Friday, August 14, 2009

City of Victory?

Next visit was to Fatehpur Sikri, an hour cab ride away from Agra. It means 'City of Victory', ironic because this ancient city (built in 1570 by Mughal emperor Akbar -yes, Hrithik Roshan played him in 'Jodha Akbar'!) was abandoned 14 years later in 1585 because of reasons unknown (maybe because it was in the middle of nowhere and there was no water source?).

Coming out of the Agra district was hell... massive traffic jam every inch of the road and at every junction...
Of course, these holy cows hog the overtaking lane...:
Once we got out of the built-up areas, we were greeted with field after field of crops:
BLOW HORN!:
The beginnings of the ruins:
We had to alight from the cab and take a bus to the old city compounds. Ignore all the touts there who claim to give free-of-charge guided tours (but later take you to their shops nearby to coerce you into buying souvenirs). Only pick guides with those ID tags around their necks at the old city compound if you need a guide. We just depended on our guide book (thanks Lonely Planet!).

The Buland Darwaza (Gate of Magnificience) to the Jama mosque there.
The ruins of Fatehpur Sikri:
I cannot remember the names of the buildings... but hey, enjoy the pictures.
Tired and dehydrated:
Somehow the ruins remind me of Angkor Watt..
I love Lonely Planet!:
More of the compound:
Check out the intricate carvings!:
That is one hell of a pillar!:
Baths maybe? Or a reservoir
Kinda low...:
The ruins on the perimeter:
The side entrance to the Jama Mosque:
The 'Gate of Magnificence' mentioned earlier.
It is indeed magnificent! Being the largest gateway in the world, it towers 53.63 metres high, and a flight of 42 steps greets you before reaching the gate!
We were pretty much shagged after the whole trip... Lien was falling sick. So no Agra Fort... Instead we chilled at the hotel.
We took a train back to Delhi but not before getting our train delayed at Agra.... So we had to stay for at least 4 hours at the train station... pestered by the child beggars there and all of us huddled together to feel 'safer'. It was so bad that a Caucasian couple actually inched closer to us before joining our 'huddle' to ignore the kids who where scratching us to get our attention. They were a nice couple from Germany on their way back to Delhi on the same train as us. I know, we risk sounding really evil ignoring those kids, but yeah, once you entertain one, many will flock to you and pester you for hours! They are relentless!

And never ever buy bottled water from the shops in the train station! I felt sorry for this handicapped boy (didn't stop him from being quite fiesty with the other kids though) who was crawling on the floor and he asked for my empty bottle. Thinking that they would get some cash for recycling these bottles, I relented and gave him my bottle. Little did I know that what I thought was only half correct!

Yes, they do get cash for the bottles. But not to some recycling company BUT the shopkeepers at the train station! These kids will refill the bottles rom taps at the train station and the shopkeepers buy them from these kids! Yes.... Lien saw them actually filling them up (exactly at 7pm) when he went to the loo! OMG....

Seriously, we felt so sick to our stomachs, we drained the water and crushed the rest of our bottles. Our train finally arrived 4 hours later and we went back to Delhi where we stayed in the international airport's cafe to wait for our morning flight back to Singapore.

I miss Singapore. I surely thought I wouldn't miss India anytime soon then. But now I do. :)

Quick, my visa expires this December!