India - part seven

I know I said this would be the final India post but I have a feeling it is going to be too long, so there may be one more to come! After my successful day tour of Delhi I decided to venture further afield, after all you cannot visit India without seeing the Taj Mahal, can you? So I booked a coach trip to Agra. On the way there we had a comfort stop and I was really amused by the sign in the Ladies which said "Do not feed the monkeys, they may bite". I had visions of my cubicle being invaded by an angry simian. I actually took a photo of the sign but can´t find it now.

 This is the classic view of the Taj Mahal

 

A closer view which gives a better sense of scale. All the detail is inlaid and the coloured flowers are semi-precious stones. I think it can sometimes be disappointing to see a famous landmark but I can truly say this was really breathtaking and very beautiful.

 We also visited Akbar´s Tomb, some craft shops and Agra Fort,

 which was overrun with monkeys inside.

 There was also a bull-powered lawn mower!

I had a most enjoyable day and was happy to have been able to visit such beautiful and interesting places. Knowing I would be arriving back in Delhi about ten at night I had arranged for the hotel to send a taxi to pick me up at a pre-arranged place and time. Guess what? 

I waited on the pavement at the agreed place, over the road from a square where there was a busy handcraft market. After half an hour I was getting worried as there was no sign of my taxi and the number of people about was diminishing. There was a telephone stall in the market where you could make a call for a small charge so I went over and managed to get through to the hotel, who insisted the taxi was waiting for me. I was so jittery by this time that I made my way back to the meeting place without paying for my call. Still no taxi and even less people about.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed someone slowly approaching me and beginning to circle me. He was a tall sadhu, clad only in a loincloth and ashes. Quite frankly I was pretty scared. Where I live you have to be streetwise and it has become second nature to always be aware and wary. I would never normally put myself in such a vulnerable situation, alone at night in a strange place, but I thought by arranging the taxi I had covered my bases.

The sadhu continued circling, getting to within a few feet of me and I kept turning so that I was always facing him. A few yards away was a tourist information kiosk, closed and with the lights out but suddenly the door opened and two tourist police came out, approached me and asked if I needed help. They sent the sadhu packing and when I explained about my taxi my saviours took me into kiosk, rang the hotel and found the taxi had been waiting in the wrong place. Within a few minutes it drew up and half an hour later I was safe in my room. Another happy conclusion thank goodness.

If anyone is still hanging in there, the next India post is really the last, I promise.