Day 2:
The alarm buzzed around 5 AM in the morning and both of us missed it. It was only at 5.30, we woke up and Neetha was kind enough to let me sleep for few more minutes before she got ready. It was only by 6.30 we were out of our room and it was drizzling out. We got into the car which was waiting for us from 5.30. Our driver Harvinder is from Pathankot, Punjab and a staunch supporter of Hinduism :-p , I will tell you why I specifically mentioned this 🙂
The drizzle turned into a heavy rain and it was only around 8.15AM we were able to hit the Yamuna Express Way. The drive was smooth and the weather was pleasant. The greenery along the highway and ripened agri fields in the rain was so scenic. And we were thoroughly enjoying the drive. It’s time for breakfast! We asked our driver to take us to a good dhaba, as we were so sure that the food in the highway Dhabas will always tastes good 🙂 🙂
Our stop is at Shiv Truck Dhaba which is not so big nor so small. Few chairs were placed outside and few tables and chairs inside. As there was no space outside and was raining so badly, we chose to sit inside. While Neetha and I ordered Gobi paratha, our driver chose Aloo paratha. Something is missing, isn’t it? A pleasant rainy morning would be more pleasant with hot Pakoras, isn’t it? 🙂 🙂 We ordered for some pakoras too.
After a heavy breakfast of Gobi paratha with butter and dahi and few pakoras with mint chutney, it’s time to resume our journey. It was around 11.30, we reached Agra, which looked like a higher grade village and a lower grade town. Thanks to the chaotic traffic and the wide range of transport modes like mule-drawn carriages, tuk-tuks (named after the sound these carts make I guess), auto-rickshaws and trucks. It took us almost 30 minutes to reach our destination. Our driver explained us about the various parking lots and instructed us to come back to the same parking lot where he left us.
Though we asked our driver to join us, he simply denied our offer and told us that he is not going to visit a muslim shrine ever :(. Perhaps, you might understand now why I told earlier that he is a staunch supporter of Hinduism 😉 . Soon, we were into the office to get our entry tickets and was followed by a group of guides asking us to hire one. But we simply denied. We bought shoe covers and stuffed them into our pockets and made a move towards the Battery car which carried us to the western gate from where we would be able to enter the Taj.
It stopped raining for a while and we went through the security check soon after we entered the western gate. Our bags were thoroughly checked and we were let in. We started walking towards the inner gate and once we stepped into it, there stood the mighty “Taj – The Crown of Palaces” in front of us.
Stay tuned! 🙂 🙂
Am an aspirant too 