Sightseeing in Delhi and Agra

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From Darjeeling we caught a flight to Delhi which was all a bit of a frustrating experience. There is so much bureaucracy here that it seems to take forever to go through the simplest processes like checking in baggage, going through security, queuing to get on the plane, it was all a bit much!

Once in Delhi we checked out a few of the sights, Red Fort, National Museum, Khan Market (Tom was very excited at being able to buy vegemite). Nothing too impressive about Delhi, just a big, dirty city. At this stage we're feeling a bit mixed about India... the constant noise of horns, rubbish, filth, people spitting everywhere and the relentless hassle from touts / tuk tuk drivers from the minute you step out on to the street is pretty wearing. In Delhi in particular, we found on the whole people to be pretty rude (with the exception of a few friendly people on the train), they constantly seem to be pushing people out the way, pushing in queues and generally just causing unnecessary chaos, and then there is the staring and men who try to take photos of you, bit annoying!

We got the train to Agra last night so we could get up early in order to beat (some of ) the crowds. Our grose hostel was close to the Taj, we were both pretty excited walking there this morning to check it out. It's certainly impressive, not as big as we expected but the detailed design and the workmanship that must have went into it is amazing. Photos speak for themselves.

We're now in Jaipur, Rajasthan having caught the bus here today. So far there seems to be a bit more of a chilled out feel to the place, despite the heat! We decided to splash out on a $30 a night hotel and its like a palace. We have organised for the hotels tuk tuk driver, Lala to take us round the sights tomorrow, he picked us up from the bus station for free today and took us home after dinner, he is a lovely, honest guy so we'll be sure to pay him well tomorrow. At least there is one tuk tuk driver in India who understands that if he's nice, honest, does us a favour then we're more likely to pay him more in the end! Looking forward to a hassle free day of sight seeing tomorrow.

This has probably sounded like a really negative post but from what we hear everyone goes through stages of loving India then hating it. Hopefully we get back to the loving stage again soon.

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