24 RTW Day 11, The Taj

By travelerdon on May 24, 2024

The Taj Mahal, Saturday, March 16, 2024

Okay, this was a stressful day! First we awaken at 1AM after only a couple hours sleep. We have a 3 hour ride this morning and we want to arrive at our destination before sunrise. We go outside to wait for our driver about 1:45AM. 2AM comes and there is no driver here. Elee checks her WhatsApp and sees the driver is due at 2:30AM. Whew, that’s a relief! Could have used every extra half hour sleep, but oh well.

2:30AM comes and there is still no driver. 3AM and still no driver. We are being told he is outside of our gated area and can’t get through the gates. But there is a set of gates right here where we stand and they are wide open. What gives? Finally, after many calls to the Tour Office, the driver, Sarinda, shows at 3:30AM, sticking to his story of not being able to get through the gates, as he finishes buttoning his shirt. We get on the road only to have him needing gas. Really prepared I’d say he is. NOT!

But at least we’re on the road. After most of 3 hours on the road, we see sunrise starting to light up the sky and Sarinda says we are still 25 minutes away. This is not good. We wanted to photograph the Taj Mahal at sunrise. Sarinda stops to pick up our guide, Israr, as Sarinda is only the driver. By the time we get in, the ball of the sun is in the sky and sunrise has waned. A bit peeved to say the least, at least we are finally here after trying to get here for years. Okay, 3rd time’s a charm!

The Taj Mahal is everything you have heard and a lot more! It is a magical sight in the early morning light, even if it is not sunrise. With it’s reflecting pools and gardens abounding, it is near impossible to take your eyes (and camera lenses) away from the grandeur! Our cameras drag us all over the place and scoff at us when we try to take them away from our eyes! The gentleman posing in from of the Taj is Israr, our Guide! Israr points out some of the fine detail in the marble walls and inlaid precious stones.

We even get to go inside the Taj. But the signs strictly prohibit photos and there are several armed guards watching like hawks for cameras shooting so we decide it is not in our best interest. Our cameras pout but we console them by convincing them that the best shots are outside! There are several buildings outside the Taj and we do our best to photograph them all. Israr helps us find the good camera angles and even takes a few shots of us! He is a good guide!

Cameras finally satiated, we give them a rest and go to breakfast at an Indian restaurant. Elee has ‘Stuffed Parantha with Yogurt’ and I have ‘Puri Bhaji’. Both are really delicious!

After breakfast, Sarinda and Israr take us to a factory where they cut precious stones by hand and inlay them into marble tabletops. The inlays are representative of some of the details in the marble at the Taj Mahal! Beautiful furniture but way out of our budget! Not to even consider how would we transport them home!

Then we go to the ‘Agra Fort’, itself a huge feat of engineering. Built as a fortress to protect the area, it is expansive. The Taj Mahal seems so far off in the distance from here. We have walked far today.

It is now time for lunch, paid for by the Tour. Again, we go to yet another Indian restaurant and have some more fabulous Indian food!

Now it is time to head back to Delhi, almost a 4 hour drive. Sarinda drops off Israr in Agra and we stop at the Tour Office. They question Elee privately as to what happened with Sarinda in the morning. Elee explains to them Sarinda’s shortcomings picking us up and it is agreed by all parties that Sarinda did not get stuck outside the gates, but likely overslept and missed our pick up time. This is a big deal to us because we missed the ultra valuable photos at sunrise.

We get on the road back to Delhi and it is a quiet ride. Sarinda doesn’t speak English and we don’t speak Hindi. We manage to communicate using Google Translate. Sarinda seems to know he is about to get a bad review. Israr tried backing up Sarinda’s story but that was just one employee to another trying to help him out.

On the highway, we see signs on the backs of many trucks that we have been seeing. They say, “Blow Horn” on “Please Horn”. We don’t get exactly what they mean but we assume it wants us to sound the horn prior to passing them? Also some other fun vehicles! Along with those we see smokestacks that help tell the story of the smog conditions in India as they are severe! Notice the brown skies at the horizon around the Taj Mahal!

Sarinda happily volunteers to bring us to an ATM machine as we need local cash. He finds some and a few of them nix our attempts to withdraw cash. At one machine we are successful and we get half of what we want, but more than enough to pay our rent tonight at our AirBNB. He then finds a wine store for us where we don’t get wine, but we get some hard cider and beer to finish off our evening! Then, back at the AirBNB, we kick back in our room while our hosts cook dinner for us! Homecooked Indian food and all we know is that chicken is involved. We are excited to try it! The kitchen is right out our room door and the place smells fantastic!

True to the odiferous kitchen the meal is fabulous with Roti and another form of toasted bread, Dhal sauce and Chicken in a red sauce that we never find out the name of due to the language barrier. Toss in a plate of white rice! Add some salted cucumber slices and a glass of Indian Beer and dinner is grand!

Time to turn in and get this Blog written! Good night all!