Delhi and Agra - The Taj Mahal

We took this picture. Pretty surreal. Color enhanced (obviously).

March 10, 2019

We were immediately struck by the dry and temperate weather upon exiting the plane in Delhi. After five weeks in warm, humid weather it was a relief to not immediately start sweating. Immigration was uneventful. I did have to emergency buy an onward plane ticket at the India Air check in counter in Sri Lanka, so while Indian immigration might not check for booked onward travel, the airlines are pretty serious about it.

Paharganj at night

The Delhi metro is fantastic. A bit pricey by local bus standards but it’s clean, fast, and easy to navigate. It cost us about $0.50 per person to get from the airport to the stop near our hotel in Paharganj, a chaotic district near the train station and famous with backpackers. After dropping off our gear at the hotel we walked through the alleys to the metro on our way to a mall, experiencing a sharp contrast: from crowded alleys bustling with hand drawn carts and the occasional cow to a bustling high-end shopping mall that would fit in any modern city. From what we’ve read it may be chaotic Paharganj that is more the outlier in Delhi, we’ll see more of Delhi when we pass back through after our Rajasthan travels.

We caught a morning train to Agra with a few minutes to spare after the security guard tried to tell us that our general quota train tickets weren’t allowed for foreigners – there are a few foreign quota tickets released 365 days in advance instead of 120 days in advance – but we managed to talk our way through since we’ve been using general quota the entire time, then ran to our train and made it without incident. Once in Agra we quickly realized that locals were a lot pushier with services compared with southern India. While our rickshaw driver was trying to sell us on a $10 city tour, we managed to turn him down twice, but he still waited for an hour outside our hotel to catch us when we went out! We walked into the neighborhood outside the Taj Mahal for a rooftop lunch. The neighborhood was crowded and dirty with narrow, twisting alleys and a lot of moped/rickshaw traffic, a constant stream of “HELLO! FRIEND! WHERE YOU GOING? TAXI? TUK TUK? MONEY CHANGE? TOUR?”, making for a not peaceful walk. But, the rooftop lunch was pleasant and had a nice view of the Taj Mahal. We caught a sunset view of the Taj from the north riverbank, which led to an anxious and confused walk after dark through those same narrow alleys, getting lost even with Google maps routing us. The residents several times shouted “road closed!” despite maps insisting it was the right way to go, but we noticed some sheets pulled across a few alleyways so maybe the locals closed the alleys at night or the map was out of date. After finally making it back to the main road we rewarded ourselves with Pizza Hut (mmm, garlic bread) before crashing early.

The next morning we woke up at 4:45 am in order to get into the Taj Mahal before the crowds showed up. We made some coffee, dressed, and walked to the West Gate, getting there around 5:40 am. We had bought our tickets online, saving us a bit of time, but kind of overshot, as we were the first ones in line at the gate. The doors opened around 6:15 am at sunrise. We sped through security since we didn’t bring a bag and joined a small tour group and others heading in from the east gate for those precious hectic moments when you can snap pictures sans people. Early bird gets the worm!!

The Taj Mahal is a truly fantastic building set in beautiful grounds. Built as a tomb for Shah Jahan’s third wife, it was so expensive it also led to Shah Jahan being deposed by his second son. Shah Jahan played a key role in defining the style that has made the Taj world famous. Walking close there is another moment of awe when you realize that all the detail is colored stone and semi-precious stones inlaid in the white marble, including the calligraphy and floral designs. We spent an hour slowly walking outside and taking in the view from the mosque on the side, then we decided to pay the extra $3/person to see the inside of the mausoleum; they sell tickets next to the mosque if, like us, you didn’t buy the tickets in advance and change your mind. There is more fantastic detail inside, although the view of the cenotaphs are obscured by a carved white marble screen, and it let us get close to some of the floral designs. By the time we left around 9:00 am the crowds were filling in.

After a nap we ended the day at Agra Fort, the residence for many of the Mughal emperors. Shah Jahan built a palace for himself inside the fort in a similar style to the Taj Mahal, and this was where he was imprisoned after he was deposed. The fort itself is made of intricately carved red stone and also housed barracks for British soldiers after they conquered the region. A local guide may have been well worth it here; there were a few informative plaques, but we relied on Wikipedia and online information to learn more as we explored the large fort.

We tried to get a sunset picture of the Taj Mahal from the Mehtab Bagh garden across the river, but didn’t arrive in time and the ticket booth was closed. There was a small path on the side we read you could walk down and get a similar shot, but there was an armed guard at the end of it yelling at people in Hindi that photos were not allowed (I think?). We tried again up the river a bit but the guard appeared again and we made motion that we’d leave, but he made us follow him. Kind of intimidating, the gun and all, but he just made us leave from a different side. Alas. The guide book mentions 5 views of the Taj: from the grounds at sunrise (definitely worth it), from the north bank of the river at sunset (worth it), from the Mehtab Bagh at sunset (maybe worth it, but it might not warrant the price of admission), from the rooftop bars in Tajganj at sunrise (not worth it), and from Agra Fort at sunrise (not worth it).

Taj Mahal

Agra Fort

View of the Taj from Agra fort, using my 200mm zoom lens.