Incredible !ndia

I'm not sure if you've seen the add campaign, but I've seen it everywhere. Not just here in India, but in The Economist, posters on bus shelters, billboards, everywhere. Bin and I are in Jaipur right now. Yesterday was a day that can only be described as incredible. We woke early and took the train from Delhi to Agra. We saw the Taj Mahal. Nice from afar, but slightly disappointing up close. We visited the Agra Fort too, then decided to take a bus to Fathepur Sikre to see another fort. That bus ride bought back a flood of memories of my travels throughout Africa with McHale. At the bus stop we got a bus that was to leave when it was full. But there was a political speech going on so the drivers were all listening to it. So then we heard another bus was leaving, so exited one bus for another that was so packed we couldn't even make it near the door. We returned to the other bus and waited. As soon as the speech was over the driver arrived and we left.

About 20 minutes of driving later we were back at the same bus station. Wait a few minutes then leave again. The road that we took was rural, paved when the British were there but never kept up. It was a dusty bumpy mess, as I sat next to a window that did not close. It took about two hours to cover 60km. When we finally arrived in Fathepur Sikre dusk was falling and the fort was closed, so we wandered around the tiny town as people stared in awe of me (being white of course). We met some nice people, had some chai, and went by the side of the road to wait for the bus to Jaipur. It arrived after 15 minutes, but the next 5 hours of my life I was almost scared to death by the maneuvers of this driver. Indian drivers are good, but aggressive, missing each other by centimeters. I did not want to sit close to the front for fear of actually seeing what the driver saw. We eventually arrived in Jaipur near midnight and spent an hour trying to find an available room. What a wonderful day.

I will, hopefully, have time to post photos of this adventure and others this weekend when Bin and I go to his house in Calcutta...