A Long Journey

Well, it's been a long journey since I last typed a message on here. When I last wrote, we were in Jaipur getting ready to head to Mandawa in the Shekwati region (though you heard from Gar in between).

We stayed in a beautiful 150 year old haveli in Mandawa with an open courtyard and rooms that probably haven't changed much in 150 years. It was amazing. The first night we had dinner on the rooftop with a fire, local dancers and candles all around. It was very romantic, me, Erin....and my dad.

When we went to bed we could hear chanting and music coming from the mosque down the street. Erin remarked at how enchanting it was to fall asleep to the rhythms of India. At about 1:30 am, we were a little annoyed as the rhythms continued, blaring louder than when we first fell asleep...at 2:30 we were getting a little pissed...at 5am we were resigned. When we awoke, or rather got out of bed, we asked the man at the front desk what was the cause of the all night blaring. He said there was a party and assured us it was a one night event and wouldn't occur the next night. Well...it did. All night chanting and blaring music. I think Gar said he fell asleep at 7am when his alarm went off.

With no sleep for two nights in a row, we packed up to make the trek to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Just prior to getting into a car for the 9 hour drive, we decided to call around in Agra and find a hotel. Of course there were no hotels available anywhere in Agra. We could either stay in one for $10 a night of $450 a night. We all agreed that the $450 version would be better....too bad we can't afford that though, so we reserved the $10 version. As we were loading into the car, the driver informed us that he wouldn't take us all the way to Agra. Only to Jaipur and we would have to find another car there. Somehow, in a split second, the three of us agreed that perhaps it would be better to go straight to Delhi and go to Agra as a day trip from there. In five minutes, the owner of the hotel found us a new driver and we were on the road to Delhi. It was a strange turn of events.

In the five minutes spent finding a new driver, we were able to call hotels in Delhi and book two nights at a hotel that had two available rooms. Apparently this is the height of the tourism season and rooms are hard to find, but we found one.

After sitting in a small bumpy car for about 7 hours we arrived in Delhi. Our driver was visibly nervous as we approached Delhi, and had to stop and ask people every two kilometers if we were going the right way. At one point we even loaded a 14 year old boy into the car to help with directions for awhile. After arriving at our hotel, the driver informed us that it was the first time he'd ever driven to Delhi. Luck us.

The front desk at the Connaught hotel in Delhi informed us very matter of factly that all three of us would share one room. It was the only option. So here are three tired, grumpy, dirty people looking for some peace, quiet and a hot shower only to be told there is only one room. So we were shown two different rooms that we could share. When we argued that we would take both of them and we wouldn't share...they relented. They gave us two other rooms. So not only was there more than one room, there were 4, but we were told to share? Then they said we could only do one night. More hateful looks from us and they relented again. Why does it have to be so difficult?

We got settled in our rooms after a nice dinner out and rested up for a trip to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. Erin and I set our alarm for 4:55 in order to meet Gar in the lobby at 5 in order to make it to the train station for a 6 am express train to Agra. I think Gar was in the lobby waiting at 4:55.

The Delhi train station is a mob of people even at 5:30am. Of course all of the ticket windows were closed that early, so a man who said he was an official told us we could rush across the street to a foreign tourist booking office to buy tickets for the train, but we had to hurry. So we took off running, me following the guy, Erin and Gar following behind. We jumped over sleeping people, around beggars and touts, over curbs, between auto rickshaws, around cows, suddenly they guy stopped and we looked back for Erin and Gar. We lost them around the corner. When we doubled back, we found Erin helping Gar wipe dirt and mud off. Apparently he tripped and did a five point landing in a pile of what could only be shit. He was covered on the right side in black muck, including on his face. Of course we were still trying to rush to buy the ticket and make sure he was okay at the same time. We finally made it to the booking office, where we could see a two bloodied knees, and a thoroughly soiled pair of pants and shirt. Fortunately, he was okay.

Once settled in the office, we learned that the train was sold out. All that rush for nothing. After a little debate, we agreed to rent a car to take us to Agra for the day and bring us back. It would be a 4 hour drive each way, so we all agreed to pay a premium for the nicer, bigger Toyota four-wheel drive rather than the piece of shit yugo like car. The sales guy kept pushing that we are paying for the better service with the nicer car as well. We paid and waited for the car...it finally arrived and we were taken downstairs....only to be greeted with a littl piece of shit yugo like car. The fuckers (I use this term loosely to those "service" people throughout our trip) tried to scam us...again. We put up a fight and they relented and brought us the good, big Toyota car. Finally. We went back to the hotel and cleaned Gar off then loaded back in the car for the ride to Agra.

We finally made it to the Taj Mahal in the mid-afternoon, just before sunset after a tour of the Red Fort in Agra as well. The Taj was nothing short of magical. When I walked through the gate to the classic view we've all seen of the Taj, it took my breath away and gave me goosebumps. I was worried that I'd be underwhelmed, but I wasn't in the least. The beauty, the scale, the engineering, the color, the setting, the gardens, the people... amazing. Pictures don't do it justice, but now we have the requisite picture of the three of us in front of the Taj Mahal as the sun is setting with a perfect reflection in the reflecting pool...amazing.

Our first stop today was the chemist (or pharmacist) because, without going into too many details, my stomach issues have persisted. After all my jokes before we left about getting a little dysentery to lose weight, it happened. I haven't been to a doctor, but all indications are that I contracted amoebic dysentery. More annoying than anything, but now I have all the proper meds that were recommended in the books. I haven't felt bad, just spent a little more time in the bathroom than I'd prefer. I'll keep you posted, but I think I'll be fine.

Now we are back in Delhi showing Gar around before he departs tonight after a whirlwind trip of India. Erin and I aren't sure what to do after Gar leaves tonight. We are investigating our options today. We are hoping for warm, tropical, cheap and convenient, we'll probably settle for warm, tropical, expensive and a pain in the ass.

Talk to you soon.

Ted