The amazing Taj Mahal...

Past the cows, the scam artists, the hassling rickshaw drivers, the congestion, the dirt, and the beautiful Indian people lies a building so amazing it looks like a mirage painted into the sky.

Last week I got to spend a couple hours in the presence of the great Taj Mahal, wandering around the immaculate grounds and gazing at the sparkling building against the setting sun of Agra. Amongst the Indian tourists (who paid a mere 20 rupees in comparison to the foreigner price of 750 rupees), I got lost in what an Indian poet once called "a teardrop on the face of eternity."

Me and the British guy I was traveling with, Chris, had decided to visit the Taj during sunset, after a blazing hot visit to Agra Fort (which is another popular tourist site in Agra). We had traveled to Agra on an overnight train from Varanasi, which was my first experience on a train in India. Because the train took about 13 hours, we had booked non-air conditioned sleeper class tickets, and it ended up being an uneventful, even pleasant, journey.

The city of Agra was well prepared for the massive amount of tourists it receives each year, and our hotel was within walking distance of the Taj Mahal, with a view of it from the rooftop restaurant (and it only cost 5 bucks a night!) I was told before arriving in Agra to be prepared for an obnoxious amount of hassling, and the warnings were definitely true. You could not walk down the street as a white person without rickshaw drivers and store owners following you and practically begging you for their business. After getting ripped off by a taxi driver in Varanasi, I was ready for this, and made sure not to get scammed by anybody. Although the city was disgustingly hot and the hassling was unusually annoying, I quite enjoyed the day and a half that I spent in Agra, and was even a little sad to be leaving so early.

Chris and I had booked a train ticket leaving at 3:30pm in the afternoon, which we were told would be a quick, 3 hour journey to the capital city of Delhi. Unfortunately, it ended up being a marathon seven hours before I would finally arrive in Delhi, alone.

After arriving at the train station a little after 3pm, we were told that our train would be late, maybe by an hour or so. It ended up not coming until 6:30, and instead of taking 3 hours it took 4. Chris had booked a plane ticket that night to another city, and, worried about missing the flight, had left the train station early to find another mode of transportation to Delhi. So, after a couple of days with an awesome traveling partner I found myself alone again, surrounded by Indians, on a train to Delhi. Luckily there were a couple of really nice locals on the train who seemed to be worried about the solo white girl, and made sure that I was comfortable the whole ride.

So I've been in Delhi now for a couple days, and am staying in a very bustling, crazy touristy area surrounded by restaurants, shops, internet cafes, and more foreigners than I'm comfortable with. I have a train ticket booked for Sept 11 to a city 4 hours North called Haridwar, where I'll spend one night, before retreating to the popular yoga and meditation city of Rishikesh. I'll probably stay there for about a week, depending on how much I like it and how cheap it is! After that its back to Delhi for a couple days before taking a flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (which I just booked last night!) Then, on Oct 1 I'll be meeting my sister in Bangkok, Thailand! I can't wait!

Anyway, as usual, I don't have the time or the patience to upload pictures right now, but I have a ton of great ones from the last couple months, and hope to be able to upload them soon.

For now, I hope everyone's doing well back home, and I miss you all. See you soon -- much love.