I think it was when we were at the train station that Myra and I were probably wondering what it was we had just gotten ourselves into!
This country is not like any other country I've ever visited - that is for sure. There are so many people. It's crowded, it's dirty, it's chaotic.
We were left at the train station and knew we needed to make it to platform 4, but I think we were just overwhelmed by our surroundings and the people starring at us like we were fish out of water. As Myra was trying to take that picture of me above a man came by and pushed her out of the way. That was then followed by another man saying, "welcome to India!"
We took about a 3 or so hour train ride to Agra. We somehow lucked out with 1st AC class (the best of the classes possible which is not even offered on all trains). It made the trains in Egypt look glamorous.
Myra and I just starred out the window the entire time at all the people, villages, huts we would pass. We were just trying to take it all in. It made us so grateful for where we live and our lives back home. That's for sure.
We were greeted in Agra by our guide that we had arranged. Nitin showed us the way to the car, got us some water, and took us to our hotel. He then said he would be back to meet us at 6 am to take us here.....
We loved visiting the Taj! The building and the grounds are beautiful. I must admit that the inside of the building was a bit disappointing. There isn't much in it. But the outside is wonderful as you can see.
We had fun taking all the typical tourist pictures!
After visiting the Taj Mahal, Nitin took us back to our hotel so that we could eat breakfast, rest and pack. The hotel was....ok. Not the best, not quite the worst. We checked out when Nitin returned and headed to the agra fort...
I think one of the things we enjoyed most about our day was having all these Indian people come up and want to take a picture with us. It was so funny. Some would just try to get a picture without us noticing as their cameras followed us. Or they would have someone come stand near us and aim their camera at us. Or some were brave enough to just ask us....
Of course we had no problem doing that and welcomed it. It has happened almost everywhere we have gone since we've been here. Nitin said that when these people return home to their villages, they will not show the Taj Mahal pictures to their friends, but the ones where they were able to get a picture with a foreigner! ha.
After visiting the fort and eating lunch - curry and nan of course... we went to the rug store and some marble store! Those stupid tourist trap places all tour guides take you. For some dumb reason I caved and bought a Sari (not the one pictured). I don't know what I was thinking.... I know that these places are a rip off..i've been to them in China, Israel, Egypt! You'd think I'd learn my lesson! Well - lesson learned. Never again! :)
We had lots of time to kill since our train wasn't until 11:30pm so we ended up going to a cafe to just relax until it was time for our train. Nitin and a couple of his other guide friends came with us and we just sat and talked. This was actually one of my favorite parts of the day for several reasons.
1 - we got to eat this....
2 - Ramesh and Nitin taught us some words in Hindi that I've been able to use on our trip and that I'll be able to use with the people at Rising Star. Like how to say, "how are you?" and "what's your name"..
and 3 - We got to do this....
While we were sitting in a cafe, a wedding march came by for the groom of the wedding party. So Ramesh grabbed my camera and told me to follow him. We were standing next to the celebration when before I knew it, I was being asked to come dance and they pulled me in. It was so much fun!
Getting a picture with the groom.... poor guy just has to sit on a horse while everyone else dances and has fun. Seems kind of boring for the poor groom if you ask me.
Everyone wanted to dance with us. The photographer was taking tons of pictures with us. And when the music stopped, everyone was thanking us for dancing with them.
They all wanted to shake our hands and thank us. It was like we had made their day. What they probably didn't realize was that they had made my day!
Our day ended with Nitin taking us back to the train station. He waited with us until our train came. What a great tour guide. I've had several different guides in several different countries and Nitin has been my favorite. He made our day in Agra great. If only the next couple of days had been just as great.....
Location:Agra, India
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