Agra
Our train journey to Agra went smoothly, apart from a ninety-minute delay boarding.
On arrival at Agra station, we had another run-in with a tuk-tuk driver. He approached us as we stood outside the main hall. When I asked him for a price to our hostel, he quoted a fare well over double that which the hostel owner had given us.
Despite losing my rag with him and telling him to go away, he continued to follow us as we wove our way through the nose-to-tail traffic outside the railway station.
Hot, fed up, and in desperate need of transport, we gave in, reluctantly agreed a price acceptable to us all, clambered on board and wedged ourselves onto the tuk-tuk’s narrow seat between our bags.
After a frustrating day’s travel, we were delighted when we arrived at our hostel, Udees Homestay ( https://udees-homestay.agrahotelsindia.net/en/ ) to find our room was clean, the water hot, and our host, Vembhie, a wonderful host who greeted us with the biggest smile.
An hour later, refreshed and wanting to stretch our legs for a while, we found a tuk-tuk to take us to Mehtab Bagh (Moonlight Garden), located across the Yamuna River from the grounds of the Taj Mahal.
The site is a charbagh, a Persian/Indo-Persian complex with four gardens separated by waterways representing the four gardens and four rivers of Paradise mentioned in the Quran.
Our driver dropped us at the garden entrance and agreed to meet us at sunset. There was only one problem – pollution! The air quality was so poor we had little hope of seeing a sunset, let alone one worth photographing.
Instead, we wandered the well-tended gardens for a while, took a few photographs of the Taj through the haze and then returned to the car park to look for our driver.
Luckily, he’d decided to stay put and was fast asleep on the back seat of his trusty cab. A quick shake from a nearby fellow driver, and he was back in his driving seat, ready to take us home.
Our plan for the following day was to be up before sunrise, walk to the entrance to the Taj Mahal (our homestay was literally on the edge of the complex), buy our tickets and watch the sunrise over the iconic mausoleum.
I’m not sure what was going on with me, but I’d skimped on my research. When we arrived at the entrance, we discovered the line we were in was for those who had previously purchased tickets either in person or online.
We had to queue for our tickets for an hour. Picking up on my frustrated vibes, Ron wisely, said nothing until we’d secured our tickets, only then stating it wasn’t like me to overlook such details.
Because of the delay, the sun had already risen when we reached the arched entrance. People stood in groups to take pictures, while others wandered slowly through the archway, pausing when they first saw the imposing mausoleum. I was no different.
Even though the poor air quality gave the scene a mist-like quality and the crowds thronged through the entrance, jostling for position for that once-in-a-lifetime picture, there was an overwhelming sense of peace and tranquillity.
We spent a couple of hours walking around the gardens before returning to Udees for breakfast.
The second reason for wanting to visit Agra was to try to find the army barracks where my great-great-grandmother was born.
Sadly, even with some help from army personnel, we could not locate the old army cantonment. It transpired that it was impossible to enter any army sites without prior authorisation. Disappointed, we returned to our hostel to pack and prepare for another early start the following morning.