Agra

It was late evening when we finally reached Agra. It being dark and none of us (not me, not even R. and definitely not M.) having been here before, we - ok R. - asked our way through to the hotel. (All in all, having him around was a big help, especially when it came to asking for places, things or directions since my Hindi - as we all know - is beyond limited.) We found it eventually and after some mix and match, we settled on the final occupation of the rooms. M. got the room with the balcony to go out and smoke and give access to mosquitoes and flies while I got to share the room with a spoilt brat who kept complaining about the allegedly not working A/C (which blew cold wind at me where ever I was) but who to his credit was a really easy person to stay with plus he doesn't snore ;-).

"I'm dying to shoot Taj Mahal at sunrise." Those were the words I repeated when someone asked me what I wanted to do in Agra. A time lapse film, possibly some HDRs, that was my idea. Sunrise was going to be around 6.30, so we left the hotel for the West Gate about an hour earlier. First setback: the gate wouldn't be opened before 6 a.m. Second one: the queue at the ticket counter was huge. And number three after having solved two with the help of the world's best Taj guide: no tripods allowed.

Ok fine, I swallowed my disappointment, settled for HDRs and started making a run for the palace, leaving the other two far behind. A guy who appeared to be a guide asked me a few details of my life ("Which countrrry, madam?") and showed me a few places to take the standard Taj pictures from. Guy pointed behind me and asked: "Are those your friends? They're calling you." I recognise R., then M. behind him. They point to our guide, signalling me to wait. 

When the guide catches up to me, he proves that he is determined to give us our money's worth. In a speed I slightly struggle to keep up with, he shows me to the best (I mean seriously best) spots to take photos from, pointing out what exactly to go for from what position. On the run, he tells me more about the story of the palace and forces me into ridiculous poses to take my picture. I'm not sure you'll get to see them as they are plain embarrassing.

Catching our (metaphorical) breath, we walk up to the other two, "your mum and your friend", as the guy assumes.

Walking more slowly all over the area, the guide explains and shows the magic of the precious stone inlays in marble which, as either the sun or his flashlight hit them glow like fire. We once again come across K. from the Netherlands, henceforth known as "the stalker". Speaking of: The squirrels here are small and striped, so of course I had to do some squirrel stalking. A few flamingoes aka schoolgirls in pink uniform near the main gate and we had left the Taj ground.

Upon our return to the hotel, we had (a very meh) breakfast and after another fight about the A/C and even a change of bed, went back to sleep for a while. Later going outside, grabbing a bite and taking nocturnal pictures of Agra Fort. Quite impressive, rather majestic but together with Taj Mahal the only reason Agra gets so many visitors. My general impression of the city is rather negative. Crowded, dirty and extremely touristy are just some of the adjectives that come to my mind. Besides, the traffic is crazy (and I have seen Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad) given the comparatively narrow roads.

So after one last evening on M.'s balcony, I wasn't too sad to leave Agra behind, just wished for a moment that the brat could have kept travelling with us. 

Next morning: off to new adventures in the form of a cab drive to Jaipur/Rajasthan ... but that will be a new chapter.

Holi Hai!

Conversation on chat a few weeks prior.

Me: You're from Hyderabad, right?
D: Yup.
Me: Is Holi big there?
D: Oh yea! I mean, not as big as in the North but still pretty big.
Me: Awesome, thanks.

Today, 27th March, Holi. 

Where do we go to play Holi? No, we don't want to celebrate in some hotel. Yes, we know that it's not as big in the South but still! 

After breakfast, around 11 which is - as we know now - kind of late to play Holi, we have an auto take us to Charminar as someone confirmed that this is a good place for Holi. On the way there, we see coloured individuals and even groups but around Charminar itself, there is no play going on whatsoever. We are close to tears with disappointment and the sales people with their usual "Ks ks ks madam!" irritate the hell out of me. 

"Let's ask an auto driver", I suggest. M. walks up to the nearest one, he speaks decent English and promises to take us to the action (Begum Bazar, according to him). Off we go and upon arrival, we notice that, yes, there are quite a few colourful figures so I'll at least be able to take some nice photos if nothing else. The figures don't mind having their picture taken but we're not really part of the game yet. That is until M. decides to take out our own (ecological and non-toxic) Holi dyes and throw a handful in the general direction of my face and phone. Oh well, it wasn't the last one today and after a momentary shock, I reach into my own yellow and toss it right back at her. 

And that's how it took off .. I don't remember where all the next portions came from nor who threw them and how fast. After the blur of the next minutes, I take a breath to admire M.'s and my own colourful appearance. So it goes on .. "Happy Holi!!", colour dabbing on shoulders, wet colour thoroughly rubbing into cheeks, water sprinkling on head, carefully mixing with the powder to create a lasting mess and last but definitely not least throwing water balloons that - after an initial shock - are pleasantly refreshing. We sprinkled powder on everyone - humans, dogs, cows (ok, I did) - and left traces on everything - a pinch of powder on a motorbike, a pink handprint on the black of an auto rickshaw. 

At some point, we had run out of our own and then even the big bag of pink dye (gulaal), that some well-meaning strangers had thrusted into our hands. "We need new paint!", we decided, even though the actual game was practically over. But oh well, the seven heaps of bright colour - they even had turquoise! - were just irresistible, so we bought a few spoonfuls of each. Let's see what we'll use them for now.

Back at the hotel, the personnel was looking at us with a mix of pure horror and utter amusement. 'Happy Holi's came from all sides, while we pretended that there was nothing unusual at all going on ;-)

After sprinkling a lot of pink and a bit of everything else with every step, I decided to at least wash my face before meeting up with Mu. Bye bye blue, green, orange and yellow, hello very VERY persistent gulaal! Well, at least one could guess that there was a human face behind all the pink.

We spent a couple hours in a comfy little café, bringing each other up to date about the events of the last couple months and just having a relaxed time with cold coffee and snacks.

Returning "home", I decided that I should indulge in a shower after all. I admired my originally light green t-shirt from all sides before entering said shower, armed with soap and shampoo. The water that was running down me gave the impression that I was bleeding pink from a massive wound whereas the dye on my scalp and body didn't show much sign of diminishing. Not to worry, we're good at pretending to be normal anyway, so we bravely decided to eat in the (rather elegant) hotel's restaurant instead of calling the room service. 

The waiter was on the same track, he didn't acknowledge the obvious traces all over my face and neck at all while straight-facedly taking our orders and thanking M. for the honour of opening and pouring her coke.

Another employee was less discreet. He, cracking up, stated that we must have played Holi today. Yes, we confirmed, asking him if there was any secret for getting rid of the unmoving pink dye. No, we'd just have to shower a few times, after 3-4 showers, the colour would be gone, he said, still laughing. And meanwhile, we were clearly adding to his amusement although he laughingly denied that.

And finally even the waiter asked us about our adventure with colours. He himself didn't play but confirmed that it would take a number of showers to entirely get rid of the leftovers. Turning to me (M. had somehow managed to look nearly as human as before), "But until then you will look very beautiful. :)".

Shame that this beauty will pass with the pink ...
;-)

Mathura

The next morning breakfast at the hotel in Delhi. Ironically, that was the best breakfast I had had so far. In Bangalore, I tried coconut chutney and found it too spicy (not that I have a problem with spices, I don't, but coconut chutney is not supposed to be like this), the paratha too chewy, the idli ok (but then how can you ruin idli anyway?), the vada too hard. But in Delhi, it was perfect with a capital P ;-). 

After having stuffed myself at breakfast (and having answered a call from R. who was running late because his poor dog had suddenly decided to fall ill), I went out in search for an ATM. Asked in the hotel, they pointed me into the general direction, asked two guards of a nearby firm and eventually a policeman who told me to "go strrraight and then rrright" while pointing vigorously to the left. When in doubt, go by gestures rather than words and so I found it, returned and settled for a little nap in one of those comfortable chairs in the lobby. Next thing I remember was a male voice, asking "Sol?". Slightly startled, I opened my eyes to look at the guy mustering me from above. For the fraction of a second, I couldn't place him but then it dawned on me and yelling his name, I jumped up to hug him.

And with that, we were on our way to Mathura, a destination M. had picked and that I never even heard about before this trip. Legend has it, that Krishna was born there in a dungeon opposite of the temple that is dedicated to him now. Until then, I didn't know that gods were born - in my understanding, they just materialised out of thin air but well, apparently not. 

The temple itself is undoubtedly beautiful and impressive and gives the entire town its purpose of existence. Because other than that, the city resembles a holy place much less than a (not very elegant) touristy rip-off. But back to the temple. Large area, big crowd of followers, believers and spectators. Beautiful wall and ceiling paintings, depicting Krishna at various stages of his life, interesting architecture. The downside for a photographer is of course that you couldn't take photos. And to me, beauty that cannot be captured in an image is just wasted. So temple visited, prayer done (M.), spectacle watched (me), stories told (R.) and stories heard (K., a lone traveller from the Netherlands that we came across), we were back in the car, left the locals and their not very pleasantly smelling streets behind and moved on to Agra.

Delhi

Before this trip, well, even before my last (or first) one, everybody had tried to scare me about Delhi: "Even Mumbai girls don't go there alone", "rape capital of the country" (which is sadly true as we all know now), "Dress and behave sensibly", "Don't go out alone". They succeeded in making me completely paranoid, to the point that I barely dared stepping out of the hotel on my own. But since M. was gone off with her friend and K. still didn't show any sign of appearance, I decided that I was not going to waste the afternoon in my hotel room, packed up (sensibly dressed), left the hotel and started walking. After about 100 metres, an elderly auto driver caught up to me and told me that if I kept walking in that direction, everything would be closed, the day being a Sunday and that the market was the other way. He offered to drive me around, wait for me while I shopped however long it would take (I wanted to shop? Oh ok, if he said so.) and all that for just 20 rupees. "You'll be like my daughter." 

Why the heck not, I thought, entered the auto (btw, whenever I say "auto", I refer to an auto rickshaw, also known as "tuk-tuk") and told him that first of all, I needed a pharmacy (followers of my facebook album will remember the vicious mosquito attack at my person) and some water. After that, I replied to his repeated question to what I was interested in "jewellery" and he took me to a jeweller's shop of his (def not my) choice. After wriggling/talking my way out of there, I told that driver that it's more costume jewellery what I had in mind, not super fancy precious stone stuff. So he took me to a silver jewellery store in some side street next where I bought the loveliest set of connected bangles for myself and a little silver Ganesha for M.

After that, back to the hotel, some more communication with K. who was gonna be more delayed, then M. came back full of stories and adventures and we got ready to meet her friend Sa. at the hotel. And sitting there with the two of them, chatting, eating, drinking - that's when it hit me: I had arrived. I was happy. I had my India back. That too in Delhi of all places!

Eventually, K. showed up too, we had a good time walking the streets of Delhi and just sitting in a rooftop café chatting until work reclaimed him. Oh well, better luck next time.

And that was about it for Delhi - not as bad as expected, possibly interesting enough to visit again (locally accompanied of course) and ready to leave for Mathura with R. the next morning.

India for two, please

or: My second trip to India.

First of all I will say that these posts will be written from my point of view. I won't say we when I mean I, won't be politically correct by including my friend in every statement. No, I don't regret having come here with M. After some initial doubts, we have managed to work out the kinks pretty well, do most things together without being attached by the hip and I'm almost certain that we'll still be friends after these three and a half weeks ;-).

Where do I begin? At the beginning, you might say. Not a bad idea, let's start.

Our plane left off on Thursday, 14th March (has it really been ten days already?) from a snowy Frankfurt that had no temperature at all (0°C obviously). Roughly 12 hours later, on Friday afternoon, we landed in Bangalore after a stop-over in Delhi. Yes, it was a lot warmer and more or less how I remembered it but still it didn't feel home yet, I didn't feel quite arrived.

We met S. that very evening who was warm and welcoming as ever, took us to nice places with a lovely atmosphere but still .. not quite it.

For the next day, B. had announced his arrival for right after work, "6ish" (yes, in the morning), so I woke up after a good two hours of sleep (woke up sounds a lot more energetic than it actually was but oh well). Slept for a bit after he was gone, went out later, shopped, explored, ate, drank. Evening going out again, with S. and his wife this time .. I really like her! Everything was perfect (well, except for the fact that M. had imported the plague from Germany) but still .. not quite yet.

The next morning, we left for the North, Delhi for one busy day, Mathura, Agra, Jaipur .. but that will be the next chapter.