Inda Day 6: Agra

There is nothing quite like waking up, walking a few blocks away from one's hotel, and turning the corner to see the Taj Mahal. Well, actually we had to avoid more than a few cows and hawkers-but you get the point. If you've never heard of Agra, that's fine, neither had I before opening Lonely Planet India. It might as well be called Taj Mahal town, because that's about the only reason it's more than just some incredibly important historical buildings. To be honest, it's not much more than that.

As you may have predicted, the Taj Mahal was absolutely stunning, magnificent, gorgeous, but most of all, was much bigger in person than it looks in any pictures. We spent more than enough time strolling around the grounds, taking pictures, and admiring its splendor. I am actually surprised that there is any marble left for countertops of the rich and famous, as I think the Taj Mahal may have used it all up. Just spending the morning walking around it made the trip to Agra worth it in itself. I don't really see any need to write much more, as the pictures speak for itself. Except maybe to reiterate just how big and impressive it is in person. Big. Impressive.

We made the short walk down the road to the Agra Fort-despite millions of auto-rickshaw, pony, and camel carriage rides offered to us. Agra Fort, in any other city, would be the main draw, but unfortunately it's down the road from the granddaddy of them all. It is a combination of 15th-16th century fort and 17th century palaces on the inside. It and the Taj Mahal are products of the Mughal empire. Most striking to me was a very adept used of natural light in many of the palace rooms. Thus made for some great contrast of dark and light, and maybe if I was at all skilled in photography I could share it with you. Like the Red Fort in Delhi (maybe because it was built during the same empire) the Agra fort contrasted the tough burnt red clay of the fort with the smooth white marble of the interior palaces quite well.

Having been abnormally efficient and early in our sightseeing for the day, we spent the afternoon on our hotel's rooftop drinking beer and writing postcards/journaling. An odd occurrence, that would become commonplace in India was the waiter's request that we put our beers on the ground. Beer was also not on the menu, but many kinds were available upon a simple inquiry. India is quite a teetotaler country, and it seemed that many restaurants maybe did not have the proper license-or just generally didn't want to be seen serving alcohol. It was pretty cool to sit there writing postcards with the with the southern gate of the Taj Mahal in clear view.

In case it isn't clear, in lieu of the amazing historical sites, Agra was a pretty rough city. It displayed some of the following Indian attributes quite prolifically. Trash/litter is everywhere in India. (Remember I am coming from China-a developing and dirty country). Yet, I was still amazed at the amount of litter covering most of India. One of the causes of this situation was clearly the lack of trash cans in most public places. Museums and historical sites were fine, but the minute we stepped off of the protected grounds, the de facto method of trash disposal was to drop it-wherever that may be.

Another annoying thing about India that was prevalent in Agra was Indian hawkers/touts. Hawkers in India were as abrasive as any I have experienced (or maybe on par with Angkor Wat). The worst part, though, is that they have great English. This is a huge boon in visiting India, but with the hawkers it transforms into a curse. Because they have such good English, they will rejoin any reason you give them for not wanting their product. Normally, a 'no thank you' will work, or if necessary a firm 'no' gets rid of the hawker. Not in India, when I said "no thank you" one hawker responded "can I put a 'no thank you' in my pocket and spend it?" Witty the first time, aggravating the twentieth. I will try to add some perspective to a wealthy traveler complaining about some of the poorest people on earth. I recognize that most of the hawkers lead poor, difficult lives and the prospect of having vacation time to travel internationally is almost non-existent. I know that some of the lure of visiting India is to see the extreme poverty-not to gloat, but for me, just to observe and gain perspective. Nonetheless, I think that annoying, pestering, and insulting tourists is not a good way to attract more of them (and their money) to a local economy. Then again, I wonder if annoying people until they relent is actually a successful way of getting business. After visits to other places in India that can't rely on the Taj Mahal to bring in tourists, I noticed the customer service to be better-and the hawking less confrontational. Clearly showing that obnoxious hawking only works when people will come to your city anyway.