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Well that was just as horrendous as I thought it might be! On a positive note, in the early hours of the morning, a train ticket officer came around and woke us up to see our tickets... sorry ticket. I startled awake with a jump and squinted until I could just about make out who he was. My first thought was we were being robbed as we had been warned several times that Varanasi station was known for pickpockets and people being drugged by their food and drink so that they fall into a deep sleep on the train which gives the thieves their perfect opportunity. Once I realised my mind was still somewhere halfway between a nightmare and reality, we handed over our ticket. I think at this point he must have felt sorry for us while we cracked our backs into alignment and I took Matt's foot out of a place it really shouldn't have been, because he offered me a free bed two rows down on the top bunk. I couldn't believe it. I thanked him profusely whilst placing my hands in the 'praying' position and nodding my head simultaneously!
Waking to the sounds of screaming children and loud belches wasn't exactly ideal, but at least I got some sleep! After checking that the contents of my backpack were still present, I 'not so elegantly' climbed down my ladder to join Matt. Of course every Indian in the train was watching me while I did this while my dumpy little legs flew all over the place as I tried to feel for the ladder step below. Why do they have to put 2 Feet in between all the steps?! The toilets... I'm not sure I can put into words just how painfully awful the toilet were. There were no western toilets, only a hole in the carriage floor that led straight out onto the track below, so how they smelt as awful as they did I'll never know. But the smell was like nothing I can ever describe. I physically gagged every time I entered and hoped eventually I would just get used to it but the smell just seemed to get worse with every breath. There was also an inch of wetness on the toilet floor so when you walked around, it splashed up your leg! I just couldn't believe the state I was in. Needless to say I tried my best to drink as little as possible throughout that whole journey.
Our train was suppose to arrive in Agra at 12 midday but when this came and went we wondered how much longer as our snacks and water were running dangerously low and we had no cash on us. It was then we were informed by a man sitting next to us that the train had been delayed by 5 hours! We couldn't believe it! How could a train be delayed by 5 hours?! What were we going to do for another 5 hours! The panic struck us both as we sat there in complete silence. From there on we rationed the food and drink (luckily I still had 7 lotus caramel biscuits in the bottom of my bag from Mum), and played a desperate game of Snap with a deck of cards Matt packed. We couldn't for the life of us remember any other 2 person card games! I remember Sarah and I played Strip Jack Naked when we were in Oz but I just couldn't remember the rules. After that flop, I decided to try and sleep through it. I slept for a couple of hours, watched 4 episodes of The Kardashians, played 20 guesses with Matt and we weren't far off! Thank God!!!
Typically when we arrived, the driver that the tourist company had booked for us was no where to be seen. Hot, sweaty, thirsty, hungry and just generally pissed off, we went straight to a tourist information office to call them. The phone wouldn't work although the officer there was adamant it was and kept dialling odd numbers so the phone would just go dead... but still persisted to tell us the phone was fine. Matt wondered off see if our driver was at another part of the station. He came back with of course the bad news I was expecting. A prepaid Tuktuk it was. We went to a Government ticket office and agreed a price (always get a receipt at this point), and just as we were about to get into one, a tall very smartly dressed man came around the corner with a piece of paper saying 'Matthew Bills' on it! I couldn't believe my eyes, our driver was actually here! He took our bags off us and we sat into his very clean and comfortable car. His name was Khan and for some bazar reason we instantly felt safe with him in a place where it feels like everyone is after your money. He had a kind face and was very slowly spoken. I know that sounds ridiculous but that's honestly what I thought. We'll see though! I was in a desperate state at that point.
Khan told us that the Taj Mahal (pretty much the only reason we came to Agra) was closing in 15 minutes and it was closed on Fridays (tomorrow) for prayers in the Mosque. Just our bloody luck! He drove like a mad man to get us close to the Taj and then asked his friend to drive us in a Tuktuk as it was faster through the traffic, closer to the Taj gate. This little man weaved like a King through the rush hour traffic and got us to the gate with 8 minutes to spare! "You RUN!" He shouted to Matt. Off Matt went with me doing a gentle jog behind. Matt got to the ticket office in time but we only had card which they didn't accept! It was 1000 Rupees each which we didn't have in cash. Deflated and disappointed we walked back to the Tuktuk only for the driver to whip out a wedge of 1000 Rupee notes from his pants (at the front too) and gave us two so we could pay to get in! I couldn't believe it, what a lovely man! Off Matt went again, only this time they had just closed the ticket office, bang on 5pm... they only time we've experienced them be on time! As the Taj didn't close until 6.30pm, there was still time to get tickets online and they were Indians outside the gate offering to do it for people! We tried our best and one guy started to process it for us but there was some commotion at the Taj gates between some of the Indians so they slam shut the main Taj gates at the entrance! After all that!
So we would have to spend an extra night in Agra in order to see the Taj Mahal on Saturday which would mean one less night in Pushkar. We arrived at our hotel for the night, 'Queens Palace', which was really clean and off the main road so was very quiet! Just what we needed. We could only stay the one night though which meant we had to move hotels for tomorrow night. Khan said not to worry about it and that he would sort it for us! We got talking to an Indian man who was working all over the world with his travel business. He kindly offered to drop us off at a Mc Donald's as they accepted card. We had a feast! Then walked back in the dark to our hotel for a much needed and deserved early night!
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