Day 220: Agra

We took the train to Agra, but the ride itself was a bit harrowing. Our original train got cancelled because of an accident, so we scrounged together a new batch that was spread all across a train. By the time we confirmed the train that had just come in was hours we had just enough time to all scramble on before it took off. We were all standing packed into the aisle, unable to move from the crowd, with all of our bags in our hands and on our backs. When things settled down a bit and we just found spots wherever we could, trying to stay in at least small pockets of our group. I ended up sitting on the upper rack above the seats (which was probably intended for luggage) for most of the 5 hour ride. When we finally got to Agra, we almost missed the stop because our guide had told us it was 2 more stops further away and had fallen asleep, so we didn't know to wake him, but in the end we all managed to get off safely.

After dropping our things off we headed to the Agra Fort. In terms of architecture the fort was nice, but not all that different than a few of the other places we'd been, but what set it apart was the anecdotes of the local guide we hired to show us around. The Agra Fort is more of a walled city than a fort, and the defenses are positively James Bond villainesque. The main entranceway is a long ramp which they would roll giant boulders down onto invaders and the gates are built at 90-degree angles from each other so that attacking elephants won't be able to build up speed and charge through all the gates. Best of all is the perimeter defenses. There was a moat, filled with crocodiles, surrounding an outer wall covered in archers, surrounding an open area full of hungry lions and tigers (in alternating sections, so they wouldn't kill each other) before getting to the main fort wall.

One of the more famous inhabitants of the fort was Akbar the Great. Besides being a military genius, he was also took a great interest in philosophy and theology, and was very friendly towards officials of many religions. He had Hindu, Muslim and Catholic wives among his favourites, and built churches/temples for all of them in the grounds. These multiple influences led to some interesting interior art, including things like this design that include the hindu swastika, muslim star and catholic cross.

The fort had a few other surprises, including an albino bat we found tucked away.

After the fort we headed over to the Taj Mahal, which was nearby. It's probably the most iconic building in India, and unfortunately it had gotten progressively more foggy as the afternoon wore on so when we got there the visibility wasn't the best. It was still a gorgeous building, and while there were quite a few people it wasn't as packed as I had expected.

One of the members in our group had been planning to propose to his girlfriend this night, and they had booked a very, very classy hotel to stay in the for the night. After we had received word that the proposal had gone as hoped we snuck over to congratulate them and have some pricey drinks.