The Goa airport is about an hour’s ride from Baga by taxi. I quickly learn how to repack my things so that I still only have one check in and one carry on. With Maxine as my primary carry-on I board a flight to Delhi and arrive in the afternoon.

I arrive in Delhi in the height of rush hour traffic. I guess traffic is always pretty bad here but right now its evening and people are getting off work so it is even worse. I find a nice hotel near the main train station and do a little exploring of the area. In the evening I wait for Christine who is coming from Rishikesh to Delhi by train. We will spend one day in Delhi and before heading to Agra and then Jaipur, thus competing the golden triangle.

The next day we get up early to head over to the Chinese embassy where we will be turn in our passports for a China Visa. After looking up the office hours of the embassy we arrive at the gate to find that it actually doesn’t open for another two hours. And since we rushed over to make the opening time, we both skipped breakfast and are starving. Once the gate finally opens, all the Indians rush ahead of us with blatant disregard for a queue. And once we start to queue inside for the windows the same things happens and one guy cuts right in front of me. I wait until we are next in line before saying “Hey asshole, there’s a line here” and point him to the back. At first he doesn’t react and to make sure I get my point across I push him back and stand in front of him. He finally turns and heads to the end of what is now a really long queue. The rest of the people in line give me an approving nod.

I feel like we rushed through the rest of Delhi. For such a big city with tons to see a single day was just not enough. However I was able to see the red fort, the Muslim quarter, the subway and many of the smaller attractions, none of which was that amazing. What did surprise me was how clean the subway was here. As soon as stepped down the stairs it felt like I was in another country. The place was actually clean, there were no homeless people lying around, no beggers, no trash, and everyone actually queued; well actually mostly everyone.

Christine and I reach Agra in the evening. A lot of the restaurants are already closed so we are quite limited to where we end up eating. I don’t remember the exact name of the place, but it was on a rooftop and by far one of the worst places I’ve eaten Indian food. Christine and I have been experimenting and eat as much street food as we can. During this phase we are always joking about how we’re going to get sick doing this. At the restaurant, she orders a banana lassi and mentions how this is going to do her in. It was really ironic because later that night I awoke to Christine puking her guts out in the bathroom.

The evening was actually really interesting. I didn’t get much sleep and kept waking up. At one point there was a dog outside barking nonstop. So I decide to out to our balcony and throw something at it so it would leave our hotel area. I threw a rock and it did the trick. I turn around on the railing next to the door going back into our hotel room sits a monkey. That thing scared the shit out of me. And for it to be so close to me I quickly jumped inside and slammed the door shut.
The next morning only I wake up early enough to see the Taj at sunrise. It’s only later that morning that Christine finally made it out of bed to join me. Getting into the area to see the Taj Mahal was a huge hassle too. You cannot bring any food, books, or a pocketknife as I found out. Furthermore I even had to argue with the guard to let him take in a backpack. I had to go back to the locker area three times before I actually cleared the entrance area.

The beauty of the Taj Mahal is indescribable and all the pictures that I’ve seen of it doesn’t really do it justice. In the morning the whiteness of the building is tinted in a glowing light blue and fades slowly to orange and then finally white when the sun is fully out. It was an amazing transformation to watch. In the morning the fountains are turned off. That is the time to get a perfect reflection of the Taj Mahal in the waters.

The next day we have a night train to Jaipur and then followed by another night train to Delhi. Jaipur came and went quickly with not much that really stood out in my mind. With the combination of Christine being sick from her banana lassi and my lack of sleep from the overnight train ride, we are pretty sluggish throughout the entire day.

In the evening we met up with some Americans that were doing a spring break India trip. They invited us to join them for dinner which we happily accepted since their driver would give us a ride. Their driver who is also their tour guide selects a restaurant for us. This place is the most expensive restaurant I’ve ever been to in India. It is definitely geared towards the package tourist. The drinks were the prices of a typical meal that I am use to eating. Furthermore after we got our overpriced food we found out that the portions were tiny and the taste not so great.

The last night train from Jaipur to Delhi was surprisingly cold. With nothing by two changes of clothes that I packed for this 3 day trip I don’t have much to keep me warm. During the night I resort to wearing all my clothes and using my extra dirty Tshirt as a blanket for my legs. The train was probably the dirtiest I’ve been on. Even after wiping my bench with a towel I end up with dirty clothes of the journey. We actually woke up to an empty train and all the lights turned off. Initially I thought we had stopped at another station for a little bit but then I happened to glance down to see empty bunks. I wake up Christine and we quickly realize that we have already missed the main Delhi station and have end up at the end of the line.

A rickshaw ride to the hotel to grab our main bags, then another rickshaw ride to the Chinese embassy to pick up our hotels and finally a third rickshaw ride to the airport and we’re ready to say goodbye to India.

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