Agra – Having it Taj!! / Bubye Babu!!!

Getting up and out for 6.00am for sunrise at the Taj Mahal we were met by Babu who drove us as close as he was allowed to get to the Taj (Restrictions on cars in the area as pollution is slowly but surely destroying the monument!) and then we were taken by electric Tuk-Tuk the rest of the way.

Finding our way down a dark alley we queued up in what we made out to be the ticket desk (judging by people already standing there), then we had to queue in a second line to get in (around about 45 minutes).  Eventually we got in and this time decided to get an audio guide as for the first time there were not dozens of personal guides bugging us for their services – typical!!

Once you were through one of the impressive gates to the main complex we were met with one of the most recognisable sights in the world.  Following our audio guide round the gardens & fountains (that were not working) we found ourselves at the foot of the Taj itself, which at this hour in the morning was bathed in mist off of the river next to it, which made it quite magical.  Although it is a fantastic sight it did not quite do it for me as say Christ the Redeemer did in Rio, I’m not sure why – maybe I was getting tired of India (Shelley was a bit disappointed by my reaction). 

Anyway we spent a couple of hours here taking lots of photo’s and selfies (Sorry folks did not do the Diana pose as the bench was mobbed with people with the same idea, plus did not have time to pick up the blond wig!).

We returned for breakfast at our hotel after which Babu still in tourist guide/TIP! mode suggested we went to Agra Fort.  So to the fort we went and were given 2 hours to look around, which was quite interesting as it had been built and updated by various rulers, changing it from sandstone to completely marble in some courtyards.  It also had some very impressive views over the river to the Taj Mahal.  The only problem was that only a small part of the fort was open to the general public so we had to kick our heels for a while whilst Babu had put his feet up somewhere (As you may have guessed we are completely fed up with our erstwhile driver/guide now!). We would recommend 60-90 mins max and def get a guide (we didn’t) as not much info available.

Meeting back with Babu around 2.00 he suggested we go to another one of his expensive restaurants for lunch, we told him we wanted to go to the Taj Ganj area as we had already read up that this is where we could find rooftop restaurants where you had great views of the Taj.  We were dropped off in the area and we told Babu we would meet him at 6.30 to drop us off at the train station (he sulked as he wanted to drop us off earlier so he could  head off home early at the expense of our convenience!).

After a bit of searching we found a nice rooftop that did have fantastic views, so we spend the rest of the afternoon having drinks and food whilst taking in the view.  

We also had entertainment as there were loads of monkeys jumping round between all the buildings and nearby tree, sometimes heart in mouth as you saw some of the youngsters making death defying leaps between the buildings.

The night before reading up on the train journey and checking the internet we found that the station we were booked to arrive at did not stop in Varanasi city (Our next destination) but 17km outside of it at 5.00am in the morning and this was not the trains final stop (which was nice of the sleazy git to inform us of!!).   Which meant we would arrive at 5.00 and have to find our own way to Varanasi ourselves (we were told that the station was riddled with rip off touts!)

We met back with Babu  at 6.30 and Shelley asked to speak to the tourist agent (sleazy git) and she pretty much told him that we wanted to be picked up from the station we were arriving at and to let the hotel know we would be arriving and checking in early – which he begrudgingly agreed too (Don’t mess with the Hart!).  Babu surprised by Shelley’s authority on the phone asked what she did for a living, ‘A Project Manager’ she responded, I’m not sure if I imagined it but there was a flicker of respect in his eyes at last!! He then tried to get us to leave 30 mins earlier than we agreed, Shelley refused!.

Anyway that was it our final journey with Babu to the train station which we were immensely pleased about and I’m sure our relatives and loved ones reading this blog will be too.  I’m pretty sure that was the most dangerous thing we will be doing on this trip and I include future activities like hiking up volcanos and doing a shark cage into that equation!!  (Sorry Darryl you won’t be inheriting my flat quite yet!).

Begrudgingly we also had to give Babu a reasonable tip as this is expected (maybe not as much as he would have liked or expected) as the tour operators pay them a poor wage as it is expected that the tourists make up their wages by the way of a decent payment.  (Lucky for Babu that I am responsible for our money affair not Shelley).  A more sensible tip for him would be to ‘Get a decent pair glasses’ or ‘give up driving for a living before you kill someone!’

Next up was the overnight train journey to Varanasi (Or somewhere close to it!) and at the train station this did not bode well as by the time our train turned up it was already an hour late.  Boarding it, unsurprisingly some family were sat in our seats and we were pointed to some other seats instead (it appears seat numbers don’t mean much on Indian trains).  

Once settled we got talking to some local people and they were very helpful, listing a number of things we could do in Varanasi and making us feel very welcome. (So far the only people who haven’t wanted money off us in India have been found on the trains).  We then enquired about the etiquette regarding going to bed if you have the lower and middle bunks of the three (as middle one is folded down and during the day/evening everyone sits on the lower one), we were told that as you have paid for the bunk it is your right to tell everyone to move as you want to go to bed and there can be no complaints.  However being British and the fact that whole groups congregate and have a chinwag squeezed up on these seats we find it very hard to say at 8.00 ‘Can you lot all bugger off as we want to go to bed now!”

We sat and watched a couple of episodes of ‘The Apprentice’ (Shel’s found a nifty way of downloading BBC Iplayer!) whilst we waited for people to drift off to their beds before finally sorting out our beds for the night (although someone had already nicked my pillow & blanket and requesting new ones seemed to cause a massive problem so had to make do with a blanket which was proffered with great reluctance!).  Unfortunately we got very little sleep as we were paranoid we would miss our stop and end up 800km away (Shelley got none as her neighbour took on my snoring duties for the night), but hey that’s what travelling in India is all about!!  Next stop Varanasi.