Agra

Even though we have a wake up call at 4 am, both Ang and I are up and nearly packed before the phone rings. Maybe 10 years from now, the USADA will retest her urine and find out she was doping with sleep aids or energy drinks, but for now, it’s on the books as the earliest I have seen her up and ready to go.

While not always the most glamorous, trains have proven to be reasonably reliable no matter the country, and without exception, the stations provide a pretty unfiltered view of local culture. We’ve seen the movie version of beat up coaches, crammed so full of people they are hanging out the doors, and in this case, I can attest they are a pretty accurate depiction. But $10 gets you an assigned seat in one of the few air-conditioned cars, so even though it is still a little gritty, it is 100 times better than things further back.

This trip is a short two hours, and in theory will give us our first chance to see a bit of life outside the city. Unfortunately, life outside the city is not that pleasant. A thick haze keeps visibility down to several hundred yards, but even that provides plenty of opportunity to see the shanties built up next to the shacks, groups huddled around fires built with burning garbage, and as we get closer to Agra, an increasing number of people squatting down on the next tracks over, gripping the rails with their bare feet while taking a crap, oblivious to the passing train.

Arriving at Agra station, we hire a taxi for the day and drop our bags off at a local hotel. It seems like a bit of overkill, but with a year’s salary worth of electronics tucked inside, leaving them in the trunk of a complete stranger’s car while we wandered around has the potential to end poorly. The wisdom of this decision is reinforced when we pull over to pick up a random passenger, who turns out to be our “guide” for the day.

We’re in Agra really to see one thing – the Taj Mahal. It’s clearly one of the must do’s in India, and another of the man-made wonders we looking forward to ticking off the list. Sadly, the smog has a different idea, and it does take away something from the experience. This shot is from the main gate to the entrance of the compound, and a popular one as the arch nicely frames the Taj (which I assure you is there).

Our guide chatters on in English that is difficult for us to understand, and after watching Slumdog Millionaire, we’re not even sure he is telling the truth anyways, so we ask him to leave us be. Despite the haze, it is a spectacular building, and there is something spiritual about the place that seems better appreciated in silence. Nevertheless, we are still tourists, so try to play our part, taking dozens of pictures from all different angles (none of which do the place justice, and many that will leave us scratching our heads as to why we took them when we get back home), including the obligatory shot to add to our collection of “Ang holding things up”.

Tucked away in the back corner of the site, there is an electronic display with updates on the air quality. It is comforting to see that the level of suspended particulate matter is merely 5 times the recommended limit today. While clearly not healthy for us, the pollution is also taking its toll on the Taj, and like so many of these great places, best to see them while you still can.

The other main attraction in Agra is the Agra Fort, a massive complex built by the Mughals in the 1500’s. Unlike its counterpart in Delhi, a fair sized section of original buildings remain here, giving a glimpse of it how it might have looked in the days of the emperors. We ditch or guide once again, and just enjoy wandering through the grounds on our own.

With only a few hours left before we need to return to the train station (we are booked on the overnight service to Udaipur), we stop for a bit of lunch, and to make our driver happy, at one of the tourist shops, where unsurprisingly, they are having a special sale.

While we make it to the station in plenty of time, our train is nearly an hour behind schedule, giving us additional opportunity to soak in the sights and smells of countless people peeing against the walls and jumping down off the platform to take a dump. The kids running around on the tracks in their bare feet and the beggars tugging on our sleeves don’t seem to mind, nor do the rats feasting on the buffet of garbage, so the discomfort we feel is probably just us being a little oversensitive.

The trip from Agra to Udaipur is 12 hours, and unlike the sleeper cars we were able to book in China and Egypt, on this train they only come with four beds per cabin. There is also a single shared bathroom (a glorified squat hole in the floor to be more precise), so all in all, a fair bit less private then we hoped for. However, where the old Ang may have said “hell no!”, the road warrior version just swabs everything with disinfectant wipes and settles in for some broken sleep, looking forward to a new day in a new city.