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DAY 6: AGRA
30th Dec 2008:
We reached Hotel Utkarsh Vilas in Agra at 0100hrs. I thought we wouldnt make it and die on the road or something because the weather condition was so bad. The fog was so thick we couldnt even see what's a metre ahead of us.
Upon reaching the hotel, I concussed and slept till morning, where we were then bundled into a car.
We met Ali, our new guide and we then made our way to the Taj Mahal.
Along the way, I had a mini list of things you can do along the Indian road.
Apart from peeing, of course.
1. You date a girl.
2. You cut hair and have a little shave.
Hahaha.
India's Gossip Girls, I suppose?
Anyway, Taj Mahal wasnt far from our hotel. After picking up our guide (I've never picked a tour guide before...it's usually the other way round!), the journey to the great wonder of the world took about 20 minutes.
Here we are at the entrance; south entrance, I think.
We're inching towards the Taj...
...and there she is!
It's so beautiful.
Words fail me.
Kidding.
Me? Out of words?
Bitch, please.
Yippee!
After much goofing around in front of the Taj, we finally got to the building. Ali the guide gave us some cloth for us to cover our shoes with. After putting the cloth on, we then headed into the majestic mausoleum. The architecture was exquisite and the symmetry (minus the mughal's tomb) was inspiring. Don't even get me started on the marbles and stones. Pity no photography's allowed inside.
Going in
Ali the guide told us stories of the Taj as we went around the tombs. Beautiful place, beautiful love story. Half way, I was already dreaming of having someone build a mausoleum for me on top of the Cheng San AMK hill in front of my place. It can be called Ed Mahal or something.
Sigh.
Will I ever have such a love so deep?
After being all serious and in awe inside, we were left on our own devices by our guide for about 20 minutes. All (cam whore) hell broke loose, albeit with slightly foggy results.
Hahahahaha!
Check this lame thing out.
We left Taj Mahal soon behind and walked down its luscious greens. Walked through some impressive exhibition and soon we were out onto the roads, which were ladened with hawkers selling anything and everything. It's dirty and slightly heartwrenching once you stepped outside the premises of the Taj Mahal. Poverty and bad hygiene struck you.
Somebody I know said this:
"You need to have the ugly to see the beauty in things."
Bye-bye, Taj.
We then headed to the Agra Fort and as crap and ridiculous as it may sound, somehow, I felt like I've been there before. At Agra Fort.
I is a maharani :)
Like most forts, Agra Fort was very well protected. (left) The moat was where the crocodiles were made to inhabit and (right) the dense forest was where tigers and lions were thrown. This was to prevent the enemy from getting to the people inside the fort.
The Agra Fort used to have a ladies-only market. It's all very cool. There was also this parliament courtyard space where the maharajah would sit on a throne, flanked by his wives. And these women were seated in cages.
On the left is the throne and on the right is the enclosure where the maharani was supposed to sit. We were seated on the Prime Minister's seat.
Agra Fort is really a sight to behold. We couldnt see the Taj Mahal from here cause the weather was extremely foggy for us to do so. History had it that the last mughal, Aurangzeb, imprisoned his father (Shah Jahan of the Taj fame) in one of the towers overlooking the Taj. Apparently, the son didnt want his father to build another Taj-like building across the river (opposite the white beauty) using the government's money. Aurangzeb felt there was no stopping his father and that it was very un-Islamic to have such worldly indulgence. So he placed his dad under house arrest.
Shah Jahan would then be at the tower every day. Because he had poor eyesight, he couldnt see Taj Mahal clearly. So he placed a diamond in the tower which caught the reflection of the Taj. He looked at the reflection for the rest of his life, I suppose.
Here's the tower where the old Romeo stood in. In the first picture, the Taj Mahal could actually be seen with the naked eye should it wasnt such a feaking foggy day.
We continued to roam aound the fort for awhile. I was also regaled by Ali's stories of yore about life during the mughal empire...the luxuries, the courtly orders and other unbelievable stuff. Seriously, our lives right now are nothing compared to those ancient figures'.
Soon it was time to call it a day and we were whisked by Ali the guide out of Agra Fort. However, our ride was nowhere to be seen...so we sat by the roadside like lepers, haha.
Oh well.
Our car soon came to pick us up. We were then brought to Ali's travel company cum tourist
Man...all these happened before lunch time so you can imagine how famished we were. Unfortunately, my stomach was beginning to feel uneasy at this time.
Maybe, as ironic as it sounded, it was the bottled water I had at the Taj Mahal that did it.
We finally bade farewell to Ali the guide and headed back to Utkarsh Vilas. We went straight to the food area to have our lunch.
The last one was jalebi, a dessert which ended up giving me a sugar rush, a stomachache and probably diabetes.
Burp.
It was around 1500hrs when we headed back to our hotel room. Relaxed a bit, packed a bit and watched a little movie. Stomach was getting more and more uncomfortable. Archie was still having diarrhoea, I think.
Anyway, we did rest for a while and then slightly later in the evening, we ventured across the road to the shopping malls and supermarket nearby. We also checked out ... McDonalds.
Ah!
Finally bought my essential magnets.
We bought some stuff to bring home and some snacks also. After reaching our hotel room, I decided to pack the stuff and boy...my bag was super bloated. I even had to put my Kashmiri carpet into CY2's second "Blueberry" luggage.
After watching Knocked Up, CY2 and I went downstairs to have an extremely light dinner. We just attacked the salad and some pudding desserts cause we were in no mood for some heavy duty Indian fare. Archie went back to McDonalds to get some burgers for us...just in case.
After dinner, we all wobbled back to the hotel room...did last minute packing and watched more TV. The girls fell asleep first while I showered and packed. At about 0100hrs I got hungry and rummaged for the fillet-o-fish Archie bought earlier.
Barely two hours later, I fell asleep with the remote tucked under my belly.
Tsk tsk.
That was my last night here in Agra.
P/S: Bet you think this entry would go on and on. Dang...I thought so too.
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