Day 5 - Agra

Meru refused us a cab to reach the New Delhi station at 4:30 AM - probably because the distance was not worth getting paid for. The rickshaw ride was freezing. We ended up at the Ajmeri Gate entrance, which meant that we had to cross 16 platforms with all our baggage, to catch the train.

The New Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi is the fastest train in India. It covers the Delhi-Agra stretch in 2 hours flat. The train was mighty impressive, with Euro-style interiors and big long windows, but not as smooth or noiseless. It started with an all mighty jerk that woke me up. Adding to the noise was the unruly French kid in front, who kept getting spanked by his father.

At 9:00 AM, Sadar Bazar was empty. There were no breakfast places open - another day with biscuits. Hotel Pawan - run by mallus - was not as shady as the one in Delhi. The room was quite large - enough to accommodate items of furniture. But in Delhi, we had 24 hours of hot water supply. Here, the water was only lukewarm, and Agra was definitely colder than Delhi.

During this trip, we are yet to come across a place serving "Child Beer". But Agra offers quite a few gems of its own. The Mama Franky chain of fast food outlets seems to be quite a hit here in Sadar Bazaar, with stalls selling soups, vegetarian food and non-vegetarian food. Their breakfast specialties include 'Cofee', 'Tost Batter Jaam', 'Kone Falex', 'Chease Peeza' and 'Oniun Kapsikum Peeza'. With the stall opening at only 12:00 PM, there was no scope for us to eat from there. But the kebabs they served in the evening were better than the ones at the much-hyped Karim's.

Agra Fort i many ways, reminds me of Amber. This was one of the most significant fort in the history of the country. The entrance is skewed - deliberately intended at confusing the attacking enemy. Guides swarm the gate. You could get them in any language - German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, you name it. I wondered if they could speak Esperanto. Inside, one of them was trying hard to explain to a lady: "Look, you don't understand. This is the Agra Fort. This is not the Red Fort. The Red Fort is in Delhi."

On the right sprawls out the elaborate Jahangiri Mahal - the logical starting point for the tour. Leading to the entrance, you can spot a large pot, allegedly used for bathing. As you step through the ornate courtyard onto the terrace, you reach the outer wall that skirts the bank of the Yamuna. On the left, the long and famed Yamuna Bridge carries the rail line from Agra Fort station, across the river to Kanpur. On the right, the river bends to fondle the mighty Taj Mahal. It was my first glipse of the white marble dome of the famed monument.

From the Jahangiri Mahal, you step through various buildings, as the material of construction changes from red sandstone to white marble once you reach the palaces of Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan's Mahal, the Diwan-i-Khas and the Sheesh Mahal are all majestically impressive. An exquisite garden (though not as impressive as the one in Amber), is laid out in front of the Sheesh Mahal (again, unlike the one in Amber, there are hardly any mirrors here). In these quarters, Shah Jahan was imprisoned by Aurangazeb for eight years, before he died looking fondly at his beloved Taj far away. Looking at the exquisite interiors, SS remarked: "This is just house arrest. When you have such luxury, it cannot be called imprisonment!"

Too many pretty firang girls were around, and not surprisingly, an equal number of local boys loitering around, to get their pictures clicked with them. Notable among the foerign crowd were four Chinese girls, for their antics - posing inside the Nagina Masjid and inside Akbar's masoleum at Sikandra as if they were on a photoshoot for a glamour magazine.

There are no restaurants either inside or outside the fort. Shady food joints throng the outer gate. We picked up one at random and had an immensely forgettable and tasteless veg thali. The auto-rickshaw ride to Sikandra was more adventurous. The driver was honking away to glory, dodging high speed vehicles on the Mathura highway, trying to do a speed test on his vehicle. Sikandra, the resting place of Emperor Akbar, was much similar to all the tombs we'd seen - immensely beautiful and filled with courting couples. It was better maintained than some of the other tombs - perhaps it was owed to one of the greatest kings of India.

Next to our hotel, is the store recommended by Mudit - Panchhi. We bought a kilo of Paan Petha for ourselves. They are delicious!

Pic of the Day: