Agra 2, India - Wander the Planet .net

AGRA (CONT.), INDIA

General Info	My Route	Delhi	Jaisalmer	Sam Sand Dunes
Jodhpur	Udaipur	Jojawar	Pushkar	Jaipur
Agra/Taj Mahal	Varanasi	Sarnath	Kolkata	More Photos

back of Taj Mahal at sunrise

So, we walked past the East Gate to the banks of the Yamuna River. We met the same guy that took us over the river at sunset but he tried to charge us 150 Rs more! We talked him down to 20 Rs more than we had paid at sunset the day before and were off across the river.

back of Taj Mahal at sunrise Speakers from nearby Mosques were delivering the morning 'call to prayer' and water buffalo were wading in the shallow waters. Ibises, Spoonbills and Red-wattled Lapwings were also wading along side the water buffalos. It was sooo peaceful! We were about to 'cop a sqaut' when we noticed several men copping a squat for a different reason. Apparently, looking at the Taj in the early morning, while going to the bathroom is the thing to do!

So we surveyed the ground and found a bit without camel, cow, or human feces. About 5:20 the sun started to rise and light up the Taj. It was gorgeous! During every trip, there are several specific moments / experiences where I think that I am the luckiest person in the world (other than just a general feeling that I am so blessed to be able to travel). Well, this was one of them in India (another one was sleeping under the stars during the camel trek)! We stayed across the river for about an hour enjoying the views (not just of the Taj but also of the Red Fort and the Camel Riders).

morning camel The boat man gave us cucumbers from his latest pick and wanted us to eat them. However, they just washed them in the river and we thought we would definitely get Delhi Belly if we ate them. You see, Yamuna is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. The main reasons for this is due to high density of population living in Delhi, the dumping of untreated water and solid waste into it (mostly illegally), the lax attitude of the government and mismanagement of projects focused at cleaning it. When we were on the banks, we saw people arriving with bags of waste and dumping it into the river. Such contrasts! Turn to the right and you see the gorgeous Taj, then turn to your left and you see folks dumping garbage into the river (in addition to the folks dumping er um, you know).

So we took the cucumbers but saved them to wash with bottled water at the hotel. As we were walking back up the path to our hotel, monkeys came out of the bushes running towards us. I yelled "Oh shit we have cucumbers in our hands! Throw them! Throw them! Chalo! Chalo!" Hahhahah we were HELLA scared and threw our cucumbers to the big males. I'm not a fan of monkeys!!! Dang monkeys!

View of Taj from down theYamuna river
View of Taj from down theYamuna river

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