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2008/2009 Nepal & India

Day 67 – Delhi, India > Agra, India

4 February 2009

A very early morning start to make out 06:15am train to Agra.  We had a driver from the hotel who took us to the New Delhi Train Station and then there was some confusion over the internet booking etc, but that was all sorted and we found the train platform, not that you could miss which train we were catching as it was full of tourists.  The train carriage was like a plane, food, papers, water, reclining seats etc.  Very luxurious and the trip flew by.

We arrived in Agra to be collected at the train station by a driver sent from the Maya Hotel. 

Terrace restaurant at Maya
Terrace restaurant at Maya

We arranged for the driver to also take us around Agra from the next two days (including I am sure all the obligatory factories and shops so he gets his commission) and checked into the Hotel and had a light breakfast.  The hotel, although on a main road, is near to the Taj Mahal and has a lovely shaded courtyard. 

Our tuk-tuk for the day
Our tuk-tuk for the day

We headed off on our sightseeing for the day.  First up was Chini-Ka-Rauza, which is a persian-style tomb of Afzal Khan (member of the court of Shah Jahan of Taj Mahal fame), the tomb would have looked amazing when it was built and still had all it’s tiled mosaics, however, it is slowly being restored.  Next was the baby Taj (Itimad-Ud-Daulah) which is still lovely and well maintained and one of the highlights of both my trips to Agra.  We went across the river to get a view of the Taj from behind getting right down to the rivers edge, along with the camel touts or kids acting as touts. 

Kathy outside the Baby Taj
Kathy outside the Baby Taj

Our driver then took us to the obligatory western style indian restaurant complete with dancing child and music – expensive and just so awful, but you have to put up with the good and bad.  Of course then came the carpet factory – groan, but once I explained I was an unemployed uni student, I was soon left to while away the time by myself while Kathy selected a carpet for home.  From there we were whisked to a gem place where again I did the student thing, leaving Kathy to purchase some gem stones and silver jewellery. 

After our driver dropped us at the hotel, we ventured out on foot and ended up at the Oberoi Amer Villas.  We wanted to have a look inside, but due to the security situation, we had to hand over our passports while they made many phone calls at the front gates to see if we were worthy of entry.  Eventually we were escorted to the bar area and advised our passports would be returned later, so we settled in and ordered a glass of wine.  We met a lovely couple from Scotland who were retired but had also just been to Nepal and did the Poon Hill trek.  The view of the Taj at sunset was lovely and the hotel complex is just another world.

A glass of wine and a view of the Taj - doesn't get much better
A glass of wine and a view of the Taj - doesn

After two lovely glasses of wine, we caught a cycle rickshaw back to our hotel, where I am sure the cycle rickshaw wallah was hoping for a massive tip, but I am just too tight to worry about that.  We ate at the hotel and had an early night as it had been a long day.