Agra 09.21.10

After a relatively short train ride, we arrived to a swarm of rickshaw drivers just outside the train station. As luck would have it, we were approached by the son of a very good driver, KK, aka Kiki.

I had my first experience standing in line (or should I say ATTEMPTING to stand in line) for tickets while Ali, Oliver, and KK waited. People there don’t stand in line; it’s rather like the traffic situation (I honestly can’t call it a system – that would be over-rating it). People just squeeze in wherever there is a little room, even if someone else has been courteously waiting. You guessed it: a young man budged ahead of me, and I responded with appropriate eloquence, “Hey! Que up!” He did back up and get behind me with a look of mild shock on his face. (Que – a lovely word left behind by the British).

So onto Agra with KK and the auto-rickshaw. It was great having KK as a driver; he took us to places that we, as ordinary tourists, would not have gone. We drove through old Agra, weaving through narrow streets and alleys, past ornate old buildings and very dirty houses, around cows and monkeys, to the back side of the Agra Fort for some great photo ops. (Note the wild dogs – they are everywhere, but I never saw them aggressive towards people, only each other). Then we squeezed across the bridge to the river bank opposite the Taj Mahal for another interesting and unusual view of the monument amid barbed wire fences, laundry, dire poverty, but beautiful, friendly people.

We were treated to Baby Taj, the tomb of the grandfather of Mumtaz, the ruler who had the Taj Mahal created. The ornated inlaid marblework blew me away – I still am in awe when I look at the photos of all the patterns present on the wall, floors, screens (carved from a solid piece of marble WITHOUT laser), domes, faceted ceilings, arches…everywhere. I couldn’t imagine how the Taj could possibly be any more grand than this!

After Baby Taj, we wound our way through Agra to Indiana, an out of the way fantastic restaurant with delectable Kadhai Paneer and lassi. The waiter, Johnny, walked Oliver around while Ali and I enjoyed our meal.

To end the day, we toured the Agra Fort. KK had warned us not to pay anyone to “guide” us. The carvings of the columns and room interiors of the fort were stunning, too. At one point, the skies opened up and rain poured – a great time to make some rubbings of the columns. Oliver attracts people wherever we go – tourists and locals want their photos taken with him. He’s such a rockstar – move over, Bono!

The white marble portion of the fort is where Mumtaz was imprisoned by his son, who wanted to be ruler. The son’s wife took pity on Mumtaz and had the white marble section built to soften his imprisonment. This incredible artisanship was a foretaste of what was to come at the Taj Mahal.