Agra and Jaipur

Getting to Agra at 2:00 am wasn't that great, but i had been lucky. i had awoke just 4 minutes before the stop. There are many many stops and none of them are announced. I spent a good three hours waiting in the train station before i went to the Taj Mahal for sun up. I was the first one there. Security at the Taj is pretty tight, no tripods, no video recorders, no food of any kind, explosives orrrrrr playing cards. that's how i lost my Grateful Dead deck, i don't know, truly i don't, he didn't seem to know either but made me feel like a criminal. Monkeys hang around on the eve above looking for the guards to throw up some of the confiscated food while people are frisked and freed of there prohibited items. Seeing the Taj at first was underwhelming, fog and a horde of people took a little away from it all. But as soon as the sun really started to hit that white marble. wow. the Indians have a right to be proud. I left feeling tired, i had been up since 2AM and it was close to lunch. I had all of my things, minus my playing cards and having a difficult time finding a hotel with my budget. I was led for at least 3 blocks the way i had just come on the promise of a 200 rupees room only to find out it was three hundred by the time i got there. I did find a spot and it was excellent. tucked away from the street a courtyard was surrounded by rooms. I never saw another soul there, i am pretty sure i was the only one. I was made dinner for a very good price in the courtyard and served my first beer in two weeks. Beer and alcohol in general is odd here. In some towns people come up to you pushing beer likes its meth, hushed tones, looking over their backs, they assure me they could get me the beer i wanted, with smiles that made you want to hide your children. So when my guesthouse owner leaned in to talk with me i had an idea what he was going to ask, "yes please" i said,  "big or small?" he replied with a smile. "big" and there i sat listening to mystic drum beats and prayers pouring over the walls, sitting in the courtyard alone, with my feet up toasting the stars and catching big whiffs of my dinner rolling out of the kitchen. I felt like a sultan, though i am pretty sure a sultan would have kept his slaves in a room like the one i had, none the less i took a deep breath and admired the India night. The next day i had plenty of time to seek out the other place Agra is known for, The Red Fort" this place was amazing and to be honest more up my alley then the Taj. It was huge and elaborate, brilliantly carved and ornate. I sat on the throne slab of old and imagined what it was like to have armies marching at my behest, defending the walls against invaders then after the seige was broken i would throw a victory party in the halls of the huge inner palace. Music and dancing, wild boars roasted over spits, large casts of beer twice the size of a man. Lavish lounge gear and the flicker of a thousand candles painting the victorious army and the DJ's in warm dark hues. After my day dreaming, i spent the majority of my afternoon there and i was offered access to a closed off portion of the palace so i could take pictures for a bribe of 100 ruppees. After i declined it wasn't more than 1 hr later and i was sitting when a guard approached me and sat close by after talking for about 15 minutes he leans in and says "Tip". I said "no thank you" and got up and walked away. Sometimes its best to pretend their English is so terrible and you have completely misunderstood them. They don't know enough to explain further. its gotten me out a few awkward encounters, "who? john? no, i don't know him, ill look for him now, see ya!" that's one of my favorites. I can now check Agra off the list.


Jaipur and the Pink City,
Jaipur (the old city, the pink city) was painted pink to welcome great Brittan's something or whoever at one point in time. Its now a color of peace. Since, there is a mandate to keep it that way it has overcome the centuries. It's pretty neat but i would actually call it peach. I have spent 4 days in Jaipur, making my trip in India two weeks old. I have over a month to go and am already worried about leaving. Its really something here. There is a huge wow, at one point everyday here. When you think you have seen it all, just spend one more day in India and you will change your mind most certainly. I really love it. It gets tiring at times for sure. Everyone and their brother wants to talk with you and the same questions usually arise, "your good name"? "where you from"? "obama"? "married"? "no"? "why not"? then "how many girlfriends do you have"?. Always how many, not "do you have one", but "how many do you have"? Jaipur has a charm, there are so many people here touts and wallas don't hassle you so much. There isn't that many people around, white people i mean. Most of those that come to India seem to be on bus tours with large groups and they take most the attention off me. The wallahs are smart and know who will bring in the most cash and who looks ripe for a rip off. The gem scams of Jaipur are well known. Selling fake everything in India but particularly gems in Jaipur. I bought a few because i met a really trusty guy with a horse voice, dark leather skin and teeth that would make any dentist shutter attached to a smile that looked like a dangerous machine (i stole that from tom clancy). Ok i didn't buy gems from that guy he was my guesthouse owner. All and all Jaipur had a lot of great stuff, the Amber fort was amazing, i took a autorickshaw and was able to stop off at the water palace after that which was good for a photo, its an amazing building in the middle of a lake, the government has sold it and it will soon be a hotel, so no one can go inside. its sad really. I had my first lassi in Jaipur, it was amazing its in between a milk shake and a Greek yogurt that you drink cold. Its amazing and i had since had a few none as good as the famous Lassi Walla in Jaipur. I wish i had a picture but i was being rushed by my tuk tuk driver. i hate them like i like going to the bathroom, necessary but distasteful. (also stolen from Tom Clancy) i am addicted its my forth TC book and my 10 over all, not bad for four months. Its a testament to how much time i spend in a bus or train, or waiting on them both. Anyway, miss you all and will try to catch up a bit, it makes for better stories as i am having a hard time remembering those small odd things that happened to me a week and a half ago.

love you all tons, miss you all more.

Jake