Galta, Chand Baori & Fatehpur Sikri
The must-sees on the road from Jaipur to Agra
The ride from Jaipur to Agra takes about six hours, but stops are made to visit interesting attractions, which makes the journey more bearable.
The first was the Hindu temple of Galta, known as the monkey temple.
Although the bandars, i.e. the macaques, were characteristic of the temple, it was the baths taken by the believers in a green water pond on a cool winter morning that caught our attention. They were all joyfully going about their ritual, surrounded by the monkeys who asked the visitors for their food ration almost as a demand.
The passage to the temple was also unbelievable, first, a cow corral, then very old buildings, very beautiful. We walked through it feeling as if we were entering another time, a sensation that was heightened by the sound of the typical Hindu music.
We returned to the car and set off on a drive of about an hour to Abhaneri, where the Chand Baori stepwell is located. It was perhaps the most striking stepwell we saw during our trip to India. Very well maintained and guarded, it is extraordinarily large. In the tourist car car park, the faces of the local villagers and the vendors selling their exotic foods was also an attraction, as was the sight of whole families on tractor trailers going -as our driver indicated- to some celebration by the clothes they were wearing. On these more rural roads, our attention was constantly being drawn to scenes of local daily life.
It was another long drive to Fatehpur Sikri, the ancient capital of the Mughal Empire. Legend has it that it was abandoned because of water shortages, which is why it is also known as the ghost city. Founded by the great emperor Akbar, the red sandstone buildings are very well preserved.
Now, to access it, the sacred rules of India apply. As particular as they are hilarious. Under the excuse of having the seal of World Heritage Site and taking care of the environment, cars are forbidden there, so you have to take some shabby buses that take you up to the entrance gate, after -obviously- buying round-trip tickets.
As with all the ticket booths at the monuments, there are plenty of stalls selling their wares to tourists. By this stage of the trip, patience was a little low, so we opted to adopt mechanisms to avoid them, such as pretending we were on the phone or going very quickly to say we were running late. It sounds particularly unfriendly but we won't deny that - at times - it was tiring to be crowded by vendors.
Right next to the huge complex is the Jama Masjid, a large mosque housing the tomb of Sufi saint Salim Chisti, built in white marble with Persian and Hindu elements. To enter, you obviously have to remove your shoes. You pass through the Buland Darwaza, an impressive entrance gate over fifty metres high, tall and beautiful.
On the way out, an unhappy event took place. Our driver declared himself hungry so he made an unscheduled stop at a hotel and told us it would take a few minutes, which stretched on for over 45 minutes. All this time we felt uncomfortable and even unsafe. It was a place for locals only. No one spoke English there and we were stared at during the wait, and even a trinket seller became insistent. When he returned, Mahindra sensed our annoyance and silence reigned all the way to Agra. Although we explained the situation to Helena of Black Pepper Tour the next day, we didn't feel that our complaint was taken seriously.
Beyond the bad time, and arriving well after sunset as we had planned, the day's visits were not to be missed.