We arrived at my hotel, the Trident (formerly Hilton) around 6.30pm, after about a 5 hour drive, and about 6 hours later than I had planned. All I wanted then was dinner, a shower and bed, having awoken at 4am and done nothing but the most tiring form of travel. Impressions of the Trident – as is reported widely on TripAdvisor, it is a very dated hotel, with rooms in dire need of refreshing, and a most insipid dinner buffet. Whilst probably once a 5 star place, these days, it would struggle to get 3. Undoubtedly friendly staff, but a place that has seen better days.
The next morning, I was picked up at 7am by my driver, and a local guide I had organised. Because petrol cars are not permitted in the zone of the Taj Mahal, we had to switch to a battery powered golf cart to take us up to the entrance. As with most monuments around the world, the locals have the service industry well in hand, and though the local guide makes a big show of “steering you clear” of the trouble spots or the untrustworthy providers, there's obviously a tour cartel in operation. Still, when one is short of time, sometimes it's worth giving in to get the most out of a short time.
One thing that strikes me – it is so large, and so small at the same time. It is an amazing structure externally. Visually, it dominates the landscape and your eye is immediately drawn to the overpowering presence of the central dome. Inside, and you discover that the one and only room of interest (the “upstairs” of the burial crypts of the King and Queen) is about the size of most hotel rooms, and other than the two crypts, there's nothing else there. That's not to distract from the amazing craftsmanship done by the artisans' of centuries ago – I cannot do the beauty and elegance of that work justice in words, and so I won't even try.
The two external main structures, the mosque and the royal guest house, are also impressive structures, though shadowed into insignificance somewhat by the majesty of the Taj. One minor quibble though, which someone detracted from the experience for me. The entrance of the royal guest house has a modern, electronic LED running sign (I couldn't read what it said) – and that one piece of 20th century technology was so out of place.
Was it worth the hassles of getting here? Unequivocally yes. Would I do it by car again next time? Probably not – the time and the dangers make the plane or train much more attractive options for the future.
Returning to DEL was simply the reverse of the trip to AGR, so I won't say anymore about it, except that I survived!!!