Adventures in India 17: Transit to Agra

For the first time, we'd be operating in India without the umbrella of our more experienced and Hindi-speaking friend. After a few weeks doing tourism though, and still with dedicated drivers and guides, we knew pretty much what to expect. Our friends were bound for the airport - originally supposed to be with our main driver but apparently he'd gotten sick after going home and they were also with a new driver. We were in a new, smaller car, the 'ETIOS' I think? We didn't need the big one for only two and it felt more spacious than the Innova with four. We headed out on a long drive, past New Delhi, towards Agra and the Taj Mahal. Traffic was pretty heavy and progress was slow. Pictures are on Flickr.

Sign for tourist grade lunch stop - thinking they meant 'cuisine'? We saw neither lakes, nor hotels. 

Apparently all the drivers have the memo to take tourists only to places they're intended to go. The owner or head waiter gave us a little trouble for ordering the cheapest thing on the menu (basically lentils and rice) and splitting it but that's actually what we felt like and it probably still cost 20x what it would at a place for locals. The lentils were a bit odd, they had clovers in them.

Met up with our guide at Fatepur Sikri, one of the older palaces we toured in India. This guide was one of the best on the trip in terms of speaking loudly, clearly

This one didn't have the water running either - nice day though.

Muslim rulers had the faces removed from animals carved into the walls, think there was an issue with idolatry there.

Elaborate stone chambers.

The palace had been built with separate areas for the ruler's three wives, one of whom was Portuguese Catholic up from Goa hundreds of years ago. Paintings from the era were still visible, if degraded, in her chambers.

After the palace there was a major mosque right down the road, which we also visited. The guide thoughtfully gave us options in terms of observing the local religious rituals or patronizing any vendors. In terms of views - these places are nice but not as nice as some other things we'd seen, but the guide was spot on.

A few modern amenities like the electric clocks and lights had been added, which probably could have been done less intrusively or destructively.

Leaving the complex, we stopped at some of the shops - I'd been looking for a rhino carved in a particular style. Found a rhino in a different style - not many rhinos, mostly camels and elephants. There were some other neat things but the guy was kind of annoying me with the prices he was asking so after talking him down for a while I bailed - he followed me out into the street still haggling and gave more ground, eventually got him down to something I was willing to pay. I honestly don't love the figurine, but it is associated with the only time I saw pain in an Indian shopkeeper's eyes when we finished negotiating. For that reason, the rhino is very pleasing to me. I think the guide gave me a 'not bad' look also.

We got into Agra after dark and were a bit disappointed to be staying at a hotel off the main strip, since the center of town visibly had restaurants and shops that could be walked to. Ours was off on a country side road (the driver couldn't find it, we actually picked up a travel agency rep to help us get there and check in) and we did not feel like wandering out into the dark to eat anywhere but a hotel restaurant. The hotel itself was middle of the road for Indian tourist place standards but our room was a bit too close to the smoking area and so smelled like cigarettes and it was pretty loud with the dining room and kitchen beneath us. The hotel food was actually pretty good - figured we should have butter chicken in India at least once, as it is a common dish we make at home, and it was juicy and flavorful. There were musicians at dinner but they didn't harass us while we were eating so we tipped them for that. The next morning we were heading out to see the Taj Mahal as our last major tourist item in India.