Part I - Agra Fort and Reaching Fatehpur Sikri
Recently I visited Agra with my whole family including next and next++ generations. I had made hotel bookings well in advance and also booked an Innova taxi that could carry all six of us. However I remained apprehensive because of news of violence against some foreign tourists and huge crowds expected in Agra because of the weekend and Christmas holidays.
Recently I visited Agra with my whole family including next and next++ generations. I had made hotel bookings well in advance and also booked an Innova taxi that could carry all six of us. However I remained apprehensive because of news of violence against some foreign tourists and huge crowds expected in Agra because of the weekend and Christmas holidays.
The journey to Agra on the newly consturcted Lucknow-Agra expressway was pleasant. The expressway is very well constructed and a part of it is an airstrip where fighter jets can land and did land making a big news only a few months ago. Three rest areas for being constructed on either side of the e-way. Though these are still under construction, we did stop over at one for a biobreak. The toilets were sparking clean. As we talked about it, our driver remarked, "Just wait till people actually start using it!"
The toll on the e-way was still in trial phase, and we saved the toll tax both ways. I understand that it is about to be launched in a few days from now.
The toll on the e-way was still in trial phase, and we saved the toll tax both ways. I understand that it is about to be launched in a few days from now.
The journey from Lucknow to Agra is about 4 hours and we reached in early afternoon. We decided to visit the Agra Fort first and then check into the hotel. We had purchased e-tickets in advance from the website of Archiology Survey of India.
There indeed was a huge crowd at the fort. We noticed some people near the ticket window who were scanning the visitors and did look like guides. However none of them approached us. As we entered the premises, we were accosted by a guide who said that he was an ASI approved guide and showed his id to support the claim. He said that his official fees were 685 but he would charge us only 500. Though, he settled for Rs. 400. We asked him to speak English for the sake of the kids who are more at home in that language.
The kids found his English hard to decipher and excused themselves so that they could roam around with me and just read the inscriptions on stone tablets. The guide did not add much value to what we knew and what was available on the inscriptions. The only interesting thing that he told was that 75% of the fort was now in military’s control and off bounds for the public. However he did click lots of pictures for us and that was appreciated.
We stayed back for the light and sound show. We had to wait for a little more than an hour for the English show. The show was terrible. Lights just moved from one area to another without much significance. People got bored and started leaving in the middle of the show. A group of youngsters also raised slogans of “Bharat Mata ki Jai" for no reason except mention of Hindu wives of Mughal Kings. We, too, left before the end and proceeded to the Hotel where we had a good night’s sleep.
The next day we proceeded to Fatehpur Sikri. After exiting Agra, we had to drive on a really bad road which merged into a proper highway a few kilometers ahead. A little before the entrance to the monument our car was stopped. Our driver persisted and finally we were issued a parking ticket for ₹100 and allowed to go past. After 100 meters or so, we cam to the entrance. Our driver tried to bluff his way past the gate by telling the security that we were some VIPs from Lucknow but we asked him to back off. As we stepped down, we were accosted by a person who offered to be our guide for a modest fee of ₹100. The kids immediately rebelled, and we tried to shrug off the guide. However, he persisted and lowered his fee to ₹70! Finally, the offer was taken up and the kids had a pact with me to keep away from the guide and just roam around as they wished.
Later we realized the reason behind the desperately low guide fees, and that would be the subject matter of our next post in the series.
The kids found his English hard to decipher and excused themselves so that they could roam around with me and just read the inscriptions on stone tablets. The guide did not add much value to what we knew and what was available on the inscriptions. The only interesting thing that he told was that 75% of the fort was now in military’s control and off bounds for the public. However he did click lots of pictures for us and that was appreciated.
We stayed back for the light and sound show. We had to wait for a little more than an hour for the English show. The show was terrible. Lights just moved from one area to another without much significance. People got bored and started leaving in the middle of the show. A group of youngsters also raised slogans of “Bharat Mata ki Jai" for no reason except mention of Hindu wives of Mughal Kings. We, too, left before the end and proceeded to the Hotel where we had a good night’s sleep.
The next day we proceeded to Fatehpur Sikri. After exiting Agra, we had to drive on a really bad road which merged into a proper highway a few kilometers ahead. A little before the entrance to the monument our car was stopped. Our driver persisted and finally we were issued a parking ticket for ₹100 and allowed to go past. After 100 meters or so, we cam to the entrance. Our driver tried to bluff his way past the gate by telling the security that we were some VIPs from Lucknow but we asked him to back off. As we stepped down, we were accosted by a person who offered to be our guide for a modest fee of ₹100. The kids immediately rebelled, and we tried to shrug off the guide. However, he persisted and lowered his fee to ₹70! Finally, the offer was taken up and the kids had a pact with me to keep away from the guide and just roam around as they wished.
Later we realized the reason behind the desperately low guide fees, and that would be the subject matter of our next post in the series.
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