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Published: October 22nd 2017
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We wake the morning after Diwali and open the curtains to a thick fog outside, pollution from all of the fireworks yesterday. Breakfast is once again a huge buffet feast and I stick to having a full indian meal for breakfast as usual but follow it up today with banana bread and a muffin! Shenton has an english breakfast today but then sees they are making Dosas so has one of those too.
We get back to the room and Shenton says he really needs the loo. I remind him of yesterday when he was messing around and put some rupee notes in his mouth, I hope this is not the start of Delhi belly!
Shenton has booked a haircut at a traditional barbers for this morning, he was either going to have a street haircut in one of the tin shacks or go for the full barbershop treatment. He likes to get his haircut whenever we go to different places around the world, once when he was staying on South Beach in Miami he ended up having a few beers and wandering into what he thought was a barbers, the next morning he returned to the place where
this man had cut his hair as it looked pretty bad and discovered that the barbershop was next door to a convenience store and the man in the store had cut his hair. This time he has gone for the Royal experience. I sit back and watch while he gets his head massaged and a neck and back massage too, Shenton obviously enjoys it at the time and while sitting there in bliss he keeps saying to me you should try this, I wish I could. The barber is a small chap with a big moustache. He does a nice job.
We try to go to the guitar shop that Shenton has wanted to go to as they hand make guitars there, but unfortunately is closed again and we have run out of time in Delhi so its not going to be this time. The taxi driver takes us to a fabric manufacturer, the owner uses his best sale tactic by pulling out a couple of Kingfisher beers and I end up buying more than I thought I would.
Our driver arrives on time at the hotel to take us to Agra and the roads are pretty clear
as people recover after the holiday so we arrive by 5pm and our guide then meets us as we check into the hotel, this hotel is nothing like the 5 star luxury we left behind in Delhi, Shenton booked this one and its only for the one night. I did get a bit of a shock as we pulled up and saw the hotel name above a half built building covered in green baize but thankfully the hotel was the finished building next door. The great thing about the hotel is its location, it is only a 2 minute walk to the Taj Mahal and if you stand on your tip toes you can see the Taj from the roof top terrace.
The guide takes us to all his "favourite" shops and is, of course, keen for us to buy something so he gets his little kick back. The hustle is on, the only trouble is they are up against a couple of seasoned hustlers and after Shenton drinks their beer and tells them how great they all are we leave without buying anything. Shenton then spies a tea shop and jumps out of the taxi to see what
IMG_20171020_114818
Alfred Hitchcock's old house in Delhi they have to offer. Shenton finds the tea that he wants, from a shop that the guide did not take us to, our guide doesn't seem to like this too much and occasionally his mask slips from being the nice friendly guide to the person who is missing out on a commission. The guide then takes us to a restaurant which he says will be the best food we will ever have the pleasure of experiencing in the whole of India. It is nice but certainly not the best food. I know it sounds like I am being tough on our guide, which I am, with him obviously having this attitude that foreigners are not to clever while playing the best guide in India routine. All is good though and we settled down into what turns out to be very comfy beds, goodnight all as tomorrow we have an early start to miss the crowds at the Taj Mahal.
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ANDREA
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Deli Belly
Looks like you are having a great adventure!