I didn’t really have a set timeframe to leave Goa. My hotel room reservation was up and I just couldn’t think of a reason to stick around any longer.
So far, my India experience has only been here and the Delhi Airport. Not really the immersive experience that one needs to say they have been to India. India is huge and I hadn’t even made a dent in it
Pushing past my beach life inertia, it was time to drop into the “real” world. As I have never been to the Taj Mahal and would not be likely pass this way again, I just had to check out the Taj Mahal. I could have bussed or took the train up to my next stop to the town of Agra. Either option was rumored to take 30 hours if no delays. 30 hours on a packed Indian train, Ugh. Especially when it is a long day trip from New Delhi, at least on Travel agency marketing brochures. So I decided the $300 for the 3 hr flight to New Delhi was worth busting the budget for. I would figure it out from there. Easy effort.
Well, easy ended pretty quickly. I landed in Delhi with hopes of catching a fast train to Agra where the Taj Mahal is located. The effort started well, there is a very nice metro line from the airport to the Delhi train station. The only thing is that you can’t buy tickets at the station or so I was told. I “learned” (and was too tired to verify what the random guy in the parking lot told me) that if you haven’t prebooked a ticket, I would have to go to the government run tourist office. He kindly flagged down a tuk tuk and had him take me to the nearest office.
After a not so scenic tour of Delhi, I ended up a couple of blocks away from the station and was ushered in to the little “government” tourist office. it was well past dark but the city was still pretty busy, so it was sensory and caution overload. I told the agent what I wanted to do and he clicked a way on his computer. He seemed to be using the same system anyone with an internet connection could use. It was very slow after each and cumbersome in that all of the information had to be reentered after each failed attempt to find a seat going in my direction.
It turns out I had totally mistimed my India itinerary. I should have worked my way to Agra when I flew into Delhi a few weeks earlier. I was now smack dab in the middle of holiday season as well as an angry Muslim crowd protesting some sort of arbitrary citizenship rule change and Delhi was pretty locked up.
About an hour later, I was finally convinced that there were no train or bus seats available for days. My option was to sit in a locked down Delhi for a week or sign up for the $1000 personal driver tour package. The agent said rooms were going for $150 a night locally. I would be better off with the tour. I just gave up and said I would be back in the morning. And no, I had nowhere to go from there.
I walked out and my tuk tuk driver offered to take me to another agency. Of course, he was probably up for a nice commission on any purchase. After going through another seat search in vain, I ended up getting talked into a personal driver to take me to Agra for $500 via a 5 day tour through the state of Rajasthan south of Delhi. There are a lot of mountain side palaces and forts and the city of historic city of Jaipur. I finally agreed and was immediately walked to the Nearby ATM to pull out the cash. That had me a bit nervous too. All ended well that day since my tour package included a Delhi room that night and an Uber ride to it. The room rack rate per a quick Expedia search was $15. It was a perfectly fine room albeit low rated. In short, the gov’t agency guy was full of crap.
The next morning, my driver was there to drive me back to the agency for the hotel vouchers he was working on when I left. Once everything was settled, My driver loaded up my stuff and we headed out of town.
It was a very boring 5 hour drive to Jaipur. Even the obligatory rest stop at an overpriced gift shop/restaurant didn’t spark any excitement.
The hotel in Jaipur was pretty plain but clean and quiet. It did take a strangely long time for my driver to check me in. It felt like they weren’t expecting me as there seemed to be some negotiation going on. After about 30 minutes, I finally checked in, dropped my bags and stopped in at the attached restaurant for something to tide me over until dinner. Got some bread because it wasn’t a great restaurant and I have seen cheaper menus at the airport.
Anyway, my driver set up a bbq with some of his friends and invited me. All in all, there were 8 of us sitting around for 3 hours frying up some fish and boiling up goat stew. I didn’t actually know what my share of the cost was until the next morning when I learned it was 1000 rupees. About $15 for a plate of goat and some fish bits.
There was another traveler at the BBQ too. His driver was friends with my driver. He got his tour package at the first place I went too. And oddly enough, staying at the same hotel. We talked this morning and he had the same delayed check-in experience. Just weird.
The first full day in Jaipur started with the obligatory textile factory tour. Conveniently located in the same building we had the goat stew the night before. The factory supposedly supports local impoverished women who make the merchandise. I got a tour of the factory which was empty and there was not a woman in sight. They say its just a tour and you don’t have to buy anything but you kind of do. I still have clothes from a Vietnam trip 10 years ago that I have never worn. I don’t need to add to the pile. But the driver cajoled me with it being bad form approaching an international incident if I didn’t buy something. So now I paid $5 for a table cloth. I don’t own a dining table, let alone a dining room.
Anyway, I came this way to see the forts but they are pretty spread out. My driver said the Amber Fort was pretty much all I needed to see. Without the internet, I couldn’t really debate the advice.
The Amber fort is good though. Try to get there as early in the morning as possible to get the good sunlight for pictures and to beat the crowd. I got there at 10 and barely beat the rush. It is very maze like and gets really hard to navigate when the real crowds showed up around 10:30.
As I said, no offer to go to other forts but he did take me to the City Palace which I wasn’t into enough to pay the 200r. He offered the elephant park and the monkey temple but I don’t trust elephant habitat places over here to treat them well. The temple in Kathmandu covered me for the monkey viewing, so we just agreed to take the afternoon off.
I walked into the downtown section of Jaipur and it was good for a bit. Very busy, lots of lights and crazy traffic. I found a western styled Indian restaurant with matching prices but I needed a break and it fit the bill. Overall though, Jaipur didn’t really move me to stick around. I talked with the driver about heading to Agra the following day rather than just waiting around for no reason.
 Jai Mahal |
 City Gate |
 Night Market |
I sensed hesitation on moving on. New Years was the following day and I think the driver had party plans with his goat stew friends. He mentioned that there is nothing to do in Agra and the cold weather has brought in foggy weather. I would rather sit there and have more chances at a break in the fog to see the Taj than stay in Jaipur walking back and forth on the crumbling streets waiting for bed. He mentioned that the Muslim protests had moved to Agra too. I got the hint and felt bad for being the party pooper so we stuck around.
Probably just as well. I was starting to feel a bit sickly. Sore throat, fatigue, no appetite. Up to this point, I had been pretty lucky on sickness. It was my biggest fear holding me back from going to India. No dreaded Delhi Belly that seemed to be a common occurrence for travelers in India. I had been pretty good drinking only bottled water and beer the whole trip. Eating only piping hot foods. I thought my time had come so I hunkered down in my room waiting for the worst. It never came. Just a cold or the result of breathing copious amounts of scooter fumes.
Whatever it was, I rallied after a long nap. I even got out for a walk on New Year’s Eve. I didn’t last long as I find New Years celebrations more annoying than not. I had a little dinner and headed back to my bed early.
The next morning, I packed up and met my driver in the lobby for the drive to Agra. It turns out he wasn’t feeling well either and stayed in too, he says.
On the way out of town, we stopped at the Monkey temple after all, I have to admit, it was pretty cool. The temple is built into a box canyon and is overrun by monkeys.
 Monkey Temple |
 Monkey |
More Pictures:
Jaipur, India: https://photos.app.goo.gl/z9prPSQs2Ron4FZS8
