Agra Redux

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To attempt to avoid the inevitable very hot days in May and June, Greg and I journeyed to Agra Sunday for a tour of the Taj Mahal and other monuments. It was my second trip to Agra, so the Taj wasn't quite as amazing -- and the heat at Sikandra, toward the end of the day, was nearly unbearable (by my meager Western standards). But, all in all, not a bad way to spend a Sunday. Photos here.

We opted to hire our weekday driver, Amit, to ferry us to Agra and back, rather than take the train (somewhat disappointing, since one of my chief accomplishments of last week was actually booking our train tickets, which I then exchanged for a partial refund). It was a nice way to get back and forth, I have to say, though twice as expensive as taking the train. Once my Hindi is stronger, I think I'd prefer to take the cheap way and work on bartering for a guide on arrival. (Our guide this time was included in the price of our car fare.) (Not that I'm intending to return to Agra any time soon -- two visits to the Taj seems almost too greedy for a lifetime -- but there are plenty of other places to reach by train from Delhi.)

One item that did not make it into our photos of the day, sadly, was my first trip to a McDonald's in India, where I had a fried chicken sandwich, fries and a Coke with no ice. The fries tasted the same; the chicken was fairly standard but seemed to have some Indian spices, including turmeric. I'd go it again. Maybe next time I'll be brave enough to try the "Veggie Surprise" burger.

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Reverse Tourism

I don't have a photo to prove what I'm about to say, so you're just gonna have to take my word for it.

During our stay in Chandigarh, Greg and I had a few encounters with reverse tourism -- where we became the attraction, at least for a brief moment, shaking hands with small children or posing for photos.

At the Rose Garden, the guardians -- I assume family -- of the poor little guy above brought him over to shake our hands while we sat, enjoying -- what else? -- the smell of the roses.

When the little guy was unphased by the handshake, the folks I can only assume were his parents went in for another step: They picked up him, sat him between us on our bench, put one hand on Greg's lap, one on mine, and took his photo. His photo, with the Americans. The poor guy smiled not once during the entire event. I couldn't tell if he was frightened of just annoyed.

Incidentally, I'm reading 'Eat, Pray, Love,' Elizabeth Gilbert's book about traveling through Italy, India and Indonesia. In a chapter about how she makes for a not-so-great traveler, Gilbert mentions that she dealt with this same phenomenon -- being pointed out by parents to young children -- in China. There, she said, the

"... children -- who had never seen anything quite like this pink-faced yellow-headed phantom person -- would often burst into tears at the sight of me. I really hated that about China." (Penguin Books, 2006)

I don't think my experience makes me hate India. In fact, it was sort of interesting to be, for a moment, on the other side of the lens.

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Chandigarh Photos -- Before the Wedding

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Here and here.

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Random Thoughts

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Musings, while I wait for my photos to upload (not as slow here as it could be in other households in India, but still slower than desired):

• One thing you don't get from my photos is that, most often, when I'm taking them, the air is hot, stinky and either dusty or buggy (mosquitos and flies are most common). But, that said, I always am glad I went wherever I did to take these photos, when looking back on them from the comfort of my AC'd room.
• I had my first power outage of this trip to India last night. The generators kicked in within about 10 seconds, though, which is super. Crazy thing is the cable went first (must be closer to the power source); unfortunately, the cable going out now puts me on edge, in expectation that our power is going to go out, too.
• Every day has been so crazy and different and exciting so far. I haven't been bored at all. Not even close.
• Things I forgot to pack: my brown belt; a flashlight; my cell phone charger (I'm using a mini-USB to charge it from my laptop).

Photos still uploading, but I'm tired. Ciao for now.

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Jami Masjid -- Delhi

In a continuation of our irony-in-India ways, Greg and I spent a good portion of today, Good Friday, a key date in the Christian faith, at Jami Masjid, India's biggest mosque, gathering place for the Muslim faith. Photos here.

Other highlights of today, our first public holiday in Gurgaon:
-- no work! (OK, we both did at least a little work, actually.)
-- running errands at Big Bazaar (a local chain) at Sahara Mall.
-- more working out at the tiny gym on the first floor of our building.
-- buying our return tickets from Chandigarh.
-- finding affordable bangles on Dariba Kalan in Old Delhi. I saw them on sale at the mall for five times as much as I paid (which was 150 rupees, or about $3USD).

Lastly, we rested at home, beautiful home, and had afternoon chai.

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