Up soon after 5am found a ricksahaw and set off to New Delhi Station for the 6.15am train to Agra. The vista which was rather nondescript could hardly be seen through the very dirty windows, but time passed with breakfast and bottles of water being served, we arrived at 8.10am. Hurrah there was the card with our names being waved from the crowd, we were then whisked of to Tourist Rest House by a very pleasant rickshaw driver. Although it was early we were able to check in and were offered a choice of two rooms, we chose the very good basic room with tiled floor, bathroom and fan which was spotless, we could walk straight out to the courtyard garden, a cool and green oasis with a couple of small fountains which also served as the restaurant.
After settling in we asked the chatty, friendly owner Anil for advice about visiting Fatehpur Sikri, a place I have read about and wanted to see for many years, he was able to arrange a hire car and we set off for the 40km journey which we enjoyed as our driver pointed out anything he thought might be of interest, the land was was green but quite flat, with a few villages. New to us were the many tiny donkeys being used to carry bricks and other building materials, also more of those huge camels pulling long carts piled high wih all sorts of goods, another sight were the many large herds of buffalo some being driven along the roads or else in fields and by areas of water, they are kept mainly for milk - and are rather beautiful I think.
We arrived at Fatehpur Sikri around mid-day - mad-dogs and Englishmen I said - it was very hot but thank goodness it was also windy. We found a guide and passed through the red sandstone outer walls and up to the city. This Mughal city built by Akbar in around 1570 was abandoned shortly after his death due to water shortages. The complex covers a large area with many sights including three palaces, unfortunately too much for us to see in an afternoon, so we decided to visit Jama Masjid, this mosque is in a huge enclosure which is entered via a wide sweep of steps and through a massive gate which opens into an enormous courtyard - everything is big.
We also visited the beautiful marble tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti, a Sufi holy man who blessed the childless Akbar who shortly afterwards had three sons, childless men and women come here to pray, many enter the building to make offerings of cloth and flowers, they then tie three pieces of coloured thread to the jaalis which surround the tomb, and make their secret wishes - as we did - but I can say it was not to become parents again!
There were other tombs and interesting buildings in this magnificent city. We were sorry to leave this place - another time we would stay overnight in the village. Our driver took us to a truckstop nearby which he said served good food, he was right, we were treated like royalty in a special room on our own where we ate excellent veg and potato curries with paratha, the cold beer was nectar. We were dusty and tired when we arrived back in Agra and went to sleep, we couldn't be bothered to go out so ate in the courtyard, a very nice biryani, tomato salad and chai afterwards we sat out and read, then off to bed so looking forward to tomorrow.
Up soon after 5am found a ricksahaw and set off to New Delhi Station for the 6.15am train to Agra. The vista which was rather nondescript could hardly be seen through the very dirty windows, but time passed with breakfast and bottles of water being served, we arrived at 8.10am. Hurrah there was the card with our names being waved from the crowd, we were then whisked of to Tourist Rest House by a very pleasant rickshaw driver. Although it was early we were able to check in and were offered a choice of two rooms, we chose the very good basic room with tiled floor, bathroom and fan which was spotless, we could walk straight out to the courtyard garden, a cool and green oasis with a couple of small fountains which also served as the restaurant.
After settling in we asked the chatty, friendly owner Anil for advice about visiting Fatehpur Sikri, a place I have read about and wanted to see for many years, he was able to arrange a hire car and we set off for the 40km journey which we enjoyed as our driver pointed out anything he thought might be of interest, the land was was green but quite flat, with a few villages. New to us were the many tiny donkeys being used to carry bricks and other building materials, also more of those huge camels pulling long carts piled high wih all sorts of goods, another sight were the many large herds of buffalo some being driven along the roads or else in fields and by areas of water, they are kept mainly for milk - and are rather beautiful I think.
We arrived at Fatehpur Sikri around mid-day - mad-dogs and Englishmen I said - it was very hot but thank goodness it was also windy. We found a guide and passed through the red sandstone outer walls and up to the city. This Mughal city built by Akbar in around 1570 was abandoned shortly after his death due to water shortages. The complex covers a large area with many sights including three palaces, unfortunately too much for us to see in an afternoon, so we decided to visit Jama Masjid, this mosque is in a huge enclosure which is entered via a wide sweep of steps and through a massive gate which opens into an enormous courtyard - everything is big.
We also visited the beautiful marble tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti, a Sufi holy man who blessed the childless Akbar who shortly afterwards had three sons, childless men and women come here to pray, many enter the building to make offerings of cloth and flowers, they then tie three pieces of coloured thread to the jaalis which surround the tomb, and make their secret wishes - as we did - but I can say it was not to become parents again!
There were other tombs and interesting buildings in this magnificent city. We were sorry to leave this place - another time we would stay overnight in the village. Our driver took us to a truckstop nearby which he said served good food, he was right, we were treated like royalty in a special room on our own where we ate excellent veg and potato curries with paratha, the cold beer was nectar. We were dusty and tired when we arrived back in Agra and went to sleep, we couldn't be bothered to go out so ate in the courtyard, a very nice biryani, tomato salad and chai afterwards we sat out and read, then off to bed so looking forward to tomorrow.
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