India can really get to you. The vacation started out rather stressful.
Between the overt lying/hustling (we were told by multiple people at the Delhi train station that the reservations office was "closed" and that we needed to take a rickshaw down the street to book train tickets; fortunately, we didn't fall for it), painful waiting-in-line-for-inquiries, followed by fruitless efforts at the tourist counter to buy same-day train tickets, we were majorly fed up at trying to get from Delhi to Agra on Saturday. I have spent many hours in train stations in my lifetime of travel, including places in which no English is spoken, but NEVER have I had this much trouble buying a single one-way ticket for a town 200 km away, and the frustration actually brought me to tears. We finally got tickets for the 1130 train (2 hours after arriving at the station) in the "sleeper" car with locals, for about the equivalent of $3.
We had NO success in Agra getting onward journey tickets, and after our 1-hour busride today to a nearby town, I (who, of the three of us is probably the most willing to "rough it" and go cheaply) have decided riding the Indian bus is out of the question. We are taking a hired car tomorrow to our next destination. Indian railway workers are, by far, the least helpful people I have ever met. We also get triple-charged for most things (but don't fall for it), and were told that we had to pay the AC- rate for a non-AC room at the hotel where we booked an AC room (which we contested, successfully). We are constantly having to tell people on the street that we are not interested in their services/"help"/goods, etc., which gets downright exhausting.
I was fearful for what the next 2 weeks of vacation would bring given the tone that was set on our arrival to the north over the weekend; however, we did have a wonderful day yesterday visiting what is (not even arguably) the world's most beautiful building and other local sites. A nice young gentleman, Manish, who met us at the train station the day before (and, unlike most of the other people we have met, seemed non-aggressive, nonthreatening, and actually polite and helpful) escorted us around at a very reasonable price for a full day tour of Agra. We started with an early morning trip to the 17th-century Taj Mahal, a mausoleum built by Shah Jahan for his second wife, which took 20,000 workers 22 years to build. The light was perfect and, despite the already numerous tourists in the morning, we got some great photos (which, unfortunately with the speed of this internet connection, will have to be posted at a later time. I so wish I could get them up to show you the beauty of it and the fun we had!). I had visited the Taj once before, about 15 years ago with my family, but it was still spectacular!
We also got to visit a few other monuments, including the formidable Agra Fort, the Itimad-ud-Daulah, or 'baby Taj,' a similarly spectacular and beautiful mini-monument, and Mehtab Bagh, pretty gardens with a view of the back of the Taj. We learned about marble making, and got to eat yummy "non-veg" fresh food at an outside garden restaurant.
Today, we visited a large mosque and palace complex in Fathepur Sikri, 40 km outside of Agra and finished up at the bazaar.
Kimie leaves us tomorrow for Korea (:() and we head onwards (with hope--transportation willing) to get to a Tiger Reserve!
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