Agra - In search of the Taj

After a few days on the beach in Goa we travel back to Delhi for a short stop over before heading on to Agra.

The journey to Agra from Delhi seems to take forever and after the heat of Goa a foggy, cool day is a shock to the system. The fog as the locals call it is, I think be described as smog and its thick and damp as we set off.

On the way we stop for Chai and paratha at the side of the road. We pull into a little stall that has more monkeys than customers. 

The cook’s friendly enough but the kitchen is filthy and the monkeys are constantly trying to steal food and anything else they can get their paws on.  Having said that, the food is freshly cooked and is excellent.

Why can't we drink chai?

Aggie and Kim - where are you when needed?

About 40 kilometers from Agra we stop at Mathurah and a new temple that commemorates the birth place of Krishna – it’s not on the tourist trail and is interesting although no cameras are allowed so no photos.

First stop in Agra is Sikandra – Akbar’s mausoleum is a sandstone and marble tomb commemorating the great Mughal emperor.  

Reached through an impressive gate the site is peaceful and has deer running around with the stags trying to pick their favored does.

Ali our driver for the next few days recommends a little restaurant and sure enough the food is good. He suggests that because of the fog we should leave the Taj Mahal until tomorrow, and instead we visit Itimad-ud-Daulat,

known as the Baby Taj.

Built between 1622 and 1628, it was the first Mughal structure built entirely of marble and although not on the scale of the Taj, the Baby Taj has delicately carved jalis (marble lattice screens) and is well worth the visit.

Not to scale!

Close by in Mehtab Bagh we get our first glimpse of the Taj standing across the river Yamuna shrouded in mist.

first glimpse

Mr Ali correctly predicted morning fog so instead of a fruitless early morning visit to the Taj we have a lie in before heading to the deserted city of Fatehpur Sikri. It’s a long drive and we pass through a number of scruffy desert towns where the locals huddle around small fires trying to keep warm – the roads are rutted and potholed and the ride is bone jarring.

Fatehpur Sikri is a world heritage site which has a large number of well preserved buildings dating back to the 1570s.  The last two kilometres to the site is via a shuttle bus from the car park.  As usual, we run the gauntlet of aggressive touting but politely decline all offers of guides, postcard and general tat.

The last of the Mughals

Next stop - the Taj Mahal................