Trip to Agra - The Stay (1/2)
I reached my hotel a lil before noon, and there was no parking space. Now, a lil context for what follows. When I was thinking of making this trip, I had gone to several websites, before deciding to use Expedia to book the cheap but comfy room for the one night, for myself. I found the best deal to be a room at Hotel Idea Inn, for price, location and requirements(WiFi and Parking were advertised). And with no advances or cancellation fees till couple of days before the booked dates, I'd booked the room more than 2 weeks in advance.
When I got there, and found it to be located on the main road as advertised, but in an alleyway, with no parking, a panic of poor choice started to rise. So, I persuaded one of the store guys to lemme park for a few mins in front of his shop to sort it out. When I reached the reception and showed them my itinerary and reservation print out for the room, the girl said "I'm sorry sir, we don't have your reservation." As soon as she said it, I felt the bubbling panic surge within me and my throat began to dry, but before I could rant, the senior attendant followed up with "But don't worry sir, its on us, there is a room available, same as you booked, and if you could just finish up the check in procedure, I'll take you to your room." Well, one worry quelled, I asked him about parking my car. Luckily, one of the cars had left leaving room for me to park mine, but it would be tricky. He said he'll be happy to park it for me, and I could take my stuff to the room and he'll get my keys to the room. Both problems resolved, checked-in, car parked, id proof returned(over an hour after takin the room), I could take a brief rest.
The room was what I needed, small but sufficient, two single beds joined to make a double bed, a bathroom with shower, a large TV, plenty of charging points, ambient ceiling lighting, desk and chair in a corner and an almirah.
It was half past noon by this point, and I had planned to stay in my room after 6 PM, which left about 5 and half hours to hang around. I decided to order from the hotel restaurant for lunch, ala carte, to my room. Dal Makhani and Rice, and even then, not recommendable. I then chose to eat elsewhere for dinner. Before lunch however, I decided to roam around the market place right next to the hotel. I noticed one shop called 'Raju's Shoes', which had a clothes stand outside, on which hung a Tee(too dirty to buy) with a cartoon and joke in French. Intrigued, I entered the shop to ask if he had more such tees(hoping in better condition), but he did not. Idle, curious and decisively chatty, I started to ask him about the kind of customers and variety of them that he was familiar with. Of course, with my accent kicking in, he asked where I was from, I decided to talk as stereotypically as possible for a Delhiite(without the swearing ofc). It was through our conversation, I learned something about the hotel I was staying in, learned something about people in urban towns and realized something about Agra.
What I realized or remembered, is that Agra, is the home to one of the 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD!! The Taj Mahal!! I've seen it a few times, and I am always saddened by its current condition and by the way Indian tourists behave there, and by the shitiness of how we maintain it, that I forget just how wondrous and magnificent it truly is. It was when I asked about the variety of nationalities of the people he'd come across and how he knew some greetings and phrases from diverse languages, his answer listed Ukrainians, Vietnamese, Chinese, Scandinavians, Germans, French, Italians and so on. It is truly a shame, how we as a nation and its people, have treated and cared poorly for an international monument, and a treasured heritage.
Also, I learned that my hotel, was previously a rest stop built for and catering only to drivers. However new ownership realized its potential value, and not too long ago, investing significant crores to renovate it, into the not disappointing accommodation it is today for the middle budget traveler(starting at Rs1400 a night, with free wi-fi).What I learned about people in urban towns, was their shared hatred of traffic in metro cities and how they are happier living more peacefully, if less wealthy, in small towns.
Now, I had decided not to visit any of the monuments, or the touristy spots, on this trip. I'd rather explore the town areas nearby. More about that, in the next post.
As always, thanks for reading and feel free to share and leave a comment.
When I got there, and found it to be located on the main road as advertised, but in an alleyway, with no parking, a panic of poor choice started to rise. So, I persuaded one of the store guys to lemme park for a few mins in front of his shop to sort it out. When I reached the reception and showed them my itinerary and reservation print out for the room, the girl said "I'm sorry sir, we don't have your reservation." As soon as she said it, I felt the bubbling panic surge within me and my throat began to dry, but before I could rant, the senior attendant followed up with "But don't worry sir, its on us, there is a room available, same as you booked, and if you could just finish up the check in procedure, I'll take you to your room." Well, one worry quelled, I asked him about parking my car. Luckily, one of the cars had left leaving room for me to park mine, but it would be tricky. He said he'll be happy to park it for me, and I could take my stuff to the room and he'll get my keys to the room. Both problems resolved, checked-in, car parked, id proof returned(over an hour after takin the room), I could take a brief rest.
The room was what I needed, small but sufficient, two single beds joined to make a double bed, a bathroom with shower, a large TV, plenty of charging points, ambient ceiling lighting, desk and chair in a corner and an almirah.
It was half past noon by this point, and I had planned to stay in my room after 6 PM, which left about 5 and half hours to hang around. I decided to order from the hotel restaurant for lunch, ala carte, to my room. Dal Makhani and Rice, and even then, not recommendable. I then chose to eat elsewhere for dinner. Before lunch however, I decided to roam around the market place right next to the hotel. I noticed one shop called 'Raju's Shoes', which had a clothes stand outside, on which hung a Tee(too dirty to buy) with a cartoon and joke in French. Intrigued, I entered the shop to ask if he had more such tees(hoping in better condition), but he did not. Idle, curious and decisively chatty, I started to ask him about the kind of customers and variety of them that he was familiar with. Of course, with my accent kicking in, he asked where I was from, I decided to talk as stereotypically as possible for a Delhiite(without the swearing ofc). It was through our conversation, I learned something about the hotel I was staying in, learned something about people in urban towns and realized something about Agra.
What I realized or remembered, is that Agra, is the home to one of the 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD!! The Taj Mahal!! I've seen it a few times, and I am always saddened by its current condition and by the way Indian tourists behave there, and by the shitiness of how we maintain it, that I forget just how wondrous and magnificent it truly is. It was when I asked about the variety of nationalities of the people he'd come across and how he knew some greetings and phrases from diverse languages, his answer listed Ukrainians, Vietnamese, Chinese, Scandinavians, Germans, French, Italians and so on. It is truly a shame, how we as a nation and its people, have treated and cared poorly for an international monument, and a treasured heritage.
Also, I learned that my hotel, was previously a rest stop built for and catering only to drivers. However new ownership realized its potential value, and not too long ago, investing significant crores to renovate it, into the not disappointing accommodation it is today for the middle budget traveler(starting at Rs1400 a night, with free wi-fi).What I learned about people in urban towns, was their shared hatred of traffic in metro cities and how they are happier living more peacefully, if less wealthy, in small towns.
Now, I had decided not to visit any of the monuments, or the touristy spots, on this trip. I'd rather explore the town areas nearby. More about that, in the next post.
As always, thanks for reading and feel free to share and leave a comment.
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