Indian travel. Agra.
Our trains are the most traveled trains in the world! ! Indian trains are something! Our train from one station in Delhi to the second was two hours. In fact, he just stood there. As a result, we were two hours late. Train delays in India are the norm rather than the exception. This must be taken into account when using the train. The trains themselves are divided into classes: sleepers, air-conditioned sleepers in which there are two or three shelves (AS), as well as seated cars. The difference between a sleeper and an AC is that the AC has fabric curtains that shield you from others.
Well, we didn't care who we were hiding from, because. the road to Agra took only 4 hours. We rode safely sitting on the bottom bunk and chatting with an old Indian couple. When moving around Delhi, we considered poor areas: dozens of houses knocked down from cardboard, or brickwork and a canopy, and each has a satellite dish !!!
Arriving at the station, we immediately found a Prepaid taxi counter. The translation speaks for itself - this is a taxi paid in advance (although in fact payment can be made after arriving at the place you need). There is a prepaid taxi, and there is a prepaid auto rickshaw. Auto rickshaws are cheaper. Such booths with a blue or yellow sign are located near all stations and airports. Usually they have a price tag on them, indicating how much it costs to travel to various destinations. It is very convenient for those who are not guided by prices, although we paid cheaper than indicated there.
Based on our notes, where we should go to look for a hotel, we asked the rickshaw for his advice. Our data and his coincided - the South Gate of the Taj Mahal. He took us to the Taj Ganj area. Most of the hotels there are designed for tourists, almost all have a rooftop platform from which you can observe the Taj Mahal. Since we arrived on Friday (the only day when the Taj is closed), there was no illumination of the Taj, and we didn't care where to stay or where to look from the roof.
The rickshaw tried for a long time to sell “a full day excursion for 500 rupees with the participation of the bazaar”, but we wanted minimal participation from the Indian people =) We agreed that he would pick us up from the hotel the next day and take us to the station.
The Taj Ganj area is filled with cafes, Internet cafes, shops and tailors who iron and darn all day long. Prices are quite low everywhere, we bought the cheapest fruit and food there. In Agra, we made a discovery - on all products (edible and not very) there is a price of the goods, the maximum allowable.
After Delhi, Agra seemed like a peaceful corner, a small island of calm among everything. The number of cars is much less, people are noticeably kinder and their smiles are sincere. However, it was impossible to sleep at night due to the "cries of the jungle". The monkeys frolicked all night and yelled like crazy. In the morning, getting up at 5-00, we began to gather for a trip to the sights. The night before, we bought tangerines and walked, sharing a tangerine in a brotherly way. When we reached the gate to the Taj, we saw a flock of monkeys. In order not to become a victim of monkey attacks, we decided to eat a tangerine, and then move past them. I stand, chew, break the last slice, and then I hear someone shout something in Hindi behind me. I am pushed on the shoulder and shown down to my feet. I lower my eyes - and like ZARU! One monkey, which, most likely, was sitting on the fence behind us, saw a tangerine in my hand, jumped off, ran to my feet, stood on its hind legs, grabbed my trouser leg with one front paw, and pulled the other towards me, and in its eyes clearly read "Let's eat! ". I had to throw the tangerine aside so that "it" got behind me.
The gates to the Taj open at 6 am, this is the best time to take a photo and see at least something through the crowds of people. Entrance ticket 750 rupees, this price includes a bottle of water 0.5 ml and shoe covers (without which they are not allowed into the site with the Taj). At the security check, as usual, the division of queues: boys separately, girls separately. Many things cannot be carried with you. Tripods are taboo. All that is better to take with you is a camera, money and documents. The rest can be left in the storage room near the gate.
Taj Mahal.... if you want to get a lot of impressions, don't dream about it!! ! Expecting something incredible, reading thousands of articles and viewing millions of pictures killed what could give rise to delight from what he saw! I have been waiting for this for so long, thinking, imagining how I will enter the arch and see the Taj floating in the fog, that when I saw it, I didn’t feel anything! =( Yes, it is very beautiful! But it did not evoke emotions. We wandered around it for a long time, looking into every crack, chasing mongooses, trying to feed the chipmunks. When we went inside the mausoleum, something strange happened to me. it was gloomy, people were circling around the tomb of the shah and his wife, and then I felt a pinch inside, and some inner voice began to scream in panic: "GO AWAY! RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!!! ". This has never happened to me before. I freely climbed in various Egyptian tombs, I climbed all the caves with the relics of saints in Kyiv, visited various tombs in Turkey, I have no fear of the dark and claustrophobia. I don't know, but it was, and it was creepy.
At 9:00 we returned to the hotel. Two hours is enough to walk around the complex with the Taj. Having left our things at the hotel reception, we caught a rickshaw and drove to the Red Fort, which once served as the residence of the rulers. The fort was built in the shape of a crescent. The fort is quite beautiful. Inside are various gardens, palaces, mosques. Here we walked for a long time, and since there was a lot of time, we settled down on the cool marble and I even dozed a little. I woke up a little Indian girl who came to me, sat down next to me and just started laughing. About twenty minutes =) Her mother, noticing that the child was gone, jumped up and began to rush about, but when she was pointed at me, she was surprised to notice her neighing child next to a white man. Called dad. Everyone looked together, laughed, began to take pictures of us. It was a positive moment!
From the fort we returned to Taj Ganj, and settled in one of the cafes on the roof. Cooling fan, unobtrusive Indian music, delicious food and an overview of life around us. Dozens of cows crawling past us, women with twigs on their heads, rickshaws. . . and hijras! ! We saw them!
From Wikipedia - Hijra is one of the untouchable castes. This community of men who dress and act like women call themselves by a woman's name, but do not identify themselves with any gender. Childless women ask their blessings, hijras come (often without invitation) to weddings, celebrations on the occasion of the birth of a boy, and take part in moving. They sing and dance, demanding "badhai" for this - a kind of reward for blessing. Otherwise, they threaten to cast a curse. (from)
They went from store to store and gave us money. We did not immediately understand that these were men, only rough features and broad shoulders betrayed their “beginning”. It was funny to watch how they swear and resent if they do not get what they want.
Because we had a lot of time, and we were already tired of walking, we decided to go to the station and wait for the train there. When we entered the station, we came across crowds of Indians lying on the floor. Looking up at the arrivals board, we saw that our train was delayed by two hours. We stand, we look, we don’t know what to do, and then we notice a “white man” near us. A pretty girl, with an open smile and good-natured eyes, looked at us and smiled:
“Is your train late too? ” she asked.
- Yes, what train do you have? We are in Jaipur.
- And I'm going to Pushkar. Mine is three hours late. I think I saw two more girls on your train!!!!
Without hesitation, we decided to wait together. Janina, that was her name, took us to a secluded corner where, according to her, we could wait for the train: a lounge for women with first class tickets =)))) There were almost no people there, and we boldly left our things on tables and seats . A few minutes later, Janina returned, accompanied by two French Canadian girls who were also on their way to Jaipur. Later, two more girls of European appearance, accompanied by an Indian, wandered into the same place. The common "grief" unites. We sat for a long time and talked while sitting in our "shelter". Janina was of German origin. Cheerful, cheerful, sociable. She has been traveling around India herself for a month and a half, and this is not the limit, before that she had already managed to circumnavigate the world. From communication with her there was only one positive. The French women turned out to be more constrained in communication, they have been traveling around the country for 2 weeks already, they are more prudent and prudent girls. The other two girls were talking to an Indian, but then I had some question for one of them and I asked him in English. After some time, their Indian friend, having probably heard our Russian speech, told his companions that we were Russians. The girl with whom we spoke in English came up to us and addressed us in pure Russian =) There was no limit to the surprise. It turned out that she even has Ukrainian roots, in India they were on some courses, and also followed to Jaipur. We talked very nicely, but the apogee of everything was the game of "fool". We taught Janina how to play cards! ! Where else can you meet two Ukrainians and a Georgian beating a German? But Janina didn't give up and managed to give us "epaulettes" =) It was the best time spent in Agra!
When the time of arrival of our train was approaching, and in the end it was three hours late, we had an embarrassment. The number of our train was displayed on the scoreboard, but the name was different. It turned out that in India changing the name of the train in the process of its movement is the norm. Seven out of eight boarded the same train. It was a pity to leave Nini.
We expected to be in Jaipur at 11 pm and not sleep on the train, but the card fell differently. Having loaded onto the train, we dispersed the Indians sitting on the bottom shelf, raised the middle one and, throwing our sleeping bag there, and a backpack with sandals under our heads, settled down to sleep, and almost overslept our stop. But more about that later….
