Arrival in Agra

A couple of the guys sitting opposite us on the train from Mubai were Hare Krishnas, complete with little Scrabble bags over their hands, and they had suggested that we should visit the Krishna temple in Mathura, which is the most holy of all Krishna temples. Mathura was the actual destination of our train, and where we were going to have to change for Agra. After our restless night's sleep and, in my case, getting my feet battered every time someone walked past, we didn't feel like doing anything at all when we got to Mathura apart from going to bed. We changed for Agra with little difficulty and a prepay auto-rickshaw took us to Tajganj, where the Taj Mahal and our hotel were for fifty rupees. My memory had been correct and it was the hotel with the magnificent views of the Taj Mahal. Our room was much cheaper and much nicer than the hole we'd been staying in Mumbai.

Joanne and Taj from our guesthouse

We had been wondering what the temperature was since we arrived in India, but had not remembered to find out in Mumbai. Joanne looked it up online in Agra and found out it was 39C. It felt about the same as Mumbai, where we were standing around in the sun all day in silly costumes. For me India has actually been more comfortable than Bangkok because, although the temperature is much higher here, the humidity is only about the 45% mark. I think what happens is in dry heat I sweat a lot and it keeps me cool as it evaporates, but in humid heat I just get really sweaty and greasy and hot. Joanne, however, not being much of a sweater, finds India much more uncomfortable. Our auto-rickshaw driver had sold us a tour of the things apart from the Taj for Rs350 down from Rs450. We told him that we needed to get some sleep first, but he could pick us up later. I thought a wee drink before bed would be nice but we couldn't find alcohol anywhere and the hotel told us that they didn't serve alcohol until evening time. In the end we tucked into a bit more of the Glen Livet and dozed for a wee while.

We came down to meet our driver, but it turned out he'd sent his “brother” instead. After some hesitation we decided to go anyway. First he took us to see “Baby Taj”, really called Itimad-ud-Daulah, which in fact predates the Taj Mahal, and much of the Taj's design was based on it. Next he took us to Agra Fort, which he persuaded us wasn't worth going inside, so we just took a couple of photos from outside. Later we read in the LP that it is one of the finest forts in India, so he was just trying to save himself time. Then he took us across the river for a view of the Taj, then to several other places where the point always seemed to be the view of the Taj, rather than where we were. At one temple a man dressed in saffron cloths came towards us saying “I am holy man. Give me money!”. He was a Sadhu and apparently this is what they do. We didn't give him any.

Another view fo the Taj

Yet another view of the Taj

Then we got to what seemed to be the real point of the tour: the bit where we earn him a hefty commission. He spun it all as learning how local craftsmen work, but really it was just tourist curio factories. Joanne seemed quite uncomfortable by this part of the tour but, as soon as I clicked, I didn't mind at all because I knew I wasn't going to buy anything and they were all wasting their time. I had decided some time ago that I would never buy anything in a situation like this, because you always pay over the odds thanks to the commission. Also in a place like this it's bound to be the high-end ultra-touristy expensive places you are taken. I decided just to enjoy the details of how they make all this stuff and taken for its own value, it was actually quite nice. We went to a carpet factory – I mean learned all about how it takes days on end to make these fantastic woven carpets one stitch at a time. The demonstration and explanation we very interesting and they were lovely, but my mind was made up before we entered the workshop. Joanne seemed tempted, and the salesmen sensed this, so we wanted to enter a bartering match which I was not prepared to play. Sure that their prices we going to be massively inflated I said that I was too embarrassed to say how much we could afford, but we really needed to make our money last, so I was sure I couldn't afford one of their lovely carpets. He implored me to say some price, so after more apologies and declarations of embarrassment, I told him a figure. It is low, sir, he said. Of course I knew it was, as I had no intention of buying, but if he'd gone for that price I reckoned it was a bargain, especially since it included credit card surcharge, DHL shipping, and insurance. I had plumped for Rs4500 for a carpet he was trying to sell me for Rs16000. Remarkably he told me that for that price he would be able to let me have the slightly smaller one he'd been showing me earlier originally at Rs12000. So I think I was only slightly low.

Oh no! Not another view of the Taj

I was quite impressed by the discount, but I was still sure we'd be able to get carpets cheaper elsewhere. And we didn't want the small carpet. Next it was onto a workshop where they make various marble items with semi-previous gems inlaid, just like the work on the Taj Mahal itself. These we, of course, the direct descendents of the people who worked on the Taj Mahal, and their families had been doing this for thousands of years. Again the stuff was gorgeous, but again it seemed rather pricey. They indicated their willingness to drop prices, but I was a bit worn out from the carpet psychological warfare, so we just took their card and said we would be back the next day after we'd worked out how much we could afford. Last was a jewellery shop featuring “star rubies” and “cross of Agra” very prominently. Both these semi-precious stones catch the light in a way that shows their crystal symmetry (I assume) at the surface: star ruby appears to have a six pointed star floating inside, and the cross of Agra has two bands of light at right angles. Truly gorgeous, but we'd had enough and it was obvious they were over-priced again. With no energy to barter, we just palmed them off again by taking their card.

View of Taj from our guesthouse

We were deposited at home and finally got a beer on the rooftop restaurant. The view of the Taj Mahal from Shanti Lodge really is superb. There is obviously something a bit funny going on with the licensing laws, though, because my beer arrived in a teapot: “Special Tea, sir”. We got chatting to an American girl who was also on a protracted trip and had just come from Nepal. She told us we were too late already, and the last Everest attempt had already been, and that there were already leeches everywhere. She was wanting to get rid of a Nepal LP guide and had some fantasy of exchanging it for an Eastern European guide, where she was going next. She said we could buy it from her and went to fetch it. She wouldn't sell it for anything less than Rs600 which I thought was a very unfriendly price, considering how little we'd been able to sell our guides for in Thailand. I had thought we'd be able to reach a mutually beneficial arrangement, say about two or three hundred rupees maximum, but she obviously had no idea at all. In the end we wished her good luck and said good night. Joanne decided she wanted more beer and, since it had been rather expensive at the hotel we went out looking for the off-licence the hotel were bringing it from (you had to tell them in advance how many beers you were going to want). We failed to find it, but some helpful youths working in a shop offered to sell me some hashish then, when I said I wasn't interested were happy to go and buy me beer for Rs80 instead. A small profit, I thought, but much cheaper than the hotel. Meanwhile an old woman got talking to Joanne and persuaded her to pay to have her arms covered in henna patterns. I drank most of the beer waiting for Joanne, constantly getting pestered by people selling hash, and when she reappeared the henna work was awful.

Us and Taj from Guesthouse

Agra, India