Trip to Agra October 14, 2008
Posted by admin in : Travels Tags:adventure, Agra, Indian drivers, kick-backs, Swami Narayan, Taj Mahal, temple , add a commentThe trip to Agra was quite the adventure. Our driver just about side swiped another vehicle ripping off the side mirror. The guy, who was driving his employer’s car, motioned for us to pull over, but our driver refused. They didn’t have “auto insurance” in India so accidents weren’t handled in the same manner as they were in the US.
I was actually surprised we didn’t see more accidents while we were there, but I’m sure they happened all the time, as the drivers were absolutely insane. I thought we lost the other car until there was a loud whack on our driver’s window and I looked over to see the driver of the other car screaming and waving his fist. The next thing you know, both drivers were at each other’s throat screaming obscenities in such raw anger. It was extremely unsettling, as I’ve never felt such frightening energy between two people.
The course leader got out of the bus and stepped between the two drivers to see if he could get them to calm down, but there was no getting through to either of them. Sriram tried paying for the damage just to make peace so we could be on our way, as it was his nature to be sweet and loving in the midst of conflict, but not even Sriram could bring peace to the situation, as it became an issue of pride. The driver of the other car could have lost his job and been in a lot of trouble because it was a really expensive vehicle, but a man’s word was a man’s word.
There was nothing anyone could do except let the owners of the vehicles figure it out even though everyone saw it and knew it was our driver’s fault. It was awful to be in a Foreign Country and witness such hostility and extreme aggression between two men and all because of ego, as neither one of them wanted to be wrong. Thankfully we didn’t have to wait for the owners to figure everything out. The transportation company sent us another bus to take us the rest of the way.
It was a really rough four hour trek, as the roads were not paved and the cars drove like they were in the line of fire. I think all of us were car sick at some point, but we were definitely distracted by everything happening around us. I don’t even know how to explain half the stuff we saw. It was like watching some bizarre movie like the Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
There were pigs trudging through the garbage, kids walking up and knocking on the windows for food, naked children laying on the sidewalks starving to death, tractors carrying flat beds of women coming home from working in the fields, vehicles broken down on the side of the road with huddles of men grouped together trying to repair them, houses of cow dung with thatch roofs, poverty worse than New Delhi, camels wondering by, herds of sheep, wild hungry dogs, bicycles hauling mounds of stuff whether it be lumber, sugar cane, fruit, or beverages, and market style shops that sold anything and everything under the sun.
Along the way we stopped off at the Swami Narayan Temple. It was enormous…not like anything I’ve ever seen. I was amazed at the level of security around the grounds, as there were actually men with automatic weapons standing guard. We weren’t even allowed to bring our purses in and even then we were still thoroughly searched. Thankfully the females were handled by women because they pretty much felt up our entire body.
We had a private tour set up, which turned out to be really cool. I enjoyed the experience, but I have to say it was HOT. I just about passed out. I was dehydrated, hot, and hungry…not a good combination. I remember seeing white spots and every one’s voices getting really far away. If it hadn’t been for one of the girls coming up and putting a wet cloth on my neck I probably would’ve collapsed.
Thankfully we just ordered lunch so food and water were on the way. We all ordered veggie burgers because we thought we were getting an American Style Burger, which we desperately needed after all the Indian food, but even the veggie burger turned out to be a lentil curry burger fried, topped with creamy coleslaw, and served between two pieces of white bread. It wasn’t the slightest bit healthy, but nobody said a word, as we were absolutely famished.
After lunch I found myself in the nastiest bathroom I’ve ever seen and without toilet paper or soap to wash my hands. I usually carried a travel roll of toilet paper and hand sanitizer in my bag, but everything was in the car so I wasn’t very happy.
We were given a sweet biscuit-like-thing before we left. It was suppose to bring us all prosperity and divine blessings, as it was blessed by the Swamis of the temple. I was really looking forward to eating it until I realized mine was also being blessed by two little ants, which came crawling out of the box just about the time I was ready to put my mouth around it. The only thing I could do was laugh, as I didn’t know which was worse…the filthy bathrooms or the “blessed” ant infested biscuit.
Even though I was still dehydrated from walking around in the heat all afternoon, I was scared to drink any water because there didn’t seem to be any place along the way to pull off. It was as if we were in the middle of a past life regression taking a rough dirt road through someones past. Even so, the drivers found some run down place to stop, which turned out to be a set up.
Apparently the driver’s hook up with certain vendors and make deals to bring tourists to certain places so they spend money. The drivers receive kickbacks on whatever the tourists spend so they were very pushy to the point of aggravation. We noticed it back in New Delhi, but gave them the benefit of the doubt, as maybe they were just trying to “help” us out by telling us where we could find the best deals.
The place we stopped was full of treasures that looked like they had been around for ages. Everything was dark and covered in layers of dust. The prices were ridiculous and the drivers kept pushing us to shop. None of us bought anything, but it didn’t matter. We still had to stay until the drivers finished their meal, as it was all part of the plan.
A lady even came out of the middle of nowhere and in to the bathrooms when we first arrived to hand us TOILET tissue to dry our hands. She obviously didn’t care how ridiculous it was to hand someone toilet paper. The only thing she cared about was getting paid for the service, which was common in India. People would walk right up to you and help you cross the street or bless your forehead with a bindi or take your bags to or from a taxi. They were not doing it from the kindness of their hearts. They wanted money…plain and simple.
We got in to Agra late and I was exhausted, but thankfully we pulled in to a nice hotel with a beautiful view of the Taj Mahal and it didn’t smell like moth balls. The bed was comfortable and the shower lovely. It felt so good to wash the day away. We all met downstairs for dinner and then it was time for bed, as we had to get up before sunrise to see the Taj. None of us wanted to get up that early, but we also knew it would be much hotter and more crowded if we waited so we all agreed sunrise was best.
