OMG!!! Finally in India!!!!: December 2014

4:45am meet up to go to Agra = Brutal!

Today for the first time I got a real taste of the transportation system in India. Me and the group got a train ride from Delhi to Agra. To be honest it was wayyyyy better than what I was expecting! Aura, our CEO, had warned us about the train being late due to fog and to expect many delays. Thankfully we were delayed for less than an hour and the journey wasn't all that bad.

We got to our hotel ( not a very good one) and quickly left for a tour of the Agra fort.

I really enjoyed the tour and our guy did a fabulous job of sharing the history behind it.

From the fort we could see the Taj Mahal! Too bad it was a super foggy day and it didn't show up in pictures!

Then... They moment we all had been waiting for... The TAJ MAHAL!

We got there and they divided us into boys and girls and then again into tourists and Indians to go through security. We noticed that Indians pay 20Rupees for entrance while we pay 750Rupees (that's $.30 vs $12.50) and quietly we discussed it (not complaining about it, just commenting) and the security heard and he started to say "20 rupees for them it's 750 for you, you both pay the same!" I kind if felt bad about commenting about it since we weren't complaining! We are visiting their country and they have the right to charge us more but it was striking how much the difference was.

Once inside we all walked together and got the first glimpse of the Taj Mahal

Went through the gates and they had a lot do photographers asking to take our pictures and selling us printed copies for 100Rupees. I didn't want printed pictures but convinced a photographer to take pictures with my memory card in his camera. Ended up paying him 125 rupees for really cool pictures... And my greatest jump shot so far!!!

The Taj Mahal is breathtakingly beautiful and massive! I can't imagine how much that man loved that women to make her such a beautiful place to rest in peace and show her his love!

After moving to my new hotel I decided to go and explore old Delhi and find the famous spice market, Khari Baoli.

My new hotel was in a very sketchy area and the staff wasn't very helpful. They told me to turn left and get a tuk tuk for 50Rupees to the market. Once I got out they were charging me 200Rupees and when one driver agreed to go down in price and agreed to take me to the market I jumped into the tuk tuk only for him to stop after a couple of blocks and tell me that he couldn't take me there because it was closed today so he was going to take me to another spice market.

I got very frustrated and told him I didn't want to go there and he kept insisting so I got out of the tuk tuk and told him to leave me alone. In that moment a woman was passing by so I asked her where the closest metro was and followed her!

It's funny how things happen! I was dropped off in front of a big orange monkey statue, the Hanuman statue in the Karol Bagh neighborhood, which is a very famous Hindu monkey representing the commander of the monkey army. Apparently the monkey statue is a staple of Delhi and is in many Bollywood movies!

Since I knew my way to The market I jumped in the metro and was on my way. I had to purchase my 12 Ruppes coin so I gave the cashier girl 102 rupees and she only gave me 50 rupees back in 10 Rupees bills. When I asked her for the rest she said "I don't have more change." I got angry, she should have let me know that instead of giving me less money and hoping I wouldn't count it!! It felt like everybody was trying to rip me off today. I remembered I had put 50Rupees in my pocket for the tuk tuk so gave her that and everything was good!

Finally made it to Chadni Chowk market and explored it on my own since I had just gotten a glimpse of it while on the foodie tour.

Loved walking through the small streets and seeing all the saree shops, the food stands, and the way Indian people really live.

After lots of walking I ended up by the red fort and I hadn't find the spice market! I saw a lot of police men so I decided to ask one of them for help.

I told the guy that I wanted to go to Khari Baoli and how to get there. He said it was far so he put me in a bike rickshaw that took me there. In the rickshaw it was a 10 min ride so I totally was looking in the wrong place.

I started walking and started seeing stalls selling dry goods, soaps, and lots of street food. Walked into little alleys making sure the guys carrying big sacks didn't hit me. I explored the market but unfortunately I never found the spice section :-(

The market was ginormous and very very VERY chaotic to say the least! One could barely walk on the sidewalk! And crossing the street.... Oh my! That was quite an experience! Between cars, trucks, tuk tuks, bike rickshaws and people pushing big carts you could barely go through. They didn't even leave space big enough for a leg in between! It was C.R.A.Z.Y!