Agra

Yesterday afternoon I wandered through Jaipur, mostly the more modern part, which was rather uneventful. Don't get me wrong, it's actually one of the nicest areas I've seen in India so far, very affluent for Indian standards. It just wasn't big on cool sites.

I did get to see a group of guys nearly accidentally steal a motorcycle. There were some guys in a pick up truck, with one motorcycle already in the bed and they stopped right in front of me. The guys hopped out of the back, grabbed a motorcycle, put it in the bed of the truck and were about to drive away when some guy from one of the shops nearby saw them and came yelling at them. They all looked embarrassed as they put the motorcycle back and took the nearly identical one next to it. I laughed along with quite a few other spectators.

This morning I got up at around 5 to catch my 6:10am train. I had the hotel arrange a tuk tuk to pick me up, which turned out to be a good move because at 5:20, when we were on the way, we were the only ones on the road. It was a little pricier (it was about $1.60 for a 10 minute ride) but it was worth it.

I arrived in Agra today at about noon. It's still farther inland and away from the desert. It's not quite as hot I don't think, but the humidity is far worse so it feels hotter. I plan on checking out the outside of the Taj Mahal tonight at around sunset, then going in and paying the fee (at about $15 it's the most expensive entrance fee in India) tomorrow morning at sunrise. There are some other sites, most notably Agra Fort, but you get a discount if you go the same day as the Taj Mahal, so I play to go tomorrow afternoon.