India: Delhi & Agra

I arrived into Delhi in the middle of the night, and had quite an interesting drive back to the hotel. I discovered that the sound of tooting horns is constant in Delhi. . It’s common to drive just centimetres away from the cars beside. Drivers rarely stick to one lane, and completely ignore red lights. Mental. In any case, I eventually made it to the hotel, at about 4am. I spent most of the following day completely exhausted, barely moving from my room. Room service food = good. Everything is spicy! 

Busy!

On my second day in Delhi I decided that I should venture outdoors, but given that the hotel staff couldn’t give me a particularly detailed map I wasn’t keen to go too far. I roamed the nearby streets by foot, being hassled by every other person I passed; either begging for money or persuading me to buy something.  The streets were crammed full of cars and people; no apparent footpath or road.. Just one area for both pedestrians and cars. The streets are also covered in markets, but I resisted the temptation to buy anything. I soon got lost, and spent more time trying to find my hotel again than actually exploring the area! For the first time, I think I fully understand what “culture shock” is. I can’t even explain how dirty, run-down and hectic Delhi is. In the evening I met my tour group (just six of us!) and we went out for dinner. I had a delicious dal! The tour is an 8-day tour with Gecko’s, taking me from Delhi to Agra, Jaipur, a national park and back to Delhi. So I will have more time to explore Delhi at the end.

(note the monkey at the back!)

Early the following morning we got a train to Agra- the home of the Taj Mahal! It wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it was better than I had expected. Out the window I managed to see pigs, cows, monkeys, and a huge amount of stray dogs. There were also a lot of children playing cricket; quite clearly the most popular sport in India! (The night before all the headlines were “Pathetic at Perth”.. Apparently we beat them!) The amount of litter was phenomenal- even when we were in the middle of nowhere.

Upon arrival in Agra we quickly ate some breakfast & headed out for our first tuk tuk ride. However, we may have accidentally hailed one too many tuk tuks and ended up causing a punch on between drivers. We quickly escaped the madness, hailed some more tuk tuks and headed to the Agra Fort. According to everyone I’ve met so far, this is the biggest and best fort in India. For the equivalent of less than $1 we got a very enthusiastic tour guide who was full of insightful stories about the history and the architecture of the fort/castle. It was built in the 1600’s (before the Taj) and was once occupied by Shah Jahan (who built the Taj). Interesting story.. Shah Jahan had six children, four boys & two girls. The girls never married because none of the men were rich enough for them.  The youngest son decided that he wanted to be King but was obviously fourth in line... So he killed all his brothers! Then proceeded to lock his father in a prison within the Fort – which, kindly, faced the Taj Mahal that he built in memory of his deceased wife.

Next stop, of course, was the TAJ MAHAL! It is absolutely breath-takingly amazing. It’s something that everyone’s seen many pictures and videos of, but seeing it in person is just completely different. Incredible. The intricate detail on the inside and the outside is remarkable. When we went inside they were shoving soo many people in at once that I kind of felt a little claustrophobic. So so so many tourists- but most of them Indian. Apparently the Taj Mahal is completely symmetrical in every way except..inside, Shah Jahan’s wife is buried. She lies in the centre. When Shah Jahan died he was then buried next to her, ruining the symmetry of the building. We took some cheesy photos with a professional photographer.. (Mum, you can look forward to one in the mail!) But for now here’s one of me using my dodgy little camera.... It changes colour as the sun sets- the one below is much earlier in the day.

 

For dinner we had Thali, which is a whole combination of popular dishes. Yum yum yum. I love the food here. On the way home there were about five weddings on the street, which looked absolutely incredible! Just like an exotic street party.