This is a continuation of the recap of my trip to India started in may last post. I ended my last post in Goa, after Kim had left us to fly back to the US. Mike, Mary and I had spent a lot of time planning our next steps. We decided that we wanted cooler weather, so we ruled out visiting Rajasthan in favor of going to the hill station, Nainital. So we took a flight on Spice Jet from Vasco da Gama to Delhi, then a night train to Kathgodam. From there we hired a car to take us the 35km to Nainital.

Nainital (August 13-14) - The hill station of Nainital was once the summer capital of Uttar Pradesh. At 1938m, it’s high enough to have rather plesant temperatures even in the summer. Wehn we got to Nainital, we found a hotel, the Evelyn Hotel, right on the Mall, which is the main street along Naini Lake. We spent the rest of the day walking around town and taking pictures. The second day we planned to take the gondola up to Snow View, where you can sometimes see the distant Himalayas. The gondola was sold out for the day, so we hiked up instead. The overcast day did not provide us with any views of the Himalayas, but we did have excellent views of Nainital (see picture). For more pictures of Nainital, click here.

Travel (August 14-15) - The day we wanted to head from Nainital to Agra was August 15, India’s Independence Day. To get to Agra, we had to go back through Delhi, and all the trains to Delhi were booked for the holiday. After checking nearly every travel shop in town, we managed to get the last 3 seats on a night bus to Delhi. The bus left Nainital at 10 PM. The guy from the bus wanted us to pay extra to put our large suitcases in the luggage compartment. After trying to argue with him in broken English that this was included, we gave in and paid. The next sequence of events is one of the more traumatic parts of the trip. We wanted to get from Nainital to Agra, but to get there we had to pass through Delhi. The next day was August 15, India’s Independence Day. All the trains to Delhi were booked. After checking with nearly every travel shop in Nainital, weWe had 3 seats in the back row of 5. Mike and Mary crammed into the window and second seat while I sat in the middle for more legroomTravel (August 14-15) - The day we wanted to travel from Nainital to Agra was August 15, India’s Independence Day. All the trains from Kathgodam to Delhi were sold out. After checking with, but the middle seat was very uncomfortable. As we started going, some people actually started sleeping in the aisle. We decided this was the bus from hell. About half way through the trip, we stopped in some random little town. We had been stopping quite a bit, so we figured this was a quick pit stop or something. After 15 minutes of so, some people started getting off the bus. Looking out the side we could see a crowd of them standing around some guys working, so we went out to investigate. It turned out they were fixing a flat tire that we didn’t even know we had. After about an hour, we were on the road again. After about 7 hours of total disconfort, we were finally approaching Delhi. The sun was up now, and the bus was really getting hot. All of the sudden, we came to a stop. It turns out the road had been blocked to prevent any truck from entering Delhi due to security concerns for the Independence celebration. We needed to catch a train to Agra, now we weren’t going to make it. After discussing with some fellow passengers, we decided to go see if we could improve the situation. So a bunch of guys from the bus took me up to the guards and told them I needed to catch a flight at the airport. Whatever… It worked. The guard came back and moved traffic out of our way so we could get past the roadblock. As we’re driving through the outskirts of Delhi, we hit some major potholes. The back of the bus bounced so much, I actually hit my head on the roof and one guy came down so hard in his seat that the back broke and crushed the girl behind him! This was not the “bus from hell”, this bus *is* hell. In the end we didn’t make our train time, but in India style, our train was delayed so long, that we ended up catching a different train to Agra.

Agra (August 15-17) - After a 3 hour train ride, we were finally in Agra. We got a room at the Howard Plaza Hotel, one of the nicer places we stayed on our trip. It was getting late in the day so we went to look for a place to have dinner. We took a pedal rickshaw to the area of the Taj Mahal (Taj Ganj) and went to a rooftop restaurant with a view of the Taj Mahal. It was nice watching the sunset over the Taj and enjoying a meal. Too bad the view was a bit obstructed. The next day we hired a car to tour the city. We went to the Agra Fort, Taj Mahal, Sikandra, and Itimad-ud-Daulah. The fort was pretty cool, and quite big. There are also great views of the Yamuna River and Taj Mahal from there. The Taj Mahal was great, but getting in was a pain. First of all the cost for foreigners is about 70x more than locals. The line to get in was really slow due to extra security. As we’re waiting, we would notice random people going up to the front of the line. Sometimes, the ticket taker would kick them out, unless this one guy with an ornage shirt brought them up, then they would stay. We decided the orange shirt guy and ticket taker were in on a bribe deal together. Hmm… Not much we can do about that. We eventually got in and enjoyed our time there, though it was pretty hot. Sikandra is the location of the tomb of Akbar, the greatest Mugul emporer. Itimad-ud-Daulah is a tomb that pre-dates the Taj Mahal, but displays similar styles and architecture on a smaller scale. Thus it is also known as the “Baby Taj”. For more pictures for Agra, click here. Make sure you check out all the sub-albums.

Delhi (August 18-20) - We took an evening train back to Delhi and got a room at the Hotel Ajanta in the Paharganj district. The hotel is close to the New Delhi Railroad Station and the Main Bazaar shopping area (see photo on right). By the time we got to Delhi, I wasn’t feeling very weel and spent most of the first full day in the hotel room. Mike and Mary explored the nearby bazaar. That night we did go to the Red Fort to see their night-time Sound and Light show, describing the history of Delhi and the Red Fort. The next day we hired a car to see a few sights. We went to the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India. It is near the Red Fort and we had many great views of the fort from the mosque. We went to the top of the south minaret at the mosque which provides great views of the city. We also went to the Lotus Temple (picture to the right), which is the house of worship for the Bahai faith. There are only a handful of Bahai temples in the world. While driving around we saw Raj Ghat (the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi), the India Gate (memorial to the Indian soldiers that died in WWI), and various other sites around the city. For more pictures from Delhi, click here.

Mike ended up heading to the airport the night of August 19 to catch his early morning flight back to Chicago. Mary and I went to the airport early the following morning to start our long journey home. Initially, my memories of the trip were predominantly negative. Events like the hell-bus and beggars everywhere really weighed heavily. The cities were dirty and it seemed like every single person wanted to sell you something or beg from you. It was a bit disheartening at times. Now that a little time has passed, I am really starting to appreciate the experience. I’m not saying I’m ready to head back there tomorrow, but I think I may visit again someday. Thanks again to Nick and Natasha for providing an excuse for the trip. I hope to post some pictures from their wedding sometime soon.