Breathless

Day 409
It was dark when I left the hotel. I had about a 10 minute walk to the train station and had hoped to get a tuk tuk, but the only guy there wanted way too much money. When I pointed out that I knew just where the station was he lowered his price and we were both happy. I was just glad to not have to walk in the dark.

The train ride wasn't long and I think that I slept thru most of it. When the train pulled into Agra tuk tuk madness ensued. From the moment that I had gotten off of the train I had thought that a man was following me, but he never spoke to me so I figured that I was being ridiculous. He then preceded to pick a huge fight with my tuk tuk driver. They were both screaming and I thought that punches would be thrown. I ended up finding a different driver and thought I had got away. The first guy I had spoke to though found me and wanted to know what the problem was. I told him that his argument made me feel unsafe and that I wouldn't go anywhere with anyone who made me feel uncomfortable. My tuk tuk driver seemed to understand and drove off before the first guy could protest any more.

I bargained a bit at the hostel before settling on a room and dumping my things. I then headed out for lunch. Its so weird that even in Agra, the most popular tourist place in India, all the resturants are empty.

After eating I thought that I would wander to the main bazaar but the tuk tuks were just so annoying that I just walked in a circle and returned to my hotel. It was the only way to escape.

For sunset I went up on my hotels roof where I had an amazing view of the Taj, it almost brought a tear to my eye. It is so much more amazing than I can describe, or than any pictures can show. Several people on nearby roofs were flying kites and on other roofs monkeys played tag. I stayed there until it was too dark to see and then headed off to sleep. I was going to have an early morning.

Whats Your Sign

Day 408
I got my act together as well as a whole bunch of things to send home. I had decided to not mess with the tuk tuks and to just walk everywhere instead. After a while I got a bit tired and ended up stopping at a coffee shop to refresh myself. When I really couldn't carry my bag any further I grabbed a cyclo.

The post office was a bit weird. I didn't have a box so they sewed a white linen envelope. I'm really glad that I didn't have anything breakable in there. After it was wrapped up I was told not to wait in the line but rather net to it. I think I would have been helped faster if I had waited in line. I even tried to get in the line at one point and was told to go back. Eventually the person who I was waiting for acknowledged e and I was soon on my way.

After some negotiation I got a cyclo to take me to the City Palace. It was more expensive than I was willing to pay and the stuff inside wasn't all that interesting so I decided to skip it. Instead I headed around the corner and had my picture taken by a 150 year old camera. I now cant seem to find the picture anywhere. I'm sure that it will turn up. After taking a picture of the amazing Palace of the Winds I headed to the Jantar Mantar Observatory.

This was more like a modern art park than a 400 year old observatory. I had elected to not get a guide and there weren't any explanations at all. I ended up just taking pictures and then resting in the shade for some time.

When I was done I got another cyclo and had him take me to a Pizza Hut that was close to my hotel. I hadnt had pizza in India at all and I really wanted to do some writing in the air conditioning if possible. I spent several hours there, I think I began to annoy everyone actually. It was dusk when I began to walk back to my hotel. On the way I stopped at a travel agent to book some tickets but nothing was available. I ended up going to the train station instead with the hope that I could get a tourist quota ticket. None of those were available either and I had to change my plans a bit.

I then walked back to my hotel and spent some time at the internet cafe there before having a small dinner and calling it a night.

Personal Space

Day 407
I was up early and by 7 I was out of the door. I got on the first bus to Ajmer, it was a painless half hour journey, if you don't count the nasty looking latrine I passed. At the bus station I got a ticket for Jaipur and grabbed one of the smaller seats for myself. I had my big bag between my legs on the ground, my mini back pack, purse and another bag on my lap. Despite all this some guy decided to sit next to me. The bus was full though, so I couldn't complain.

At one stop a kid tried to sell me water through the window, I turned him down but he came back a few minutes later with several of his friends. They were all smiling and pointing at me. I could just hear him saying "see, I told you there was a white chick on the bus!" As the number of people on the bus thinned I kept expecting the guy next to me to move so we would both have more space. My legs were starting to get really uncomfortable and I eventually just told him that I was going to move to another seat myself (he was in the isle). This is when he finally got the hint and moved over himself.

When I got to Jaipur there was a crazy crush of tuk tuk drivers. I went with a pre-paid one and was soon at my hotel. I still had to dodge a dodgy offer of a free ride though. Once I had checked in and eaten I grabbed a tuk tuk and headed to the old town. I had meant to see some of the palaces but instead got stuck in sari land. I had been wanting to buy some but they had all be way out of my price range, here I found several from $2 - 4 each. It's just that I ended up having too much to carry.

I decided to shop a bit more but stopped for some ice cream on the way. As I walked by the different shops the owners would grab anything and then hold it up to show me. One guy tried to sell me a ripped pillow cover and told me that it was that way because it was hand made. Another held out a shirt and told me it was r 450 (I have one like it I got for r 170) and that he also carried fat sizes. There was no sale there.

Eventually I got hot, tired and bored and got a tuk tuk to my hotel. At one of the red lights about half a dozen street kids came up to me asking for money. When I said no they began to punch my legs and poke me quite hard in the sides. The driver tried to get them to go away but they just kept jabbing me harder. This was beginning to feel like the longest light ever. Eventually I lost temper and yelled at them to get away. This just provoked them more, but luckily the light changed. I ended up with bruises from them.

That night I had a quick dinner at my hotel before calling it an early night. I was pretty tired after the early start after all.