According to DHL's track and trace code, my new credit card is with the local carrier, but the dates of all steps show that it is the airport. So that will take a while and I will fill my days with walking, sitting in the sun, washing the engine and preparing everything I no longer need from my luggage for shipment home.
Rajesh from Tourist Pension has the good idea to visit the city of Agra by train, now that I have to wait anyway. Then I can remove that stop from my planned route to Nepal, so I can wait a few days longer for the mail.
A French traveler gave me a tip for a nice place to stay in Agra, near the Taj Mahal, where no traffic is allowed, so that's good. And so the next day I am on the train for 8 hours to bridge the 500 km to Agra.
It is freezing cold when I arrive at Agra railway station at 10 pm after 8 hours on the train. Outside the station the tuktuks are already catching customers and the first one who approaches me has me as a customer. After a cold 10 minute ride I get into my hotel room and enjoy a hot shower before crawling into bed.
In the morning it is gray and cold. No sun to be seen and that is quite a lot if you have seen it almost daily for the last 6 months. To warm up, after breakfast, I decide to walk the 3 km to the Agra Fort on foot. At the Fort it is not that busy, despite the closed Taj Mahal, so I can take my time. The fort is beautiful, but above all very large. It has to be because ruler Akbar kept a harem of 5000 (!) Women. A little over the top if you ask me, but still fun. Fortunately, the sun breaks through in the afternoon, but the winter coat really can't be taken off yet. On a roof terrace (imagine nothing because it was just a dirty table and some chairs on a roof) I enjoy a bottle of beer and the view of the Taj Mahal during a setting sun.
