Sunday - trip to Agra

Oh my goodness! There are too many stories or unique experiences to type. I'll share the highlights...

1. Driving in city was just as exciting as yesterday. Our driver, Pritam, pulled over, told us to wait, and pulled an envelop from the glove box and said he had to pay "taxes". He got out of the can and walked around a corner. Our minds were racing!!!  We were wondering if he was running errand for himself or abandoning us. We quickly assessed the situation and watch other vans pull over, watched drivers wearing light blue shirts and dark pants carrying  an envelop into the same place. After people come knock on the windows trying to sell us things, Pritam comes around the corner and we breathe a sigh of relief.

2. We saw all forms of transportation as we drove through the city and to the country:

3. After 3 hrs we arrived into Agra, Pritam pulled over and a mysterious man got into our van. He introduced himself as Sunny, our Agra tour guide. He shared a few tidbits of history and then gave us specific instructions: "bring your money, leave your gum or mints, you can bring a small handbag. Pritam will drop us off. Okay let's go." Our minds were racing!! Who is this man? How much does it cost? Where is he taking us to? Will we find our driver again? Sunny paid a man and told us to get in the buggy. We were driving up the entrance to the Taj Mahal passing camels. 

Sunny helped us navigate the swarm of people , showed us which window to go to buy tickets, waved us to where he was standing so we could get shoe covers, and lead us to the entrance for our ticket type "high value" ladies.

We walked through our for corral to turn in our tickets, stepped through the metal detector and got patted down by a female guard.

3. Feeling like Super models!

Sunny had arranged for our own photographer... His name was Rahmil and he had a fancy Nikon camera. It was interesting to watch the photographers and their system. They would yell at each other to determine who would get to take pictures at the next spot. He gave us directions for a bunch of fun the poses.

People were taking pictures of us and asking to have their photo taken with us. At least 10 people, it was fun at first.

Here's Sunny with Kim:

On our way out, we met up with Rahmil to see the pictures. We wanted to sell us 53 photos in two books and the CD for more than we wanted to spend (~$66). We went back and forth on price and Heather needed to go away, so we seeked refugee in the women's bathroom.

Kim talked me off the ledge and we decided to just buy a few photos. We picked 11 out of 53 and paid 100 Ruppee a piece, which is $1.67 a print or $ 18.34 total. By this point we were ready to be done! We navigated back to the entrance and quickly Pratim arrived.

4. The tour that continues...

Sunny brought us to 2 more shops: stones and jewels. We met the owners and they'd have us an overview of their products and then opened the door to the shop.

We did not buy anything. Next stop jewels and hand stitched handiwork:

That's all for today!