A solo trip to Agra

In the month of October, I just came down from Nanital trip and was looking for a trip to historical places like forts and monuments. 

I could not travel too far because I was low in my budget. So the best place came into my mind was Agra as it is just 225 Kms from Bareilly. 

As it was a budget trip so there was not any kind of reservations. 

I took an overnight passenger train from Bareilly which cost me 55/- INR only. 

Day 1 : 

I reached Agra Fort Railway station in the morning at 8AM. When I landed my foot out of the train I saw a beautiful railway station situated between Agra Fort and Jama Masjid. 

Both the buildings was clearly visible from the platform. One is at your left side and another at your right side. 

I moved out from the station and walked few KMs beside Agra fort wall. 

The plan was to check in into a decent hotel. 

So I took a shared auto rickshaw and reached at Taj Nagri. I chose this location due to two reasons, one is that you can easily find number of decent hotels in this locality and another reason is that it was almost near to both Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. 

After throwing my luggage in the hotel room I moved to explore this city of love. 

As per my bucket list, first thing was Agra fort. 

I got a shared auto rickshaw from my hotel to Agra fort which cost me 15/- Only. 

Agra Fort: 

The structure of this fort is vast enough too see from a distant road. 

Entry ticket was 35/- INR only.  

When I entered from very first gate, I saw its architecture and it was just amazing. How beautiful it was built. 

Fort has many historical sites which seems very interesting. 

The view of Taj Mahal from the balcony of the fort was breathtaking. 

It took me around 3 hours to explore the complete fort. I wish I could stay a little more there. 

Jama masjid: 

After Agra fort I walked to Jama masjid which is just at walking distance from here. 

The Jama Masjid is built mainly of red sandstone and white marble that stand as a testimony to the magnificent Mughal architecture. 

It was indeed a peaceful place to sit for a while. 

Nearby Jama Masjid, It is a market where you can find attractive shops of clay pots and craft accessories. 

Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah: 

Just 3 km from Jama Masjid another place was waiting for me.

Tomb of I’timād-ud-Daulah is a Mughal mausoleum. Often described as a “jewel box”, sometimes called the “Baby Taj”, the tomb of I’timād-ud-Daulah is often regarded as a draft of the Taj Mahal. Along with the main building, the structure consists of numerous outbuildings and gardens.

Entry ticket was just 20/- INR. 

It was a small but attractive and peaceful location beside the River Yamuna. 

I spent near about 2 hours sitting there and looking towards Yamuna. 

Mehtab Bagh : 

My next destination was Mehtab bagh which is just 2.5 KMs away from tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah. 

It is famous for the View of Taj Mahal and beautiful sunset. 

I was already late because the ticket counter closes at 5 PM. 

But luckily, I got tickets before closing. 

First thing which I have done after entering into the garden was to run towards the place from where we can see The Taj. 

Believe me It was too beautiful. I just kept looking at it. 

From the same place I experienced the beautiful sunset along with beautiful Taj. 

After sunset, I sat under a tree for a while. 

The chirping of birds was filtering the mind. It was so relaxing atmosphere. 

I was not in the mood to leave this place. But unfortunately, ahh it was already 6PM, the closing time of the garden .

Now It was dark and I decided to walk into the main Market of Agra. So I booked a cab and reached to Sadar Bazar. 

Sadar Bazar: 

Honestly, It was just an ordinary market you can find in any city. 

Two things which are famous in this market are Chaat gali and Original Panchi Petha shop. 

Chaat gali is full with vendors of tasty street food.  

You will find Panchi Petha shop everywhere in Agra. But the original shop is located in this market. 

So after leaving from this market, I completed my day 1 in Agra. 

Let's see what is there in day 2. 

Day 2 : 

So finally, It was the day when I was going to see tha Taj. I was excited enough to wake up early in the morning. 

I left the hotel at 5:30 AM and booked a cab to Taj Mahal entry gate. 

Taj Mahal : 

It was still dark, and the road lights on the way to Taj Mahal gate from Parking was extremely beautiful. If you are coming anytime of the day you are going to miss this beauty. 

Entry tickets was worth 250/- INR only. 

The good thing was that, there were only few tourists at that time and most of them was foreigners. 

So benefit to come at 6 AM is that you are not going to face rush. 

after a tight security check, I entered into the gates. 

When I saw the Taj Mahal from my eyes I was just amazed. I was just looking standing at one place. It was absolutely beautiful. Even I can't describe in words. 

Earlier I estimated 3 hours visit here. But It took me 5 hours to stare at Taj Mahal from every angle. 

Even when I was leaving I was turning again and again towards the Taj. 

I will surely come this place again.

Tomb of Akbar the great: 

At 15 KMs from city centre, a place named Sikandara has a Tomb of Akbar the great. 

You can easily find a public transport to this place. 

The architecture of this place was quite good. 

It was surrounded by large beautiful gardens from all sides. 

Only disappointing thing was that this place just remained a local couple spot more than a historical monument. 

I sat for 1 hour in a peaceful environment and then left the place with a fine smile. 

With this, I completed my Agra trip successfully. 

It was a very wonderful experience to travel solo in Agra. I learned too many things. 

It made me more calm. It gave me enough peace. 

The City of love is indeed beautiful. 

I was not a big Architecture fan but after this trip I am in love with architectures. I will definitely continue my trips to Forts and Monuments. 

Thank you for reading this. 

Hope you liked it. 

Trip to Neelkanth Mahadev Temple at Mahashivratri

It was the month of March. I have decided to plan a one day trip to Neelkanth Mahadev Mandir, near Rishikesh. No doubt the great festival of Hindus, 'Maha Shivratri' was best occasion for this trip.

So my journey to Nilkanth Mahadev Temple started from Bareilly. Train departed from Bareilly at 9:00pm and reached Haridwar Junction at 2:45 am. Now I had two options, either I should wait till the morning and then leave for Rishikesh or do not waste a single minute and try to reach their as soon as possible. So I chose the second option. I bought the ticket for the passenger train departing to Rishikesh at 3:30am.

So it was the day of Mahashivratri, there was too rush in the train. I didn't got the seat so I had to travel by standing near the gate.

I reached at Rishikesh at 5:20am. Now again I had a choice to wait till the sunrise or do not waste a single minute and start exploring in the dark. Now again I chose the second option.

I came out to the station and took an auto to RamJhula. It cost me  only 15 rs.

After reaching at RamJhula taxi stand, I had to walk approximately 400 m. to reach at exactly Ramjhula. When I reached there, what I saw was hard to explain in words. The lighting of bridge was amazing. The whole bridge was shining like gold. Even the Ganga River was shining with its reflection. The whole scenario was incredible.

Ramjhula at 5:45am

I explored the whole surroundings in the dark. Cold winds were blowing. Sounds of temple bells were refreshing the mind. People were bathing at the ghats. Overall It was an peaceful experiences.

Then I decided to walk to the Laxman Jhula which is 2 km from here. I started walking but I rarely saw anyone at that route. Only few locals who were enjoying their morning walk came to see. I was little bit afraid to walk alone in the dark at that road also there were forest like trees at one side of the road. But i didn't change my mind and walked at that road. When I reached at Lakshman Jhula, it was 6:45am. Now there were no more darkness. I enjoyed a lot being there. It was so peaceful i can't explain. Winds were touching my soul. I was standing alone at the middle of the brigde feeling the real me. Also the view form here was amazing. I experienced Sunrise. I saw the reddish colour on the hills due to the effect of sunrise. It was too beautiful to see 😍.

View from RamJhula

View from Lakshman Jhula

After some time I returned to Ram Jhula even I don't wanted to go from there. But unfortunately I had less time so I had to cover more things. When I was returning on the same road, now I could see the tourists going to visit Lakshman Jhula. And then I realised that I made the right decision. Otherwise I had to visit Lakshman Jhula in the rush and may be I could not saw the real beauty which I had experienced.

After that I reached some other ghats. I sat in front of the Parmarth at the other side of the river enjoying the cold winds and peace of river.

After that I headed towards Triveni ghat to get the open bath in the holy river Ganga.

Here at Triveni ghat you can find all the necessary facilities like changing rooms, washrooms and also market is nearby.

I enjoyed the bath in Ganga and did not wanted to come outside the river. I bathed 1 hour there.

Now it was getting late to reach the temple, also the rush was high that day so I had to return as soon as possible.

I returned near RamJhula and enquired about taxis to Neelkanth Temple. The taxi can be hired near Ramjhula. Either you can hire whole taxi it will cost you around 600-700 per side or you can share with other tourist. It will cost you around 100 per side.

I opted to go in sharing. I sat near the driver which was more comfortable as compared to the back seats.

The taxi took around 1.5 hrs to reach at the destination. But due to high rush, there was a long traffic 2km before the temple. So I decided to leave the taxi and reach at the temple by walk.

When I left the taxi it was sunshine outside but after 5-10 mins suddenly clouds came and the light shower began. I underestimated, and thought i will reach the temple before high rain also because there were no place for shelter at the hills, one side high hills and other side the valley. After few minutes, it started hailing. Now i had no other option i had to find a shelter as soon as possible. Fortunately I found a place and I ran towards it. Almost tourists came to shelter so it was full with peoples we can't even move there. Hails continues for 1 hours. Many taxis took the advantages and parked the taxi near the shelter to take back some tourists. Many tourists decided to go back without visiting the temple. But I was not in the mood to return empty hands. As the hails stopped I started to walk again in the rain. After walking some distance I bought a raincoat made up of polythene plastic at 20Rs. It helped me a lot to reach at the temple.

Finally, I reached at the gate of the temple. I bought 'pooja ki thali' from a shop and left my bag and shoes there with assurance of safety.

I reached into the temple and saw a long long queue. I afraid how will I manage to return before time. But somehow I managed to get into the queue from the middle. I was lucky no safety police noticed me. I completed my 'darshan' in 30 minutes which was expected to complete in approximately 3-4 hours if I stand in the queue correctly. Sorry guys, but i do not recommend you to do this. Entering into middle of the queue or breaking the rules can be dangerous for you as the police is to strict there.

After completing 'Darshan' now I was prepared to go back to Rishikesh. I went near the taxi stand of Neelkanth. But due to high rush it was too difficult to get into the taxi. Somehow I managed to get into the taxi, again near the driver. I reached to Rishikesh near RamJhula.

It was a adventurous journey. I experienced many things like hails, rain, high rush, little bit risk and much more. But behind all these I really enjoyed alot.

Now I had to leave for Haridwar so I went to bus stop and took a bus to Haridwar. You can also go with auto-rickshaw.

After reaching Haridwar at 9pm I had dinner and sat near Ganga River at Har Ki Pauri.

Believe me It was so relaxing that my whole day fatigue disappeared.

Har ki Pauri, Haridwar

Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar

At 10:30pm I returned to Haridwar Junction and took my train to Bareilly.

So this was my one day trip to Neelkanth Mahadev Temple at Shivratri.

Besides all these difficulties this was one of my favourite trip. Rishikesh is indeed no less than heaven. You can't find more peaceful place than Rishikesh. It was a memorable journey for me also it will motivate me for more solo trips. 😊