three are to complete the symmetry (and I thought I was anal!). And yes, I am wearing my Indian kurta in this picture.
The necessary pictures taken, we approach the building and learn more of its history. Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal (you can see how the name was a derivation of her name) met in the “women only” market that was run for the royal women, who weren’t allowed to shop in public. When she was purchasing a mirror, she held it up and saw home in it. When their eyes met, it was love at first site. His father, however, would not allow them to marry for three years. After they were married, they were inseparable; she even joined him on the battlefield. In fact, that’s where she died 18 years later, giving birth to their 14th child. As she died, she asked him “who will care for our children?, and he replied that he would. She also asked that he not forget her, and he told her that he would do something to ensure that he never would. He withdrew from all royal duties to care for their children, and built a mausoleum that guaranteed the world never forgot her. We shuffled though the inside, where their tombs were (hers in the center, and his, added later, created the only non-symmetrical feature of the Andrea, as he was laid out between her and the mosque on one side. As you will see when I post the picture, there is an identical (mosque) building on the other side as well, but this is only to keep the symmetry, and was actually never used.
Matt and I are amazed at the work on the building – all designs are made with inlaid marble – no painted on designs here. This baby was built to last.
Himself checking it all out:
We pause away from the crowds to sit and admire the jewel – best spot is from afar:
All finished, we head back to the hotel in our cart, hop back into the van, then off to the Agra Fort. Miss Cranky asks that it be short, because I feel like I don’t want to do anything but hang at our over-the-top hotel. I see one of my distant relatives on the grounds:
The fort is indeed impressive,
and we learn how the triple gate system provided strong defense, along with the rising roadway in, which allowed easy fortification. As we walk through, visit the various palaces, and check out the view of the Taj,
Matt and I discuss our weapons of choice for defending the castle under our rule!
Finally, back to enjoy our hotel, ranked as one of the best in the world (in fact, on a current travel magazine best 500 list right now). Our room, with an excellent view of the Taj out the windows:
We head to the tea room to have a cocktail, play cribbage, and gaze off the balcony to watch Indian folk dances being performed on the rooftop of structure on the other side of the pool.
The pool area and gardens are spectacular. After my alcohol and owing to my sleep-deprived state, I go back to the room and pass out for an hour or so. We dine in the hotel restaurant and back to our room for a quiet evening.