Day 3: A terrible bus ride to Agra

I had to wake up at 5 in the morning for the trip to Agra. Having slept for 3 hours last night, I thought about canceling the trip altogether but decided that I should go since I might not have another chance this summer. Let me just summed up the entire day in brief: it was too long, too hot, and by the time I got back to my hotel at 2 am, I almost hated the entire trip. The manager warned that it’s possible that I won’t get back until 2 but I thought he meant we will leave Agra at about 8 or 9 pm and get back at 2. Instead we left Agra at 5 pm to go to Mathura (the holy birth place of Krsna). There, my God we had to stop at 3 important places in Mathura and stayed in each place for about an hour. We did not head back until way after 10 and did not arrive in Delhi until 1:40 in the morning.

The bus ride was awfully painful because it was very bumpy. I hit my head twice on the top of the bus (one was so hard that I thought I was going to get a concussion). We didn’t have any AC because one passenger had to have the window open. She suffered from some kind of tuberculosis or something--she was coughing non-stop and she sat in front of me. The temperature in Agra hovered to 47 C midday. But riding on the bus gave me a view of India that was almost unbearable to watch since it was much much worse than Delhi. The trip to Mathura which is located before Agra was too painful and indescribable. I did not take any pictures because it was really that hard for me to be reminded at how much suffering there was along the highways to Mathura. The place was like a dump, piles of trash and waste littered in every part. I saw smoke and pollution, kids sleeping underneath highway ramps early morning whose clothes were made of rags, and a lot of people living in shacks. I saw small lakes and small channels of water that were polluted beyond belief and people working in the hot sun and sometimes it was just unbearable to watch. There were so many people clustered together.

The bus ride to Agra took forever. We suffered in the hot bus and I tried cooling myself by sprinkling some water to wet my shirt. We did not get there until 1 pm, and I couldn’t find anyone to talk to, definitely felt like an outsider. Actually on the way back, I actually struck up a good conversation with a beautiful newly married woman from Karnataka. Her name was Sarita and she and her husband have been married for one week, and they’ve been traveling ever since. Both husband and wife are software engineers. We talked about American life and why I wanted to go to India. She asked me about America and gave me an understanding why Indians look up to western cultures. But I reassured that while we have big buildings and such, we could use more spirituality in our culture. She then asked me what is it about India that I like so far and the first thing that came up was the dresses that women wear in India I told her how much I appreciate the culture but that this trip showed me a part of India that was too hard to stomach. She sighed softly as if she understood what I was saying. With the exception for Sarita and one other man, no one else knew enough English and so it was hard to communicate. I only wished that I had talked to Sarita earlier on the trip.

luckily I applied quite a bit of sunscreen...but my face was a little burned nonetheless.

 Agra was by far the expensive tour to date. It costs 750 rupees for foreigners but quite honestly it is worth all the rupees if I had more time to enjoy the Taj. As a foreigner, I was given a private tour guide who took me to a restaurant that was a bargain for westerners but actually quite expensive for Indians. The food was super good and it was just great to relax in an AC restaurant when it was roasting outside. It was well worth it, I even told my guide that I would probably pay a fortune to eat food this good in the West--so no regrets. Next he took me a clothing shop where I had to shell out more rupees to buy a kurta and dhoti. Man, it seems like no one knows what I’m talking about when I tell them I am looking for a mundu which is the Kerala version of a dhoti. Next, he brought me to a place where they made marble crafts using the same technique that was done for the Taj. There I saw an artist painstakingly at work to produce something that must take at least 40 hours or more. He gave me a private instruction to how decorations on the marble were done...again a priceless experience but I was encouraged to buy something from the shop, I completely declined.
 

Awesome paneer w/ cheese. very tasty

Not sure if this shop was meant to scam me or not--looks real tho.

It was already 3 when we had done all of this and everyone had to be back on the bus by 5. That leaves me less than a couple of hours to enjoy the Taj. I demanded that my guide take me to the Taj immediately and he was very willing to do that. His advised was to avoid the Taj at noon when the sun is high up when the conditions become unbearable which is true. So it was either before 6 in the morning or 5 or later in the evening. We were at the Taj at 3 and the heat was just unbearable but it was well worth it. God, that structure is so divine. I only wish that all of India was like the Taj, but it is wishful thinking. I told my guide that I want to appreciate this very moment because I know that it is the only chance that I will get this summer. We stayed there for about an hour before we head back to the bus.


 The Taj was well worth it and I didn’t mind the ride to get there. But nothing prepared me for the trip to Mathura. I thought we were heading home after Agra but unfortunately there was like a 4-5 hour detour to Mathura. While on the way, I was thinking when the monsoon was going to hit India, and then only five minutes later, my wish came true.

 All of a sudden I saw trees swirling in the breeze. There were clouds of dust. I was surprised how powerful the wind was. By this time, the woman who was suffering from TB closed her window and so it was quite nice and cool on the bus. I thought it was probably like that as well but was I wrong. Our bus passed a truck where a bunch of young men jumping and singing for joy with the strong gust. And then all of sudden, really powerful storms swept the area of Agra. Some streets were flooded instantly, but the rain did not last long. I guess this was a sign of things to come.

Men shouted for joy. I wonder what the temperature was like?

 We stopped in Mathura where I noticed how hot and humid it really was. The rain did not bring coolness, but really bad humidity. It was completely unbearable. At first I wanted to go with my tour to Krsna birthplace but instead walked straight back to the bus because they did not allow cameras and you have to check your bag. I felt uncomfortable leaving my stuff on the bus or check it in--and besides I was way too exhausted for anything else. The heat of Agra and having slept for a few hours sapped all of my energy. Every stop that my tour made completely drained my spirit, they stayed for an hour at each site. And the terrible thing about it was that there were like 4-5 stops...it was really really bad.

This trip felt like it was completely walking off the beaten path and into something totally knew and scary territory. Because I was the only westerner in this place, I thought that at the end of the trip my tour was going to sacrifice me to Lord Krsna, which was a terrible thought but that’s how bad my mental state was. I was too tired to want to do anything. But really even though this was a terribly bad day, I’ve still learned so much already. And the bus ride while uncomfortable showed me an unattractive side of India that probably could not have been seen on a train or plane.