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Published: December 4th 2006
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my blog is now over a month behind, i've actually left india, arrived in nepal, and have gone on to thailand now. but the internet connections here aren't painfully slow, so I hope to get a chance to catch up. sorry.
The last part of my India trip was to check out the "golden triangle," which is a series of three tourist attractions in Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur.
I actually cheated a little bit and did Delhi separately, but when I returned from southern India, I met up with two other RUCHI volunteers, Gail and Richard. Gail and Richard are a couple who are affiliated with RUCHI through its connection with the rotary club in New Zealand. They were a great couple to travel with because they always found something positive to say about whatever we happened to be doing (which is sometimes a challenge in India), and put up with staying in some pretty sketchy rooms in order to accomodate my low budget needs.
The three of us hired a car and driver to do the trip. What we didn't know was that along with the car and driver came some of the driver's "friends" who
also happened to be "complimentary" guides to some of the various tourist attractions. They were also kind enough to (attempt to) steer us toward the overpriced restaurants, jewlery, art, and textile shops that their "friends" happened to own. If that isn't spelled out enough for you, basically everyone in India has some kind of associate who will pay them a comission if they herd unsuspecting tourists to their shops. I am very ashamed to say I actually did break down and buy a necklace at one shop that I'm quite sure was overpriced. But it was so cute and I really wanted it! Sometimes I am not stronger than my addiction to shopping.
The golden triangle is not a tourist attraction for no reason. Delhi, Agra, Fatepuhr Sikhri, and Jaipur have some of the most amazing architecture I have every seen (just look at those pictures). But along with the hordes of tourists come the hordes of vendors, street guides (no, i'm not a guide, I'm just a student trying to help you out), and other people explaining to you why you should buy their cheap piece of crap or otherwise rip you off. It was virtually impossible to
walk more than about 45 seconds in some places without being approached by someone who wanted something from us. This was where my agressive people pushing skills came in handy. Good thing I like violence. But quite honestly, I never feel to bad being bitchy to the super agressive touts who won't leave me alone, because I feel like they are trying to take advantage of the fact that most westerners feel bad being stern with people who are really just being annoying, and who you have no chance of getting to leave you alone by politely asking them to go away.
Vendors asside, the golden triangle was pretty spectacular. On the first day we drove to Agra, home of the famous Taj Mahal. And all I can say is, its one of the few super touristy attractions that doesn't disappoint in the least. If you don't know, it was built by some big king as a mausoleum for his dead wife. It's supposed to be the world's biggest monument to love or something. We also visited Akbar's tomb for some more cool historical monument type stuff. And our fabulous guide took us to see how they make marbe
inlay work like they used in taj mahal. of course this was connected to a shop. after we didnt buy any of his friends' stuff, said we didnt like the expensive restaurant he made us eat lunch at, and told him we wanted to stay at a cheap hotel (which i found for us in the guide book), he got upset and took off. no tip for him!
The next day, we made a stop in Fatehpur Sikri, a ghost town outside of Agra. at this point we were guide free, which made things somewhat more relaxing, and, since we had a car, we arrived in the town earlier than most of the tourists and it was nice and deserted.
After we finished Fatehpur Sikir, it was on to Jaipur. But on the way, we experienced what no road trip in India is complete without: car troubles. In our case, fortunately, it was a mere flat tire. So we hopped out of the car in the middle of nowhere to watch our driver, dressed in a long sleeve shirt and tweed pants, change the tire. Remember that the temperature was about 100F (45C)). And of course, something as
entertaining as changing a flat tire has got to attract its share of onlookers. So Gail, Richard, several India men who apparently had nothing better to do than to meander over to our car and send text messages, an entire school, and I all watched while our driver changed the tire. Then we drove on over to the nearest tire fixing shop (about 2 km away) and sat in the car photographing the camel drawn carts that passed by as we waited for some tire dude to repair the flat. Amazingly, especially considering the amount of time anything takes in India, we waited considerably less time than I have waited at Les Schwabb to get it fixed.
Finally we arrived in Jaipur, the "pink city." Inside the old city part, everything was painted pink, the color of welcome, for a visit from the Prince of Wales several hundred years ago. Since then, it has been decreed that all houses, shops, and everything else shall be painted pink. Actually it was more of a pink/peach/ coral color not unlike that of the bridesmaid dress I wore for Melissa Smith's (previously known as Melissa Tevik) wedding. We schlepped around the city
in the heat and the crazy touts for a while until we found a hotel room that sucked somewhat less than the others and was in my price range (about $6 USD).
The next day, we picked up a new "guide" and drove outside of the city to Amber Fort. We rode some elephants up to the top (not my favorite thing, I'm not convinced the elephants were treated all that well) and then wandered around yet more amazing architecture. Without a doubt this was my favorite part of India as far as architecture. Then back to the city to the city museum and this truly bizaare astronomy museum. Then our guide took us to look at some rugs and jewelry (this was where I couln't stop myself from buying something). oh well. At this point we were totally exhausted, but didnt really want to spend more time at our icky hotel, so we had our driver take us back to Delhi that evening. Fortunately he didnt hit any cows, so we made it back in time for a nice home cooked meal at Dharmvir's place (the head of RUCHI).
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Satish Sawant
non-member comment
Friend of your mom's
Hi Anne, I am sure that you don't know me, but I used to work with Teril until a couple of months back. She used to talk about your travels and forwarded me your blog. As you can tell from my name, I am from India (Mumbai city). While in India, I travelled outside my state only twice, once to Goa and another time to Bangalore. It is very interesting to learn stuff from someone who has seen more India than I can ever think of. I am going to use your blog as my guide of places to see in India. I am amazed by the sheer number of places that you have visited. I probably know only half of them. I hope that I am not haggled by vendors as you have been when I visit them. But then, I am used to ignoring the meddlesome traders and most likely, they will think of me as a poor Indian (they keep a lookout for only rich foreigners). It has been a pleasure reading your blog. - Satish Sawant satsneil@hotmail.com