i was pretty sure i won’t visit delhi again. maybe for a short transit, a connecting flight or train, but this (hopefully) will be my last time i see delhi. i caught a morning train to agra and arrived in slightly less than 4hours. i walked out into the streets outside the train station, and it took me less than 2seconds to peddle myself to the most enthusiastic and sharpest-eyed rickshaw driver.
actually no, he saw me and attached himself to me like a parasite or tumor even before i stepped out of the station. and so we haggled. he quote a price, i quote mine, we argued, i threatened to go to someone else, he gave in and we closed the deal. his name was ahmed, or so he choose to call himself, and ahmed has been driving his rickshaw for 30years in agra. he told me many stories during our short trip and must have almost completed narrating his entire life story when he dropped me at my guesthouse. i bathed, walked around abit, ate and tried to sleep early.
but that day turned out to be one of the many holidays in the hindu calender, and the streets were abuzzed with weird indian band music and noise. i gave up, and went out to the streets to take a look. it was lord rama’s and sita’s wedding day and there were floats, people dancing, bands playing, and the streets were a general riot, like most hindu holidays. i waited a long time before it ended and i slept properly.
the rest of agra i can say was like a black hole for me. i can’t really remember what i did or see, even though i spent 3 days there. it was like crap flushed down my toilet bowl of memories. here’s the floating remnants that i do remember and i will lazily put it down in my most simple english.
i didn’t go see taj mahal, because i’m already pissed about paying extra high prices for every monument i visit. taj mahal would cost me $25 to get in. i don’t care if its seven wonders or not, it doesn’t even look that impressive for me.
agra fort was decent, better than red fort but only just. i met two germans everywhere i went. i first talked to them on the train, and then the internet cafe, then agra fort; they must be following me. i met an indonesian traveler with a suitcase on wheels. i had fever, headaches and bodyaches and i missed my train to jaipur. i stayed an extra day, got another ticket and this train came 4 hours late. i was pretty eager to leave agra.
phoebe and syak was right. agra is like delhi, but a quieter, scaled down version. i didn’t like agra at all.
