India - Day Four
After breakfast the following day we were picked up by our driver Anil. He is a little crazy because he drives like, what we think of as crazy and unsafe. But in Indian terms he's regarded as a good driver.
First stop of the day to Agra is Chand Baori in Abaneri, one of the oldest baors (stepwell) in Rajasthan. This 20 metre deep well was built in 8th century. This is an impressive structure which also has a temple attached.
From here we travelled to Fatehpur Sikri, a magnificent abandoned Moghul city which was built in 1571. The original city area is interesting because it draws on many different styles of architecture and religious influence. It encompasses Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Seikhism and Buddhism.
This was impressive enough, but the adjoining grand mosque of Jami Masjid was, in my option, mind blowing. The sheer scale and magnificence is hard to take in. There are ancient cloisters that cast tall shadows. It was very hot because we arrived around 2 pm. And we had to walk barefoot throughout the area. The central courtyard was so hot I'm sure you could fry an egg on it! This meant running or walking on the occasional carpets scattered around. I tried to think like a fire walker and calm my mind, but my feet told me to get the hell out of there as fast as possible!
The place also had many hawkers trying to sell you trinkets. Some were very stubborn and refused to take no for an answer. The best way to get rid of them is to just ignore them and keep walking. Making eye contact and talking to them just seemed to encourage them to keep trying even harder!
After this we had a very late lunch around 5pm followed by a one hour drive to Agra.
It’s been a very busy, hot and tiring day and as we arrive at our wonderful, air conditioned hotel, we all just want to shower and relax. We decide to get an early night because we have a 4.30am alarm call tomorrow for our visit to the Taj Mahal to watch the sun come up.