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Published: February 29th 2008
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If our last train journey was anything to go by, you'd think that we would have been a bit more organised this time. Well we were to a certain extent; we had out extra jackets, polyprops and socks, yet this coldness was nothing like we have ever felt in any country we have travelled in. The journey was in a freeze box for 14 hours, and that is counting the 3 hour late arrival of it. We could see our breath in front of us, and it got to the point where we jumped in the same single bed to try and warm up - much to the expressive looks from the locals. With every other Indian having draped on them possibly their total ownership of bed linen, it would have been nice for one to be donated to us. Not the case.
We arrived into Agra as morning was breaking and as we crossed the Yamuna bridge we could see the back end of the Taj Mahal - quite a breathtaking sight through the morning mist.
Arrival into the train station was met with the usual offers of cheap rides with "no strings attached" to any destination of
our choice, but were once again met by a pick up from our hotel. A nice enough man in a very pink jacket, curly hair, moustache and continued to tell us that everyone he meets seems to think that he is Italian! We thawed out for a couple of hours before our "Pink Italian" returned and picked us up for a couple of the cities sights.
We went to Agra Fort for a couple of hours and wandered around taking in the sights. It was the place where a few of the Maharajas lived and parts of it were quite elaborate.
The next day an early rise led us to the Taj Mahal as we were told to go early to beat the traffic. I was expecting it near deserted, but there was still a large number of people there, but less than there would have been later on in the morning. 750 Rupees each later (compared to 10 Rupees for the locals) and we came apon the Taj Mahal in all its glory. An amazing sight and one that we will not forget quickly. It is quite mammoth, and shrouded in mist before the morning sun made
it take on a beautiful appearance. The marble that it is made from took on a number of shades with the rising of the sun, so me being a bit of a romantic thought that it would be the perfect place to ask young Kris to marry me! She said yes (of course!) so it took on an even more special day for us. Celebration dinner that night - Pizza Hut! Not that romantic, but still a great feed and a couple of beers to wash it down with were a treat!!
From Agra we took our first bus ride of our trip. It was only a 5 hour skip and jump to Jaipur - the Pink City. We were given seats at the front of the bus which for us has been quite unusual as we are usually shoved in the furtherest corner of the bus. After 20 minutes of our trip I think we would have preferred the furtherest corner as the driver sat on his horn for almost the whole journey, and we arrived into Jaipur with ringing headaches.
Before our departure we had been told by our hotel manager that someone will be there
Kristyn's Henna
Notice the ring??? to pick us up, and we were to ask for the "password" to stop all those people who would want to take advantage if us. The password we were told was "fishing." "Fishing?" we asked, to which he replied, "Of course!! New Zealand is very famous for its fishing!"
We were approached by a number of people but only one had the password "fishing" so we felt like something out of an FBI flick or James Bond making a drop off of some important material.
Jaipur was another nice city with much history to it. We crashed early that night still with horns ringing in our ears, but had a driver sorted for a half day tour. Took off around 10am and went to a number of sights inside the old city walls, and things just outside it. We went to Hawa Mahal, a palace built for the women of the Maharaja, with numerous levels and little peek holes so that they could overlook the going ons on the street, yet would not be seen by the common folk or men below. Quite a remarkable frontage and would have spent longer there had it not been for the street
hawkers talking non-stop, trying to get us into their shops.
Also checked out City Palace which had the most amazing display of weaponary from the ages - and the majority of them still seemed to be quite new looking. Also checked out one of Jaipur forts as over the times there have been a large number of forts built, in excess of 5 through the ages, and not at all small either. The forts were great, but one of those things where if you have seen one you have seen them all. This one fort was ver interesting though as it had a huge number of rooms with little passages where the Maharaja used to frequent his ladies of the palace, and could quietly slip in and out of each room without the other ladies knowing. We got lost to say the least, and ended out at the exit within 30 minutes of going in, and unable to retun back!! Never mind, we got the general picture. We went to a large collection of masoleums where a large number of the areas Maharaja had been buried along with their multiple wives and multiple children (only the legitimate ones). Here
Palace of the Wind
Hawa Mahal - Jaipur we were hounded again, but this time by the little people repeating the same phrase "Hello, money please" over and over and in the end drove us out and away.
Our final day saw us go blanket shopping so we didn't freeze again on our overnight train to Ahemdabad where we are returning to the school where we volunteered two Christmases ago.
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sandy
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Lovely Ring Kristyn
hey guys admist the beautiful buildings ,honking horns and hawkers it was kool to spot your lovely ring...