First Day on the Road

We headed out for Agra pretty early. I think we were on the road by 7:30am. Our driver seems really nice. His name is Pushan and he's from Nepal (he says his hometown is the birthplace of the most recent Budha). He says that he actually still lives in Nepal, but travels to India to work 6-8 months out of the year. Coindcidently, our previous drivers were also from Nepal. Maybe there is some social or economic advatage for foreign drivers. It would be interesting to see how they fit into India's caste system.

Either way, the drive felt much longer than it actually was (4.5 hours). I think this is mostly because we had stayed up late in excitement for the roadtrip. We saw a few intersting things while on the road. First off, we stopped at several tolls, which I just was not expecting to see in a developing country. Second, while we were at the tolls numerous peddlers surrounded our car in an attempt to get our attention. They were selling bracelets, carved figures, paintings and food. But they were also selling pictures with their animals, which were mostly monkeys, snakes and camals. Were were fascinated by the leashed primates and boxed reptiles but did our best to ignore them, least we'd be charded inordinate fees for our smiles.

We were fast asleep when our driver pulled off of the interstate an into the Sikandra Fort. It was a pretty nice fort, but was very similar to the others that we'd seen... and considering that we were awaoken from fairly deep slumbers... we kinda wish that we had skipped the site.

Next, it was on to the Taj Mahal. Everyone is right, the Taj Mahal is (without a doubt) beautiful. It is even more remarkable considering the era when it was built (the 1600's). We had to wait in line outside the the place grounds for about an hour. After that our guide explained the history of the place while we toured the gardens. There was then a second line within the complex which led up to the palace itself. This line took forever... it must have been about 2 hours before we were allowed to go in. Luckily, our guide was the one who did the waiting. Vicky and I wandered around snapping pictures. It is a definit must see for all tourists, but that also means it was a true hassel due to the crowds. I suggest anyone who is heading there go as early in the day as possible (they open at sunrise).