Pink City Ladies
Trip Start
Nov 03, 2005
1
4
26
Trip End
Nov 26, 2005
Jaipur, India
Tuesday, November 8, 2005
15 Minutes of Fame at the Taj (Agra)
. The noise and pollution is also something that I have never even partially experienced - when we got off of the plane, it smelled like a huge forest fire... I am sure that my lungs have been blackened considerably (and we thought Beckham's was bad :-)) and my snot is now black :-) I am super proud of myself for escaping Delhi without even touch of Delhi belly and I've been eating everything!!! The food is beyond incredible and amazingly inexpensive (we just had a fantastic brunch for less than $3 for both of us) Veneta has been wonderful in choosing things for me to eat - I want to try everything but unfortunately there are not English descriptions on the menus.
We spent some time with Veneta's family in Delhi (wonderfully kind and generous people)and actually (can't believe I'm admitting this) took a bus tour of Delhi (we always said those were for old people but I figured out very quickly that they are also good for white chicks who are experiencng great culture shock). Yes, it has been weird-ish - everyone has been staring at us like nuts. No real harrassment otherwise - just a lot of rubber necking. We feel like celebrities - so strange! Yesterday at the Taj Mahal, it seemed like we were the main attraction not the Taj... adolescent boys stalked us everywhere just like the paparazzi
Cycle-rickshaw (Delhi)
! They all wanted pictures and I finally gave in and had my photo taken with an Indian family (they were very sweet). The next thing I knew, everyone was bugging me to be in their photos... I took two more and then ran. Veneta has copies of the photos as well so its pretty cool... At first I was annoyed by all of the attention but truthfully, I am just as fascinated with the Indians as they are with me and I have been 'stalking' the interesting ones as well to take photos (especially all of the men holding hands and hugging in public - common place in India but hilarious to me) We're all just curious about one and another and that's cool.The Taj Mahal by the way was fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had heard so many bad things about it but it is absolutely breath taking in 'real life'. So beautiful, grand, and elegant!! Only crappy part was the admission - 20 Rupees (50 cents) for Indians and 750 Rupees for foreigners (almost $20!). Veneta's parents (who checked out the Taj with us) tried to tell the guards that I was from Goa but when they saw me in my pasty white skin and confused face they didn't buy it. Oh well, the foreigners were treated like royalty - I received a bottle of water (7 Rps) with my admission - I guess maybe they're scared that we'll pass out from the heat :-)
The drive from Delhi to Jaipur (Agra - Taj Mahal was along the way) was psycho
Jama Masjid (Delhi)
. Seriously! The four of us (Vee and me and her parents) hired a car and driver. The road to the Taj was okay -at least it was a twinned highway... Onward to Jaipur was NUTS - no lanes - just a road with people walking, cycling, camels, cows, horses, monkeys, trucks, buses, cars... in BOTH directions... need I go on? It was by FAR the scariest car ride of my entire life. We almost got smoked a few times over the extremely long journey. We got lost (yikes!!!) and it ended up taking us 6 hours for what we thought would be a two hour drive. I will never EVER complain about Deerfoot again - mark my words. We're both very squeamish about the toilets so we were rationing water over what turned out to be a 12 hr day. The scenery was crazy - we passed many rural areas with mud huts and people working - you just see life going on everywhere! It still blows my mind that the road between two major centres (Jaipur has almost 3 million people) could be like this!!No worries everyone... we've decided that the bus, train, and plane will be our main modes of transport from here on out. The car thing just didn't do it for me.
We're staying at a super nice place called Jas Vilas (you can check it out on the net) while we're in Jaipur (tonight and tomorrow). The owners are superb (one lived in Guelph for a bit) and most helpful. Our room is gorgeous and clean AND the toilet flushes perectly AND we had our first North American type shower on this trip (absolutely divine). It's a nice break. They even have a swimming pool which I hope to use tomorrow morning before our next city bus tour (LAME I know but a great and easy way to see stuff!! And cheap... less than $5 for an entire day)
To sum this all up (hope I'm making sense so far but probably not..), this place is crazy but I love it so far!
More Fame at the Taj (Agra)...
! It's like being on the biggest roller coaster ride of my life - such highs (getting across the street alive, eating fantastic food, watching all of the gorgeous people in their colourful clothes) and lows (seeing toddlers beg, getting lost on a scary car ride, being hassled...) Getting dupped is starting to become humourous (we now laugh every time someone tries to take us to an emporium, wants to charge us money for non existent fees, etc.) and we've started to analyze every situation :-) I have seen so many things in four days that I haven't dreamed of seeing in my 27 years of life... dancing bears, snake charmers, monkeys doing back flips, women carrying massive objects on their heads, cows/camels/horses meandering streets and highways, 10 people stuffed into an autorickshaw that barely accomodates Veneta and I and our packs, people riding on roof tops of any vehicle imaginable, men holding hands everywhere...All I can say is WOW!!! Can't wait for the rest of this adventure...
Shaunta
Comments
Great visuals!
Hi ladies,
Checking up on you finally! Great use of visual words!! I felt like I was there, affectionate men and all! Checked out your hotel - Jas Vilas - looks wonderful!
Going to keep reading!
Meghan from New Jersey