Agra

Again the day started with my backup alarm waking us, quick packing and huffing off into the car, it has become somewhat of a routine by now. Before leaving Jaipur we drove to the City Palace to grab some pictures from the outside. Apparently, some parts of the interioir is available for tourists, but it is so little and at such a cost that we did not bother. Back into the car and heading out of the city. Pretty good roads from Jaipur to Agra - and lots of road toll stations to pay for it at. At one point our driver pulled over for a smoke, and Susanne spotted a temple on top of a nearby hill with a long set of stairs winding up to it... and gone she was. We watched her climb the stairs from where the car was parked, but decided to drive to the bottom of the stairs so we could fetch her as soon as she was down. Apparently there was an old man, a monkey and some goats up there.

We drove a bit further before stopping at a tourist restaurant for breakfast/lunch. The only reason we stopped there was actually so that our driver could get the company-sponsored free food there, I guess we would have been better off just buying him some food at one of the non-touristy roadside truckstops we've come to enjoy so much. These tourist places are heavily overpriced and serve only "ok"-ish food that cannot possibly compare to genuine indian food.

Once on the road again we went straight for Agra. This time I saw so many of these empy frames/drivetrains being driven around. I also saw what I at first assumed was the same thing for smaller trucks, but what I later came to realise was ingenuity at work. Someone had come up with the idea of recycling old trucks. Theres a lot of big pickups here reminiscent of a Mercedes Vario, and I guess they have a relatively short lifespan as there seemed to be a lot of available frames/drivetrains for them. Anyway, once that was procured, cabs were removed and tractor engines replaced the original powerplant. Steering shaft was lengthened and a vertical muffler installed (or simply remained on from when the engine was installed in a tractor). No cabs or any other form of protection, just a steering wheel and a large engine up front and the pickup bed in the back. They made a funny sound as well, almost semidieselic, chugging along the roads with all sorts of loads.

Agra is as confusing as any other large indian city so far. We stopped by the hotel, this time located in a quite new building, had our luggage unloaded into our room, and were on our way again. We stopped to pick up our guide for the Taj and drove as close to it as possible in our diesel car. There is a large environmental protection zone around the site, ca. 1km from what I was told. We walked to the ticket counter, paid our Rs750 each (and claimed our complimentary water bottles and shoe covers) and went for the security gates. Security here is tighter than at any normal airport. Women go through one set of gates, men through another. You are only allowed to bring water, camera and tissues as well as medical items. No food, no chewing gum, no music players, no sharp stuff (my Leatherman stayed in the car...). After explaining why I was carrying a box of soap sheets I was let through. The site is quite huge, we entered through the west gate and were treated to the sight of the east gate, workers gate and main gate. Our guide explained the gates and gardens to us before heading through the main gate.

Taj Mahal is probably one of those tourist attractions that are as impressive in real life as it is hyped up to be by "everyone". Their efforts to keep the area clean is also paying off, it is the nicest and cleanest place I've seen in India so far. After taking all the standard touristy photos and getting more information about the structure and construction process, we went across the vast gardens and into the structure itself. It is very impressively decorated; instead of being painted, all graphical work is inlaid stone. Tiny little semiprecious and precious gems are shaped by hand to fit perfectly into carved out recesses in the extremely hard marble. This way, a single flower can consist of many dozens of individual stones and tens of colors. The favorite stone of Mumtaz(?) - for whom the Taj Mahal was buildt - had the peculiar effect of lighting up when shone uppon by a lightsource. A very impressive sight in the darkness of the tomb.

We also got the story of the Black Taj, or actually, I told it and the guide confirmed it. It was also interesting hearing how the massive stone blocks were moved the 400km to the site, and how only Iranian workes were used.

After the Taj we took an electric trolley (weee) back to the car and drove to visit one of the Iranian families still living in Agra and working their trade of inlaying stones into granite. This trade, and especially the unique glue they are using, is still a highly guarded secret that is only passed from grandfather to grandson. It was interesting to see the process and the products in the shop were impressive and surprisingly affordable; a 1x1meter round table with beautiful decorations for Rs50k. This quality marble allows for daily use, no scratches or spills will remain and washing is also no problem. Do want.

We then headed back to the hotel and asked for our tickets for Kerala and beyond. After some confusion we got our train tickets at least. Hotel vouchers and flight tickets are yet to appear. We retreated to our room and I started uploading a batch of pictures. Suddenly the doorbell rang, it was a waiter from the restaurant downstairs and he was ready to take our order. ....ke? Not like I had had time to look through the menu yet at all. Something got ordered and 10 minutes later we were seated in the restaurant. Food arrived but it was rather underwhelming. Way overspiced (not spicy, that is, just far too much spice used) and generally not good. Hmpf. Back in our room again we realised that internet was gone, the WiFi for this floor was out of action. We decided that.neither of us were up for calling reception to have it sorted and it would be nice getting a good nights sleep instead. Halfway into dreamland I got yanked back to reality by the doorbell. There was a guy delivering toilet paper and more towels... for a little tip, of course. I mentioned the lacking internet and he called for an electrician(!) from our room phone. Susanne, who was also almost sleeping, was not ammused. 5 minutes later the doorbell rang again and the electrician was there. Too bad he could not speak english, it took me quite some time to explain that the router would have to be rebooted. After some pointing and explaining and showing and clicking and gesticulating he did vanish for some time and the WiFi came back online. He was actually the one who were expressing the most joy from recieving a few 10s for his work so far in India.

Now we have internet, pictures are going online and the Do Not Disturb sign is hanging outside. Doorbells are randomly going off down the hall, but not here. Now that Im done writing Ill cuddle up and get some sleep. We meet Sanji at 10 to get more information regarding our further travel plans, go to the post office to send some of the stuff we bought back to Europe and grab some eatables for 40hr train ride before being on the train 12:30ish. Sounds like stress to me. Also a little disappointing to find out that we will not be sitting together for the Kerala-Goa train ride. I guess the same thing goes for the Agra-Kerala train, we will get our seat numbers tomorrow.