Adventures in India, Part Three

[tharyn]

It was sad to leave Orchard Hut, almost like saying goodbye to distant relatives after finally meeting them for the first time. From there, we took a car to Pathankot, where we got on a train heading to Amritsar. Since it was a relatively short train ride, we got the authentic Indian experience by riding sleeper class. Sound nice? No AC, and I

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[lyssabits]

Heh, yeah we went to Delhi and Agra in December, temperatures were quite pleasant. ;) Did you get to see the abandoned city right outside of Agra? Aside from The Taj Mahal that was my favorite part of the trip.

[tharyn]

Nope, it definitely looked awesome, but I had less than a day in Agra so I didn't have time. I would have had to skip the Taj to do Fatehpur Sikri. Next time! I need to see Rajasthan still, and an Agra stop fits in well for that trip. And yes... December was a smarter decision, but I was going for a wedding, so I was stuck with May. :) Would you guys go back?

[lyssabits]

We were also there for a wedding, but all of our friends who've gotten married in India always do it over Christmas. Fatehpur Sikri was awesome, and we also went to Jaipur for a few days. I don't think I'd ever go back though. It was a rough trip for me. I don't particularly enjoy traveling, I go mostly because Jonathan likes it. ;) I imagine as a single woman traveling you got a lot of unwanted attention, and even though I was traveling with Jonathan, as clearly an American white girl I got a shit ton of attention. A guy groped me at this bird sanctuary and I had little kids chasing me to the car and opening the door until I held it closed and locked it, asking me for money. A highly nerve-wracking experience for someone who gets nervous traveling around the US. ;) People mostly left Jon alone.

[tharyn]

Yes, I think that December-ish time frame is one of the biggest chunks of auspicious wedding dates, but my friend didn't want to wait that long. :)

I'm sure I didn't get as much unwanted attention as you did because I have dark hair. I did get photo requests and "new friends" who would follow me around until I told them to go away, but I didn't end up dealing with groping problems. I'd been warned about that, though... they grope local women as well as foreign ones, and I guess the appropriate reaction is to scream at them and hit them. Nerve wracking, yes. I found the staring to be really uncomfortable, too.