We actually stopped in Barathpur before continuing to Agra, but the town was uneventful, and I didn't even take the optional trip into the bird sanctuary, so there's nothing to talk about really.
Agra, on the other hand, is a must for any trip to India in order to visit the Taj Mahal, and I would recommend the Red Fort, not to be confused with the smaller, less impressive Red Fort of Dehli. We arrived in Agra at the peak of afternoon heat, with temperatures over 100 degrees, and hid away in our rooms or internet cafes until sunset, when the temperature cooled. At sunset, we headed down to the banks of the Yamuna River, behind the Taj Mahal. The location was good for watching the sunset, but had a limited view of the Taj, so we got a small canoe ferry to the opposite bank to take pictures of the Taj as its white marble facade changed from white to yellow to orange in the setting sun. The river was low and slow, so the surface was like glass and reflected the Taj for some incredible photos.
Despite the picturesque quality, the river was filthy with black sludge and trash along the banks and smelled of sewage. This however didn't stop a couple of local kids from jumping in for a swim. I would have wished them well, but they seemed intent and disrupting the calm waters and getting in the way of any picture we tourists were trying to take. They even ran naked from the waters in front of an un-amused woman, who was posing for a picture. Luckily, after a couple minutes, the kids grew tired of their own musings, collected their clothes and moved on. Another kid was walking around with a camel trying to sell rides, while the rest of the kids were content with just asking for money, chocolates or pens for nothing... or offering to pose in pictures for some cash or stuff. We wondered the banks snapping photos until the sun had set and then returned to the other side of the river for dinner before our early morning tour of the Taj grounds.
Despite the picturesque quality, the river was filthy with black sludge and trash along the banks and smelled of sewage. This however didn't stop a couple of local kids from jumping in for a swim. I would have wished them well, but they seemed intent and disrupting the calm waters and getting in the way of any picture we tourists were trying to take. They even ran naked from the waters in front of an un-amused woman, who was posing for a picture. Luckily, after a couple minutes, the kids grew tired of their own musings, collected their clothes and moved on. Another kid was walking around with a camel trying to sell rides, while the rest of the kids were content with just asking for money, chocolates or pens for nothing... or offering to pose in pictures for some cash or stuff. We wondered the banks snapping photos until the sun had set and then returned to the other side of the river for dinner before our early morning tour of the Taj grounds.
In the morning, we were in line at 0530 to enter the Taj grounds and were not alone. Although the crowd was smaller than an evening crowd, their were plenty of other tourists that wanted to take advantage of the early morning light, cool temperatures and small crowds. As usual, the Indians in the que were pushing and trying to slip past anyone they could, as they believe any que is an inconvenience that should be avoided if possible and room to move forward exists.
By the time we made it inside, the sun was rising but the colors were not as intense as the evening before. Also, despite the crowd being relatively small, you still had to fight for space at the popular photo spots, which really didn't measure up the the sunset views over the river. However, it was interesting to get up close to see the details we missed from far away, like the flowers inlaid in the marble made of other semi-precious stones, the Arabic script around the entrances and lattice work in the windows. Also the grounds have a mosque, gardens, and arched pillared halls along the red sandstone other wall that are all worth exploring. There is even a museum in the grounds, which I didn't even see, however it openned much later in the morning.
One of the more disturbing sites during the visit, was a dead body that had been caught on the shallow bed of the river behind the Taj. The previous night, I had seen what I thought had been funeral pyre, just up river from the Taj, and assumed that this body was the remains of whom ever was being cremated. One of the girls in the group had thought it was a body of a cow, when she saw a couple dogs wading in the shallow water and tearing flesh from the body. She had been taking photos of the scene, but when she realized it was a human body, she was disturbed and upset, to say the least. Meanwhile, a couple of Taj security men on the shore just looked on and watched the dogs tear away at the body, as if this was a normal occurance. I was surprised, by how little the whole event affected me. I felt sorry for the man whose body was on display in such an unrespectful manner. However, I also felt that it was only a body and, at this stage, serves the previous owner no use, so it really didn't matter what happened to it. I had met a British ex-pat living in Tokyo, while skiing in Niseko at the beginning of my trip. He was half Indian, had travelled to India before and said the thing he disliked most about the country is the low value they put on human life. His examples seemed more tied to the lack of safety regulations, like buses racing down two lane highways trying to pass on blind turns with a full load of passengers inside, plus spare passengers clinging to the roof; but I think he'd consider this another example. I, on the other hand, think it is more a reflection of the Hindu belief in the cycle of life in which death is just the stage before re-birth.
Anyway, back on the tour, we finished wondering the Taj by eight in the morning, and some of us headed to the Red Fort next in order to take advantage of the morning before the tempatures climbed abover 100 degrees. The Fort was impressive and has an equally impressive history of rule, feudal strife and conflict. The Fort was the home to the Mughal rulers of India for centuries, and the history of a fort at this location goes back as far as 1080. However, it was rebuilt, modified and ruled by different factions through-out its history. One of the rulers, Shah Jahan built the Taj as a tomb for his favorite wife and also added a lot of marble sections to the fort. He was overthrown by his son, Aurangzeb, who then imprisoned him in the Fort, where he could gaze at the tomb of his favorite wife. His 'cell' was a large and extravagantly decorated portion of the fort and, included a hall for concubines, so I don't think he fretted too long gazing at the Taj on the horizon. However, he is said to have died in a marble tower with a veiw of the Taj. Aurangzeb had a black platform carved for his thrown to sit upon during the abdication of of his father's rule. Ironnically, the platform now sits in front of the tower his father is said to have died in, and is also in view of the Taj where Aurangseb laid his father to rest next to his beloved. Later, the fort was a Garrison for British forces during their colonial rule and the uprisings of 1857; and today a portion remains a Garrison for some of India's army. Like the many other forts I visited on my tour, this fort has amazing latice work and other grand elements of design; but I found the clashes in design, like the red sandstone contrasted against white marble and brass, most interesting. I think these contrasts help reflect the Fort's tumultuous past.
We spent our last afternoon much like the first, trying to avoid the heat in cafes and hotel rooms, before we caught our overnight train to Varanasi.
By the time we made it inside, the sun was rising but the colors were not as intense as the evening before. Also, despite the crowd being relatively small, you still had to fight for space at the popular photo spots, which really didn't measure up the the sunset views over the river. However, it was interesting to get up close to see the details we missed from far away, like the flowers inlaid in the marble made of other semi-precious stones, the Arabic script around the entrances and lattice work in the windows. Also the grounds have a mosque, gardens, and arched pillared halls along the red sandstone other wall that are all worth exploring. There is even a museum in the grounds, which I didn't even see, however it openned much later in the morning.
One of the more disturbing sites during the visit, was a dead body that had been caught on the shallow bed of the river behind the Taj. The previous night, I had seen what I thought had been funeral pyre, just up river from the Taj, and assumed that this body was the remains of whom ever was being cremated. One of the girls in the group had thought it was a body of a cow, when she saw a couple dogs wading in the shallow water and tearing flesh from the body. She had been taking photos of the scene, but when she realized it was a human body, she was disturbed and upset, to say the least. Meanwhile, a couple of Taj security men on the shore just looked on and watched the dogs tear away at the body, as if this was a normal occurance. I was surprised, by how little the whole event affected me. I felt sorry for the man whose body was on display in such an unrespectful manner. However, I also felt that it was only a body and, at this stage, serves the previous owner no use, so it really didn't matter what happened to it. I had met a British ex-pat living in Tokyo, while skiing in Niseko at the beginning of my trip. He was half Indian, had travelled to India before and said the thing he disliked most about the country is the low value they put on human life. His examples seemed more tied to the lack of safety regulations, like buses racing down two lane highways trying to pass on blind turns with a full load of passengers inside, plus spare passengers clinging to the roof; but I think he'd consider this another example. I, on the other hand, think it is more a reflection of the Hindu belief in the cycle of life in which death is just the stage before re-birth.
Anyway, back on the tour, we finished wondering the Taj by eight in the morning, and some of us headed to the Red Fort next in order to take advantage of the morning before the tempatures climbed abover 100 degrees. The Fort was impressive and has an equally impressive history of rule, feudal strife and conflict. The Fort was the home to the Mughal rulers of India for centuries, and the history of a fort at this location goes back as far as 1080. However, it was rebuilt, modified and ruled by different factions through-out its history. One of the rulers, Shah Jahan built the Taj as a tomb for his favorite wife and also added a lot of marble sections to the fort. He was overthrown by his son, Aurangzeb, who then imprisoned him in the Fort, where he could gaze at the tomb of his favorite wife. His 'cell' was a large and extravagantly decorated portion of the fort and, included a hall for concubines, so I don't think he fretted too long gazing at the Taj on the horizon. However, he is said to have died in a marble tower with a veiw of the Taj. Aurangzeb had a black platform carved for his thrown to sit upon during the abdication of of his father's rule. Ironnically, the platform now sits in front of the tower his father is said to have died in, and is also in view of the Taj where Aurangseb laid his father to rest next to his beloved. Later, the fort was a Garrison for British forces during their colonial rule and the uprisings of 1857; and today a portion remains a Garrison for some of India's army. Like the many other forts I visited on my tour, this fort has amazing latice work and other grand elements of design; but I found the clashes in design, like the red sandstone contrasted against white marble and brass, most interesting. I think these contrasts help reflect the Fort's tumultuous past.
We spent our last afternoon much like the first, trying to avoid the heat in cafes and hotel rooms, before we caught our overnight train to Varanasi.
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