A driver arranged through our AirBnB host is set to pick us up at our hotel at 11:00 am to take us to Mathura.  We get a call, he is coming from Mathura and is caught in traffic. Eventually he arrives at noon.

Mathura is the birthplace of Krishna. It is also the epicentre for the Holi celebrations that happen once a year. I am hearing a few conflicting descriptions of what happens at Holi celebrations. One of them is that I hit John with a stick while he throws colours at me. John says that’s another village. I will have to look into this further.

Our driver speaks a minimum of English but as we zip through traffic, he announces a few sights as we pass. He also has some very loud conversations on his phone, stops at the roadside to relieve himself and stops again for a 10 minute tea break. The trip takes about 2.5 hours.

They don’t seem to have many highway comfort stations in India, it seems the roadside is it. Fortunately I don’t need to go. Public urination by men seems quite common. In one day we’ve seen more men standing by the road, backs to traffic, legs apart than we see in a year back home. Likewise in the cities, men urinating against whatever wall is handy is not uncommon at all hours of the day.

 

 

In Mathura we are staying at Manbhavan Apartments, our only AirBnB on this trip. The driver stops at a traffic congested intersection in Mathura where somehow, Bhola, the caretaker of our Airbnb apartment, is standing waiting. The apartment is down another street that cars cannot access. Bhola leads us down the part dirt, part paved street. Bolha, also doesnt speak much English. Parth, the host who owns the apartment, lives in Mumbai but we communicate with him by text. 

The apartment is located across from the Shri Krishna Janamsthan Temple. The apartment has no address but the directions in the listing indicate it’s across from the temple beside the Brijwasi sweet shop. Between the sweet shop and an ATM are parked motorcycles behind which is an open sliding glass door that leads into some kind of medical clinic. We walk in, luggage in tow, passing benches filled with mostly women, children and a few men. They look at us with curiosity. We enter another room with some parked motorcycles and Bhola leads us up several flights of stairs. We arrive at a very large, clean apartment with a living room, dining area, kitchen and two bedrooms, one with two king size beds and a single, the other with a king and single and each with their own bathroom. This place can easily sleep eight or more people. I’m concerned. “Is it only us staying here?”.

“Yes”, Bhola confirms.

I’m relieved. He shows us the huge balcony overlooking the street and temple. It’s a perfect vantage point if the street crowds during Holi become too much for us. Bhola warns us to keep the terrace door closed to keep the monkeys out. In the back we have a small courtyard area that has heavy screen overtop so that we can hang our clothes without the monkeys stealing them. The apartment location has no signage so Bhola must meet all the guests out on the road. 

Bhola leaves and we decide to explore a bit. I do not see any other tourists. I feel a bit like a fish out of water. 

Shopping is no problem because we have a “Modern Departmental Store” a block away.

 

 

We line up to go to the 6:00pm Aarti at the Temple. I realize I need to go through a woman’s entrance and must hand over my cell phone. Not comfortable with that, we cross the street to leave our phones in the apartment. When we go back to the temple, the men’s line has quadrupled but there is no line for women. We don’t know how long it will be for a John to get in and I’m uncomfortable about going in alone through the non-existent women’s line so we go to supper at a restaurant near our hotel and back to the apartment for the night.

 

I am thrilled to find an iron in the apartment. It looks really old and it is heavy as anything. I iron tomorrow’s  Taj outfit. This is the best iron I have ever used. 

 

 

I wake up early. I’m feeling uneasy about touring on our own. I email a few places for guides to take us around to the Holi festivities tomorrow but they are booked. We also contact Parth to see if he knows anyone.

We had already decided that today we would make a second visit to the Taj Mahal in Agra which is just over an hour away from Mathura. Parth organized a driver. What can I say, we can’t get enough of the place and we wanted to see it in the late afternoon in contrast to our first visit at sunrise. 

Before we leave for the Taj Mahal, Bhola shows up and takes us down to the medical clinic. Bhola takes us into an examination room occupied by a doctor and patient. Bhola introduces us to the doctor who we learn is Parth’s father. The father translates for Bhola that we will have a driver or guide to celebrate Holi in both Vrindavan and Mathura tomorrow. He suggests that we may want to watch the celebrations on the actual Holi day from the terrace because it gets crowded and wild. Hopefully the patient didn’t mind the intrusion. 

At noon we leave for the Taj Mahal, today I dress in my kurta (long Indian top with slits) and blue leggings.

 

Just before we enter Agra, in the town of Sikandra, we get a brief glimpse of Akbar’s Mausoleum from the road. This is another beautiful tomb built for the Mughal Emperor Akbar. His grandson is Shah Jahan who commissioned the building of the Taj Mahal. The tomb and surrounding gardens definitely look to be worth a visit- maybe next time!

The Taj Mahal is a mecca for guides, official or not, offering their services. As we drive towards the parking lot a guy on a motorcycle pulls up and asks our driver to pull over. He then offers his services as a guide. We decline. I guess he is trying to beat the flocks of guides waiting for us on foot.

 

 

 Our driver parks and then we head out on foot along the long path that leads to the West Gate of the Taj Mahal. Many touts professing to be guides and flashing identity cards approach us saying that there are line ups of over an hour but they can get us in right away through a VIP entrance. We turn them all down. We had a guide on our first visit so don’t need one this time. Also, we do not trust them. We get to the ticket booth which has separate lines for foreigners and locals. The foreigners line is empty. We walk straight up to buy our tickets and are surprised to learn that today it’s free for women as its International Women’s Day. Bonus! With tickets in hand we quickly go through security and the entry gate. Unlike our first visit there is now a Coronavirus checkpoint to take your temperature. John was checked but not me. 

 

Being free for women today, it is packed with beautiful Indian women in their gorgeous saris and kurtas. Unfortunately, the big white booties that everyone has to wear does not improve the look.

The Taj does not disappoint. The afternoon is perfect, not too hot and not too cold. The sun shines brightly highlighting the Taj’s bone white marble against a cloudless, brilliant blue sky.The heavy scent of jasmine permeates the gardens leading to the Taj and green parrots are constantly overhead, as are the pigeons and some kind of a bird of prey.

There are a lot more people than at sunrise but it is still awesome. Again we are inundated with selfie requests but now we are used to being celebrities in our own minds.

We take off our shoes to go into the mosque. My feet get gritty with pigeon poop.

    This visit we have time to visit the small museum to the side of the gardens.