In any case, after fighting off a herd of tuk-tuk drivers, we four loaded into one of these vehicles (fig 1, 2) with all our bags and raced off to Tourists Rest House, which proved to be a great respite from what is truly not a spectacular place to be.
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Though that could just be my embittered perspective after what can only be described as a "special" trip.
The day we arrived was clear and sunny. After settling our rooms (600 rupees per night), we loaded into a taxi and headed out to Fatehpur Sikri, built by Mughal King Akbar in the late 1500's. It was meant to be established as a town, his seat of power, but by 1590 he'd already abandoned the site, either due to lack of water to maintain a city, or to further his war campaigns. This walled city is really lovely, and once you again shake off the masses of children trying to sell to or beg from you, Sheikh men screaming at you that you are defiling the tomb of Salim Chisthi just by looking at it, and unwanted guides talking at you then demanding payment, the architecture of the place is ornate, the various wives' palaces are spacious and breezy, and the view is pastoral. A lovely afternoon all-in-all.
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We returned home for snacks in the courtyard of the hotel, which is draped in Christmas lights and very green and discussed the plan: awaken before dawn, tuk-tuk to the West gate of the Taj, get in at 7am to see the "spectacular sunrise against the Taj Mahal's facade," linger as the sun rises in the sky and generally appreciate it's unique beauty.
Here's how that turned out: woke before dawn, tuk-tuk'd to the South gate where driver told us to shop in his friend's store, refused and insisted on going to the right gate, waited in ticket line until 7am, as employees decided not to open at Lonely Planet's reported 6am time, re-queued at the actual West gate, were let in about 8am, realized the fog was not letting up, could not see the sun rise at all, could not see the Taj Mahal itself from farther than ten feet away, perpetually being followed by a single Indian man at about 5 paces, waited and waited in the cold fog until 10am, gave up and left.
There it is! The Taj Mahal! What, you can't see it?
I was in a particularly sour mood, having traveled 8,000 miles to see this Mahal, amongst other things, having paid $15 to do so and not actually having seen it. I almost declined to continue on to the Red Fort, afraid I would poison everyone else's day, but I'm glad I persevered, because the Red Fort was both beautiful and comforting. As we entered I felt at home, and I continue to be surprised at how similar many Indian sites are to those I lived with in Sevilla, Spain. I always assumed it was an African Islamic aesthetic that colored so many Spanish sites, but it is truly seated in Middle-Eastern Islamic origin. Perhaps the distinction isn't so great, at the end of the day.
The fog did not let up over the course of the day, but the sun did warm up the town. And when we left Agra early on December 20, 2011, the same thick fog was rolling through the streets. In fact, our train back to Delhi was delayed, a fact we didn't realize when we hopped on the WRONG train at 6:30am, which itself was three hours behind due to fog. When that train pulled in to Mathura at 8:30am, we were forced off, and upon realizing how late our real train would be, we decided to splash out on a taxi to Delhi airport, so we wouldn't miss our flight to Aurangabad.
After about twelve taxi drivers fought it out for our fare, including physically, we started off through the thick as mud fog for Delhi. Our driver was excellent, at the end of the day, because he wasn't terrified of not being able to see anything beyond the front of his own car, and still managed to get us there in 3 hours. Of course all the rushing was for naught, since the fog was covering Delhi as well and our flight was delayed just under 2 hours.
View out the windshield on the way to Delhi.
Arriving in Aurangabad was all the more sweet, therefore, as the weather was balmy, the night was clear, and we had arranged a driver in advance to take us 2 hours out to Ajanta. So to recap my day of December 20th: 2 hour wrong train ride, 3 hour terrifying taxi ride, 4 hours waiting in an airport, 1.5 hours on a plane and 2 more hours in a taxi. Yes.
Anyway, we are referring to Agra as "The city that shall not be named" heretofore. My singular tip for the Taj Mahal would be this: check the weather before you commit to your dates. The hotel owner told us this weather was unusual, but it ended up lasting about four days. Perhaps secondly I would suggest just doing a day trip to Agra from Delhi and not staying there at all.
