India Vlog: Taj Mahal & Fatehpur Sikri!

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February 15, 2015

We were up bright and early again for sunrise at the Taj Mahal!! It was dark when we left the Radisson Blu on foot just after 6:00 am and headed to the East Gate ticket office, which is conveniently located just 500 or so meters from the hotel. You can queue inside, but they don't start selling tickets until 6:30 am. From there we took a bicycle rickshaw to the East Gate for 100 rupees. You can also take a shuttle for free, although we didn't realize this until the return trip!

The East Gate opened at 7:00 am, which is the same time as sunrise. For this reason, it doesn't actually seem possible to watch the sunrise from inside the Taj Mahal. But it's still worth it to get there as soon as the doors open to avoid crowds and enjoy the beautiful morning light. We recommend carrying as little as possible, which will allow you to get through security more quickly! If possible, try not to bring a bag at all. Also, camera stands and selfie sticks are not allowed.

We spent a little over two hours at the Taj. There's A LOT to see! The Taj is stunning from every angle, and we recommend taking your time walking inside and around all four sides. You need to remove your shoes or use shoe covers inside the Taj. You can get free shoe covers (and a free bottle of water!) at the ticket office. We somehow totally missed this. :/ Fortunately a free shoe cover machine is located right next to the Taj!

After a scrumptious buffet breakfast back at our hotel, we hired a car and driver to take us about an hour outside of Agra to Fatehpur Sikri to see the Dargah Complex and Jodh Bai's Palace. We paid 2,400 rupees for a 4x4 rental and driver for the afternoon, which we split with our friends.

Entrance to Dargah Complex is free. You have to remove your shoes in order to enter, but you can just carry them around with you. Don't believe the touts who say you need to leave them outside and insist that you pay them to watch your shoes! It was just 250 rupees if you have a Taj Mahal admissions ticket for entrance to Jodh Bai's Palace. Dargah Complex was gorgeous, but there are A LOT of touts and hawkers there. The palace is also lovely, and it's much more peaceful!

If you take a private car to Fatehpur Sikir, then make sure your driver parks the car and drops you off at the Gulistan Tourist Complex, which costs 80 rupees per vehicle. From there you can take a free shuttle to the Dargah Complex. Our driver was a bit sneaky and took us to an abandoned lot where tour guides were waiting. They tried to convince us that a guide is absolutely necessary. After 15 minutes of telling them we didn't want a guide, we managed to get away in a rickshaw for 150 rupees to the complex.

Alas it was time to say goodbye to Agra as well as Uttar Pradesh Province. That evening we boarded a train at Agra Fort Railway Station bound for Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan Province!

As always, thank you for watching!!

Happy travels!! :D

MUSIC:
Tu Muskura - Yuvraj
Tujhe Bhula Diya - Anjaana Anjaani
Sohni Lagdi - DJ Hans