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Published: April 7th 2006
Hello all, Gareth here.
We have escaped the utter mayhem of Delhi and taken up short-trerm residence in Utter Pradesh, home of the Taj Mahal. We took a 6am train from Delhi on Tuesday and headed on a 2 and a half hour trip to Agra. We arrived at the train station and were greeted by an onslaught of rickshaw wallahs and touts all attempting to separate us from our cash. We decided to go with one guy, who claimed he was a gov.t approved rickshaw wallah with a prepaid price of rs50 to get us to the Taj Ganj area where we are staying. All went smoothly surprisingly enough and we arrived at a recommended hotel with unbelievable views of the Taj Mahal from the rooftop restaurant/bar. The room is basic (more basic than our Delhi hotel) and clean (ish). We spent the day exploring the area and were pleasantly surprised to find a much nicer, more relaxed atmosphere.
We bumped into a guy we had met in the train station in Delhi, Nahid, who was here from Bangladesh on business. Quite a pleasant chap and we all enjoyed a leisurely lunch on our superb rooftop. More awesome cuisine.
One big factor here is power cuts. The power always seems to go off at the most inconvenient time... for example when one is using the toilet facility... When the lights go out the streets are very difficult to negotiate, as nothing seems to stop the chaotic rush of people, motorbikes and tuk-tuks. As a result , we decided to spend the evening on yet another rooftop bar with a couple of local beers and a few candles.
We're having major difficulties in uploading our photos to the website and one of our memory sticks just refuses to work at all (typical Sony). However do not fret quite just yet; we do hope to have this problem remedied as soon as....
Just to remind you all that if you do chose to post a comment on this site - it is a public forum that everyone can read....so keep it clean!!!!
We are now off to visit the Taj Mahal and should get some great snaps (although you probably won't see them for a while !!) Can't wait this place looks fantastic from the outside.
Anyhow, until next time,
Gareth & Clare
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Chris Jay
non-member comment
Changed India
Good blogging and good luck with the photos. I am planning to go to India in January. My first time back there after 20 years. I'm finding it changed as I read these diaries. Unfortunately, sounds like the touts are more numerous, much more aggressive and seem to have become organized. They're not likely to elicit any sympathy or cooperation from us. There was also no double tier system of fees to get into monuments, etc. so I saw the Taj Mahal for pennies and came and went as I pleased for days. Traffic sounds much more dangerous too. I also travelled as a woman alone in those days and usually felt safe enough although I did not cram myself into buses and trains where I could not escape. What is the place you are staying at in Agra?