Plenty of aggro in Agra, but an architectural masterpiece too!
Well, it had to be done – a visit to the famous Taj Mahal (one of the seven wonders of the world) is kind of a must-do thing for anyone visiting this part of India. From Delhi it can be done as a day trip – the distance of 200km takes around 4 to 5 hours by road. The Taj Mahal is in the city of Agra, located in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
As we were driving towards the East Gate, we were stopped and the taxi driver was told that he wasn’t permitted to take us any further – we discovered that this is due to the fact that the Taj Mahal was being damaged by pollution and therefore there is now a ban on polluting vehicles within a 2km perimeter of the site. So we switched to a cycle rickshaw for the rest of the journey – I felt a bit sorry for the rickshaw guy who had to pedal extremely hard to carry the 3 of us there!
Without a doubt, the Taj Mahal is absolutely spectacular – despite the fact that foreigners get fleeced at the entrance gate (around £10 per person, compared to 26p for locals!) and Agra itself isn’t a particularly pleasant city I still think it’s well worth a visit. It took 22 years to construct and is an architectural masterpiece with a stunning symmetrical design. The carvings in the marble are very intricate, especially the inscriptions from the Quran.
On the way back we stopped by Mathura where Lord Krishna is believed to have been born, and the town of Vrindavan where he spent much of his childhood. These sites are unfortunately not very well maintained though and full of unscrupulous and annoying individuals wanting to rip-off as many visitors as they can.
The trip is unfortunately almost at an end – tomorrow is our last day in India and we’re heading to the satellite city of Gurgaon, south of Delhi to visit some friends. It feels like we’ve been here over a month, though it’s only been just over 2 weeks!
More photos at my Flickr gallery.
February 26th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
Yeah £10 for the entry for foreign tourists is pretty steep, and seems a bit unfair that the locals get in a hell of a lot cheaper. I’ll warn you about the weather in the UK on your return, it is pretty darn cold and grey, I still can get re-accustomed to it, that’s for sure!
February 26th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
Love the rickshaw picture
February 27th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
Brrrrr you’re right Atul – it’s freezing! d’oh! Ah well, it’s nearly March I guess – it’s gotta get warmer soon, right?
February 28th, 2006 at 5:23 pm
Erm, that’s what I thought Neil, I spent three months there and thought I’d pretty much spent the UK winter out nicely, but it’s still freezing here, I would say it will take you about a week or two to get used to the UK again, good luck!