Sierra was right when he said that Delhi is an acquired taste. We're still trying to acquire a taste for it after 3 days here. Niraj was also right about hating it for the first few days... it takes that long to find nice people here. More importantly, it takes a while to build up a thick skin to protect yourself against the crap that people are constantly trying to pull on you. Yesterday we travelled to Agra (the city where the Taj Mahal is located). We were picked up by the driver (Khan) we arranged the day before at 5:30am. He seemed like a decent guy, but within 5 minutes in the car with him, we got a bit of a bad vibe. He said he had to make a quick stop on the way which ended up being in a small alleyway. We were afraid that he was going to switch drivers, but that didn't happen... he just got back in the car and gave us no explanation about what had just happened. We were headed out of the city when all of a sudden we were stuck in a traffic jam. Khan did all the weaving in between trucks and other cars he could, bit then realized that we weren't moving anywhere. He got out of the car and did some investigating into what the cause of the jam was and then we noticed that there were lots of motor bikes that were turning around and heading back against traffic. Khan appealed to all the other cars behind us to also turn back which ended up working well. Once we were turned around, the next thing we knew we were headed the opposite direction on the other side of the highway (going against oncoming traffic). We didn't get very far before we encountered a traffic jam on the other side of the highway. In the end we had to bipass that section of highway by taking another highway. Everything was a smooth sailing until Khan pulled over into a hotel in the middle of nowhere and said it was time for breakfast. He said it was Indian hospitality to make sure were were happy and well-fed. Neither of us were really that hungry, but we went in anyway. It turned out that this hotel was a tourist Mecca and was probably only surviving because of the fact that Delhi drivers take tourists there constantly. We weren't born yesterday... obviously Khan took us there to get his commission. After a long, but thank goodness A/Ced, 5.5 hours later we arrived in Agra. Khan had mentioned somewhere along the way that there was a guided tour of the Taj. As we approached, Anil said to him that we did not want a driver to which Khan said "don't worry, the guide is completely complimentary... it's not necessary to pay for anything." To which I said "really? Because we weren't told anything about a guide." His explanationwas that we got the wrong info from the agency we booked it through. Suuuuure... Anyhow, we told ourselves that we wouldn't give him any money. We had such a hard time paying attention to what the guide was saying anyway because it was so hot out and the sun was beating down on us. The Taj itself was astounding. To think of all the years of work and the incredible craftsmanship it took to design and build is mind-blowing. All of the buildings and grounds are completely symmetrical and the marble is the best quality and the precious stones are from all over the world. So, after the tour was over we met up with our driver again and just when we got in the car he says he'd like to take us to a small shop where the decendants of the craftsmen that built the Taj are still making and selling their marble marvels. We said that we weren't interested, but he insisted that we go see and that we wouldn't be forced to buy anything. Suuuure... So we went of course because when an Indian is intent on selling you something it is nearly impossible to say no. As we walked into the shop there were boys designing the marble art. Then we were taken into a second room where we could buy the marble and once we said we really weren't interested and headed to the door, we were told to exit a different way than how we entered. The way we were told to exit was through a third room that housed some smaller and less pricey marble goods. At this point we were getting frustrated so we asked to leave. Not without seeing a THIRD room though! The third and last room was full of textiles and jewellry. Again we said we were not interested and left. So when it came time to dop off the tour guide, we gave him a tip of Rs. 100. He was pretty insulted I think, but the whole experience of seeing the Taj was spoiled by him and the driver and their schemes so what does he expect? We're slowly learning how to not be easy bait. More to come about our Delhi tour today...