Off to Agra???

Still half asleep, we were ready at 6am for our driver who was taking us to Agra. (All the trains were sold out.) Then it was 6:30. Then 6:45. So Rahul's mom called the travel agent at home and woke her up, since we didn't have any other way to contact the driver so early. The agent then called the driver - apparently he thought he was supposed to pick us up at 7:15. I believe it was a miscommunication within the agency. We were a bit bummed to be cutting so much off of our trip, but Susan was leaving the next day so we didn't know if we would be able to see the Taj Mahal then. At 7:30 the driver still hadn't come and through a flurry of phone calls we found out he had been arrested for not having the right tax information! (The area that Rahul's parents live in is in a different state than the rest of Delhi and commercial vehicles need to pay tax for every state they drive through.) At that point we had no choice but to reschedule. Luckily Susan's flight wasn't until 2am Thursday night/Friday morning. So instead we went back to bed for a few hours, stopped at a few recommended shops that carry Indian clothing appropriate for Western countries and then met up with Aileen for lunch. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise that we had to reschedule as we wouldn't have seen Aileen much otherwise as she was heading back to Calcutta the next day. (Yes, I know it sounds like we've done a TON of shopping, and we have definitely done our share, but we haven't necessarily bought a lot and most of our shopping time is in very short increments.)

Then I got caught up online and confirmed all the details for my new extension! I'm not sure why I planned to go back to Chicago in mid-January after spending most of the fall/winter in the Southern Hemisphere. I loved Sydney when I was there in October and didn't get to see much in the area, so I decided to head back there for another month before finally heading home.
It was a happy surprise to find out that my Australian visa is valid for multiple entries so I didn't have to go through that process or pay any more again. Another $20 saved!

The remainder of the day was spent working our way back through the lanes of Old Delhi to find the jewelry store where Susan had spied some lovely necklaces. We hadn't bought them earlier as they only take cash, not something we usually have on us in great amounts. It was also our first foray onto the subway. It was super easy (and of course dirt cheap) and the stations are absolutely sparkling, especially compared to the brown haze above. It turns out Rahul's dad's company built the stations we were in, so it's a good thing we had nothing but nice things to say. It's definitely the way to get around Delhi - much faster than driving. In a few years it will connect to the airport which will be a huge boon.

We spent the last night with Aileen catching up and playing with Xochi. I was really sad that Aileen and I would be going our separate ways now after almost 4 weeks of togetherness, including Cambodia. It was almost like we lived in the same city again! I love visiting Aileen, Rahul and now Xochi in exotic places, but I'm looking forward to them being stateside again in a year and a half so I can visit more often.

The next morning was a little Groundhog Day-like - getting up at 5:30 again, the driver being late, etc. At least this time he was only a few minutes late and we set off. We had been warned that the road to Agra is hairraising, as it's basically an interstate with cows, pedestrians, bikes and autorickshaws sharing the road with cars of all sizes. Luckily we were so tired that we slept almost the entire 4 hours to Agra and never even noticed. Once in Agra, we picked up our guide and went directly to the Taj Mahal, which is as gorgeous as you'd expect. We parked a mile away or so and took electric carts to the gate. The government has done this to reduce the amount of car exhaust near the Taj as it was starting to yellow the marble. We were very surprised that the government of India had taken this initiative. They're doing it at most of the temples and even all the city buses in Delhi now run on natural gas. Such a quirky thing in a country that epitomizes pollution.

We walked the grounds of the Taj Mahal for ages and were lucky to be there on a day with fairly low attendance. We were able to buy our tickets and get in immediately. Apparently the previous week it had taken hours. The inside of the mausoleum is so intricate and something I'd never seen, unlike the outside. It was a bit hazy that day, which to me made it look even more ethereal.

We skipped the Agra Fort, having seen enough forts for one trip. Even our guide said, "Once you've seen one Indian fort, you've seen them all!" So instead we headed off to Fatehpur Sikri, a ghost town that was abandoned centuries ago when there wasn't enough water for the population. The emperor who built the complex had three wives: one Muslim (from Turkey), one Christian (a Portuguese from Goa) and one Hindu (from Jaipur). Susan and I were both amazed at the three palaces built for them. The one for the Muslim wife was very small -only one tiny room - but the carvings were intricate. Then we visited the Christian wife's palace, which consisted of a few rooms and veranda. THEN we got to the Hindu wife's palace. Hers was at least 100 times bigger than the Christian wife's "palace" and was actually three different buildings for different seasons. The guide said he wasn't sure if the women were jealous. We told him, "We're women and we can tell you. They definitely were!"

The ride back to Delhi was an extra hour than it had been in the morning due to evening rush hour, so we were very happy when it was time to get out of the car. We had a quick dinner, finished off Susan's packing and she was off. (Thank you, thank you, thank you Susan for schlepping so much of my Thailand and India purchases home!) I had another day and a half in Delhi before I headed off to Tokyo. So what do you do when everyone else has left? Shop of course!