Global Wanderer

21/3/24

After realising that the Taj Mahal shuts its doors every Friday to allow for Muslim prayers, I was left with little choice but to travel to Agra a mere 7 hours after arriving in Delhi. Departing from Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin station, the Gatimaan Express pulled away at 8:10, and arrived in Agra at 9:40 – travelling at around 160kph, the Gatimaan Express is labelled as one of Indian Railways’ ‘Superfast Express’ services (In Federal Iraq, shared taxis on highways get up to 180kph, making the Gatimaan’s moniker look a little overdressed).

India’s railways use broad gauge tracks, over 1600mm wide, which means that the carriages are actually quite spacious (Chair Class seating is in a 3-2 arrangement). That being said, they are not in fantastic condition – but tickets on Shatabdi and Gatimaan trains include catering, and I was glad to get some breakfast before arriving in Agra.

Waiting for the Gatimaan Express / En-route to Agra

After arriving at exactly 9:50, the train emptied out onto the platform at Agra. Immediately upon exiting the train station, you are swamped by touts wanting to take you to the Taj Mahal. They are very in-your-face, and on top of that, they will lie to you about where to exit the station, how much it actually costs to get there, and how long it will take – if you’re paying more than 100 rupees, you’re being taken for a ride, pardon the pun! I headed across the road, with one particular man following me insisting that his 130 rupee ride was the cheapest. He even continued this routine when another rickshaw driver pulled up next to us, and agreed to 100 rupees to get there!

I was dropped off at the Eastern Gate – it seems that everyone has their own preference as to which entrance is the best, and honestly, unless you are the first person through the gates, I’m not sure it matters a lot – every entrance is crowded!

Once you walk through security, you enter through a gateway, and in front of you is the magnificent Taj Mahal! I must admit, it really has to be seen to be believed – the sheer scale of the complex, the colours, the building itself.

Amazingly, whilst the pathways up to the Taj Mahal alongside the water were completely packed with people, the outskirts of the complex were almost devoid of tourists. Once I’d taken in the structure, including a trip into the mausoleum itself, it was handy to have a place to sit to catch your breath! There’s also a small museum on the western side of the complex, which is worth a walk around!

After my allotted three hours (although I doubt anyone is really checking!), I headed out of the complex from the South Gate. The first 100 metres of street is filled with souvenir stalls and can be quite painful, however once you get past that, you enter into the real streets of Agra. Outside of the Taj, in the winding streets of the city, I didn’t see a single other western tourist! Agra is a very dirty city, a fact which is exacerbated by the contrast seen either side of the Taj Mahal complex’s walls, but it was still worth wandering around for half a day. I did come across some interesting things however, including a large number of Shubman Gill Coca Cola ads, and a man painting the walls of the city’s buildings in preparation for Holi festival.

I was still quite annoyed with the rickshaw drivers at the train station that morning, and so I decided that I’d snub them completely, and walk the 1.5 hours back to the train station! Worth it, in my opinion!

There were no ‘Superfast Express’ services heading back to Delhi at the time I wanted, so I had to settle for a sleeper berth on the Chhattisgarh Express. 3 and a half hours later, I was back in the capital, ready for a good night’s sleep!

The view from my bunk on the Chhattisgarh Express