Today we came to Agra! I slept through my 6am alarm; the fans are so loud that when I did wake up I thought I could just hear some gentle music, not realising it was my alarm and had been ringing for 15 minutes. I quickly got dressed and Daniela and I left to get a tuk tuk, picking up Kerri on the way. The train was not fun; it was boiling hot despite lots of fans and crowded. There were sooo many people walking down the aisle selling stuff and lots of beggars. Obviously the unsubtle colour of our skin makes us a target; people think white=money so it's generally awkward.
We arrived in Agra at 10 and got a tuk tuk to our hotel. We had nothing planned for the day and our driver did tours so we agreed to one. After an hour cooling down in our nice hotel room we went with him. Again it was boiling and every time we stopped somewhere with air con it was a blessing. We visited the mini Taj mahal which was so beautiful, made of marble and just stunning. We saw old Agra, visiting a few temples and buildings which was cool. We got lunch in a restaurant and saw the red fort from the outside. After lunch it started to get a bit suspicious and I'm pretty sure this was some kind of scam but it wasn't disastrous so hey. We were told we were seeing people making art, that it was free etc but we were essentially just going to a few shops. He was 100% getting commission for it and we went to a gem store (a classic). It was nice and the others bought pretty stuff but I was just a bit bitter at the scam. We also went to a place where they carve marble and a place where they make rugs. Both were amazing to see and as I spent no money I feel almost like I beat the scam. I win.
We got back late afternoon and went down to the restaurant for dinner which was very nice. We practised putting on kerri's sari in preparation for the morning and had an only night as our alarms were set for 4.45am (not fun)
Laura x
We arrived in Agra at 10 and got a tuk tuk to our hotel. We had nothing planned for the day and our driver did tours so we agreed to one. After an hour cooling down in our nice hotel room we went with him. Again it was boiling and every time we stopped somewhere with air con it was a blessing. We visited the mini Taj mahal which was so beautiful, made of marble and just stunning. We saw old Agra, visiting a few temples and buildings which was cool. We got lunch in a restaurant and saw the red fort from the outside. After lunch it started to get a bit suspicious and I'm pretty sure this was some kind of scam but it wasn't disastrous so hey. We were told we were seeing people making art, that it was free etc but we were essentially just going to a few shops. He was 100% getting commission for it and we went to a gem store (a classic). It was nice and the others bought pretty stuff but I was just a bit bitter at the scam. We also went to a place where they carve marble and a place where they make rugs. Both were amazing to see and as I spent no money I feel almost like I beat the scam. I win.
We got back late afternoon and went down to the restaurant for dinner which was very nice. We practised putting on kerri's sari in preparation for the morning and had an only night as our alarms were set for 4.45am (not fun)
Laura x
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