Welcome to Agra

Welcome to Agra,

The first train ride went well. Train stations can be a bit tricky in foreign countries. But I had enough time to get my bearings and could observe what was written on the other trains and how it matched with the display on the platform. This way, I ended up in the right place and was able to enjoy the train ride.

In Agra, I am staying in a hostel homestay, which are family-run hostels. The atmosphere is great. I make plans with my roommates to go to the small Taj Mahal in the afternoon. Even though it's just the little brother, it's still very interesting, and the setting sun created a lovely ambiance. Soon the question arises about how we want to continue the evening, and we head to a café with a rooftop terrace and a view of the Taj Mahal for a beer. A little later, Moses, our hostel operator, joins us and takes us to a nice restaurant.

I spend most of the next day with two brothers from Mexico. We visit the Red Fort, The Tomb of Akbar, and a Sikh temple called Gurudwara Manji Sahib. The tomb of Akbar is impressive. One could also say that the ruling Mughal of that time liked it grand.
In the Sikh temple, we go through all the stations. We visit the prayer hall and then the dining hall. Here we sit in a row with many other people on the floor. Everyone gets a tray, and gradually people come with small buckets and ladle rice, dal, and chapati onto our plates. We eat with our fingers. Afterwards, everyone rinses their tray and cup in a sort of wash area themselves. You wash your hands again and receive a kind of sweet (a porridge that smells like nuts). Given the pervasive poverty, receiving free food gives a strange feeling to the three of us.