Frankly, not a great day today. Our train out of Varanasi was 3 hours late leaving the station, and lost another 3.5 hours along the way, which meant that our scheduled 6am arrival turned into 1:30pm. This would've been less bad if Mu hadn't also gotten sick again along the way -- he has a fever and tummy issues, ugh. He's currently in our hotel room (which proudly informed us that there's "free hot water by bucket"), resting, having started the antibiotic that his doctor gave him just in case for such a purpose.
I'm also taking it easy today. I don't want to go see Taj Mahal without Mu (though if he's not feeling up to walking around tomorrow, I will), so I've relaxed and walked around a bit and talked with other tourists. I met two women who'd been doing a meditation retreat, and we went to the "Taj Nature Walk," which turned out to be a vast area with semi-built trails and gorgeous views of the Taj. I got some photos, though they're all in bad lighting and fog, so we'll see how they actually turn out.
I'm not sure I like Agra. The Taj looks amazing, of course, and I'm sure that I'll love it once we're inside. However, the downside of having this huge tourist attraction here (and staying right next to it) is that the touts here are worse than anywhere we've been yet! They're super persistent -- I've had to say "no" about 4-5 times per person. Ugh. A pair of British women I was talking to think it's because there are fewer tourists here than normal, so they're all desperate. At least there are no cars allowed near the Taj, so there is very little honking. Also, our hotel has a lovely little garden, so it feels rather like a retreat.
Now, I'm going to check on Mu and go in search of dinner. Hopefully, he'll feel better by tomorrow and we can see the Taj!
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