Hungry for Agra

A 13 hour night train took me from Varanasi to Agra. If the name Agra doesn’t ring any bell to you, Taj Mahal will surely do. Agra is not only known for what is meant to be the world’s most wonderful monument, but also for being a former Indian capital (before British occupation) and for the Agra Fort (the biggest fort in India).

I arrived the city around 6:40 AM on Friday the 5th. I wouldn’t have much time, mainly because I had a booked train to Delhi on the very same day. My idea was to get a tuk tuk and visit the main tourist sites. It didn’t take me long to be fished by an Indian. His name was Ruby (at least that’s how I perceived it) and for 550 rupees he would fulfill all my wishes.more

After I sat in the tuk tuk he told me “Now we get uncle” I was kind of confused “Excuse me? We will get your uncle?” To what he replied “Yes, my uncle. My uncle know city very well, very very well.” And then he gave me this plastic bag filled with photographs and letters from other tourists. I went through a few of them and thought “This ‘uncle’ seems quite a nice guy, judging by what people have written…”

A couple of minutes later we arrived Ruby’s house, where uncle Krishna assumed control of the tuk tuk, said goodbye to his nephew and took me to drink some chai. “So, my friend, what do you want to see first?” His English was fairly good; “I would love to see Taj Mahal” I answered; “But, my friend, Taj is closed on Fridays” (FUCK!!!!!!) man… if that’s not bad Karma… “But, my friend, you can still see Taj, but from the back, do you know what I mean?”, “No, not really…”, “Come, finish your tea, I will show you”

Krishna was 65 and he has been living in Agra for 35 years. He was thinner than me (almost all Indians are thinner than me, I feel kind of fat around here), a heavy smoker and a bloody crazy driver! We rushed through the foggy city streets (it was extremely foggy) and soon we reached a garden. “Now, you enter, you pay 100 rupees and you can see Taj. Take your time, I will be waiting here.” I did has told and soon reached the end of the garden from where I had my first glimpse of this massive symbol of love – the palace was actually built by the emperor to show his love for his wife. I couldn’t have had worst luck, if it wouldn’t be enough to be Friday, it was also extremely foggy and almost impossible to get enough light to get a good picture (I think you can notice it in the photo above)…

“How was it?” Krishna asked, “I couldn’t see much, but seems wonderful!”, “Yes, my friend. Now, I will take you to the Agra Fort”. It was basically like this for the rest of the day. Krishna drove me all around Agra, told me about Barack Obama’s visit to India (Obama is at this very moment in Delhi), about his devotion and respect for Mahatma Gandhi, asked me to translate some German and Spanish tourist letters he had received and (of course) drove me to several souvenir shops where he had commissions. I reached the station on time to make it to Delhi and to find out that I would spend most of my time in the capital, sitting on the toilet…