Way to Taj- A jaunt.

Part-2 A Jaunt. 
This is the second part to Way to Taj. This is actually a piece on plan coming to reality as you can see the Image- Happy faces after long drawn-out planning. 

For those who missed the backstory behind a jaunt- Here is the link.👇

Our Way to Taj.

Starting from where we left in Part - 1.

We started our journey by road on Saturday afternoon from Chandigarh. Sitting with my son and sister in back seat of the car and seeing the two men taking charge of road...keeping their eyes on GPS, traffic, idiots driving on roads(I said idiots because of the careless attitude some people have as for them rash driving is fun)... etc... etc... was really enjoyable.

With all those not-so-formal talks and rotating chips packets from back seat to front and the refreshing sound of opening cold drink bottle made the journey riveting. 

Tree break.

We took a little break and enjoyed home cooked aloo puri made by my lovely sister. We punjabi's have great admiration for aloo paranthas and aloo puri specially with pickle... You'll always find either thing in our tiffin while travelling. It not like we don't eat or enjoy at roadside food corner but there is nothing more satisfying than home cooked food. As my mom always says, "home cooked food is always good as it's made with love that makes it scrumptious."

Sitting beneath the shade of a mature tree to enjoy food in open is something we don't do on daily basis. It was a little tree break where we sat and enjoyed little shade and fresh air with moreish food.

Everything till now seemed perfect as someone blew some magical dust direct from the "heaven on earth" as Taj is often quoted, an epitome of divine beauty...

Suddenly in the middle of the journey and scorching heat car's AC went wonky and we had to wait till everything was in place thanks to easily accessible service centres and the GPS... I guess that magical dust was more of Delhi's pollution... Lol...

Delhi...

You get to know that Delhi is nearby... Soon you get to see the dumping site at bypass...and from heaven you are thrown in burning hell...Specially if you are coming from Chandigarh which is highly organised  clean and green city. 

Soon we entered the famous traffic of Delhi which seemed never ending... One thing I like to mention here is the attitude of Delhi people on road. If you find anyone too impatient or aggressive on road check the number and it will be DH... (Delhi registration)... Always in hurry... Well so are HR(Haryana) and PB(Punjab) but DH have something special to standout among rest... HP(Himachal pradesh) is quite patient among the neighbours (exceptions exempted. .. Lol..)

Then from the outskirts soon we were in old Delhi... I could see cow's face next to my window and pedestrian walking faster than our car and those rickshawala's coming from wrong sides, scooters and bikes making their way almost banging in the side view mirror, improper parking,  people unloading material almost in middle of the road, extremely old buildings with wires hanging like some scene in sci-fi movie showing something horribly went wrong, Seeing people in hurry I couldn't figure out either people were loud or fighting.

I fear over crowded is such a small word to describe it. It took hours to cross that half an hour patch. All thanks to GPS that suggested shortest route available to reach the hotel.(Choosing Paharganj hotel is another story-disastrous one). 

We had our share of laughs sitting in a car seeing some of things that we often ignore in our daily lives or may be it seemed fun for seeing them from another perspective...

We- The Victorious Five. 

Standing there at hotel reception felt like someone would come running with garlands of victory... It was quite a journey, a mixed day but we were all hoping for the best... We rushed to the rooms and all jumped upon single bed, we talked, laughed made tea with those mini sachets of milk and sugar provided by hotel which seems like a punishment  for a tea lover specially like my husband. After dinner we made further plans and soon went to sleep in our rooms. 

Sunday- The Funday.

Early morning we were all ready to start another journey. It was fun with family but express way went quite boring for my son... No shops, no people just the running cars and respective commentary of men inside car on overspending vehicles and the accelerating bike sounds... Zoooommmm! which was quite often than usual. 

After a point he was too bored that he finally asked to watch cartoons on YouTube. Thanks to Jio plan that I have 24*7 Internet with me... Otherwise our rather peaceful journey would have turned perilous with a five years active volcano ready to explode...

A little break. 

Stopping by a roadside eatery called Dhaba  is probably one of the best part of any road journey. 

You'll find a wide range of traditional to modern Dhabas and adding to these list come Subway, McDonald's, Starbucks.. etc... etc... which means you can find almost anything from Punjabi-South Indian-Chinese-Italian. You just need to be patient to find one of your choice. 

Our little break from road proved worthy enough as it brought smile on every body's face.

In our house South Indian is second best option after punjabi food so dosa was a big yes... Yes.. but still we had aloo parantha in our platter. 

Me and my sister even tried parantha with sambar and different chutneys and Dosa with Dal makhni, quite unusual mix and match. Best part about family outing to enjoy food is,  you get to try different combo some usual-some unusual, it's like the different moods goes in family, all different but still together.

Soon arrived the thing that we all were craving for  ...Masala Chai(Tea)... Ah! It felt refreshing.  (except my son, who ordered flavoured milk)

Agra... 

By the time we reached Agra, sun came up and it seemed too eager to torrefy us...

Agra city seemed bit disorganised quite similar to other old cities of India. It was crowded with people and vehicles on narrow roads with old buildings and almost invisible signboards...Frankly speaking, my expectations were quite high from the place as it's a city that's regularly visited by VVIPs from across the globe. Thanks God to GPS system that kept us on track. 

We managed to reach the location, it wasn't that difficult either... as soon as our car was parked people came running with offers and bags full of shoe covers to wear inside Taj. Hardly 2 Rs. Cover was offered for 20 which were quite negotiable as we got for Rs 5 pp. Also came the e-rickshaw drivers advising to sit in their rickshaw as if they were the only one. The place was flooded with them. The view was a complete let down.

We found decent seats just for a kilometre or half in exchange of Rs 100.(20 per person, far too costly for such a short distance). We didn't negotiate as we were too eager to avoid the place. 

Then came the ticket counter. There were 1000s of people standing, seeing the crowd I even wished I was some foreign tourist, which meant,  I was ready to pay 1000 Rs instead of 40 just to avoid the ticket counter.(I don't know why we didn't gave e-tickets a thought while planning).

Soon we found some agent who took all the hassle in return for his commission. After thorough checking of us individually and our  bags, we were allowed in.

Worst part, I forgot to take my ID and when the person in ladies line enquired about it, I felt like I was back in school ready to get punished but thankfully my sister handled it and we were allowed in.(So keep your ID handy)

After few minutes of wandering and  an ice cream(for my son) later we were ready to enter through the Gateway.

Gateway

The Great Gate (Darwaza-i rauza) that leads to the gardens surrounding the Taj Mahal is impressive in itself. But getting through the gateway with 100s of people with the cameras hanging up in air blocking the view of Taj was not what I was expecting and when you somehow manage to get through it there are people always asking  you politely with a big smile to step aside for their picture perfect.

Honestly, for a second there I forgot what what we had gone there to see. It took few minutes to adjust... I even cursed myself  for planning such trip on Sunday... Then one thought struck my mind...about crowd...

One best thing to do in crowd is, to be a part of it and do what everyone else is doing or  you must to be ready to face the worst nightmares...

The Taj Mahal.

So we approached near the Taj with a radiant smile, ready to experience great beauty.

You have to be some powerful political leader, diplomat or Prime Minister  of some country to enjoy things not-being-in-crowd... Only they get a privilege to roam around and get clicked at best spots with no random people in background...so it's best to feel part of the crowd.

Taj mahal was truly mesmerising and so  were our pictures together... We clicked Taj from every angle possible...

The bench.

It's mid of March, summer has just arrived few days back and there we were sweltering even in our soft cotton clothes and denims...

Soon I found a bench and asked a gentleman to give us some space to sit as my son was going yanky in heat,  instead of giving little space he left his entire seat for us. 

There we(me and my son) sat sharing bench with some other stranger sipping on all calories and sugar as the only thing allowed inside was plain water and cold drinks, no eatables and my son was craving for ice cream at least he was vocal about it unlike all of us...

But the best part about the bench was the tranquil gaze of the Taj Mahal. It might not be a perfect angle but I guess it gave us something that other places didn't: Quite Time - Time to admire the beauty,  Time away from people and cameras...

We were back on the path facing the enormous dome.

The word grandeur seemed so small to describe it, for us it was a dwarf like experience. Our appreciation deepened as we approached near.

After few hours of wandering, numerous selfies, photographs and spending quite time on bench, admiring the beauty and up close and personal with the tomb there we were trying to figure out that perfect moment to bid adieu to the world's most iconic monument of love. 

Honestly it wasn't easy to say goodbye but we knew it meant just going away and not forgetting. 

Symbol of Love or Cruelty( discussed in previous blog, link attached in the beginning ), I don't know what to say on this but One thing I am sure of is that its worth a visit because of its architectural ingenuity and creativity. 

New experience. 

We were standing to get in e-rickshaw when my husband came up with a man who made us follow him towards horse-cart. We all were excited to sit on tonga(horse-cart) as they aren't any in Chandigarh... and I believe it was probably our very first tonga ride. When you get to experience new thing in life is part of you weather good or bad as it leaves a mark on the soul. 

Spoilers are part of our life now. My son started crying seeing the horse cart. (He is afraid to try new things for the very first time). So he insisted on going in e-rickshaw or rather cover the distance on feet. We had to drag him in and hold him tight because  he tried to wrestle and jump out from the seat and soon his fear vanished and he too was enjoying that two to three minutes ride... (same price as e-rickshaw but definitely more satisfying).

Intermission. 

We were back in our rooms sitting in front of television watching cartoons (all we see is cartoons when my son is with us not because we want to but we are left with no option) seeing our pictures was like pressing the rewind button of life...

After litres of lemon sodas for us and  ice cream for my son we decided to have snacks instead of proper lunch so we had Pav bhaji and some chow mein...

After a repose we were ready to visit our next destination as decided--Agra fort.

Agra Fort. 

Agra fort is UNESCO World heritage site but parking is just like a war zone completely disorganised, on road parking.

Entry inside the Fort was like piece of cake, literally but guides kept hanging around with offers even after we crossed the main gate. We weren't interested in getting guide neither at Taj nor here as there is nothing that Google or Wikipedia doesn't knows but for that you need to do your homework in advance.

Inside Fort, we found a balcony with the view of Taj Mahal. Now the grandeur Taj was so minuscule. Agra fort is a place where Shah Jahan was deposed and restrained by his son Aurangzeb. We just got to experience what it felt like seeing Taj up close to far across the distance in one single day...

Then was the Garden of grapes or Angoori bagh that lured our attention, a part of the fort incredibly well maintained and pleasure to look at...

Our Journey came to an end with quite and peaceful Diwan-e-am or Hall of public audience a complete different scenario what quite possibly had been back then when it was used by emperors...

View of sunset was for me cherry on the cake... (I just love to watch sunset) 

The best part about Taj Mahal and Agra Fort was the security and cleanliness... Tight security and No litter,  and...I literally mean it...not even a single piece of waste...which is a big thumps up...

Hat and water and not to forget ID proof is one must have... 

To have a captivating experience I would definitely recommend you to avoid weekends.

Our Agra tour might have ended but not the fun because it was time to get back to Delhi and join rest of the Family...And be part of the marriage ceremony...

So for us Fun continued...

Wish the same for everyone- 
"Unlimited Fun"... 

Thanks for reading... 


PS: Images are personal and not for use.