DAY 10
I'm really not sure what to make of today. In many respects, it summed up the very worst aspects of India. Yet it still had its nice moments. As expected, the rickshaw driver was waiting - he was the first thing I saw when I drew open my curtains! I hadn't bothered to get up early to see the Taj at sunrise as I was too tired and it was too expensive. I seem to be leaking rupees at an alarming rate. India is cheap but somehow I'm always at the money exchange counter. It doesn't help that I can't eat the really cheap Indian food and have to pay more for Chinese or western. Anyway, Mr Rickshaw watched me eat breakfast and then we headed off to the Baby Taj, as its known. Now here's the problem. Once you've seen the Taj, anything after that kind of pails into insignificance. The Baby Taj is actually more detailed in many respects but the sheer scale and shimmering beauty of the big Taj just renders it an also ran in the mosque stakes. However, hardly anyone was there and it was very peaceful as I sat on the steps and surveyed the landscape. What a contrast with what was to come next....

The Bridge of Death. THE worst ride I've ever had. It was bumpy, potholed, narrow, noisy, dusty. I was buffeted and banged about like never before. I'm used to the roughness of rickshaw riding now but this was ridiculous. I had to lower my body position to stop my head jerking upwards and banging into the roof - an experience I didn't want to go through twice! This was a fifteen minute ride from one side of Agra to the other. But four times. The idiot driver decided to ignore my plea to go to an Internet cafe to download photos and just took me straight to the next monument. But I couldn't take pics as my camera was full and so we had to go back to find the Internet, then returned. Four times the sweat and tears. I never want to go through that again.

The place itself I can barely remember. To be honest, I was now very hot and tired and wanted some time alone. It just felt as though I was being taken on a tour that I had no say in and there was no way I was getting out of it. I wouldn't have minded if the places were of great interest but to be honest, it felt like I was going just for the sake of it. I was all templed-out. But worse was to come. The driver was obviously lining me up for other little scams that he was part of. He went off the beaten path and stopped at a quiet road where I was set upon by five people who each thrust a drink at me through the rickshaw! I said no, as I'm now so used to it, then realised I wasn't getting out of this, so stocked up on water. One person offered a coke, for fifteen rupees. When I said yes, another offered his for ten! I just chose one from each to keep the peace! Then some nine year old showed me where I could get a view of the Taj that most tourists wouldn't see - from the other side of the city river. To be fair, it was a great view and not one you'd know of without the aid of a local. But the kid wanted paying for his 'tour', half of which I couldn't understand and another bloke wanted me to pay for a pro-photo of me and the Taj. I have to admit, many of these kids have a real cheeky charm about them. They can be a pain but if you need a pic taking of yourself with no-one handy around, they can be useful! For the next scam I was taken to a shop where ancestors of the Taj builders were hand-crafting marble sculptures. I didn't ask to go and didn't want to go but I went. To be fair again, I did wonder how they made all the detail on the Taj and I got to see it first hand with the manager giving me the full spec and history. It was fascinating and amazing but I knew what was coming - the sell. I ended up buying something but won't say what as its a present for someone! I managed to get out of a similar silk factory tour by being firm - something I've certainly now had to instill within myself, even if I am abrupt. On the way back I was hounded at a traffic light by a young girl and a mother and child but this time I gave something. It made me feel a little better after the last time and they were genuinely in need. You get to spot who is really needy and who is just trying their luck. I had a couple of cheeky kids try it on at the Baby Taj but they were waving to me, then ran up all cheeky smiles, first asking if I'd like to take a photo of them then just blatantly asking for money. They are amusing if nothing else and often give up with a wave and a smile. But these people were desperate. You could see it in their faces and the way they looked. But I now realise why the guidebooks say don't give anything - once you give to one, others come running over and where do you draw the line?? The driver had to shoo them off again. And that was that. I ended up paying way more for the rickshaw service but still nowhere near as much as he tried to get out of me. I only gave in because he wouldn't even look at me with what I was offering, the sulking git! I only realised how much of a rip off it was until the next day......

Feeling very jaded and a tad despondent, I got on the train and managed to get a birth to myself until the next stop where I was joined by an Indian guy who epitomised the new India. He got his laptop out and he was speaking loudly on his mobile phone and was dressed in a hip-hop style. Eventually he spoke to me and he had a strong US accent. We got chatting and he told me he'd been travelling across India and was going home to his family after three months. He was thirty seven but acted like he was seventeen. I thought he was OK at first, outgoing, friendly. Then when I told him I was half Jamaican he seemed to see it as a license to open up even more. He began bragging about how much money he had and how many houses and how his parents had made him come home from Chicago where he was living for a while as he was 'making too much money'. How was he making it? As a drug dealer! Apparently he 'ran the city'. Yeah right. I can spot a fake and he was just a mummy's boy, spoilt rich kid showing off to his new mate. I didn't believe a word of it. How many gangsters do you know who listen to the Macarena? Cos that's what he was blasting out of his PC a little while later! I moved elsewhere to get away from him, though he didn't seem to realise I moved DUE to him. Honestly, you go half way round the world and you STILL can't escape from chavs!

The five hour journey was to Jaipur, 'The Pink City'. I arrived late at night and was set upon by several rickshaw drivers. This time, I was gonna get tough. I demanded to know the fare up front and demanded to be taken to the hotel I specified (and the driver did try to get me to go elsewhere). However, he also attempted to take me on his moped! Why? He admitted he'd had a drink and so shouldn't drive the rickshaw! How on earth does driving a tiny moped with me and a huge 60 pound rucksack on it, make it safer than a car??!! Anyway, the ride was fine, he was nice and he talked me into a day loan of his services. I didn't want to do this after Agra but I think for one day it can be useful and save me a little overall and he did give me the fare straight up - a third of what I paid in Agra! The people of Rajastan claim to be more honest and this was true, as I found out the next day.