Day 2: Agra

On day 2 we discovered that early morning train rides are pretty chilly. Buying a blanket was added to the to-do list!

We spent most of our day in Agra at the Taj Mahal (India's symbol of love), the Agra Fort (an impressive red sandstone Mughal fortress), and the Kanari bazaar (an Aladdin-esque maze of vendors, dirt, silk, noise and monkeys).

The Taj Mahal is every bit as spectacular as you've heard. Parts of Agra (especially the bazaars!) are chaotic and filthy, but the Taj rises up above all the commotion, a pearly white picture of serenity. It's amazing to think about the craftsmenship that went into its construction. We visited a marble workshop to see how semi-precious gemstones were inlaid into the white marble in floral designs. It's a long and intricate process. The Taj is probably one of the most beautiful man-made things that I've ever seen.

Pleasant Surprise: Line are shorter for ladies! There are separate security lines for women at all of the major tourist sites and for the metro. Subway commuters and tourists are apparently overwhelmingly predominantly men, so even when there are long lines we haven't had to wait at all for anything!

Comic Moment: We had a funny misunderstanding with a group of young Indians (Formula 1 engineers, actually) we befriended at a train station. Asking for the "restroom" is NOT the same as asking for the bathroom. A restroom is a waiting room (ie, room for resting), and we were directed to several of them before we actually found the relief we were looking for.

Shock: It would be hard to describe the unpleasantness of the smells wafting up from the tracks on our slow train ride back to Delhi.

So far, India has been an assault on my senses, both exhilarating and exhausting.