Hot Hot Hot!

We had much better results on the train! Firstly we somehow managed to get ourselves into the wrong carriage, but it was the one that held the reserved seats for the military and tourist quotas, so we met an Aussie lad we had seen in the not-so-'Super Pub' in Kolkata and also chatted to a German girl whose boyfriend had managed to poleaxe himself by eating food from a street vendor and was now going through the living nightmare that strikes fear into the heart of all travelers in this area - being ill in India! (on a night train too, poor chap).

Anywho, we were just hunkering down for bed when the ticket man came along and made us move to the carriage we were actually booked on (the one with all the locals), which is fair enough, but we were bemused as to how we had made the mistake and also fearful of another night of discomfort at the hands of rude Indians. Nothing happened though. We got on our beds, a family arrived and got on theirs and we caught some sleep when the rocking of the train allowed and in between the deafening booms of passing trains on the line. We arrived a few hours late - not a problem as we were meant to get in at 5.45am and went through the usual routine of batting off annoying tuk-tuk drivers and all other salespeople of various description. When we got a lift with a lad in the end we also endured the usual role play of making friends and then him trying to con us into hiring him for the rest of the millenia. We are getting better at side stepping these rouses, his massive arms (which we had to squeeze, obviously) and the fact that he was some sort of fighting champ for the whole of Agra planting the only doubts in our minds before we made a hasty escape to the hotel reception.

What an upgrade! Our budget seems to buy a lot more in Agra. Marble everywhere and little men in uniforms who carried our bags to our room for us. Slight confusion ensued when we realized we had to tip the buggers and didn't have a frog's lolly about what a good tip was. We threw some Rupees at them and they seemed a bit too happy so we prob overestimated!! We then unpacked and died in the manner traditional after night transport before stuffing a large breakfast to get us moving again in what we believe is one of the world's most scenic rooftop restaurants. Just one flight of stairs above are room was the hotels eatery which afforded the most breathtaking view of the big T.M. We started getting excited but soon remembered that our meticulous planning had landed us in Agra on a Friday - the one day of the week that the Taj is closed. Clever, eh?

Instead we battled the surface-of-the-sun temperatures by taking a stroll around the bazaar areas and up to Agra fort. On the walk we obviously got hassled the entire time. Some fairly impressive ones on this particular journey though, including the boy who wanted to sell us a snow globe for about 500 Rupees (extortionate) before following us for literally about a kilometer gradually reducing his price the more we ignored him until he was offering 12 for 100 rupees! 12! We hadn't even started bartering. He didn't seem to understand the concept that we might simply not want a tacky snow globe of the Taj (or twelve), and the irony that he was selling a SNOW globe in record high temperatures in Utter Pradesh was also obviously lost. When he decided to split we met another fellow who was also rather small who simply followed us. He didn't beg or even try and talk (which we found thoroughly refreshing), he simply followed us. All the way to Agra fort, all around the outside and back. He then asked Stu for money, and when it was clear that we found the fact that he had invested about an hour and half following us thinking we might somehow form a little sympathy bond funny, he hit Stu and went off. He should have tried some western girls, they would have broken a lot easier; unfortunately we have now seen so much poverty and begging that is a lot easier to stick to our guns about giving out money.

After the fort things were really hotting up (literally) and after a break in the luxury of our hotel we went off in search of food. We found a very enthusiastic man who owed a rooftop restaurant and crucially a very reasonably priced menu and piled in. Nice little view of the Taj from up there and great food (the butter Naan particularly). Who should we spy but the Aussie as well, he came to join us for a beer. We didn't linger though, we had plans of retreating to our hotel for what we believed would be one of the best sunset vantage points in the city. Our hotel being just to the east of town and with the sun most likely setting in the west, you can see the logic was infallible. So was the evening show we were treated to; playing some cards as the sun descended, burned the most awesome red in the kind of way you might associate with India and then popped over the horizon.

The next day we were at the east gate, ticket in hand by 6.00am. Let me tell you now, this is worth the groggy start not only to escape the heat, but also the day tours that herald from Delhi and arrive mid morning. The morning light on the big T is also pretty breathtaking. The Taj Mahal is awesome. We killed over two hours pottering around without even realizing it before the sun started to get a bit too warm (yes, even at 8.00 is not nice in this heat) and we decided it was sensible to have some breakfast. We even saw Aussie and we bumped into a much less pale German lad and his girl. We somehow managed to take even more photos before we left at about 8.30 and devoured an interesting take on 'western breakfast'. It was 25 Rupees though so 'nuff said.

Not much else compared to that start for the rest of the day, except perhaps the joy of arriving at the train station at around four for another train!! It was due to arrive in Jaipur that evening though, so we were buoyed by the thought of not needing to sleep on it. Turns out we were so tired that staying awake to make our stop was actually the problem. We were kept entertained by a young lad with surprising English though, who we chatted to about Cricket and Indian music and a hundred other things (including wrestling, which is more Stu's specialty than mine). Since we had become 'best friends', which is fair as he is now probably our best Indian friend, we were offered food by the family and then also asked a lot a searching questions from his sisters, who we are convinced were looking for husbands. When we were asked how much our monthly income was (not a rude or unusual question here) we did some quick maths and shocked ourselves as much as the family by the figure in Rupees we offered back. This must have been the point at which they decided that they must have photos with us and our autographs... cue a lot of explanation about how much things actually cost in England compared to India and that we weren't actually superstars. ...Or maybe it was Stu's magic trick which literally had the ENTIRE carriage craning their necks to see.

Anyway we stayed up until Jaipur and decided in our infinite wisdom that given the proximity of our hotel to the station we could walk it. I'm sure we would have had a much easier time of it if the place wasn't riddled with alleys and side streets and the address was more specific than 'plot 4' and a road name. Many thanks go to the people who kept pointing us in the right direction! After some seriously terrible sleep in the worlds hottest hotel room we were both worse for wear. Stu was clearly completely out of sorts though and couldn't even make it to the bathroom without feeling the universe slip away around him. When he said he felt cold (which is actually a physical impossibility) it was an easy conclusion to make that he had some sort of fever. We moved rooms to one we were promised was cooler and quite frankly did very little. Jaipur wasn't about to tempt me on my own given the temperature, and I felt I should probably keep a eye on Stu in case he decided he fancied being hospitalized, so I just popped in and out for food and the like.

We have had a better go at things today. With Stu able to stand and the temperature only a touch above 49 degrees (an official record for Rajesthan) we managed to explore the old city, climb a tower for some views and buy some Indian cricket tops. All this was interspersed with cold drinks and sit downs. We made it to about 2.30, but we started at 8.30 to avoid the heat, so we're calling that a good day given the conditions. The pink city certainly is pink, pretty much everywhere thanks to a lad who painted it so sometime in the past, and it's probably the least shitty and smelly of our stops here, so we quite like it. Second test in the windies tonight vs the saffers, and given the low temperature for the eve is about 30 and we have a TV we are going to indulge. Besides, we are up early again tomorrow to catch a train to Dehli. That's our last stop!!!