Agre*

I am not sure when I put the alarm off. S is of the opinion, I had switched it off before it was time. I am not entirely sure. I might have turned it off after a couple of rings and dozed off again. We were marginally late. The road leading up to the highway was severely clogged with cars trying to head towards every random direction. We decided upon a longer route which avoided the frustration of being stranded early on a long journey.

It wasn't really pleasant until we were well across the border because rains the night before had left far too many puddles with tyre-tracks spreading the mud all over. After a couple of toll-roads, it got smoother and we were able to maintain a steady pace. The shabby villages around the border were gradually replaced by mustard fields. Trembling yellow buds stretched onto the horizon against a blue sky. As we saw the miles dissolving and Agra getting nearer, we heaved a sigh of relief that we had sufficient time on our hands to stretch our itinerary a little. The relief was short-lived when we got a taste of the traffic at the mouth of the city. It seemed like a norm to take the wrong side of the road, which compounded everyone's delays. Policemen with hair dyed orange tried making occasional trips through the chaos blowing sirens but to no avail. A lot of metal tuk-tuks (auto-rickshaws) were packed in with sacks and men. Trucks with bellies bloated by sacks of grain turning them twice their size and bullock and horse carts thrown in, threw the traffic into absolute disarray. It is unfortunate that the frequented route from Delhi to Agra culminates without grace. Makes for a very poor impression of the country for many travellers for whom Agra is one of the first destinations.

We quelled our hunger and exhaustion with a neat three course meal with the sun trickling delicately through cane shades. Agra fort was when the profusion of shutter clicks began. The famous monuments have a lot of tourists, far too many for comfort, and each of us wants our preferred vantage points for photographs. So quite often, we're waiting almost in a queue for someone to be done with their clicking. The fort isn't a place that allows you to just be. Silence is a distant dream. Wonder what the emperors would have felt had they known what their homes, their parliaments, their forts would turn into, centuries later. In queues for tickets, everyone's impatient to try and stick their hands through first. Hawkers, guides and touts are relentless. It's interesting that even the Wikitravel link on Agra points out what to "beware" and it is a long list. On an unrelated note, the link also has advice on how to expose correctly to get a good photo of the Taj Mahal! Speaking of which, I shot the Taj Mahal from the dying Shah Jahan's room and a few adjoining balconies in a variety of goofy frames. One of them's above, though I think this one is symbolic in a couple of ways. And it looked like a few of the other DSLR-welders decided to follow suit! After all the stories, some incredulous, some awe-inspiring, it got dark.

We did manage to find a fairly good place to stay too. Not having booked in advance, and not requiring anything very fancy to spend few hours of a single night in, it's easy to get good bargains. There's a handicrafts fair which happens in Agra at this time. Having some time on our hands we headed over, only to find the dreaded traffic mess return. We had to pay a large parking fee (five times the standard amount) to park in a field which was like a dirt track all through, dotted with puddles. We took a couple of rounds walking along the length of the road and failed to find anything even remotely interesting. The occasional policemen duo made their rounds through the crowd on tall horses, while the street vendors continued shouting to invite customers. There were loud and obnoxious whistles blowing in every direction that added to the mayhem. A nonchalant and what I shall assume content cow had its neck deep in a bin of garbage for a very long time, oblivious to the noise. I couldn't see what it was that had pulled the crowds in. I also couldn't see why Agra continues to have such poor infrastructure. It is very unimpressive, and often exasperating in a town that makes tonnes of money from tourism. Cash flows out like water the moment one steps into Agra. Not sure any of it goes to the right places.A small example of the system would be, car parks are never near the important monuments. We have to park far away for a hefty fee and avail expensive local transport (a rickshaw, a horse-cart, a tuk-tuk or some shared vehicle) to take us there.

The dinner though, was the worst I have had in a while. Had to return a dish to the kitchen, were consistently served what we did not order and the delays bit into our night's sleep. Good company obliterates petty challenges. And for me, it saved the day.

Alternate shot of the day taken at the Agra Fort.

* This is what the locals seem to call Agra.