Agra, Delhi & goodbye India

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Agra
We only had the one night in Agra so on our way we stopped off at the ancient city called Fatehpur Sikri. Unfortunately we didn’t appreciate this as much as we should have because it was probably one of the hottest days so far near 50 degrees and we were also hung over- not a good combination! However we did manage to take photos but we just didn’t give it as much time as we should have.

We made it to Agra in the middle of the day and waited until late afternoon before seeing the amazing Taj Mahal. When we finally saw the Taj Mahal all we can say is wow! Such a surreal feeling standing in front of this massive slab of marble crafted to perfection. For us it was such a relief because at one stage we thought that we wouldn’t be able to go there due to the Rajasthan riots.
We were there for a couple of hours and during that time we explored the grounds and posed for numerous of photo’s with Indian families. We were certainly glad that we were able to see the Taj because our Indian trip would not have been complete otherwise.

Delhi
Our last 2 days in India was spent in Delhi- not the ideal place to end our Indian trip but it had to be somewhere. This time we were both fit and well so we actually got to see some sights!
The first day was practically taken up by sending our souvenirs and excess clothes to Australia. Not a quick and easy task because the box has to be wrapped in fabric sawn together and sealed with wax on all sides. However we were just glad to finally lose some of the weight from our backpacks as they were bursting at the seams!

On our last day in Delhi we got a rickshaw driver to take us around some of the sites. We first agreed on 350 rs (£ 4.50) for a 3 hour tour around parliament house, presidents house, The Ghandi museum (place where Ghandi was shot) and the Lotus temple which is designed by the same person who designed the Sydney Opera house as you can tell from the photos. He also let us each have a drive of his Rickshaw- an experience! The price of the tour ended up dropping to 250 rs (£3.00) because the rickshaw driver persuaded to take us to two commission shops as he kept telling us it will be good for us, good for him and good for his family!
Well we’re still not big fans of the city due to the touts and the dirtiness but it’s not as bad as our first Delhi experience.

Goodbye India
Our views of India have changed like the wind, sometimes we loved it and sometimes we hated it! But at the end of the day when we reflect back and think about our experiences and the people we’ve met, some weird and some wonderful, part of us will miss India and we may return some day.
With a population of over a billion (that’s not including the dog, cow and rat population) you can understand why there are some bad points just like there is in any country.
6 weeks was enough time for us to travel India because we had time to get ill, time to get better and most importantly we had time to enjoy the country and it's culture.

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