Friday 07 February

Agra

Today is Peter Major’s birthday – happy birthday Pete! Pete is looking after our dogs while we’re here – thanks Pete – we know they’re in good hands! And a big lick from Zoly as thanks, plus her bum in your face while you’re in bed from Jojo as thanks, too!

Our driver collected us at 0900 this morning in Jaipur to drive to Agra. There are trains between Jaipur and Agra, but Matthew really wanted to see the amazing 8th-9th century Chand Baori stepwell in the village of Abhaneri – it’s 30m /100ft deep with 13 stories and 3500 steps – it’s one of the largest stepwells in India. 

We didn’t stay long at Chand Baori because we didn’t want to be too late arriving in Agra – when we were in Mumbai Amruta recommended we visit the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daula, a Mughal mausoleum built in 1622, which is sometimes called the “Baby Taj”, as it is regarded as a precursor of the Taj Mahal. As soon as we checked in to our hotel at 1500 we booked a taxi to take us to the mausoleum. 

We drove through Agra past the fort and could just glimpse the top of the Taj Mahal dome – exciting. Our taxi driver was singing along to Indian songs on the radio – it was sweet. The white marble mausoleum is set in beautiful gardens on the left bank of the River Yamuna; it was truly lovely – it was the first Mughal building to be finished in white marble (hence its influence on the Taj Mahal) – a real tranquil haven from the noisy streets outside. Once again, it was a shame that the fountains and rills were empty.

I realised that we were on the opposite side of the river to the Taj Mahal and the viewing area from the opposite bank wasn’t far  away – so we decided to go there. What a sight … it hardly seemed real, a pinch ourselves moment to see the Taj Mahal – it’s so iconic and something I never imagined I’d see for myself until a year ago.

After sundown we wandered back to the main road to get a tuk tuk to a vegan restaurant that Matthew had found. We passed Agra fort again and the city looked lovely lit up.

At the restaurant Matthew asked if they accepted cards – they didn’t and because our driver today didn’t accept bank transfers or card payments we were virtually out of rupees. I asked if there was an ATM nearby … there were, but neither worked with my card. There was a Bank of India ATM showing as 9 minutes walk away, so I figured that’d probably work. It wasn’t where Google maps said it was – so I ended up walking further then when I found it, it was out of cash. Infuriating!

There were some other ATMs nearby, but they wouldn’t work either. Getting back to the restaurant was challenging – I was in narrow backstreets that didn’t appear on my map. Eventually I got back to the restaurant – Matthew had been given ₹500 by a young British couple so he could pay our bill. Hopefully we’ll see them tomorrow to pay them back.

After dinner we went to another ATM that worked – so all’s well. 

Taj Mahal at dawn tomorrow morning – so early night tonight.