i almost didn't make it because the winter months leave a thick fog over the entire city. my flight was luckily only delayed by a few hours instead of being cancelled. however the problem with that is that the taj is closed on friday. so i'll have to wait for the taj on sat and fill my day up on friday with all the other sites.
it was funny arriving at agra airport. i was the first off the plane, and i got there in time to see ppl scrambling to put up signs for "shop here" or "taxi this way". we were the only thing that happened to their day. it's like if we hadn't arrived, they would have had nothing to do all day.
the taxi from the airport was very expensive, but i shared it with the man i sat next to on the plane. he had said he had previously booked a free taxi so i could join him. then when we dropped him off, he said, oh i paid in full, so please give me half. the scumbag took 250 rupees from me for nothing. that's equivalent to about $5.
so agra is such a depressing little city. it's like because the taj is so amazing it's the only thing they have going for them, so they can slack on all the rest. like if you had a woman with amazing eyes, and she was so proud of them that she let herself go extremely fat, let her teeth fall out, and grew hair all over her body. the city itself is quiet, very eery. the streets have pollution for sidewalks, and are shared by cows, bikes and cars equally. thank god it's cold, or i'd imagine the stench to be terrible. the ppl on the streets look poor. however, there's a looming smell of burning rubbish so that is really pleasant in itself.
the hostel im in is great though. the woman came out and hugged me upon my arrival. the room im in is bigger than the one in mumbai, and im paying about $23 a night for it. big spender! downstairs, i hung out with all the other tourists who have plenty of great stories to share. a few others had also been experiencing "gastro" while in india, so we just agreed that it's a right of passage to get what's called the "delhi belly" while in india. i was ironically sitting between two swedish girls who had been traveling around the world since september, and an aussie couple, traveling the world for the last 5 months. now i say ironically, because when we talked of jobs, i realized i left my aussie company and will soon join a sweedish one. funny, universe, very funny! next to me was a norwegian of iranian decent. tall drink of water! would have liked to take a gastro-free bite out of that one!
at dinner, i still could barely eat more than a bite. so today i'll hopefully manage to eat something. i do have shortbread and chocolate, so that at least if i take small bites, they are high calorie ones, because man am i tired.now i feel bad for complaining about eating in mumbai.
it is FREEZING here! before i left, all the weather reports said the north had 75 F weather. it is currently about 40 F and will go to 66 F in the afternoon, but i dont think that lasts long. i was cheap about turning the heat on in my apt back home, but shit!! i'm sure there is a time when one needs to turn on the AC here, but now it is useless for me. i must have slept with every piece of clothing i brought, and then made a cocoon with the blanket i was provided. COLD!
today i've hired a private driver to take me to all the sites but the taj for the day. this will be expensive, but easier. when i say expensive, it is about $40. and that is very expensive by indian standards, but hey.
i did get the impression that things are going to be dirty and rough for the next week, whilst im up here in the north. aside from not being prepared for this cold weather (better buy a pashmina today), but i might be eating more american take out here, than i have in the last 5 years in the US. the fellow tourists didn't have great things to say about delhi AT ALL, which is where i was planning to spend 4 nights--- they say 2 max! so the plan is to consolidate the time i spend in each city up here, and add more to the time in goa, at the beach. a great plan to me!!!
so hopefully ill have the chance to get some fog-free shots of the taj tomorrow, and be on the train to jaipur at night. ugh, one girl rode 2nd class and said there were mice scurrying all about the train. grossssssssss. 1st class AC for me all the way!
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