Mumbai & Agra

I arrived in Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai (try saying that quickly) and promptly got lost. It's an impressive train station built by the British and renamed by the Indians. Locals still refer to it as V.T. which is short for Victoria Terminus. I got into a taxi along with a landscape gardener from Brighton that I met on the train. It was his twelfth time in India. I stuck with him as he seemed to know where he was going. The taxi driver didn't or maybe I just couldn't read a map. Eventually, I found my hotel. It wasn't much to look at but I slept in it so that's all that matters. I did have an issue with the bed as it seemed to have been designed for hobbits.

I got up the next morning and took a walk to the harbour where I got on a ferry to Elephanta Island. It's a place with a series of caves in which there are carvings of Hindu gods. It was strangely dull but I enjoyed the walk to the top of Cannon Hill. I couldn't see much of Mumbai because of the haze but I did see a big cannon. What it was protecting, I don't know. Once I had enough of the heat, I got back on the ferry to the mainland. I spent the afternoon walking through the south part of the city. The breeze off the ocean made the heat bearable. The highlight of my day was walking along Marine Drive as the sun set. It seemed to stretch on forever as it curved from one end of the bay to the other. I ended the day with a delicious pizza.

From Mumbai, I went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and other attractions. The train was late but I didn't mind. What I did mind were the rickshaw-wallahs hassling me to take their auto and not the one beside him. It was the start of a very aggravating two days. There's a pun in there if you're willing to make the effort. I got up the next morning before 7am to see the mausoleum of Mumtaz Mahal. I had barely walked out of my hotel when I was approached by a guy on a cycle-rickshaw who followed me all the way to the ticket office about 1km down the road. Another one followed me all the way back. It was a beautiful morning and I was going to walk whether they liked it or not. I arrived at the gate and was turned back at security for having in my possession: one minature gold Buddha (a birthday present) and one sachet of tomato ketchup from the train. I returned to my hotel, deposited the sacred items in my hotel room and walked back. This time, I got through. I won't waste words with the Taj Mahal. It's amazing. Shame the city that surrounds it couldn't hope to match up. As the weather wasn't too hot, I walked the 2km along the river to Agra Fort. It was complex and engrossing with a great view of the Taj across the river. Shah Jahan, who built the Taj for his wife after she died, was imprisoned by his own son for eight years in Agra Fort. From his cell, he had a great view of his wife's mausoleum but still, to be imprisoned by your power-hungry son is cruel.

I continued my walking tour of Agra by heading into the city center to get a bus to Fatehpur Sikri, an old city about 40km from Agra. I thought the bus ride would take an hour. What I didn't know was that about a million Hindu pilgrims were walking there as well. The bus arrived two and a half hours later. Once I got out of the bustling bazaar and into the old section of the city, things quietened down a little. The evening sun lit up the red sandstone buildings and I forgot about how long it took to get there. The pilgrimage was still going on after the sun set. Where they were going, I don't know. I was going back to Agra as I had another night to spend there. I loved the sights but I hated the city itself. It's smelly, dirty and annoying. Even the food is awful. I came, I saw and vowed never again to set foot in the massively overpopulated state of Uttar Pradesh.