Day 23: Agra and Delhi I had a very good night’s rest on the train. This was true for many of the Yatris, but definitely not all. I awoke at about 6:15 and saw what station we were arriving at and then checked the train schedule. We were just a little under an hour behind schedule. We were supposed to arrive at Agra Fort at 6:30 and it was closer to 7:30 when we actually arrived. Considering that the train had been running six and seven hours late earlier in the week, I accepted this as another good fortune. Ameen, my rickshaw driver for over 10 years, was there with six other rickshaws. I had called him from Tundla Junction (about 40 minutes before Agra Fort) to let him know that we were only an hour off schedule. He already knew! But then, as we went to board the rickshaws, uncharacteristic chaos broke out! There was confusion about what 7 rickshaws were ours, there were loud, angry arguments about who was driving and who was not. It is usually not like this . . .. Ameen is usually in complete control! We finally got to the Hotel Sidhartha around 8:00. We secured our rooms for ½ day and everyone went to their rooms to shower, clean up, and put on their best sari or their best kurta for the group picture at the Taj Mahal. Two of the male Yatris had bought handsome new kurtas just for the picture! I went to the little outdoor restaurant and ordered 13 orders of scrambled eggs and 13 toast/butter/jam and two large pots of tea. Then, as the Yatris came down one by one, their eggs and toast were delivered to them immediately. Breakfast went smoothly as always (since I have been ordering the same thing for everyone, and ordering it in advance). We finally walked down the alley to the Taj Mahal at about 9:00. It was already pretty hot (probably in the 90s!). I was wearing a new khadi silk kurta that Ajit had made for me and a bright blue khadi silk stole that he had given me. I discovered that khadi silk does not breathe at all . . . so I started sweating profusely (oddly, especially on my arms!). We bought our high value ticket . . . which is what they call the tickets for foreigners: Indians pay Rs 20 (about 30 cents) to get into the Taj Mahal, foreigners pay Rs 750 (about $13). But, for our high value ticket, we get a free half liter of water and little cloth booties to wear over our sandals so we don’t have to go to the Taj Mahal barefoot. We went through security quickly because we leave everything at Hotel Sidhartha except our cameras and water bottles. Then we secured a “professional” photographer to take our group picture. That is always the first thing we do. Then many, many, many individual pictures are taken. All the girls pose together in their saris, all the boys pose together in their kurtas, individual shots are taken, small group shots are taken, most Yatris have a picture taken with Chacha. There was no jumping shot this year! I was surprised. The other thing that surprised me was how few Indians were asking us to pose with them. Thousands of pictures were being taken of us, but not that many with someone asking to pose with us (at least not at first). We didn’t stay quite as long as usual taking pictures because it was so hot already! We walked down to the Taj Mahal, put our little booties on, and entered the Taj. Since it is a mausoleum, there is not much in there except two tombs. But the artistry and craftsmanship is beautiful. It’s also considerably cooler inside. However, there really isn’t much to see or do inside, so we left and went to the backside and sat in the shade. That is when the picture taking frenzy began!! Mainly pictures were taken of us as we sat, but occasionally we would be asked to stand for a posed picture with some children (or older boys usually). Many babies were handed to us and pictures taken of that. It is not an exaggeration to say that thousands of pictures were taken of us today! We sat in the shade for almost an hour, and then made our way out of the Taj Mahal. We had been there almost two hours! On the way back, the photo man found us and we got our group photo. It was pretty good of all of us! We returned to the hotel for a rest, and then at noon we went to Indiana Restaurant (a tradition that is over 14 years old). Our rickshaw drivers were waiting for us and they knew where we were going for lunch (because we always go there). It is air-conditioned and the food is very good. From there we ran the rickshaw scheme for a while . . . a jewelry store, a marble inlay store, and then the carpet company for the full demonstration of how hand knotted carpets are made. It really is interesting!! After the carpet company, Ameen could tell the Yatris were tired, (and hot . . . it was 116 today!) so he had us brought back to the hotel. We rested for almost two hours and then boarded the rickshaws again to leave for the train station. I had been checking the running time of the train all afternoon, and it was consistently about 45 minutes late at each station. But occasionally, it would make up time and only be 10 minutes late. So we left for the train station at a little after 5:00 to catch a 5:50 train that was probably late. We got to the train station at about 5:30 and the board said the train was only 10 minutes late (departing at 6:00). As it got close to 6:00, the board said the train would depart at 6:10. This went on every 10 minutes until the train finally departed at 6:45. This is our only non-AC sleeper class train that we ride. It is quite a different experience than the AC two and three tier class that we usually ride. There is a lot more activity and a lot more vending and a lot more confusion. But the Yatris need to experience this to get one last new glimpse of India! Naturally, the train was hot . . . but not unbearable. A few Yatris slept a little, but mostly we just visited and enjoyed this slice of India. We arrived a New Delhi station at about 10:05 and went out to face the taxi drivers. I had been dreading this for hours because it is such an ordeal. But this year, I walked out to the taxi yard, was quoted an outrageous price, I stated the maximum that I would pay and while the man I was talking to refused, someone behind me said, “Okay. I remember you for many years.” And he actually gave me the fair price without any argument or even negotiation! We got checked into the YWCA, retrieved our left luggage, and everyone was settled in their rooms by a little after 11:00. There have been years that we were still on the train at this time!! So we are back where we started. Nothing has changed but everything is different!!
Posted on: Thu, 29 May 2014 18:21:05 +0000
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