Our 5-hour train ride to Agra turned into a 7-hour train ride (apparently a very common thing in India), but we felt we couldn’t go to India and not experience its famous railway system. The other passengers were very curious and friendly since most foreigners opt to ride in the nicer private cabins instead of taking the locals seating as we did. Apparently, one chatty university student explained, most of the curious people crowding to sets near our could indeed speak English, but custom dictated that they weren’t allowed to talk with us because their casts were too low. Such a weird concept for me.
Once in Agra that night, we found a hotel and got some much-needed sleep before heading out to explore the next day. We’d wanted to tour the Taj Mahal first thing in the morning to catch the morning light with the pictures, but the Israeli president just so happened to be touring the Taj that day, so the whole thing was cleared out and there was a firm Jewish kibosh put on our plans.
Instead, we hired a driver and went to see Agra fort. This was where the Mughal Empire was centered until the mid 1600’s and where one of my favorite historical characters, Emperor Akbar of the Mughals, ruled. It was really cool for me to get to see where he would have lived from the saunas to the receiving room and where the library would have been. Chris, on the other hand, found the tame squirrels the highlight of the temple, buying a small bag of seeds so that they would climb all over him, Beauty and the Beast style.
Finally, in the late afternoon, the Israeli president departed and the Taj was reopened. We were afraid that the lines would be horrendous after it being closed all day, but it wasn’t too bad. After getting through the main entry, we were left to explore the beautiful compound and mausoleum in the golden light of sunset. We probably even got better pictures than we would have in the early morning. It was definitely touristy, and parts were very crowded, but even these facts could not take away from its grandeur. It was clear to see why this was a bucket list destination.
After we’d seen most of what there was to see, including the very mashed chest-to-back-to-chest shuffle through the inner portion of the mausoleum, we decided to ditch the crowd as much as is ever possible in India, and grab some dinner at an Indian BBQ restaurant. The food was all amazing and we left absolutely stuffed. It was a good thing too, since little did we know we were about to experience the car ride from hell.
Our driver had “hooked us up” with his uncle who would drive us the 400 miles from Agra to Varanasi overnight in what he told us was a comfortable car with way more room and convenience than the long train ride would provide and get us there in half the time. Call us suckers, but we bought into it. First, his uncle was an hour an a half late which should have been our first clue. Next, as we left, he rolled down the windows. We were absolutely freezing in the back and asked him to roll them up. So began our window/temperature war that lasted the duration of the trip. Next, the fog rolled in and what had seemed like it was going to be an easy 60mph cruise for about 8 hours turned into a 3mph crawl. Did I mention we were still freezing? And the car was small. Much less room than we’d had on the train. There was really no comfortable position at all, so we dozed at best.
At one point, we caught the “uncle” pulling over for a nap when our specific agreement had been that the new driver would be well-rested and able to drive us through the night. Chris stepped in and offered to drive for him if he was too tired, which seemed to scare him enough to stay awake, but still we crawled along through the fog. Finally, 14 hours and only one bathroom break later, we made it to Varanasi. We were so eager to get out of the car we could not say goodbye fast enough, but grabbed our luggage and made a dash for it, determined that we would only ever go with trains or planes for long distance travel in India.
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The Traveling Acrobats 