Agra... the two-faced city

As a city, Agra definitely has its problems. Of course there is the usual stuff that goes along with poverty…

Open sewers. Read this as too many people who pee and poop all over the ground, against every wall and into every gutter. And when a public restroom is provided, it gets the same treatment!
No waste and rubbish disposal system. Again, too many people who think it is thoroughly acceptable to throw anything and everything on the street, in the drains, gardens and other public places.
And full-on harassment by those who have little or no other option for feeding their families and see us (tourists, foreigners etc) as having plenty to share. Completely understandable, yet undeniably and unfortunately, barking up the wrong tree too.

It’s a city that is tiring. Over-stimulation and exhaustion quickly results from the daily struggle to understand the language (body language mostly), avoid becoming road kill, and perhaps most surprisingly, to stay warm during the coldest temperatures that most can remember here.

It sounds funny, since obviously Colorado gets way colder and we have just left snow and ice, so we should be feeling kind of balmy at 40-50 degrees. But consider this; In Colorado we have heated homes and we eat inside! Yes, that’s right… no heat here and the one portable heater we managed to con out of our hotel kept blowing the fuse in our room… which has no windows and more than enough other scheduled and unscheduled power cuts. I could say its really hard to dress and get ready in pitch black, but the truth is, with no hot water (which is dependent on the electricity) I’m having trouble finding the motivation to change clothes anyway. Besides, like most things, filth is relative and I’m still doing ok in India!!!
As for the eating outside thing. I have no explanation, except that perhaps in order to capitalize on the stunning view of the Taj Mahal from the top of many of the buildings, or maybe to rise above the smell of street life, many (or all) of the restaurants in our adopted ‘hood were indeed outside or at least were missing vital walls and doors. And I am getting a much better understanding as to why the women mostly cover their heads here. It may have more to do with staying warm than being modest I suspect.

Agra Fort... a place to imprison thy father, after he annoys you, and of course after he has built the Taj too.

This is what a monk looks like when he is impressed with the Agra Fort. (And in all fairness it's also what he looks like at the time he is suffering from in-your-face-cell-phone monk photography!)

So why did we come here? The Taj of course! And despite a foggy start to the day, we had an awe inspiring time wandering the grounds and taking in one of the worlds most breathtaking sights. On top of it all, we both seemed to have cemented ourselves as the “go to photographers” of the Agra sights - as voted by Indian and foreign couples alike. Yay us!

The view from the restaurant atop of our hotel.

What we came to see!

Just so you know… these pics don’t even come close to doing it justice.