GO FOR TAJ. Review on Agra

I visited Taj, third time the first being in 1973, 1984 and now in 2008, difference being then I didn't realize what taj meant and now only word that I could think of wen I saw it again was WOW AND PERFECT! and that is the only reason why one shuld visit Taj, despite the fact that agra city does not have proper roads, no proper lights at nights, and the nightmarish experience of being chased by touts and everyone trying to sell u stuff at exorbitant prices!

WE went frm delhiby road, it took us about 3 and half hrs we went first to fatehpur sikri, the roads to reach there r small .we had to park the car at the designated parking place, which was a good distance away frm the sikri, we wergreeted by a host of touts offerigto take care of parking fee, entrance fee and so called guided tour of complex. From the parkig we took horsecart and it took a good 10 min to reach there, there wat we saw was sad to reach the complex we had to climb so many stairs almost like second floor, that too huge ones, we asked the guide whether there was some other entrance which he answered in negative, think about it, it is shrine of salim chisti and old people also come to pray, inside also touts reigned supreme, made us buy chadars to b placed at dargah at exorbitant prices by playing on guilt factor! the guide tuned out 2 b a clever guy he did not show us the whole complex by saying that there was nothing else there.it was only wen we came back did we realize that he had not shown us the fort and panch mahal and a whole lot of things which were just on other side of the salim chisti dargah!

FINALLY we left that place and it took us abt 2 hrs from there to reach proper agra,

but we decided to visit taj the next day, and viola the same process repeated itsel, from parkingwe had to take horse cart to reach the entrance, and there we were greeted by serpentine queues!WHY?

COZ it was a sunday, and place being shut down the previous day for the french president SARKOZY( yeah the same one) had come there, and the previous day being friday, entry was closed that day too. so we ended up standing in queue for almost 2 hrs. They do not allow any kind of eatables inside the complek, and police frisking is strict, the only thing they allow is water bottles, believe me u need it!

Entry fee cost abt 20 bucks which is reasonable and abt 970 for foreigners!yeah we ppl love to fleece them. once inside it was ok, u could get your snaps clicked by photographers if u forgot to take your camera.one thing I couldnot understand why they dont allow u take camcorders beyond a particular point? u have to deposit your camcorder with them and they give receipt.

the ordeal begins now, tighten up your shoe laces coz believe me u have 2walk quite a bit to reach the actual monument.once u reach the mausoleum u also want to look at the fabled river that ran beside it but lo behold its not there, just a trickle of water with sea weed!and one thing that stares at your face is the pollution meter thats intstalled next to taj which boldly displays the pollution level, poor shahjahan if he took a look at those levels he wuld come out of the grave with bout of asthma!( one imp thing, dont visit during summer. WHY? coz u have to take your shoes off we n u climb the taj, and marble really gets too hot)

The place desperately needs some sort of crowd management. thankfully the complex houses loo facilities for which they charge abt 2 bucks and foreigners can pee for free!

Anyway next on list was agra fort, (made famous by the movie jodha akbar) its right next to taj, u r not allowed any eatables since that place is crowded with monkeys and if the monkeys spot anything in your hand that closely resemble food, or even plastic bag then only god can save u from those monkeys,

the condition of agra fort is pathetic, smudges all over the walls, people have taken out all the stones that were embedded, and the govt had tried to hide the dirty walls with guess what? white paint! yes u can see the walls painted with white distemper. no restroom facility here. It takes about 3 hrs to take the trip round the fort .

we did manage to find reasonably priced hotel abt 600 bucks a day though it was away from taj, we could do coz of our own car but if u want to stay at some place nearer it will b expensive .

All in all, go to agra for the sake of taj, afterall shahjahan did spend so much money on it that his state became bankrupt after it! let us all visit the place and give something back to the state( just kidding)

Comeon guys, once u look at the taj from that gate, u will forget evrything else, believe me its breathtaking, photographs dont do justice to this enormous monument, u have to be there to feel the impact of it. yes there r plenty of other places to visit besides these but sorry we like most pple were running short of time!

visitng hrs of taj.sunrise2 sunset(6 am-7pm)chargesto view at 6 am r more.abt 110 rs, in day time abt 20. friday closed. agra fort too timings r from sunrise to sunset.