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Delhi
I arrived in Delhi on the 20th at about 2AM, stayed in decent hotel I
had booked ahead of time. I was expecting a complete mad house of a
city but it was very manageable. The claims of hordes of begging children following you around were not true, although there were many cripples. One guy had only one working arm and no legs and pushed himself around in a little cart. We had a mini-monsoon rain which turned the street I was staying in into a massive flowing sewer. I wondered around, met some people who weren't trying to get money from me, ended up a travel agent where I met a couple of British boys about my age. They were just finishing a tour of northern India so they had some good recomendations. Now I know I usually go on about staying away from tours and what not and roughing it, but I said all that before I experienced 45 degree
weather. So yes I ended up coping out and getting a driver / hotel package. It has worked out very well because I am able to stop all along the way between major cities to see sites, village...
whatever I like. Plus my driver is awesome, I only understand maybe half of what he is saying, generally to do with girls and alchohol, but he is a good travelling companion and keeps me company and keeps my money in my pockets. (amazingly difficult to do here).
Agra
On the first day we headed south to Agra on a good 4 lane highway with no potholes. The lines on the road are meaningless, driving head on towards a massive truck is normal practice. Driving here makes East Africa look like a cake walk compared to India. The horn is used to indicate passing (people do not shoulder check here, just turn the wheel). It is also used to make people move over, or indicate general frustration at a long traffic jam, and some people just seem to hold it down constantly. In fact as I am sitting here writting this all I can hear is one constant horn noise. Now imagine sharing the road with cars, busses, very very very overloaded trucks (you need to see it to believe it), bikes, rickshaws and auto-rickshaw, tractors (or what must have once been tractors), camel cars (yes camels). Worst of
cool photo
too bad you can see the dad taking a photo on the other side, maybe i can photoshop him outall are the wondering cows which everyone patiently waits for to do their thing before speeding off, horn blaring, towards some poor old lady carrying two babies. We stopped at a couple of places, one being a really cool new Hindu temple to some god I forget the name of. They adamently refused donations and big signs all over saying so, and the temple was constantly being cleaned as this is part of their beliefs system. Essentially this temple was the opposite of all that is Indian. Going along with that they believed the inside of you should be clean also, and kept telling me to become vegetarian. I haven't really eaten any meat since I got to India anyways which they were happy to hear (eating meat here is not very common so doing so is taking your chances).
Agra (home of the Taj Mahal) was a bit of a hole, as many people have said. But despite the overwhelming tourist presence, I wasn't hassled that much near where I was staying. the Taj Mahal is absolutely amazing, despite the crowds. Don't let the pictures fool you, it is HUGE. It looks small in pictures because you need
to take a photo from half a kilometere away to fit it all in. The 750 rps entrance fee was a bit of a drag though... I am used to paying 10 times what Indian citizens do for monuments, but 40 times is sorta pushing it. I skipped the fort because it looked big and I was tired. My driver and I ate and drank at his hotel and I found that strong beer and heat are dangerous. Oh and the electricity supply was horrible in Agra, interminetly failing every 30 min. The hotel at a crummy looking elevator on the outside which the local staff absolutely insisted on using. What would happen to you inside a metal box exposed to direct sunlight and 40 degree heat during a power failure and ventilation fan stopped is a scarry prospect.
Jaipur
The road to Jaipur from Agra is insane. There are only 2 lanes but enough traffic for a small expressway. The potholes are bad for a major route (although it has nothing on the potholes in East Africa), but the constant overtaking over camel cars and ancient tractors by driving into oncoming traffic is insane. I later read in
morning shower
on one of Delhi's busiest streets my guidebook to avoid the road for this very reason. My driver is really good and I saw way fewer accidents than I did in Africa, maybe everyone here is just very good at driving, in a slightly insane sort of way. I visited some old fort along the way which was very well preserved and very empty, strange considering Jaipur- Agra is part of the major tourist path.
I also stopped at the Monkey Temple which worships a monkey god and is home to 5000 dirty looking monkeys. People come to bathe in the waters of the pools because they are considerd very pure and will cleanse your sins. In reality the water is visibly filthy and smells rather unpleasant. The locals didn't seem to mind one bit. I bought some peanuts on the way in to feed to the monkeys but that turned out to be a poor decision as I was quickly surrounded by dozens and dozens of fat and hungry monkeys. After a few flashbacks to the movie Outbreak, I quickly ditched the bag, prompting a mad rush for my peanuts by swarms of monkey which quickly escalted into a full-out brawl. One monkey kept
stealing sandles from the bathers and running away with them. I thought it was hillarious until another monkey stole my water bottle and dropped it down a long flight of stairs. I was scammed out of 50 rps by the head priest for a "donation" to a shrine. I knew it was way more than expected but part of me kept saying that religious people are honest. Turns out they are just as bad here as they are everywhere else (except for that awesome marble temple I mentioned earlier). / did manage to get a red dot painted on my sweaty forehead for the experience which helped me later meet other people around the temple A large group of men in white clothing and head wraps quietly surrounded me and stared patiently at my camera. I am used to groups of kids asking for pictures but this was new for me. They all quietly lined up for a photo and stood completely sullen face and expressionless staring straight ahead of them (except for one guy in the middle who smiled a little), and then happily crowded around to look at the picture on the display screen. Most of them looking
rather disapointed by the outcome.
Jaipur is an insane city.... huge and busy. It's called the Pink City because of the pink buildings lining the major streets near the old centre, but from above the city is clearly more blue in colour. I haven't quite understand why people paint their houses a certain way but I am sure there is a very good reason and likely has something to do with Hinduism, as does everything here. I went to a massive observatory from the 1730s which is holds all the sorts of instruments for calculating time and the movement of the stars. The main sun dail /time telling thingy is 90 feet tall. I had to buy a little book in passable language to read later so I can try and figure it out. I have begun eating in Dhabas (little food places). The food is good and costs about 13 rps (25 cents) for a decent meal, my driver says I am crazy but so far so good. I also saw my first dead person ever, sprawlled out across the street in the middle of a traffic circle. He was wearing rather nice clothes but his body just
lay there as people drove by, no police and no people walking by went to help. 500 m away corupt cops stood at an intersection trying to get bribe money from people not wearing seatbelts. The guy was probably hit by a car and it just ditched. This was a nice part of town too!
We went to some massive forts and temples which overlook Jaipur. Lots of toursits at some but once you walk away from where the guides go they are strangely silent and empty. The touts were paticularly bad but they seemed to be going after the other white people more and I passed by relatively unharmed. I was followed for some period by some kid trying to sell me 40 postcards for twice their value (still only $2.5 CDN, but why would I need 40 postcards). I tried a new tactic to get rid of him ( I usually just put on my sunglasses and dont make eye contact or say anything), but since I was already in a bad mood I grabbed his arm and told him very clearly to leave me alone in the sort of way that makes you think that you
probably should do it. Interestingly he didnt' get upset, in fact he appologized for upsetting me and then started asking me about Canada and we had a very pleasant conversation. I tried a similar thing later when bargaining hard for a carpet. I know I heard the guy swearing under his breath in Hindi and looked like he wished I was dead, but after the deal was done and I had paid we had a long and happy conversation about other things. I remember seeing something like this in a guidebook, during business transactions, being insulted or upset or whatever is just part of the show. The next time you see the person everything is forgotten and you are friends again. I told the guy I was a student and he gave me a student discount, but after we had settled he asked me what I really did and even after showing him my 2 student cards he still had a hard time believing me. Lying and anger and looking insulted are all part of the bargaining process. I am being bitten to death by mosquitos and forgot to take my malaria pill today (and maybe yesterday) so I am
Taj Mahal
Locals - 20rps
Foreigners - 750rps going to get out of here and go back to my super fancy hotel which was part of this pacakge. It is a former converted palace and is easily the nicest hotel I have stayed in ever. In the West it would cost probably $400 but I think I am paying maybe one tenth that or less. It is also completely empty, being the off season and it has a SWIMMING POOL. I feel a little guilty using it in drought stricken Rajikstan but no one else is and the water shouldnt go to waste.
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