All the way to Agra....

Leaving Ramnagar we caught our 10 pm train to Delhi. We were meant to arrive at 5 am and had our alarm clocks all set but we miraculously arrived an hour early! Thankfully one of the people in our section woke me up to tell me. We crammed our stuff in our bags and headed to another train station for our 7 am train to Agra. We had to haggle with several drivers before one would agree to a fair price. He took us to his rickshaw where someone was sleeping. We got in and so did this sleeping passenger. I asked who he was and kept saying he was a friend. I told the driver that it was not ok and he brushed me off, I argued for awhile and then asked if there would be a discount....of course not. So I said no thank you and we got out of the vehicle and found another. It's a huge scam in Delhi and women travellers are warned never to drive with 2 men in the vehicle. We safely arrived at the new station and there was a huge outdoor cafe which was open so we stopped to have some breakfast. We caught our train a couple of hours later and crammed into the 3 person seats. A woman's husband didn't  want her sitting on the inside and moved her the few rows back to sit beside us, and we had actually moved over to someone else's seat (he wasn't staying). But that's how it goes in India, people just take what's available.....moral: get there early! We arrived in Agra, booked our ticket back to Delhi for the next day and started out for our hotel. We got a prepaid taxi even though the directions sounded walkable. A tuk tuk driver (not minding his own business of course) told us our hotel had changed its name but I knew it hadn't and corrected him. We got in a tuk tuk and wouldn't you know that it was the same driver. He took us to the address I'd gotten online and it wasn't our hotel. I read him the directions and he said "ah see I told you the name had changed" which wasn't actually true. When we arrived we discovered that our hotel was IN another hotel. For some reason the driver would not let it go and followed us into the lobby to tell us it was our fault for getting the address wrong. I discovered he didn't even want more money. I finally asked him what he was still doing there and he wanted to know if we wanted a city tour! Ya right, we just arrived exhausted and he's arguing over something that has nothing to do with us! We discovered later that the hostel we booked doesn't actually exist and the owner takes bookings and then sends them to the hotel we were at. We pay more and don't have an included breakfast. He also forgot to mention the 10% that I prepaid online. When I went down that evening to correct the cost with my deposit the owners, after arguing with me, called the owner of the "hostel" who argued on the phone with me. When he asked "final words, what should I do?" I told him he shouldn't use a hostel name that doesn't exist. He tried to tell me it's very common in Europe but I know that's not true! So annoying!

After checking in and having some lunch Alex wanted to do some planning and told me to go on to the Taj without her.....I said "so you came all the way to Agra and you're not gong to see the Taj Mahal? Why didn't you just leave from Delhi?" After that she thought about it and came with me. We walked a few blocks and bought our exorbant ticket price. For some background we paid 750 rs and Indians pay 20 rs.....terrible! We caught a free shuttle car the 5 minutes down the road and entered the complex. The first glimpse I had was of the rooftops and then when we walked in we saw 4 gates.....through the north one you could see the Taj Mahal! It was amazing. As we walked in through the entry way I couldn't get over the sheer size of it. It was massive,  much bigger than I expected. Most pictures you see are taken halfway through the gardens in front of the closest fountain but the area is much larger. People looked like tiny ants beside it, barely hiding any of the building. We winded our way through the fountains and gardens and up to the "deck" area where you must remove your shoes. On either side of the giant white marble tomb are smaller tombs in a sandstone which are just as beautiful. We entered the inside of the Taj and it is so small! An inner room holds a fenced off area with what looks like a small coffin in the centre and then an outer "hallway" circles around it with smallish rooms at each section forming a hexagon like shape. The crowd inside was unbelievable and Indians really don't know how to form a line or follow one either. At one point a woman pinched me in the side to get me to move....I'm not sure where since it was packed in front of me. I turned around and firmly told her not to touch me but she continued to push me in the back with her hand. I finally pushed back (against her hand, I didn't turn around and shove her though that would have been interesting!) and told her once again not to touch me. That seemed to do the trick. I couldn't wait to get out of there though!

The Taj Mahal is a beautiful complex on the river with a huge garden...it was so lovely to walk through and enjoy the birds and chipmunks.....we took the side way out and were practically alone. It was extremely hot so we got a shuttle back and went to our hotel. That night I went to the rooftop of the hotel to watch the sunset over the Taj Mahal. I could see a shape on the building next door which looked like a head so I figured someone else was watching the sunset too.....it turns out that someone was a monkey! It sat watching the sun setting over Agra! I watched some boys flying a kite as well and they would whistle and blow me kisses when I looked over! Haha

That night we stayed in and went to bed early. We woke up and headed to the train station by 8. We got our tickets and waited and waited and waited. Our train was almost 2 hours late! We got on and relaxed in sleeper class. Our train was 3 hours late arriving in Delhi! I was meant to meet Avantika, who I'd met in Kerala, so I phoned her and we arranged a new time. We got to my hotel where Alex was going to hang out for the day before her late night train. When we arrived there was a sign sayng no visitors and when she tried to come up to my room we had to argue. We told him she was just staying for a minute and then I left her there. I had a lovely time with Avantika. We had a cold drink and then went to the Gateway to India and saw the Parliament buildings. We got along so well I wish we lived closer! I headed back around 7 pm and Alex was just packing her stuff. She had paid 200 rs to stay for the day which made me feel better! We grabbed dinner and I took her to the train where we said our goodbyes. It was so nice having someone to travel with but I'm excited about my last few days in India!

I got to my hotel and up I went to sleep and then to catch my train to Varanasi in the late morning! Finally, a sleep in!