26th March- Day in Agra

We got up inaudibly early to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise... 4AM!! To those who have lived in close quarters with me- you know that I do not handle early wake ups that well... and in this case it was after a couple of sleepless nights. But anyway, we got to the Taj at around 6am, and it was an amazing sight to behold. It was like looking at a postcard... very bizarre! We were right to get there so early as the crowds were growing by the minute from the moment we got there. We did all the stereotypical things, such as holding its tip, sitting on Princess Di's bench... and also doing more uncouth things such as high speed shutter jumping haha! The inside was not as impressive as the outside, and it was nice to not have too many crowds hussling around us as I can imagine it to be a distressing experience if there are tourists everwhere. We took some great photos, which sara has put up, but, being the tit I am I, I left my USB lead for my camera in the last hotel, so mine will come a little later unfortunately :(

We left the Taj and went back to our hotel, where over breakfast we met a lovely Australian/English/New Zealand couple called Tim and Marie. They have to be possibly the most beautiful and well travelled couple I have ever met. Felt kinda inferior in their company, but not cos of them, they are just lovely. They told us all about Thailand and the amazing things to do there, and recommended us all these great places to stay in, it got me all excited about Thailand!! Been reading my lonely planet rigourously, and am getting into hyper controlling jess mode about our travel plans!

After breakfast we went to the Agra Fort, but as you can probably tell from the thousands of photos of temples and forts, we have seen a fair few... so we were more interested in taking unattractive photos of each other in this fort... and also in discretely breaking the hilarious rules that they have on pinboards around the place such as "Dont' scratch yourself on the monument" and "do not misuse drinking water" haha. Some would say imature... I say sod it.

We returned to the hotel where we said goodbye tp puir driver/ This proved the worst and most embarassing experience of my entire life. Sara doesn't like giving tips so I said I would. We has discussed an amount and thought around 15 pounds was good, particularly as we have been giving him spare change all time we have been with him. So i hand him the tip... he looks at it, and for a brief (and silly moment in time) I thought he was shocked at how much he was. But then, almost in slow motion, he raises his head and says "this is not a good tip" chuckling in his obnoxious, fat little way. All of the reception area, including the couple we spoke to earlier, looked at us... and I went bright red. I go over to Sara, who is sat on the couch, and K.C goes 'Jessica, come back here... what do you think you are doing?" getting angry with me. Well I was infuriated.. and if it hadnt of been for the other couple I would of asked for the money back... we did not have to give him it!!!!!!

URGH!

Well, eventually he left in a huff... an suitable end to a turbulent relationship I say.

Then we waited 5 hours or so before travelling to the train station with the couple we had met earlier, as they were on our overnight train too. Our train was delayed by 45 mins, so we waited patiently with our thousands of bags. Upon boarding we realised we were not in a good enough class, so I took it upon myself to haggle our way up the rankings with the various conducters, eventually getting us in 2TAC, which was good. All in all abit of a stressful day on my part!

March 27th- Arrival in Varanasi

FIFTEEN HOURS later we got to Varanasi... our train was 3 hours longer than anticipated... oh how I love the Indian train system! We got mobbed by tuk tuk drivers at the train station but eventually made it to our rather bvelow average hotel. For a belated breakfast I had an "interesting' interpretation of porridge.. which I couldn't stomach, and then we left tp get to the city centre... as the hotel was frustratingly stupid.

Rather foolishly we thought a rickshaw would get us into the centre fairly quickly... but no! 45 mins of bum breaking cycling later we arrived, felt guilty about the driver, so doubled his commission... I mean carrying 2 120 pound white girls can't be an easy task for that length of time! Varanasi is fair more crazy than we anticipated, it is very busy and bustly. We did a touch of shopping and thenbumped into the couple who inviyed us on a boat ride with them to see the Burning Ghat of the Ganges, as it is a special ceremony this evening. We got in a boat and travelled down the collosal river in the twilight sun, towards a mass of fire. Turns out people wait to die by the Ganges and then pay around 500 pounds for their bodies to be dipped in its waters and then burnt by open fire, as this will get them closer to Nivana. We witnessed this, which was a haughting but fascinating experience... with the bodies, laiden with flowers and cloth, being dipped in and then placed on various fires. From the river it was very humbling to watch. We were given flower wreaths to place in the water and light for good luck and then we returned to the festival ceremony to watch the festivites. It was a great experience, and afterwards we enjoyed a lovely rooftop meal with the couple, whcih provided some much needed fresh company and great conversation!

28th March- Day in Varanasi

After a lovely lie in, we ventured into Varanasi and had a great day of shopping, where I bought a ton of gifts! Tonight we are watching 'Juno' which I am SO excited about!!

Anyway, gotta go as internet time is up!

Love to you all and will update soon!

xxxxxxxxxxxx