Overview
- Main Attractions: Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Tomb of Akbar the Great, Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah
- Best Time to Visit: Late October to early March
- Local specialty:
- Travelled By: Train, auto rickshaw
- Cost: $$
- Duration of Stay: 2 days
- Location: Uttar Pradesh, India
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Summary
The Taj is everything people say it is and more – it is the epitome of beauty and perfection. However, there is more to Agra than the Taj and we got to appreciate this city by staying here for a couple of days. The Agra Fort and the Tombs of Itimad-ud-Daluah and Akbar the Great are pretty spectacular in their own right and the kebabs at Mama Chicken is one of the best in India.
Agra: Our Experience
13th January, 2014
Agra!! We had finally made it here. Having travelled around India for two and a half months, we had really been looking forward to seeing the Taj Mahal. We had left it for the last, the icing on the cake so to speak. The experiences we had garnered over the ten weeks we had travelled around India had been magical, surreal, frustrating and wonderful all at the same time; the Taj Mahal was going to epitomise our Indian travel experiences like no other.
We arrived into Agra on a train from Delhi late at night. We had been warned about the temperature falling to 2 degrees here but we were not ready for the reality of it. It was freezing cold and the air was heavy with mist making it hard to see anything a few metres away.
Before heading to our hotel, we stopped at Taj Cafe Agra to have some dinner. Situated on the first floor overlooking the main street in Taj Ganj, it was quiet, almost deserted, and we felt lucky that the kitchen was still open to cook us some dinner. We were hungry, the Indian food we ordered was delicious and we were happy campers.
We checked into Hotel Sheela located a stone’s throw from the Taj and packed in for the night.
14th January, 2014
We woke up very early in the morning which was extremely difficult given the extreme condition of the weather outside. It was cold and more importantly the air was filled with mist making it hard to view a spectacle like the Taj. So, we decided to take a trip to Fatehpur Sikri instead, all the while hoping that the weather would clear up the following day so we could get a clear view of the Taj.
We caught a bus from the bus stand in town headed for Fatehpur Sikri 40 kms away. We spent the day in Fatehpur Sikri returning in the evening before dinner.
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We chose to go to Sadar Bazaar for dinner and after careful consideration stepped into Zorba the Buddha Agra for dinner. Unfortunately, this was a bad mistake as the restaurant seemed like it was closed for business – the kitchen was empty and we suspect that they had purchased our order from Mama Chicken located on the street next door; the service was non-existent and the chairs and tables were so low it felt like we were in kindergarten again. The food was good though but we can only surmise that it was not cooked by the kitchen given there was nothing cooking nor were there any staff present when we checked.
15th January, 2014
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On our last day in Agra we woke up praying that the weather had improved; unfortunately it hadn’t so we made our way to Saniya Palace Hotel Agra for a nice breakfast on their rooftop terrace overlooking the Taj. On a normal day, the views would be spectacular; today, however, a huge blanket of mist covered the air between us and the Taj making it look like a mirage.
Breakfast was yummy though – Graham had a cheese omelette with toast, while I tried their banana and nutella crepe (pancake) drizzled with honey. While we were having breakfast, we were entertained by a couple of monkeys, one of whom grabbed an orange from another table and decided to eat it in front of us. While we considered it funny, the other table were quite horrified to say the least.
After breakfast we spent a while admiring the view, whatever we could see, and deciding when it would be the best time to visit the Taj. We decided that we had a window of about an hour in the afternoon when the mist would lift giving us the best view possible in this weather.
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After breakfast, we took an auto rickshaw to Agra Fort and spent a couple of hours exploring the palaces, pavilions and mosques inside the complex. Better preserved than the Red Fort in Delhi, it is one of the finest Muhgal forts in India. Some of the palaces inside are really opulent, especially the area that Shah Jahan was imprisoned in for 8 years before died. We loved Nagina Masjid which we believe to be one of the smallest and most beautiful mosques we have seen.
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We also took an auto rickshaw over to the east bank of the Yamuna river to visit the Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, who was the Wazir (Chief Minister) during Jahangir’s rule. This tomb set a precedence for Mughal tomb architecture in India, being the first Mughal structure built completely from marble, the first to make extensive use of pietra dura and the first tomb to be built on the banks of the Yamuna, which until then had been a sequence of beautiful pleasure gardens.
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For lunch, we visited Joney’s Place Agra in the Taj Ganj area for some good food. Jayfellas (toasted sandwiches) and malai koftas with chapattis washed down with a banana lassi was the order of the day. Although it’s a bit squashed inside the small restaurant, the food is good and the prices are even better. It’s no wonder it’s packed with tourists.
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At about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, we walked into the Taj Mahal with bated breath. Was it going to be as beautiful and stunning as everyone had told us? Was the mist going to lift for us to have a clear view of this wonder of the world? Was it going to take our breath away when we saw it?
YES, YES and YES. We were in awe as we stood in front of the Taj and looked at it for the very first time. The mist lifted for about an hour so we could take our pictures at the same place Princess Di did several years ago. We walked up to the Taj and inspected the marble and the semi-precious stones and yes it was translucent and shimmered against the light. Everything about the Taj was perfect – the archiecture, the grand scale, the beauty of the marble and the semi-precious stones, the pietra dura art work, the charbagh garden with fountain in the middle. We wished we could stay here for hours longer but unfortunately, the mist returned about an hour later making visibility low again.
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In the evening, we took an auto rickshaw to Sikandra to visit the Tomb of Akbar the Great. Personally, he was my favourite Mughal ruler when I studied Indian history in school as he was a great ruler of India and the economy flourished under his guardianship. His tomb is very different to the tombs of other Mughal rulers, in that it has intricate geometric patterns which is distinctly different from the floral designs seen in other Mughal tombs. The ceiling inside the tomb chamber is spectacular.
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On the way to the train station, we stopped at Mama Chicken Agra for an early dinner. We had seen this roadside restaurant the day before and the kebabs hanging in front of the shop looked really tasty so we decided to try them and we were not disappointed. I can go so far to say that they are some of the best kebabs I have had in India and the price makes it really good value too.
There are two reasons why I would love to return to Agra – firstly, to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise and sunset (when there is no mist!) and secondly, to eat kebabs at Mama Chicken. Let’s hope I get the chance.
