Odyssey to Agra — Why I hate sightseeing

India — June 2024

A first trip to India without seeing Taj Mahal? Not an option for me. Ever since I had first seen my grandma’s travel journal about the group tour to South Asia (which she joined with her mother) I could not get the picture of the marble monument out of my head. But the main goal of my own trip is hiking in Himachal Pradesh, and I don’t want to spend too much time in the city heat. So I decide to squeeze in the detour to Agra on my way back to the airport for my return flight to Japan. And here I am, in a auto riksha in Manali, hoping to reach the bus stand in time to leave the northernmost area of Himachal Pradesh on the night bus headed to Delhi. The traffic is dense, like every evening. The driver apologizes profusely and even gets me a cone of cheese puffs from a street vendor as an apology. But of course, as always in India, everything works out in the end and I even have time to take a moment to appreciate the view of the full moon rising behind the snowy mountain peaks.

I drop my big backpack in the trunk of my bus before buying some snacks for the long night ahead. When I get back to the vehicle, the driver is just about to open the door and a few other foreign tourists board alongside me. A Czech couple ends up sitting in front of me and from the first interaction, I can tell that we won’t be best friends. But then, that’s not what I expected of this journey, right? I just need this bus to get me 500 kilometers closer to my destination. Ideally over the course of 11 hours, but I’m also okay with a slightly longer trip. Or so I thought. But then the people in front of me decide to fully recline their seats, and my legroom becomes almost non-existent. For a split second, I wish myself back on the government bus where the seats are fixed, but then I feel the soft wind of the air-con and close my eyes in an attempt to sleep as soon as possible.

As usual on a night bus, I wake up several times when the bus stops to let passengers off or for toilet breaks. But somehow I still feel quite refreshed when we finally arrive at the highway close to the Kashmere Gate bus terminal. Saying “no, thank you” to every tuk-tuk driver in the area, I walk to the nearby metro station to catch a train to the Delhi Railway Station. As soon as I leave the air-conditioned metro building, I immediately want to get back in. Despite the early morning hours, the heat is strong and the air quality bad. But there is no way back now. I’m determined to take the fast train to Agra. So I cross the overpass and follow the station staff’s directions to buy my ticket. The price for the 3-hour journey is higher than I thought, but according to the sales lady, it’s one of the last seats available. So I pay. She then smilingly hands me my ticket with the words: “scheduled departure time is 10.20am, as of now, the train is delayed by 7 hours”. With a forced smile on my face, I accept the paper and proceed to the platform she circled on the ticket. I wait there for 2 hours, alongside many other stranded Indian passengers. At one point, I try to buy 2 bananas, only for the man behind the kiosk to look at me in confusion. Apparently, bananas are only sold by the bunch here. So I get 5 and give the surplus to people asking for food.

At around 10.25am, while checking the train status online, I come across the bus schedule for the trip from Delhi to Agra. The next one is leaving from Kashmere Gate at 11am. For a few minutes, I weigh my romantizied image of an Indian train journey against the harsh truth, which is several hours to be spent in the heat at the station. And at 10.35am, I finally decide to give up and take the bus. So I run across the railway station in an attempt to return the same way I came from a few hours ago. The metro is definitely the fastest (and most reliable) mode of transport in the city. However, the MRT station is now flooded with people and somehow the 2 ticket machines available only accept bookings by WhatsApp — using a local number of course. Facing defeat once again, I hail a tuk-tuk outside the station and ask the driver to get me to Kashmere Gate Bus Terminal as quickly as possible. But despite his speedy driving and me running across yet another overpass, I only arrive at 11.05am. And, for the first time on my 3 week trip, a bus left on time.

I’m now at the point where I just shrug and buy a ticket for the 1pm departure. Then I get some snack from one of the many vendors in the terminal and sit down on the chair closest to the overhead fan. A while later, a young Rajasthani guy takes the seat next to me and after a few minutes strikes up a conversation by asking where I’m going. Silently hoping that he will not be creepy, I reply, and we end up having an interesting conversation. He traveled to Delhi from Bangalore, where he lives, by bus over 3 days(!). This because according to him, trains cannot be trusted and flights are too expensive. Sharing my tiny bit of experience with train travel, I agree and ask for the reason of his trip. He tells me that his girlfriend who lives in Delhi asked him to come visit. Since he couldn’t make it in the past, and it’s her birthday soon, he felt like this was the last chance. She was very excited about him visiting and he ended up staying for a whole week while working remotely. However, his family is not supportive of the relationship at all, since the girl is not from Rajasthan, let alone their town. He’s on the way to visit them now, but he will not be telling them about his stop in Delhi for obvious reasons.

I would love to hear more about his life, but my bus is leaving on time, despite the departure for Jaipur being scheduled for 12pm. Those are the perks of the increasing number of private bus companies, I guess. The hybrid vehicle is air-conditioned, quite cheap and there are more than 5 services running between Delhi and Agra every day in each direction. The bus is half empty and I have the entire last row to myself. And even the USB charging point next to my seat works! Along with the certainty that I will make it to Taj Mahal before returning to Japan, I can finally relax for the first time in a day. I watch the traffic as we leave the bustling city to the east and am pleasantly surprised by the business district with public toilets in the area around Noida. Then we race down the highway south, passing fields and small settlements, and I fall asleep for a good portion of the trip. I’m woken by the brisk halt before we leave the highway, about 1 hour away from Agra. After a 15-minute toilet and snack break at a roadside mall, we are back on track. However, 5 minutes later, the bus suddenly stops under a tree on the leftmost lane. A lady talking on the phone in Hindi runs up to the driver and a moment later, a tuk-tuk pulls up next to the bus. We left behind a man at the service stop…

With all passengers back on board, we finally arrive in Agra at around 4.30pm. After getting off at the roadside bus stop, I confidently walk towards the metro station across the street. A tuk-tuk driver promptly calls out and gestures that it’s not working. Given my bad luck with transportation today, I would not be surprised if it were true. But I’ve also learned not to trust the tuk-tuk drivers here. So I enter the brand-new building of the Agra Fort station, buy the ticket for the 1 stop journey to “Taj Mahal” and go down the escalator to the platform. The next train arrives within 2 minutes and another 3 minutes later I am back out on the streets of Agra, walking to Joey’s Hostel Agra, which has been recommended by my friend and fellow traveler, Sinae. Since it’s Friday, Taj Mahal is closed to the public. So the only point on my to-do list for today is having dinner on the hostel’s rooftop with a view of the palace. But first, I want to take full advantage of my private room and more importantly: the shower. Dressed in fresh clothes, I go up to the rooftop a bit before sunset time and read my book while waiting for the order of mango juice and Paneer Butter Tikka Masala to arrive.

I watch the kids play and fly kites on the flat roofs of the colourful concrete buildings in front of the world heritage monument. There are dogs, cats and monkey running around as well and I can hear the honking of the motorbikes and tuk-tuks in the distance. The air is still hot and feels heavy with humidity. It carries the scents of spices, flowers and wet soil. This is the atmosphere I imagined when reading books like “Shantaram” or watching movies like “Gangubai”. Needless to say, the meal tastes great and once the sun sets, I return to my room, switch on the fan and prepare everything for my early morning excursion. To beat the crowd (& heat) I plan to visit Taj Mahal as soon as the premises open for sunrise, which should be happening around 5.30am. I set my alarm for 4.30am, to give some room for snoozing, and leave the accommodation at around 5am. Luckily, it’s only a short walk to the East Gate. The streets are completely deserted at that time of the day, and it’s still quite dark. But there is no time for fear, I have pictures to take.

As I approach the entrance gates, an employee asks whether I already have my ticket, which I say no to. He then sends me over to another building, where to my surprise, there is no queue at all. I buy my ticket and return to the entrance, where I smoothly pass the electronic gate and security check. I can see only a handful of other tourists, and about the same number of local guides. One of the latter approaches me and offers his services, which I was already prepared for. But just when I want to politely decline, another guide cuts in with “ma’am it’s not necessary, just take pictures on your own”. A bit surprised, I nod and continue on my way to the heart of the historical site. The marble mausoleum. With only few visitors around, I actually manage to take a picture without anyone in it and I can admire the beautiful architecture without being interrupted by too much noise and people around me. I sit down on a bench overlooking the mosque, the former guesthouse made of dark red stone and even Yamuna River. While enjoying the view, I try to remember the pictures I’ve seen in my grandma’s photo album. Despite her trip having taken place over 30 years ago, I still feel like here at Taj Mahal, not much has changed.

Due to the harsh climate, June is generally low-season in India for travellers from overseas. But given the school holidays, there are still quite a lot of domestic tourists visiting Taj Mahal during this time. Luckily, they only start to arrive once the sun is already up and a couple of them even help me to get the mandatory picture. With the temperatures slowly rising, I go on a last walk through the Mughal Gardens, trying to catch different angles of mosque. But by now, there are already quite a lot of visitors, so I end up cutting my visit short and head back to the main street. Here the atmosphere is also completely different from when I entered 2 hours ago. Lots of souvenir shops are selling all kinds of goods with the iconic building’s image on them. I bargain a bit with a vendor for 2 fridge magnets and some postcards and then return to my hostel. Over breakfast – my last Aloo Paratha – I go through the plan for the next hours.

I need to check out by 09.30am to catch the bus back to Delhi at 10am. Once back at Kashmere Gate Bus Terminal, I have to get the metro to the Railway Station, where I need to change to the Airport Express Line. If all goes well, I should arrive at the International Terminal by 2.30pm. That leaves enough time to get changed, check-in and go through security for my flight back to Japan in the late afternoon. The most unpredictable part of the trip is definitely the bus ride from Agra to Delhi. But I already booked the ticket with the same company from yesterday, so I’m quite positive it will work out. Still, only even thinking about it makes me question if sightseeing and taking THAT picture is really worth the efforts of a total of 48 hours of travel. But once again, there is no way back. And so I pack my backpack, get a tuk-tuk to Agra Fort and with the help of the local street vendors find the correct pick up place where the hybrid bus promptly stops at 10am. This time the bus is almost full and I feel for the guy next to me, who has Lassi dripping on his dress shoes because the kid in front of him dropped his drink. 3.5 hours later, we arrive in Delhi and I easily find my way to the airport. I even have time to grab a quick meal before my flight while marveling at the fact that there are actual pigeons inside the departure hall.