Agra Phobia

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We arrived in Agra railway station to be greeted by a helpful aide known as Malik who sorted out the chaos involved in booking a ticket to our next destination. All be it to better his own pocket by taking us by auto rickshaw to our hotel and managing to get us to agree to keeping him on to tour Agra. (Agra is full of hustlers and excellent salesmen at every turn....hence the title "Agra Phobia".

What hit us foremost about Agra was that it was quite peaceful on the roads compared to the hustle bustle of Delhi and poverty is not as extreme. After checking in Malik brought us on an adventure to see the back of the Taj which gave us our first sighting of the local farmers and their lives.

He then brought us to a field (So called Moon Garden AKA The Field) and led us through a dusty trail so that we could get a glance at the Taj. It was a spectatular sight but we felt kind of conned by being charged 100 rupees each for entering a field and then to be told it closed at 6:30 before sundown! it was worth it though!

Later on we had our first meal outside our safe hands of Perez..we chose well ...relief. We decided to stick with the trusted recipe and have returned for each meal since.

The next day we were awoken by Malik banging on the door saying it was his duty to transfer us about town. We had awoken early in order to go to the Taj but to our horror and the locals delight monsoon had hit, we returned to bed. We were brought to several shops; carpet, marble, tailor and silver. We both bought Indian costumes which we intend to wear and hope will save us alot of hassle in Rajasthan. Amy rather reluctantly dressed up as a Sari woman, bindi and all much to the delight of the onlookers.

Our hostel is ramshackle by Irish standards but offered the delight of viewing playful monkeys to the backdrop of the Taj from the roof.

So finally today we saw what we came to see, the Taj Mahal. After getting only 3 hours sleep (watching the world cup til the early hours) and running away from not vicious dogs we arrived at 6.30.
Pictures only tell half the story, it was fabulous. Amy had her Diana moment on the bench in front for photo not to mention a near fatal slip on some marble steps...thankfully we have survived another city with no hiccups!

Next stop Jaipur the "pink city"

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Comments

[Gongeen]

Amy in Sari
Would you look at your one in the Sari, you're a right little Indira!!! Maybe if Ed gets the old Delhi Belly, he'll start to look like Mahatma. I wouldn't pose for anymore Di photos if I was you, she came to a sticky end. Reading your account leads me to believe this India place is a lot like Ballinadee.... mind you I never met anyone that liked India! Remember auntie says keep in by the wall and mind the elephants. lol, Caroline