The first place we stop in Agra is Fatepur Sikri. It is a ghost town on top of a hill which was the capital of the Moghul Empire until 1585. The Emperor Akbar built this stunning city, unfortunately in an area with a water shortage and shortly after he died it was abandoned. There is a large palace compound and a Jama Masjid (Mosque complex) inside which is white marble tomb. You tie a red string into the marble lattice work and walk around the tomb in a clockwise motion - then your wishes will come true - so they say. Inside the main palace complex is a Diwan-.JPG)
i-Khas, house of private audience (see left), it has a spectacularly carved central column (see right) which supports four stone bridges going to each corner of the room. Akbar stood in the middle and the scholars of different religions stood at each corner and debated religion with him. There is also a Palace of the Winds, behind the lattice work of which the ladies watched
court life without being seen. I am not sure if Maryam, Akbars' Christian wife got up to the same tricks in the Palace of the Christian wife, a truly gilded palace. A huge stable housed 200 elephants, horses and camels - there is a tomb in the grounds for his favorite elephant. Akbar was a very wise ruler and believed in Peace for All, however he was also a bit of a lad. He appeared to have a hide and seek house, where he played with the ladies of the harem. There was also a Parchisi courtyard, set out like a giant game board but the cheeky chap used to use slave girls for game pieces. There was also a very large Hammam (Bath house) and I have a feeling he didn't just get in there with his rubber duckie...
By the time we left Fatepur (and some of the most persistent touts we had come across on the whole journey) it was getting dark and as we headed the last 40ks to
Agra it turned black. The drive into Agra was a huge disappointment. It is a dirty, grotty city. Very built up, not at all the romantic image we were expecting. The hotel however was stunning. The entrance was a set of marble walkways over small ponds (right), in the centre of which, during the day, a Indian flute player 
sat and added a little magic to the place. Inside you step into a huge golden domed reception area where we escorted to our room from. We were on the 3rd floor and facing straight onto the Taj Mahal (why is it not floodlit?)and down below was a beautiful pool and gardens. The pool was open 24 hours so 
we went down to take a dip. Partly covered by a pillared gallery the pool is surrounded by steps leading up to pavilions and gardens. As we swam bats swooped down and picked insects of the surface of the water, how cool!
Agra it turned black. The drive into Agra was a huge disappointment. It is a dirty, grotty city. Very built up, not at all the romantic image we were expecting. The hotel however was stunning. The entrance was a set of marble walkways over small ponds (right), in the centre of which, during the day, a Indian flute player 
sat and added a little magic to the place. Inside you step into a huge golden domed reception area where we escorted to our room from. We were on the 3rd floor and facing straight onto the Taj Mahal (why is it not floodlit?)and down below was a beautiful pool and gardens. The pool was open 24 hours so 
we went down to take a dip. Partly covered by a pillared gallery the pool is surrounded by steps leading up to pavilions and gardens. As we swam bats swooped down and picked insects of the surface of the water, how cool!The next morning we were up at 5am to watch the sun rise over the Taj Mahal. It was an 
awesome view from our balcony - just a shame about the view into the local woods, just beyond the gardens, which was punctuated with little nudy Indian bums pooping! We breakfasted in the room and then headed out to explore the Taj further. Down at the gate they called us up a little golf cart. Now, I had read about these and thought "good grief, how lazy are western tourists" but in actual fact what it did was whiz you past all the hawkers and tatt sellers in the route down. We were dropped at the vehicle boundary and escorted by a security card to t
he entrance (never found out why we needed him, not exactly a problem) got our tickets and headed into the main Taj compound. The first thing you pass is the little Muslim school rooms which now lay empty. Turn right and you are at the gateway into the main gardens (see left) - looking through you can see the white marble of the Taj Mahal. You walk through and see that famous scene, with the Taj reflected in the water . On each opposing sides of the Taj is a mosque and a fake mosque (it doesn't face Mecca) and everything else follows this symmetry. We walked around the red stone mosque (my god the ground was hot kept having to jump to marble bits) and then around the back of the Taj where you can see the river and the weather station which monitors the air pollution (which is pretty bad there). Back around the front and inside the main tomb which is very busy and horrifically noisy. When do tombs stop being solemn places and start being entertainment zones? When does death become a day out? Back 
outside we sat in a cool, shady marble corner and watched the crowds. There was all nationalities there Indian, Japanese, German, Americans, Brits and a few other indistinguishable. We headed around the gardens and the chap who had taken some pictures of us on the way in brought over our snaps- very good ones too. We look around an architecture exhibit and then called it a day, it was just too busy. We decided to make a bet on the hawkers, I went for 12 offers of crap, Keith 15 - he won with 18 offers of hats, rickshaws and Taj Mahal key rings. The prize was making it back to the hotel.....
awesome view from our balcony - just a shame about the view into the local woods, just beyond the gardens, which was punctuated with little nudy Indian bums pooping! We breakfasted in the room and then headed out to explore the Taj further. Down at the gate they called us up a little golf cart. Now, I had read about these and thought "good grief, how lazy are western tourists" but in actual fact what it did was whiz you past all the hawkers and tatt sellers in the route down. We were dropped at the vehicle boundary and escorted by a security card to t
he entrance (never found out why we needed him, not exactly a problem) got our tickets and headed into the main Taj compound. The first thing you pass is the little Muslim school rooms which now lay empty. Turn right and you are at the gateway into the main gardens (see left) - looking through you can see the white marble of the Taj Mahal. You walk through and see that famous scene, with the Taj reflected in the water . On each opposing sides of the Taj is a mosque and a fake mosque (it doesn't face Mecca) and everything else follows this symmetry. We walked around the red stone mosque (my god the ground was hot kept having to jump to marble bits) and then around the back of the Taj where you can see the river and the weather station which monitors the air pollution (which is pretty bad there). Back around the front and inside the main tomb which is very busy and horrifically noisy. When do tombs stop being solemn places and start being entertainment zones? When does death become a day out? Back 
outside we sat in a cool, shady marble corner and watched the crowds. There was all nationalities there Indian, Japanese, German, Americans, Brits and a few other indistinguishable. We headed around the gardens and the chap who had taken some pictures of us on the way in brought over our snaps- very good ones too. We look around an architecture exhibit and then called it a day, it was just too busy. We decided to make a bet on the hawkers, I went for 12 offers of crap, Keith 15 - he won with 18 offers of hats, rickshaws and Taj Mahal key rings. The prize was making it back to the hotel.....
1 comment:
Dear gail,
Very impressed with your site, must say you have a very handsome boyfriend. May i sugest you use a few of his photographs as i am sure he must have taken at least one good one.
Yours sincerely,
Sonja Hekti
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