Agra

We booked an overnight bus from Pushkar to Agra for Friday night. I, for one, was super excited because it was our first sleeper bus ride. In India they have overnight buses with sleeper compartments like on the train, and I was excited because of the novelty. But after this night I hope I never have to ride in a sleeper bus ever again. We left from Pushkar at 7:30 and right off the bat things started to go wrong. When we booked our bus nobody bothered to mention that we would have to change buses in Ajmer, which meant waiting for almost an hour on the side of the road. But finally our Agra bus arrived so we could get comfortable for the overnight ride. Or so we thought.

It is always difficult to figure out where you are supposed to be on the trains and buses, but this time it didn't look like we had an assigned sleeper compartment. So when the bus pulled in I got on quickly to try an stake out the best double compartment for Justin and me. I chose one that was near the rear, since all of the other doubles were taken. But I didn't take the very last one because it didn't have a sliding screen door, which meant it was not very private or very safe, for those sudden lurches. I pictured Justin or myself flying off the second tiered compartment in the middle of the night. Unfortunately that compartment went to a group of Korean travelers, three in all, and I guess they we not to pleased to be stuck taking the back compartments. They were screaming at the conductor claiming that they had been assigned to the compartment we were in and the one across from us. Justin and I feigned ignorance and shut our screen so that we wouldn't be relegated to the crappy sleeper compartment. As it was we were sharing a double compartment which was about six inches to short for Justin and another six inches to narrow for the two of us. But we figured we could manage for one night.

Well it was the longest night of our lives. They pump the sleeper compartments so full of air conditioner, which we had heard, so we were prepared in long pants, socks and sweaters and still we were both freezing. Plus we were bouncing around the whole night. At certain points we flew at least six inches into the air, before crashing down onto the thin mattress again. All of the roads in India, or at least most of them, are one-lane potholed highways and the drivers are constantly gunning it to pass other cars on the road at top speed. It is not unusual to see buses turned over on their sides in a ditch because the driver was going too fast while swerving to avoid a pothole, tree or other automobile.

At one point, I woke up after being violently thrashed into the window on my right side only to see two enormous big rigs/lorries/tractor trailers (US/UK/Canadian translation) passing us on either side. In other words, one immense truck was trying to pass another but didn't have enough time because our driver naturally sped up to prevent him from cutting across our lane and so rather than slow down and fall back behind the other truck he swung to our left, driving off the road. Absolutely terrifying. Both Justin and I felt ill after getting off the bus in Agra from all the bouncing and turmoil for our internal organs.

Also none of the buses in India have toilets, even though many bus trips are upwards of 6 hours. So you have to be very strategic about potty breaks. The buses usually make several stops at the ubiquitous chai stands along the road and when they do that is your only chance to relieve yourself. Of course since you are traveling in the middle of the night it might be easy to miss one of these all important stops because you are asleep. But sleeping through the night was not a problem for us on this ride. What is a problem is willing yourself to get down off the bus, wade, in the dark, out back of the chai stands and find a somewhat sanitary spot to soil. It can be difficult if you don't have to go that badly. But if you don't force yourself to take every opportunity to pee, you run the risk of missing the last break for several hours. On one such occasion I didn't need any coaxing because I had to pee badly, and it looked, from the bus like there was actually several bathroom stalls. So I forced myself up and off of the bus, reminding the driver that I was going to be right back so that he wouldn't forget and leave without me. Now I said there was a bathroom, but I almost wish there hadn't been because the stalls in this bathroom were by far the most disgusting toilets I have ever seen. I wasn't surprised to see that they were all Indian style squatters. I have actually gotten used to those but they were all actually overflowing with feces and the smell of urine was overwhelming. And to top it off the dirt outside of the bathroom stalls was reddish brown and so many people had tracked the dirt into the stalls where it mixed with the piss and shit and covered the ground. It was impossible to tell if what you were stepping in was shit or mud, but either way it was unpleasant. I peed in record time and raced back to the bus. And not for the first time I felt a twinge of jealousy for the men I passed who were relieving themselves standing up in the open air.

We arrived in Agra at 6 the following morning, grateful despite being dropped unceremoniously on the side of the highway. There we met Sebastian, a German, who had been on our bus and wanted to share a rickshaw. We were planning on hiring a driver for the day who could hang on to our bags since we were only in town twelve hours and didn't want to have to carry them around with us. But Sebastian said he was going to a guest house right by the western gate of the Taj and that we could most likely leave our bags there. So we hoped in a rickshaw and negotiated the price for the day and sped off to the Lucky Guest House. On our way the day began to dawn and much to our dismay we saw that it was hopelessly foggy and overcast. Which meant that we would have to wait to go to see the Taj if we wanted to see anything at all. I was dismayed because I had hoped to be one of the first to arrive so that I could experience one of the greatest architectural wonders without the crush of the crowd. But ultimately I decided it would be better to actually see the thing than get there before everyone else and not be able to see anything. Justin relinquished all control of the Agra intinerary to me, since he didn't actually care about seeing the Taj and had wanted to avoid Agra altogether. I had to laugh because seeing the Taj Mahal was one of the only things I really wanted to do in India, that and go trekking in Nepal, both of which proved to be almost a complete bust.

We did eventually get to the Taj. We left Lucky around 9, despite it still being horribly foggy. The grounds around the majestic building are actually quite large and in all the dense fog we had a hard time figuring out which way we were supposed to go. But since the Taj is one of the most photographed images in the world we were able to follow the water fountains and gardens in the direction that we assumed the Taj was. Justin and I kept laughing and joking that the Taj Mahal might be a big Indian hoax. They get all these whities to pay the obscene entrance fee of 750 Rs or nearly $18 and then there is actually nothing there. We kept getting closer and closer and still we couldn't see the Taj. It wasn't until we were literally 30 meters away that the outline of the building started to come into view. When we first beheld it we couldn't even see the whole thing. The large bulbous dome on top was completely shrouded in misty fog, but after we had been through the interior and come back out to the front the fog had receded enough so that we could actually see the whole thing and get a few good pictures. By that time though it was too crowded for me to get my Princess Di shot. Oh well, at least I know the Taj isn't likely to go anywhere and I can surely come back and see it again. And as Justin pointed out watching the Taj reveal itself through the mist was actually quite spellbinding, and very unlike anything else we have seen in India. In some ways seeing it in such an unusual way actually enhanced the experience. Although, I wouldn't have complained if it had been a beautifully sunny day without a cloud in the sky.

We did some of the other obligatory Agra sights with our rickshaw driver Cha Cha, including an unsolicited stop at one of the exorbitantly priced tourist souvenir shops. I actually had a very funny argument over this particular stop. It is well known that rickshaw drivers in Agra will insist on taking you to one of these stores because they receive a heavy commission if you are stupid enough to actually buy something. They also receive other credits, such as gas cards just for getting you in the door. I was prepared to fight tooth and nail to avoid having to make one of these unwanted detours. It finally came after we had seen the Taj and the Baby Taj, ( a building that actually has a real name and predates the Taj and was in many respects the inspiration for the Taj but has since been relegated to the inferior moniker of the Baby Taj) my ears perked up because Cha Cha said he would... "like to now take you [us] to some factories where you [we] might see local artisans products and techniques. " I knew that was code for I am going to take you to some expensive shops now. So I said,
"no no no Cha Cha, we want to go to fort now."
"Yes yes my friend I will take to the fort, but first see some local stuffs. Very nice, maybe you buy, or just looking them making."
"Cha Cha I will give you a big tip if you do NOT take us to these shops."
"But Miss, I am not hassling you, but you see I get gas card if you stop there, just looking." It went on like this for several minutes back and forth,
"I am not hassling but..."and so I finally said,
"I am speaking frankly my friend, really, frankly, we do not want to go to the shops but I can see that you are going to take us no matter what, so lets stop wasting time and you take us now."
"O Miss you are very unhappy."
"No Cha Cha, not unhappy but I would be happier if no shops."
"Please Miss. Smile for me... maybe just one shop. Is ok?"

So off we went to the "local artisan factory." Cha Cha told us we had to stay at least ten minutes for him to get the gas card and please seem interested a little. So Justin and I really did it up. We made them show us the most expensive jewelery and all of the different kinds of silk shawls. We looked at engagement rings and huge swords. They pulled out at least a dozen silk bedspreads, and hand carvings and paintings. It was really a show. And after we had sufficiently "shopped" we left and got back on our way to the fort, which I particularly enjoyed and Justin probably couldn't have cared about less. After our whirlwind tour of Agra it was time to head to the train station to take the train to Delhi and meet my parents.

I had intended to write about the week we spent with my parents in Rishikesh but this post is already longer than I intended and so I think I will save the Rishikesh post for another time. We have actually spent two weeks here in Rishikesh and don't leave until Sunday night when we will be taking the train to Varanasi. I will try to get at least some of the Rishikesh adventures up here before we go. It has been one of the highlights of India.

highlights of Agra
The Taj - despite the weather it was truly magnificent. To think that this guy had such an awesome place built in honor of his late wife is very romantic. Not to mention it took 20,000 men over twenty years to build. And it doesn't matter how many times you see it in photograph it pales in comparison to seeing it in person
Cha Cha - what a guy
The Lucky Guest House
Sebastian - another lovely German, who knew.

Lowlights of Agra
Zorba the Budha - where we had lunch. All the guide books recommend this place but we thought it was miss-able.
The souvenir show - honestly it is highway robbery in there
The weather
THE OVERNIGHT BUS - never again