The Taj Mahal. India's most popular attraction and the West's most popular name for Indian restaurants. To be honest, I was turned off about even going to the Taj Mahal. I have seen it in a million pictures and it wasn't on my list of things I needed to check off before I died. Traveling works in strange ways however, and after a few strokes of luck, I was making my way to see the Taj Mahal. I won't lie, I can easily get excited about things and after it was final that I was going, my mood on the Taj seemed to do a 180 on itself.
The plan was to meet my previous group of travel buddies which included Jo, Mike and Ygal. We were all Americans which we all found out to be rare in India. None of us had met more than a handful of Americans on our travels. Everyone was off doing their own thing in various parts of India so I needed to get to Delhi to meet all of them. I took a public bus from Rishkesh to Delhi in which I was the only "gora" or white guy on the entire bus. It was a good experience though and the bus ride wasn't that bad compared to the other shitty ones I've been on in India.
I had a small stroke of bad luck on my arrival in Delhi in which I stupidly left my mandolin in the overhead compartment of the bus. I was tired and rushed off the bus without thinking twice and left a beautiful mandolin just sitting there alone. I am very bummed out about it but I have since moved on but have no music instrument to keep me occupied. The night in Delhi was spent alone and I tried to find a bar and meet some people but to my dismay, the backpacker ghetto lacks a good bar. I resorted to drinking beer out of a teacup for some sneaky reason that I cannot explain. I ended up staying at the Hare Rama Guesthouse which had HBO so I watched the Terminator and went to bed.
The next morning I took a good two hours to finish "Shantaram" which took me about a month to read. A very good book and I would highly recommend reading it. Finally, Mike and Ygal arrived and we spent the day smoking hashish and drinking Foster's. So much for sightseeing, huh? That's what many people that have never been to India don't understand. It is so sticky and hot that going out and doing anything seems like a major chore. We sat around, ate some good pakoras (battered and fried vegetables) and waited for Jo to arrive. When she did, we packed up our bags and headed for the train to Agra.
Agra
We arrived in Agra late at night and were immediately swarmed by taxi and hotel touts trying to take us to there specific hotel in which they get a commission. The hotels are usually out of the way and overpriced. It is a huge pain in the ass dealing with these people and can cause serious anxiety if you are taken unaware, not being listened to, tired, confused. Here is the trick we got taken for: We had our Lonely Planet and the book said "Hotel Sheela" was a good, cheap spot close to the Taj Mahal. It being past midnight, the taxi driver took us to another hotel named "Sheela Hotel" which was surprisingly pricey. But hell, we couldn't see the Taj, and were extremely tired.
In the next couple hours when we made our way to the Taj at 5:00a.m. we walked past the real "Sheela Hotel" which looked like a very nice place to stay. We were taken for suckers but you win some and lose some. We had no time to be upset, we were heading to the Taj!!!
Now, the Taj. It is truly a remarkable sight/site. I really enjoyed getting in the doors at 6:00a.m. and watching the sun come up over the grounds. I got some great pictures and the heat was not just yet unbearable (it was getting there though). I found it funny that there are Indian men who hang out at the Taj and tell you things like "You should take a picture here" and then after you take a picture, ask you for money. "Buddy, that is the most pathetic attempt at squeezing money out of me. Absolutely not!"
We had a lot of fun taking all the stupid pictures people take at the Taj. I'll post a few here. Sure, it's beyond touristy but as long as you don't have a stick up your ass about it, you can take it for what it is and enjoy it. I went from not wanting to see the Taj at all ("That's way too touristy, maan.") to being a total geek having a really fun couple of hours at the Taj.
Sure enough, the intense India heat showed it's ugly head and the A/C and HBO sounded really nice. Taj Mahal, check!
