The Taj Mahal...of Dining

To Agra, India -- Day 1

Today was all about the Taj Mahal.  At least, getting to Agra, finding the hotel, and then getting to the monument. 

We didn’t fully realize this morning, just how close the New Delhi train station was to our hotel.  We had no sooner gotten into the tuk-tuk and settled in than the driver came to an abrupt stop at the end of the road.  At least he could have gotten across the five “lanes” of traffic squeezing along this two lane road. Alrighty then.

The train was late, but nothing like the one from Alleppey.  In the meantime, we just spread out “Barcelona” (the large, red mosaic beach “blanket” that we got at in Barcelona, but have now realized was actually made here having spied it’s many brothers and sisters), on the train platform.  The kids attracted some attention as they worked on their math and played with the puzzle game they got on Emirates Air. 

Although the train ride was hot, it moved at a steady pace keeping the air moving. The second we jumped off the train at about 3 p.m. we were “greeted” by tuk-tuk drivers vying for our business.  We picked one who promised a ride for 150 rupees and then followed him out of the station.  At one point, I thought there was going to be a fight, heated words were exchanged as other drivers came up wanting to steal away the business.

Apparently, our hotel was on the east and less crowded side of the Taj Mahal, just a few hundred feet from the ticket office.  We spent practically no time in the hotel since we had read that the Taj is closed to tourists on Friday, so unless we wanted to wait until Saturday, now was our chance.  Plus, the lighting is supposed to be better either early or late in the day.

I was surprised to see that the roadway leading to the monument looked new, paved in red bricks and there were low walls back among the trees.  I suppose it makes sense to spruce things up a little as this has got to be the number one attraction in the entire country.  Two-wheeled, horse-drawn carts lined one side of the roadway waiting for tourists.  We opted for the free, electric powered tram to get the ½ kilometer up the road.

Since I had already seen the Taj Mahal, 20 years ago and didn’t remember it as super impressive, I didn’t have high expectations.  I’m happy to say, unlike the monuments in Delhi, this one did not disappoint.  To complete the full effect, the garden areas in front were green and manicured, the reflecting pools were filled and the white granite bright, as it is now continually cleaned.  The scaffold around one of the minarets detracted a little, but the ones that had been cleaned more recently clearly shone more brightly.  Interestingly, the cleaning method involves rubbing on a mixture of local mud, which apparently is also great for softening skin!

As has often happened, we ended up accepting the services of a guide, Sunny.  Somehow he was able to skirt a few of the lines and he did an admirable job of giving us the facts and making sure we got good views before the sun went down.  We even shuffled into the dark interior around the elaborately decorated, but almost impossible-to-see tomb.

One of the biggest highlights of the day, it turned out, was after the Taj Mahal.  We were all understandably hungry after the train ride and tour.  We hurriedly chose something from the guidebook and piled into a tuk-tuk from the hotel.  Fortunately, as we were zooming along one of the over-crowded main roads, our driver yelled back that the restaurant, Pinch of Spice, was very good.  We decided to take him up on the recommendation and went in.  Wow, neat rows of tables, white table clothes, shining place settings, and a full bar along the back wall.  This was nice.  We hemmed and hawed a little, but after checking out the upstairs buffet and considering the not unreasonable pricing, we settled into a comfortable booth.   The starters began arriving a few minutes later and we were absolutely amazed.  The first item was a caramelized cauliflower that even Dex liked!  Then the various chicken and barbequed paneer (cheese) samples came.  It was absolutely fantastic, perfectly seasoned and the best food we’d had in ages. To celebrate our good fortune, Dex and Kylie had mock pina coladas while Meg and I split a beer.   This was definitely the Taj Majal of dining.