Eli and Nicole attended a July 4 party at the American Embassy in Delhi earlier this year. Eli won a certificate from On Time Travels Agency for a free overnght trip to Agra for two, with a car/driver/gas and tolls. The trip must be undertake before September 30, 2013 and should be completed by September 30. Eli has been to see the Taj Mahal five times, so he was not interested in going again.
I said I want to go! I had to leave right away, he arranged for a driver to pick me up on Sunday morning at 6 am. The driver...Ramkumar..came at 6:20 am in a Toyota van with seating for seven passengers and a rack on top for baggage. He was probably delayed at the security gate to the apartment complex. He was surprised to learn that I was his only passenger. We introduced each other and I sent a text message to Eli with his name and cell phone number. I got in and we had gone one mile when he asked me what the name of the hotel was. Oh, no. I left the certificate letter back at Eli's apartment. I asked the driver to turn around and go back to Eli's. We finally left at 6:30 am.
We needed to travel to Delhi first to get onto the Yamuna Expressway..(an hour just to get there) which would take us to Agra..another 3 hours going 80 km/hour. The tollway had four lanes for traffic...two lanes going each way and a shoulder lane for slow traffic...motorcycles, carts, pedestrians, bus stops, other vehicles.
I enjoyed looking out the window at all the new sights. There is a great deal of new construction going on everywhere we went. New high rise buildings for businesses and apartments. Road construction. Animals on the street...cows, water buffalos, donkeys and horses pulling a cart, tuk tuks, bicycle and electric rickshaws, wild dogs and pigs.
In the city there are a lot of speed bumps to limit speed. Most streets had no lane markings, so vehicles can weave this way and that way to get around parked vehicles and slower vehicles. Lots of honking to alert other vehicles that you were passing. Drivers sit on the right side. You pass vehicles on the right side. Signs warning drivers not to drink and drive and to not use a cell phone while driving. Do not go over the speed limit..100 km/hr for cars ..Fines will be given a toll booths. You are being observed by video cameras. A large billboard advertised Formula 1 racing in October. We passed the Raceway along the way.
We arrived in Agra about 2:30 pm and went to the Amar Hotel and called my hotel...N Home Stay...a bed and breakfast in an Indian home. I called N Home Stay and gave the phone to the driver to get specific instructions to find them. Five minutes later we arrived!!
Ramkumar, the driver, waited outside while I got settled. The lady of the house..Naghma welcomed me warmly and had me fill out the registration form and copied my passport. Her son Shiron showed me to my room on the second floor and made sure the air conditioner was working and explained that I needed to turn on the hot water heater an hour before my shower. He helped me set up WiFi for my laptop and gave me the keys.
Back downstairs I asked Shiron to help me develop a plan for my visit to Agra. After 15 minutes we had a plan. First go to Agra Fort, lunch at Only Restaurant, Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb (Baby Taj), and then finally to Mehtab Bagh to watch the sunset over the Taj Mahal across the Namuna River. I went back upstairs to gather what I was going to bring with me and left for Agra Fort.
It took a hour to drive to the thick traffic to get to Fort Agra which was really a short distance away.
Ramumar parked his car and would wait for me there..about two hours. I walked across a moat into the Fort. An elderly man with cane spotted me right away and offered to be my tour guide. He showed me his credentials...a book that said he was an authorized tour guide with 35 years of experience. His English was good and I liked his mild respectful manner, so I agreed. He said he would charge 30 dollars....1500 rupies.. I was surprised at the amount, but he assured me that I could pay less if I was not satisfied. Ok.
Aziz walked around and explained the history of the Fort and explained what/where each place was about. It was the residence of five Mughal Emperors....with hundreds of concubines and many wives. There is a special door that is the entrance to a tunnel that goes underground for miles. This helped the Emperor travel undetected safely.
Agra was the capital of the Mughal Empire for over 100 years. Fifth Emperor Shah Jahan modified the Fort and built impressive imperial quarters and a mosque here with white marble. There were two moats filled with crocodiles and tortoises. There were over 500 stone buildings, but only women's quarters for his harem are left of the original palace buildings. There is a large stone bowl with steps going up for bathing. There are residences for Shah Jahan's two daughters, a throne area, a private audience room, and a Turkish bath house with mirrors and lamps to heat the water. Every room was once magnificently decorated with rich carvings, gems, and gold...all removed by conquerors. There are beautiful marble carved jali screens around the women's quarters so that women of the court could watch without being seen.
There were formal geometric gardens and a vineyard. In the vine garden is a white marble platform wall with a decorative water slide. From the pool and fountains, water would drain off along channels decorated to mimic a stream. The surface was scalloped to produce a rippling waterfall, or inlaid to create a shimmering stream bed. Behind vertical water drops, there are little cusped arch niches into which flowers would be placed during the day and lamps at night. Tapestries and carpets decorated the interior. Marble columns were inlaid with semi-precious stones.
Shah Jahan also built the Taj Mahal and moved to Delhi area, but he was captured and kept as a prisoner here at the Fort by his son in 1650 until his death 8 years later. He could look out at the Taj Mahal in a distance and mourn his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. At the end of the tour, I paid Aziz the 1500 rupies...I didn't mind over paying him...he is getting old and needs to retire and rest more.
Next I went to Only Restaurant for lunch. I ordered chow mein and hot water with lemon to drink. There was only two other men eating there when I arrived. The food arrived quickly and I was anxious to go to the next place. The waiter brought the bill, but it was the wrong bill. I said..I didn't eat this. He left and returned with the correct bill. I paid with a large bill to get some change. The waiter returned with the change, but it was 100 rupies short. I counted the change in front of him twice, but he still did not understand that it was not enough. He went away and two other men counted the change. The manager finally came and apologized saying that the waiter had left the money on the table in back. I think the waiters cannot read or count well.
It was another 40 minutes of travel through congested roads to get to the I'timad'ud'Daulah (Baby Taj), the precursor and influencer for the Taj Mahal. This tomb is the first Mughal building to be faced with white marble inlaid with contrasting stones (1622 - 1628). It is small and intimate, but just as ornate as the Taj Mahal.
The tomb was built for a Persian advisor serving in Mughul Emperor Akbar and Jahangir's court and his wife. Shah Jahangir, Akbar's son, fell in love with his daughter Nur Jahan and married her after her first husband died. She effectively ruled from behind the veil due to Jahangir's addiction to alcohol and opium. Nur Jahan built the tomb for her father. This was highly unusual, as her parents were not royals and only royals had previously deserved such a tomb. However, Nur Jahan was extremely clever and smart. She was able to rule the Mughal Empire even though she was the 20th wife. She built the tomb in only six years while Jahangir was away campaigning. Her niece Mumtaz married Shah Jahan.
Marble screens of geometric lattice permit soft lighting of the inner chamber. The white marble is inlaid with mosaics and semi-precious stones.., maybe more intricate and beautiful than at the Taj Mahal. There is a garden surrounding the tomb with wild monkeys roaming the area. Must remove your shoes just before enter the tomb. It is across the river from Fort Agra and with a nice view of Taj Mahal, a half kilometer upstream the Yamuna River on the opposite bank. Hardly anyone was there. Very peaceful. This place is a beautiful monument to the love of a daughter for her parents.
Next stop is the Mehtab Bagh. It is an ok garden with a view of the back of the Taj Mahal across the Yamuna River. Images of the Taj Mahal in National Geographic are from this place. The weather was cloudy and overcast. Not a good day for sunset photos of the Taj Mahal. I waited two hours there hoping the sun would come out and surprise me with a magnificent sunset. Not today.
While I was there, I got to know a Chinese couple...Wong Peng and Yee Ying. They had come there by tuk tuk. Their driver had insisted on waiting there for them to take them back to their hotel. Peng even told the driver not to wait. They did not want to pay the driver extra for waiting so long there. I told them I could give them a lift back to the hotel with my driver. They were interested, but the driver even came up to them to remind them that he was waiting for them. We did not know what to expect when it was time to go. We walked back to the parking area together. They hoped to get away without seeing that tuk tuk driver, but no such luck. He came up to them and said they must go with him. He waited two hours for them. My driver did not want to get involved in the argument and said that he would not take them. He was an outsider from Delhi and needed to get along with the locals. I felt sorry for the Chinese couple. I called them later that night to find out what happened. They paid the driver 100 rupies for the ride...the equivalent to about two dollars. They were also interested in going to Akbar's Tomb the next morning with my driver, but my driver was willing to take me 40 km to Fatehpur Sikri first..so it would not work out to take them along.
When I got back to my hotel Naghma had a home cooked meal ready for me. Dinner was served in a metal tray. I asked her not to use too many spices...not spicey. A plate of steamed basmati rice, dal makhani (lentils), pumpkin, yogurt, three pieces of roti bread, and butter. I really liked the dal and the pumpkin. Not too spicey. I was hoping to get naan bread, but she said she would do that next time. A very nice meal to end the day.
I felt exhausted, but I wanted to post a blog before I forgot anything. But here it is three days later, and I am just now typing it up. I posted a review of the hotel on TripAdvisor.com instead. You can read it if you go to Bed and Breakfast lodging for Agra, India. It is rated the number one Bed and Breakfast lodging for Agra.
I have another busy day tomorrow.
I said I want to go! I had to leave right away, he arranged for a driver to pick me up on Sunday morning at 6 am. The driver...Ramkumar..came at 6:20 am in a Toyota van with seating for seven passengers and a rack on top for baggage. He was probably delayed at the security gate to the apartment complex. He was surprised to learn that I was his only passenger. We introduced each other and I sent a text message to Eli with his name and cell phone number. I got in and we had gone one mile when he asked me what the name of the hotel was. Oh, no. I left the certificate letter back at Eli's apartment. I asked the driver to turn around and go back to Eli's. We finally left at 6:30 am.
We needed to travel to Delhi first to get onto the Yamuna Expressway..(an hour just to get there) which would take us to Agra..another 3 hours going 80 km/hour. The tollway had four lanes for traffic...two lanes going each way and a shoulder lane for slow traffic...motorcycles, carts, pedestrians, bus stops, other vehicles.
I enjoyed looking out the window at all the new sights. There is a great deal of new construction going on everywhere we went. New high rise buildings for businesses and apartments. Road construction. Animals on the street...cows, water buffalos, donkeys and horses pulling a cart, tuk tuks, bicycle and electric rickshaws, wild dogs and pigs.
In the city there are a lot of speed bumps to limit speed. Most streets had no lane markings, so vehicles can weave this way and that way to get around parked vehicles and slower vehicles. Lots of honking to alert other vehicles that you were passing. Drivers sit on the right side. You pass vehicles on the right side. Signs warning drivers not to drink and drive and to not use a cell phone while driving. Do not go over the speed limit..100 km/hr for cars ..Fines will be given a toll booths. You are being observed by video cameras. A large billboard advertised Formula 1 racing in October. We passed the Raceway along the way.
We arrived in Agra about 2:30 pm and went to the Amar Hotel and called my hotel...N Home Stay...a bed and breakfast in an Indian home. I called N Home Stay and gave the phone to the driver to get specific instructions to find them. Five minutes later we arrived!!
Ramkumar, the driver, waited outside while I got settled. The lady of the house..Naghma welcomed me warmly and had me fill out the registration form and copied my passport. Her son Shiron showed me to my room on the second floor and made sure the air conditioner was working and explained that I needed to turn on the hot water heater an hour before my shower. He helped me set up WiFi for my laptop and gave me the keys.
Back downstairs I asked Shiron to help me develop a plan for my visit to Agra. After 15 minutes we had a plan. First go to Agra Fort, lunch at Only Restaurant, Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb (Baby Taj), and then finally to Mehtab Bagh to watch the sunset over the Taj Mahal across the Namuna River. I went back upstairs to gather what I was going to bring with me and left for Agra Fort.
It took a hour to drive to the thick traffic to get to Fort Agra which was really a short distance away.
Ramumar parked his car and would wait for me there..about two hours. I walked across a moat into the Fort. An elderly man with cane spotted me right away and offered to be my tour guide. He showed me his credentials...a book that said he was an authorized tour guide with 35 years of experience. His English was good and I liked his mild respectful manner, so I agreed. He said he would charge 30 dollars....1500 rupies.. I was surprised at the amount, but he assured me that I could pay less if I was not satisfied. Ok.
Aziz walked around and explained the history of the Fort and explained what/where each place was about. It was the residence of five Mughal Emperors....with hundreds of concubines and many wives. There is a special door that is the entrance to a tunnel that goes underground for miles. This helped the Emperor travel undetected safely.
Agra was the capital of the Mughal Empire for over 100 years. Fifth Emperor Shah Jahan modified the Fort and built impressive imperial quarters and a mosque here with white marble. There were two moats filled with crocodiles and tortoises. There were over 500 stone buildings, but only women's quarters for his harem are left of the original palace buildings. There is a large stone bowl with steps going up for bathing. There are residences for Shah Jahan's two daughters, a throne area, a private audience room, and a Turkish bath house with mirrors and lamps to heat the water. Every room was once magnificently decorated with rich carvings, gems, and gold...all removed by conquerors. There are beautiful marble carved jali screens around the women's quarters so that women of the court could watch without being seen.
There were formal geometric gardens and a vineyard. In the vine garden is a white marble platform wall with a decorative water slide. From the pool and fountains, water would drain off along channels decorated to mimic a stream. The surface was scalloped to produce a rippling waterfall, or inlaid to create a shimmering stream bed. Behind vertical water drops, there are little cusped arch niches into which flowers would be placed during the day and lamps at night. Tapestries and carpets decorated the interior. Marble columns were inlaid with semi-precious stones.
Shah Jahan also built the Taj Mahal and moved to Delhi area, but he was captured and kept as a prisoner here at the Fort by his son in 1650 until his death 8 years later. He could look out at the Taj Mahal in a distance and mourn his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. At the end of the tour, I paid Aziz the 1500 rupies...I didn't mind over paying him...he is getting old and needs to retire and rest more.
Next I went to Only Restaurant for lunch. I ordered chow mein and hot water with lemon to drink. There was only two other men eating there when I arrived. The food arrived quickly and I was anxious to go to the next place. The waiter brought the bill, but it was the wrong bill. I said..I didn't eat this. He left and returned with the correct bill. I paid with a large bill to get some change. The waiter returned with the change, but it was 100 rupies short. I counted the change in front of him twice, but he still did not understand that it was not enough. He went away and two other men counted the change. The manager finally came and apologized saying that the waiter had left the money on the table in back. I think the waiters cannot read or count well.
It was another 40 minutes of travel through congested roads to get to the I'timad'ud'Daulah (Baby Taj), the precursor and influencer for the Taj Mahal. This tomb is the first Mughal building to be faced with white marble inlaid with contrasting stones (1622 - 1628). It is small and intimate, but just as ornate as the Taj Mahal.
The tomb was built for a Persian advisor serving in Mughul Emperor Akbar and Jahangir's court and his wife. Shah Jahangir, Akbar's son, fell in love with his daughter Nur Jahan and married her after her first husband died. She effectively ruled from behind the veil due to Jahangir's addiction to alcohol and opium. Nur Jahan built the tomb for her father. This was highly unusual, as her parents were not royals and only royals had previously deserved such a tomb. However, Nur Jahan was extremely clever and smart. She was able to rule the Mughal Empire even though she was the 20th wife. She built the tomb in only six years while Jahangir was away campaigning. Her niece Mumtaz married Shah Jahan.
Marble screens of geometric lattice permit soft lighting of the inner chamber. The white marble is inlaid with mosaics and semi-precious stones.., maybe more intricate and beautiful than at the Taj Mahal. There is a garden surrounding the tomb with wild monkeys roaming the area. Must remove your shoes just before enter the tomb. It is across the river from Fort Agra and with a nice view of Taj Mahal, a half kilometer upstream the Yamuna River on the opposite bank. Hardly anyone was there. Very peaceful. This place is a beautiful monument to the love of a daughter for her parents.
Next stop is the Mehtab Bagh. It is an ok garden with a view of the back of the Taj Mahal across the Yamuna River. Images of the Taj Mahal in National Geographic are from this place. The weather was cloudy and overcast. Not a good day for sunset photos of the Taj Mahal. I waited two hours there hoping the sun would come out and surprise me with a magnificent sunset. Not today.
While I was there, I got to know a Chinese couple...Wong Peng and Yee Ying. They had come there by tuk tuk. Their driver had insisted on waiting there for them to take them back to their hotel. Peng even told the driver not to wait. They did not want to pay the driver extra for waiting so long there. I told them I could give them a lift back to the hotel with my driver. They were interested, but the driver even came up to them to remind them that he was waiting for them. We did not know what to expect when it was time to go. We walked back to the parking area together. They hoped to get away without seeing that tuk tuk driver, but no such luck. He came up to them and said they must go with him. He waited two hours for them. My driver did not want to get involved in the argument and said that he would not take them. He was an outsider from Delhi and needed to get along with the locals. I felt sorry for the Chinese couple. I called them later that night to find out what happened. They paid the driver 100 rupies for the ride...the equivalent to about two dollars. They were also interested in going to Akbar's Tomb the next morning with my driver, but my driver was willing to take me 40 km to Fatehpur Sikri first..so it would not work out to take them along.
When I got back to my hotel Naghma had a home cooked meal ready for me. Dinner was served in a metal tray. I asked her not to use too many spices...not spicey. A plate of steamed basmati rice, dal makhani (lentils), pumpkin, yogurt, three pieces of roti bread, and butter. I really liked the dal and the pumpkin. Not too spicey. I was hoping to get naan bread, but she said she would do that next time. A very nice meal to end the day.
I felt exhausted, but I wanted to post a blog before I forgot anything. But here it is three days later, and I am just now typing it up. I posted a review of the hotel on TripAdvisor.com instead. You can read it if you go to Bed and Breakfast lodging for Agra, India. It is rated the number one Bed and Breakfast lodging for Agra.
I have another busy day tomorrow.
