Departed London Heathrow for Schiphol. This was my first ever flight and I was setting off for India. Destination Delhi, but no plans thereafter.
From Schiphol first stop Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 34 degrees C. Very humid, droplets condensed on my skin as I walked down the aeroplane steps. Luxurious airport, lit by chandeliers - down the runway - wow. 10:30 local time. Airport cool, everything expensive. Forty five minute stay. Didn't buy anything. Caught a glimpse into 1st class lounge. Fleeting wish to be rich.
Passengers for next leg of flight quite different. Fewer white European faces. More Arabs and Asians. Flight destined for Manilla, with a stop in Karachi and then my stop, Delhi.
Still tired when time to leave comfort of Golf Links. Jane brought me toast and marmalade for breakfast. Set off at 6:30 and miraculously - no auto rickshaws so took a taxi. Rs12/- not bad and a lot cheaper than the rip off trip there from Connaught Place the first morning I arrived.
The station was crowded but I found a seat (wooden with no cushions but not too uncomfortable) on the train which was far less crowded than I expected. I had had visions of people sitting on the roof and hanging out of the windows - but that would come later - this was the express to Agra. Journey time three hours.
The rickshaw now took me across the River Jumna, it was a slow, stop start crawl across the narrow bridge. Axles of oxen cart, traveling in opposite directions became entangled, bringing the already slow traffic, to a noisy, hooting and tooting halt, while the carters pulled, mauled and man handled them free.
Belatedly realising the historical significance of where I had been I looked up a few facts.
Akbar was the third emperor of the Mughal dynasty. He was only 14 years old when he was crowned in 1556. He started to build the mausoleum at Sikandra before his death (1605), but did not finish it. It was completed by his son Jahangir.
Got up about 6:30 and went out about 7:00. Took a Rickshaw into Agra, actually went to the railway station which was useful. The station master changed my Rs 50/- note. Anything over Rs 10/- is useless as no one has any change. I spent an hour wandering the streets which were mostly empty , it being still rather early for the busting trade of the day. I was shocked by the squalor and filth. Rubbish lying everywhere, pigs rummaging. I thought it smelled like sewerage, probably was.
The Taj Mahal was build as the final resting place for Mumtaz Mahal, by her husband Shah Jahan, one of the great Mogul emperors.
The picture below was my first view of the white marble mausoleum and its four minarets, which I was told by my unofficial, self appointed guide who later demanded Rs 25/- for his services, are angled slightly outwards from vertical so that in case of earth quake they will not fall onto the sarcophagus of Mumtaz Mahal. I'm not sure whether that is true. Many experts have written about the design and layout and the history of this great place and I shall not try to repeat them.
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