Completing the circle
The original plan was to leave the hotel at 5.45am to see sunrise over the Taj. However, both of us, the driver and the guide all thought this was a rubbish idea, not least because early morning mist was expected!
So instead, we left at 7.00am to visit the ancient fort at Agra, one of three built by the Mughal emperor, the others being the two we had already visited. Exactly why he built each of the forts rather depended upon which guide we spoke to and will be the topic of some research when we get home. However, the summary is that between roughly 1650 and 1720, one family had built three amazing city fortresses and the Taj Mahal. And how are we doing with HS2?
Agra fort was as astounding as the rest. Our guide was very knowledgable and gave us lots of interesting insights, beyond those actually in the guide books. We also had an almost mystical view of the domes and minarets of the distant Taj rising above the early morning river mist. As we left the fort, we encountered a monkey very systematically working it’s way through a litter bin. We thought it quite cute to watch but our guide pointed out that they can be really dangerous and one had killed a man in Jaipur a little while back – apparently if so minded, they have a bite more powerful than a large dog and can go straight for the throat. We left him to his breakfast and went to get ours.
Then it was back to the Taj Mahal for one last look, in much better light than that of yesterday, We spent a while taking a few more photos but mostly just wandering and taking it all in. Inevitably, S finally asked that if (by some miracle) I managed to outlive her, would I build a memorial like that for her? I replied that planning permission might be an issue, but I was sure that I could do something creative with the shed!
Reluctantly, we left the Taj for the road back to Delhi, but not before the now obligatory visit to some sort of craft shop; “Honestly sir, please do not feel any pressure to buy anything” … This one was selling marble in-lays. As usual, there were a couple of blokes with deliberately stone-age looking bits of kit consisting of a few bits of old wood, some string and a spinning thing (the format never varied) and we were asked to believe that these guys (always the sons of ancient trading families) were solely responsible for a showroom – the size of John Lewis – full of stock. The pitch is that “ we don’t sell souvenirs, only genuine furniture items” but when that fails, you end up in another showroom – full of souvenirs. I was having none of it but S wasn’t so cynical and bought a coaster!
We eventually got on our way and to our surprise, found ourselves on a thoroughly modern motorway, with white lines, crash barriers, proper fencing along the side, proper intersections, etc etc, no dogs, cows or any other livestock – and virtually no vehicles! It was quite surreal and threatened to become boring. But we needn’t have worried.
As we approached one of the many toll-booths (hence the lack of traffic) we saw the police extracting a family of seven or eight, including two kids of primary school age, from a car the size of a Ford Focus. Not unusual for India but we presumed that they’d been nicked for over-loading. Our driver asked the toll booth chap; “ Not overloading sir, it was because one of the children was driving”!!
This new innovation immediately got our attention and sure enough, we overtook a number of cars with a small child sitting on Dad’s lap and in charge of the steering wheel… I suppose there was a certain logic – a straight, empty road; where better to learn??
It was with a certain relief that we re-entered the chaos of Delhi and its now familiar hazards and hence back to the hotel. We were also relieved that the worst of the smog had now disappeared.
A rush ensued to be ready for dinner, with a major game of ‘S v Hairdryer’, which the hairdryer won and resulted in us going to eat with S having slightly frizzy hair and being somewhat red in the face.
“OH madam”, said the waitress who greeted us, “How do you get those lovely red cheeks?” As you know, S isn’t exactly Mike Tyson but some of the Indian ladies, such as this one, are very petite indeed and with S adopting a very dangerous expression, I felt something akin to panic. Unaware of her peril, the little waitress went on; “ Do you use much blusher? I have to use lots to look as pretty as that”. S was temporarily lost for words, unsure if this was another ‘CLB’ moment or not – but eventually deciding that it might be. Nevertheless, fearing the consequences of the waitress being allowed to ramble on, I hastily steered S away to a free table and yet another curry buffet, whilst wondering what the Hindi was for ‘Quit while your ahead’!