The Golden Triangle

Ok, it's been a whirlwind of the past three days! I'm currently sitting in an Internet Cafe in Agra, with some guys blatantly looking over my shoulder to see what I'm browsing and typing. When they read what I'm typing right now, they will get the point that they should not be looking.

Two days ago, we left Delhi early in the morning to head to Jaipur. We had a driver, and our ride was a classic "Ambassador" car (which means that it doesn't go that fast, and that we get passed by Hondas and Toyotas on the road). We drove through the outskirts of Delhi. There was a new, huge Metro station being built in one area...apparently there are many more Metro stations going up. Once past Delhi, we drove through Gurgaon. Gurgaon was pretty impressive in that there were lots of cool, sleekly designed buildings that have been constructed (all-glass buildings with unique shapes). A lot of these were call centres, thus giving a boost to the burgeoning industry there. After getting out of the populated area, we drove through rural Haryana before crossing into Rajasthan. The highway is divided all the way, so navigating the traffic wasn't too bad. The air became less polluted and more dry as we approached Jaipur.

We passed by the Amber Fort (which we visited the next day) and arrived in Jaipur. The traffic there was RIDICULOUS and UNBELIEVABLE. It was a complete traffic jam from before the first pink entry gate till after the last pink exit gate (those that have been there will know what I mean by the gates). Scooters, rickshaws, bicycles, motorcycles, pedestrians, camels, elephants, cows, cars, vans, and trucks were all in the road, and all intermingled everywhere. Our driver said that Jaipur has the worst traffic out of anywhere....even he was really stressing driving through there. If you give an inch, you have given too much. Entering a roundabout there is not for the weak. The next day, our driver found out that a close friend of his was killed in a car accident that day at an intersection close to where we were staying. The traffic was horrendous because it was the last Saturday evening before Diwali, so EVERYBODY was downtown doing some shopping.

Speaking of Diwali, lights were up in a lot of places in Jaipur. Fireworks have been going off every evening since I got here....the celebrations start a couple of weeks before the actual day of Diwali. It's pretty cool being here at this time and we partook in the atmosphere by doing some shopping in the Jaipur markets. A lot of older men were openly smoking joints on the sidewalks. There was one street we were walking on that had alternating smells of weed and urine. :-S

We witnesed some German couple who got separated from their tour group and were lost in the city. Unfortunately for them, they did not speak English, which meant they were screwed. Finally, some guy put on a rickshaw and sent them in some random direction, so hopefully they rejoined their peers.

The next day, we went and visited the Amber Fort, some other fort, and the City Palace. I'll post some pics of up at some point if time permits.

This morning, we came to Agra from Jaipur. They are working on twinning the highway between the two cities, but unfortunately, it's a single road for most of the distance. Of course, this meant some more harrowing traffic experiences.

As soon as we arrived, we went to the Taj Mahal. It was pretty impressive! Too bad the city that surrounds it is dirty and polluted (I think the guy behind me just got insulted). I got some good pics that I think I will be setting as my new desktop background at work. For supper this evening, we ate at a Pizza Hut and ordered an Indian pizza, a Chicken Tikha Makhani pizza. The mirch (peppers) were too much for me, and I had to pick them off by the time I got to my second slice. India 1, Aman 0.

MALARIA UPDATE: No malaria yet. The only bad day was the second night in Delhi, where there only about 5 mosquitoes in the room that night, but managed to bite me 1,295 times.

DIGESTIVE UDPATE: No more blockage, and frequency seems like its back to normal. However, volume is small despite my eating a lot, which is strange and scary at the same time.

Back to Delhi tomorrow, and off to Ludhiana the next day!