The first leg of my journey is by hired driver because I'm used to the finer things in life - I like to sip my glass of champagne and nibble on my caviar while watching the world go by. Split between two people it's actually a reasonably cost efficient way to move around if you want to get to some places farther away from the train station hubs.
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| Not to mention the trains were overflowing due to a public holiday... |
We are picked up at 6am from the hostel next door and I'm surprised to find an Ambassador sitting outside.
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| I'd like to pretend that I'm so important that there was an ambassador waiting outside for me - but no, it's a car. |
It's not every day that I get to ride in a car that's older than one of the ones that I've owned in the past - and even rarer when the car is 40 years old and based on an even older design. Say what you will about the car - it definitely has some class and character.
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| And an excellent engine cooling system. |
Now I should say something about India's infamous highway traffic. While the roads aren't the busiest I've seen - they are definitely the most eclectic (and dangerous - but we'll come back to that in a later episode.) And it's a constant eclecticism too - it doesn't take long before you become jaded as you pass a rickshaw loaded with 10 people in the back and more hanging off the sides on the left, a camel and cart on the right, while a big rig truck (that looks home-made) comes at you head on down the wrong side of the highway. Oh and everybody apart from the camels (presumably) are tooting constantly.
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| I give good deal you my friend. Discount price and I throw in free AC just for you. |
A few hours into the journey and we stop at Akbar's tomb.
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| How embarrassing. He's wearing a Star Trek uniform to a Star Wars convention. |
It's nice and peaceful away from the traffic with the muslim tomb providing the centerpiece to four large green fields with grazing deer.
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| I know you came here for animal pics so I'll just show you this. |
Inside the tomb itself it's a wonderful temperature and is a nice break from the heat outside. I value the time in the shade because I'm a dufus and don't have a hat.
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| I don't want to mess up my long flowing locks... |
We press onwards to Agra, drop check into the guest house and then head to the one and only touristic force majeur - The Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is damned impressive and even better looking than I imagined in real life. It really is a huge beautiful pearly white monument made of marble.
"The Taj Mahal - a huge beautiful pearly white monument made of marble."
I am such a lyrical wordsmith.
My travel buddy says she is jealous of the emperor's wife that she got remembered that way. She became less jealous when I informed her that she was the emperor's *
favorite* wife. Maybe it's the lesbo inside of me but I wouldn't mind sharing myself with a bunch of other chicks. Not to mention the harem...
However I would feel bad that I would be indirectly responsible for a country-wide depression and famine as a result of all the money spent on the tomb.
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| What you see in your friends' travel pictures... |
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| What you see in real life. |
After sweltering for a while at the Taj, we pop over to the nearby Agra fort - which is pure Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
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| Chilled monkey brains for dinner! |
We wander around the fort for a while - it's an impressive complex and brings back memories of the Forbidden city in beijing - a grand epitome of the past. The fort also has fucking monkeys (I hate monkeys. Bastards.) and features an interesting view back towards the Taj.
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| Fucking monkey. |
Bonus Link: An interesting Nationaal Geographic piece on the Taj Mahal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0n9UgiUL7o
