Ahoy,
The next morning was check-out. We checked out early to leave for the Taj Mahal. We got to know some of the bride's friends and joined them for their trip. It was super nice for them to be able to accommodate us. We piled into the van for a 3.5 hour trip to Agra. We picked up a tour guide in Agra that went with us to the Taj and told us stories and history. It was like a class field trip. The Taj looks smaller in person, but the details are truly remarkable. The laden gems and carved marble are truly a feat to craft. They took us to a marble school/shop and showed us how something like the Taj Mahal was made. The town is mostly craftsmen, without a lot of opportunities for growth in other fields, so there are quite a few that migrate out for other industries. We moved onto lunch at a tourist restaurant where we made the mistake of ordering mild, which was bland. With a last drive-by of the Red Fort, we made our way back to Delhi. Little would I know the adventure had just begun.
We all got dropped off at our friends' hotel, and we used uber to get to our own hostel. When we arrived, I was frustrated, surprised and disappointed to find a construction zone. There were only construction workers there and I didn't see a reception. I didn't want to stop anywhere in the building because it was impossible to breathe with all the fumes in the air. We got to the roof and regrouped. The construction workers came up and showed us a shared dorm room (we had reserved a private room). We eventually decided to go back out to find our way back to our friends' hotel. I spotted a kid on his phone walking by and he was so helpful, he spoke perfect English and was really kind and did not try to scam us, which I guess is a testament to the school system and media. We looked up the address of our friends' hotel on his phone and he gave us instructions for how to best get there. I had developed this defensive feeling of being on the lookout for scams that seemed pervasive in the culture of tourism here, but this kid was just so genuinely helpful. I remain extremely grateful for this kid's assistance. And it was really fortunate that we knew about this other hotel from having been dropped off there earlier. I don't know what we would have done if these sequence of events did not line up like they did.
The hotel had 2 nights available for us, which was 1 night shy of what we needed, but it turned out well, because the newlyweds were able to accommodate us for the rest of our stay. And that was probably the highlight. She was my friend from high school and we had not seen each other much since then, so I was really glad to be able to spend the time and get to know her husband better also.
momentarily adrift,
jt
The next morning was check-out. We checked out early to leave for the Taj Mahal. We got to know some of the bride's friends and joined them for their trip. It was super nice for them to be able to accommodate us. We piled into the van for a 3.5 hour trip to Agra. We picked up a tour guide in Agra that went with us to the Taj and told us stories and history. It was like a class field trip. The Taj looks smaller in person, but the details are truly remarkable. The laden gems and carved marble are truly a feat to craft. They took us to a marble school/shop and showed us how something like the Taj Mahal was made. The town is mostly craftsmen, without a lot of opportunities for growth in other fields, so there are quite a few that migrate out for other industries. We moved onto lunch at a tourist restaurant where we made the mistake of ordering mild, which was bland. With a last drive-by of the Red Fort, we made our way back to Delhi. Little would I know the adventure had just begun.
We all got dropped off at our friends' hotel, and we used uber to get to our own hostel. When we arrived, I was frustrated, surprised and disappointed to find a construction zone. There were only construction workers there and I didn't see a reception. I didn't want to stop anywhere in the building because it was impossible to breathe with all the fumes in the air. We got to the roof and regrouped. The construction workers came up and showed us a shared dorm room (we had reserved a private room). We eventually decided to go back out to find our way back to our friends' hotel. I spotted a kid on his phone walking by and he was so helpful, he spoke perfect English and was really kind and did not try to scam us, which I guess is a testament to the school system and media. We looked up the address of our friends' hotel on his phone and he gave us instructions for how to best get there. I had developed this defensive feeling of being on the lookout for scams that seemed pervasive in the culture of tourism here, but this kid was just so genuinely helpful. I remain extremely grateful for this kid's assistance. And it was really fortunate that we knew about this other hotel from having been dropped off there earlier. I don't know what we would have done if these sequence of events did not line up like they did.
The hotel had 2 nights available for us, which was 1 night shy of what we needed, but it turned out well, because the newlyweds were able to accommodate us for the rest of our stay. And that was probably the highlight. She was my friend from high school and we had not seen each other much since then, so I was really glad to be able to spend the time and get to know her husband better also.
momentarily adrift,
jt
No comments:
Post a Comment