Woolly says – There is nothing better than arriving in front a building that looks just how it should, Agra Fort looked every inch as though it had been built to defend with its huge long double rampart walls, moat and turrets. Completed in 1573 it had over 500 buildings to house the royalty, officials and harem of 5000, it must have been a busy place to live in. With so much to investigate I urged the women to hurry as I galloped through the huge sandstone gate and into the fort proper. We were greeted by an expense of green grass and a large palace, Jo had spotted a large vessel and I went over to see what it might be, the Angoori Bath had been found in 1843 and brought to the site, it resembled a over large teacup with some decorations on the rim and what looked almost like a handle on the side, the ultimate hot tub of the 1800’s. The Jahangiri mahal looked far more interesting and having admired the beautiful carvings on it’s exterior I wandered through the entrance hall and into a courtyard which has two open columned area on each side, the intricate signs were wonderful and although it took a few patient minutes of waiting for people to move out of shot it was worth it to get the pictures we wanted.
The area was swarming with people and having taken a quick snap of a strange shaped hole in the centre of the courtyard we moved from the warm red tones into a starkly white building.
Woolly says – The Shahjahani Mahal which had been added to the Palace area in 1628 was a feast of marble, with it’s terrace that gave views towards the Taj, a spot that the imprisoned ruler, Shah Jaham, had once stood looking at his creation and being unable to see it in person. The rooms walls had designs carved into the walls of different shapes and sizes and with the wonderful view over the gardens it must have been a rather pleasant place to enjoy. Having taken in the carving of the audience hall and padded around the gardens we found an archway that led us to some more delights, the Palace of Mirrors was closed to the public, but we did our best to peer into the fenced off area, enough to see little twinkles of light anyway. It was then that I spied a wonderous terrace with delicate decoration and thin pillars that took in a wonderful view across the river and towards the Iconic landmark, each part of the smaller palace had been lovingly produced, it was a wonder to behold.
Taking pictures of the interior had been easy trying to get one of the outside proved impossible as we seemed to be following a large tour group.
Woolly says – As the tour guide paused and started his spiel I trotted forwards in the hope of arriving before them, having dashed along a white corridor I came to a sudden holt in front of a doorway which was just open, temptation was to much and my need to see what was behind overwhelmed me, I could hear the tour getting closer so having glanced left and right I hurried inside. The Nagina Masjid had been completed in 1635 and was the private mosque used by Shah Jahan, it was small but beautifully formed with it’s three small domes completing the excellent piece of work. Having taken a couple of pictures the hordes arrived, and we took our escape. Down some steps and into an immense audience hall with high arches and marble floors which were ideal for sliding on, a throne area sat recessed into part of the wall and would have given the rulers a good view of the people who came to the court but also of the gardens and Harringay brickwork that lined the footpaths. A large sandstone gate stood to our right guarded by several soldiers, I tried to see what they were protecting but the mesh fences put paid to that and all I could see where some interesting spires that stood above the height of the gate. It appeared that we had seen everything we were allowed into, as we ambled back to the ticket office, it was a marvellous fort indeed but rather graceful rather than fit for battles, blood and rampages it was more a place to relax and admire the view.
We had enjoyed the fort and having re-joined our driver who had kindly waited we were at a slight loss of what to do next, our driver made the suggestion of going into Old Agra to which we happily agreed.
Woolly says – As we chugged along the highway swerving round the cows and other traffic I imagined the tiny streets of the old city and the opportunity to find some out of the way places, as we pulled up it was an understatement to say I was disappointed. It could be any city street in India down to the stalls selling identical goods, not a quaint alley in sight. We clambered out and decided to do a quick stock up on snacks for our train tonight, five minutes later and we were back in the rickshaw and making our way back to our bags to sit and wait for enough minutes to pass before we had to head to the station.
We found a shady patch to sit in and had ordered some drinks when Zoe opened her phone and found that our train had been cancelled, not just that train but the same one on the following night, laptops came out and silence reigned as we tried to see what could be done.
Woolly says- The trains appeared cancelled or full on the access we could get which was limited, the bus was a mere fifteen hours and we all hesitated at this, given the troubles we have had with toilet stops, but the flights were a ridiculous price and completely out of the question. With no real choice in the matter Jo set about getting us onto a bus, a tense twenty minutes followed, which resulted in defeat as the online bus company wouldn’t accept an international card, only one thing for it, find a tour place and get some help. India like many countries had a multitude of tour companies and having found one a few hundred feet away we sat in a tense silence wondering how we were going to leave Agra, not that we didn’t’ like the city but we had places still to discover. The man at the desk pressed keys and scrolled down screens before muttering the words, ‘your train has been cancelled’, I looked at him, hadn’t those been the first words we had uttered on our arrival. ‘You need to get the person who booked the ticket to get your money back’ he said, Jo smiled and explained that the refund could wait and that we just needed a way of travelling that wouldn’t cost three paws and two tonnes of pistachio’s. The man went quiet and continued to press keys before informing us again ‘Your train has been cancelled and you will need to get the person who booked the ticket to get the refund for you’, I looked at Jo’s clenched jaw.
I smiled at the gentleman wondering if there was another agent close by and asked for the third time for a method of transport, preferably train that would be leaving Agra today or tomorrow, he said ‘So you want to get a refund?’ I tried not to scream and repeated for the last time (we would find someone else) that we would sort the refund out at another time etc etc etc. He started pressing keys again.
Woolly says – I was ready to leave when the man told us that there was a train in the early hours, brilliant we all said in unison, can we book it? The man continued to work on his keyboard for another few minutes before looking up and asking if we would like to book it, I sighed and tried to ignore the words that were trying to come out of my mouth, ‘Yes please, can we book that train for three bunks’, he nodded and went back to work. Five minutes passed, and he asked how many bunks we wanted, I growled, Jo sighed, and Zoe rolled her eyes. Fifteen minutes later and we left him to it….. with a ticket in our names!