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Published: July 27th 2008
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Hi guys! Have a bit of catching up to do, so will try to drown out the lads prattling behind me and get a few blogs done.
After leaving Delhi we made our way to Agra. And just as expected, it was horrible!
Things started going a bit pear shaped the moment we arrived. At the train station, Chris nearly got us in trouble with a dodgy dude who took the liberty of pushing in front of us. Chris found it a tad offensive and mentioned it to the guy. They stood their eyeballing each other while I tried to stand between them (with my giant back pack acting as protection!) before they started killing each other. Luckily the ticket conductor saw what was happening and sent the guy to the back of the line. As he had ‘lost face’ he was furious and I spent the rest of the afternoon looking over my shoulder, terrified that we had got ourselves in the s@#$% with the Pakistani Mafia!
Anyway, we were prepared for hassle in Agra and hassle we did get. It is the low season currently so tourists are thin on the ground here. “Come into my
The Bathing Ghats
Come on in! The water's .... well ... filthy! shop madam!” “No buy just look” It seems to be the same the whole world over.. and it gets REALLY boring after a while.
We did however, enjoy a good meal overlooking the Taj from a decent rooftop restaurant. These are the sort of memories I will try to keep: the bats flying overhead at dusk were awesome.
The Taj itself was as lovely as expected. A spectacular building. It looked good from every angle. The photos just don’t do it justice. Unfortunately, Taj Ganj, the budget hotel area near the Taj Mahal is a bit of a desperation filled cess pit. I’m glad we stayed inside the ‘no vehicle exclusion zone’ as it gave us a bit more peace and quiet. Chris felt sorry for our rickshaw driver and rode it himself. He was as skinny as a toothpick - turns out he was only 35 but he looked about 70. All the other rickshaw drivers were having a right laugh at the hairy white guy riding the rickshaw while the driver ran behind.
In the evening we visited The Taj Nature Walk (on advice from our rickshaw driver - oh girlfriend?! You go there! For
LOVERS!) which was absolutely hilarious. It was filled with young couples and their chaperones. We passed a young couple hiding underneath a viewing platform - having a good ol snogging session. We ignored them and climbed to the top of the platform to admire the view of the Taj. There was an old guy up there who looked a bit uneasy in our company… after about five minutes we realized why. He had being lying on the ground having a good old perve at the teens. Unable to wait any longer for us to leave, he resumed his position on the floor of the platform and hung his head over the edge for a better view. We politely left the old geezer to it!
As we had hours to spare before our train to Jaipur, we made the journey out to the beautiful Fatehpur Sikri. This of course was not without its frustrations. The hassle we had to contend with just outside the complex was the worst we have ever had. “No, bugger off - I don’t want an umbrella. Why?! It’s not bloodly well raining!” Okay after the first request but really annoying having to say it to
about twenty different people within two minutes.
Once inside, it was stunning and our guide did an excellent job … although we were ‘shafted’ by him as well! After being shown around a mosque, we found ourselves behind a pillar being coaxed out of 250 rupees for a piece of fabric, some rose petals and two pieces of string… all for charity of course! Before you could say SUCKER, we were inside a temple: scattering the rose petals, spreading the fabric and trying our bits of string to a rail. We were meant to be tying knots and making three wishes each. Even more embarrassingly, we both had to wear pink saris and small hats while doing this. Chris looked stunning.
Before leaving lovely ol’ Agra, we made a trip to the Agra Fort but by this time, in all honesty - we were too hot and sweaty to take any notice of it. As we were sitting in pools of sweat, a nice old Indian man sitting next to us, noticed me looking at the squirrels. He had a bag of grain that he was feeding them. He motioned for me to join him so I
All in a day's work
Life just outside the walls of the Taj spent a few minutes sitting next to him hand-feeding the little critters. For his kindness I offered him a few rupees. He shook his head and waved his hand away. “ahh, that’s nice, finally, here’s a guy who doesn’t want my money!” Then he looked sulky and muttered something I could hardly hear… “Fifty rupees ?!”
It was about time to say goodbye to Agra!
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Em
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Loved your blog. I managed to avoid the ruse in Fatehpur Sikri, but our guide pouted so much it nearly ruined the day. Hope to catch more of your adventures. India is amazing.