Got up early and went to the Agra Cantonment train station, but the only tickets available to Delhi were in the super packed general seating cars. I don’t mind packed trains, but when I have a big backpack to lug around I feel like an asshole bumping into people with it and taking up a bunch of space.

So, we just hopped on an emptier and more expensive sleeper class train with the plan of playing the dumb foreigners if our tickets got checked. Everything was fine until 2 hours later the ticket master came and checked. I played dumb, and we were going to just head to the general car (at this point we were less than an hour away from Delhi so I didn’t mind standing) but the guy wanted us to pay the difference, plus a bribe! After arguing for a bit I finally just told him I had no money, so he gave up and at the next stop we switched to the general car, stood crammed by the car door, and got off at the last stop which was actually one before the one we needed to get off. We then had to wait an hour for another train, and get on that one without any ticket and hope not to get busted again. Luckily, there were no hassles.

[View with PicLens]

After several days of being lazy in Varanasi (at 48 degrees C I couldn’t do much else) and sitting around drinking bottles of Coke and lemon soda, we got train tickets to Agra. The station had a ‘Foreigner Traveler Lounge’ which for me sums up the mind boggling bureaucracy of India quite well: it’s a waiting room, but you’re instructed not to wait, not to look sleepy, not to miss your train, it’s for ‘reservations only’ and there is a big sign than says NO SMOKING, NO PHOTOGRAPHY, DO NOT SIT IDLE.

Anyway, the one and only reason to visit Agra is to see the famous Taj Mahal, the monument of love commissioned by the grieving Mughal emperor in memory of his second wife who died during childbirth. Seeing the Taj was kind of a last minute thing for me; I never really planned it, but figured it’s on the way to Delhi where we’ll be flying out so we might as well. I guess I’m not much of a fan of temples or palaces, so I wasn’t all that interested in it. But I’m glad we did make the stop.

If there’s any monument I would recommend seeing in India, it’s the Taj. The intricately carved marble structure is pretty impressive, especially when you go early in the morning while the sun is still low and before the crowds get there. The courtyard is clean and peaceful, and you can just sit around and take it all in without feeling rushed or bothered (until you’re hungry that is – you can’t bring any food with you and nothing is sold there).

Unfortunately I can’t say the same for the city of Agra, at least in the budget area near the Taj. Our hotel was alright and conveniently a 5 minute walk from it (complete with rooftop restaurant view), but the area is so dirty, polluted, and full of touts and crazed rickshaw drivers that I could not wait to get the hell out.