Agra: The only part of the plan that happened.
I reach Agra by train after another stressful episode before stepping in that train. After almost beeing a victim of a scam, here I am in Agra to see the most important reason for my trip to India: Taj Mahal.
–See how hard it was before getting this train–
Many travelers only stay 1 night in this city, because their only reason to visit is also the Taj. I will stay for 6 days as a volunteer at the Big Brothers Hostel, or Rainbow Hostel, one of the coolest of my whole 4 months trip. It was a perfect located choice. I just needed to walk 10/15 min and I’m at the Taj.
If you reach Agra by train be prepared for the monkeys. There are a lot of monkeys at the train station and they are not cute ones. They are aggressive and they still your stuff. I like monkeys but during my trip in Southeast Asia, I just want distance from them. The last thing I want is to get rabies or head to a hospital because I was bitten by one of these little fellas. I get out of the station but I’m not sure where to head to get a tuk-tuk to the Hostel. I went to an “official” place where they were selling this tuk-tuk rides, with fixed prices but I’m sure I could get a better price if I had just picked a tuk-tuk from the road. As I didn’t want to walk a lot with my backpack alone in the place, I go to this balcony and I get my tuk-tuk. I think it was the best tuk-tuk ride I had in India, and not because it was comfortable. It was actually very cold, but the driver was such a nice guy. In India I learned not to care soo much about comfort. As long as i get to my destination, i don’t care how i’m getting there, because that was my primary need every moment.
We were talking all the time on my way to the Hostel. He showed me his book full of messages written by different people around the world describing how cool was their day with him. I was searching for a signature from Portugal, but I haven’t found it. I’m sure those people had a great time as this guy was real sympathy. Of course that when we reached the destination he tried to be my guide for the next day, but as I’m volunteering, I have no idea what the next day will demand from me.
I got to the Hostel very tired but I was very well received by Paras, the person I had discussed my stay and my volunteering. He was such a nice guy! But I was super tired cause of all the situations I got into, and also as my day had started at 4 am. I go to sleep. This same day I went to see the best sunset I had seen so far. The sunset with the Taj Mahal in the background!
-that OMG was because the boat was really bouncy-
One thing I learned this day and the rest of my days in Asia: Travelers are always chasing sunrises and sunsets.
Taj Mahal is so awesome!
Fantástico!!
Um sítio que quero muito visitar! E aproveitar também o sunset! 🙂
Vais adorar!! 🙂