We arrived in Agra after the following day to more coldness and even more fog, yet were still excited, and itching to catch a glimpse of the spectacular Taj Mahal. Not really knowing why exactly, we found ourselves at a very nice jewelry store selling amazing stones that are found in the walls of the Taj and were swept away again to a small workshop, where we were shown how these stones were installed in the intricately carved marble walls of the Taj Mahal.
With our hands full of goodies and our very empty pockets we were introduced unwillingly to Deepak, our tour guide for the remainder of our stay in Agra and the Taj Mahal. I'm very sad to say that because of the fog all I was able to take away from the Taj was the beautiful dramatic entrance and walkway leading up to it and the detail in the walls that I had been instructed to look out for. I think it was Jessie who said, "I forgot that the roof the Taj was dome shaped until I looked at a postcard some guy was trying to sell to me on my way out". If it wasn't for Deepak, I may have considered demanding my 750 rupees back.
Deepak was a very sweet young Indian guy who was currently putting himself through college. After sharing with us the romantic tale of the Taj, Deepak proceeded to ask each one of us how old we want to be when we get married - those of you who know some of us, might understand the humour in this question. He then proceeded to explain to us the Indian perspective on love, relationships and marriage.
We learned that most Indian women usually want to and usually are married by the time they reach their early to mid 20s... for men it doesn't matter but they are normally a bit older - early to late 30s. It is still very common for marriages to be arranged. Unfortunately for the women, it is their families who are responsible for finding them a suitable match, regardless of whether or not they ready or agree to their match. Whereas it is normally up to the man to decide when they are ready. They are then given options to choose from when necessary. Deepak says that he will marry once he has finished school and has enough money to take on a wife. Love was never mentioned. Although he had been in love once.... when he was 13.
We said our goodbyes to our new friend Deepak and drove 9 hours to Ranthambore, Rajasthan where we were to go on our first Indian Safari. Our experience with the Tiger Reserve in Ranthambore turned out to be a pretty similar one to the Taj Mahal... Deserted and cold. However the beautiful scenery and peaceful feeling of driving with the roof down in India at 6am made it worth while. However the very "interesting" food we encountered at a "restaurant" that we found in the basement of a local house, at a table right next to their dirty laundry, drove us out of the little village of Ranthambore earlier than expected. We headed for Jaipur, in search of warmth, nutella pancakes and banana porridge to comfort our very upset tummies....!
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