Fatehpur Sikri 1

Then we made the drive to Fatehpur Sikri; I think it took about an hour but I feel asleep so am not sure. When we had arrived in the parking lot I decided it would probably be good if I ate something, so the driver talked to a guy that was standing there who jumped in the car and showed us where a restaurant was. It was a pretty junky little 'dive' but there were no other places around. They ended up having the best fried rice I've ever had. I think they used tandoori chicken in and and had big rings of onions.

I thought the guy that showed us the restaurant just needed a ride to town, but he ended up being a guide. Since he had already waited with us while I ate, I couldn't very well say no. Also I figured this type of palace/fort are usually better with guides, while places like the Taj Mahal don't need too much explanation. He showed me his card that said he was a licensed tour guide, and his U.P. Accent was quite different than any I had heard as of yet. It sounded a lit bit Punjabi.
It cost Rs. 250 plus my Taj Mahal ticket to get into Fatehpur Sikri, and we had to ride a bus and then an auto to get up to the palace part. I must admit, I think I did enjoy it more than the Taj Mahal. No, it was nowhere near as beautiful, but it was really interesting to hear how people had once lived and used this space. The palace had been built by Emperor Akbar who had apparently been very open minded, and while his background was Islam, he developed a philosophy where all religions are united. He had three wives, one Muslim, one Hindu, and one a Goan Christian. He had built this palace, but as it was on a hill, it was abandoned after Akbar died because of water unavailability. So it was only used for 16 years.

He built a palace for each of the wives. The Hindu wife's palace was by far the largest; however, it was also farthest away from the king's room. Then there was the Christian wife's which was much smaller, but had been painted in detail, but only faint traces are still able to be seen. At one end of her palace, it had been built to resemble the apse of a cathedral. The Muslim wife's palace was very small, only a single room, but had been decorated elaborately. There were intricate carvings in the red sandstone and a large jali of star-shaped windows. Back in the day, they had been filled with colored glass windows. Although hers was the smallest, it was also nearest to the king's bedroom. Between the Muslim wife's and Akbar's palace was a square pond (scummed over!) with an island in the middle where there would have been performers. Nearby there was a large, open, stepped tower where people could sit and listen to the performance. The interesting part of Akbar's room was that the bed was raised on a platform, maybe 8 feet high. The floor had been a shallow pond so that the room would have been cooler, and there were steps going up to the bed.