Day 2

Day 2 of the tour started for us at 03:45, when most of our party was awake and waiting to get off at Agra, which was the first destination on our itinerary. I had hardly slept, and could remember the pace of time, having listened to about 40 songs on my iPod, and a couple of kids doing their customary wailing. We got off at Agra at about 06:00, where we were greeted by two grumpy TT's who wanted to see everybody's ID cards, and the knowledge that our luggage was quite heavy indeed. There was some confusion as some students hadn't brought their ID's along, thanks to lack of proper communication. It was all managed well by Chaitanya, the student who managed most of the tour for us, and our tour guide Junaid, a young and tiny looking man with a squeaky voice like that of a meek lady. A fine of Rs.1000 was paid and we were soon aboard the bus, called Himala that would take us through most of our journey. As we went around Agra city, i looked around eagerly at the northernmost part of India i had traveled so far. The people spoke friendly hindi, and it was easy to communicate with them. We stopped in front of a gate labeled West gate, Taj Mahal. It was a bit of a shocker, since the gate looked no better than that of Indira Park back home in Hyderabad. Anyway, our bus stopped there and we were asked to carry our 'hand-baggage' with us and follow the guide. He took us through tiny, sewage-lined lanes which prompted some of the girls to start singing the song 'hum kis gali jaa rahe hain!' and we laughed off the initial shock. We stopped at a decrepit hotel and were asked to freshen up. There was no hot water and not enough time for four of us sharing a room to bathe. We managed somehow and in an hour were served breakfast which consisted of ten quarters of aloo parantha and makhkhan (butter). The looks on our faces told our guide that we weren't all that happy with the arrangements. But he assured us that the hotels at Shimla and Manali would be far better, and we weren't going to stay here anyway. So we were then asked to carry our essentials and leave the rest of the luggage there, which, we were promised, would be deposited in the bus. We then followed our guide to the Taj Mahal which was about a minute away from the hotel, and waited in line to set our eyes on India's contribution to the Seven Wonders of the World.
At first sight, the Taj Mahal promises you a sight that you will surely remember for a long time. You'll surely have seen nothing like it. To me it was like standing in front of a picture, perfectly drawn, and I got to photograph it exactly like all the photos I had seen of the beautiful monument. Here's the photo, notwithstanding my amateurish photographic skills:

In contrast to the cold morning, Agra's afternoon reminded us of summer back home. And it was in this heat that we walked out of the Taj and all the 2 km-long way to Agra Fort.
Tired as we were, it didnt stop us from admiring the beauty of the fort. This was the place where all those Mughal emperors, Akbar, Humayun, Babur, Shah Jehan and everyone else one would usually picture as staring out of one's 6th grade history text books, all lived and ruled over their kingdoms. It was where the stories we had learnt by heart as kids had actually unfolded to create what is called history today. Some realisation.
The four of us, Shruti, Shilpa, Siri and I explored the fort right through the populated entrances to the dark corridors. Surprisingly, no one stopped us, and we didnt get lost. We read the names of each of the structures with interest, but the only name i remember is the Pearl Mosque, which was Shah Jehan's private mosque. And of course, the Diwan-e-Khas which had this huge black marble seat, or it might have been a throne. No doubt each of those kings might have made their own mark on the Fort as the generations went by. Some photos:




After Agra Fort, at around 17:00, we were picked up by Himala ( our bus ) and taken to a dhaba for lunch. The food was pretty good, contrary to our beliefs. I guess that's one difference you wont fail to notice while travelling in north India. You dont get good food in dhabas while travelling in south India.
We were then off to Shimla after lunch. The rest of the day was spent in the bus, except for a stop at a dhaba at 23:30. Initially the night took a fast pace with games and happy talk floating around, but towards day 3, everyone was all cramped and groggy due to lack of sleep.