Day 4: Agra Voyage

Day 4: Agra Voyage



Do you want to know if you could hack it traveling in India alone? I did, before I came here. I conducted an informal poll which was inconclusive, because a number of the people I asked encouraged me to go it alone, and a number of other people told me definitely not to make this trip by myself. I then performed a highly scientific analysis of the subgroups in this survey, and found that the people I asked who told me I could do it alone were non-Indian women. The people who told me not to do it alone were Indian men and friends of my parents. Interestingly, the reasons given by Indian men were that it is fairly safe in terms of violent crime, but the harassment will be too much – very sympathetic of them. Since I presumed that non-Indian women would probably have the best perspective for advice, I came here alone.


They were both right, though, in different ways. I’m really happy I decided to come here and would take the opportunity again in a flash now that I know what it’s like, but I would not want to return here without a travel companion. I am not a city girl. I like quiet, pastoral getaways. I am a New Englander. I believe that if you leave people alone, they ought to leave you alone. This personality type does not mesh well with India, where everyone is all up in your business and in your face, and people from ages 3 to 90 are all clattering after you everywhere you go begging you for some money (well, the senior citizens just sort of lie pitifully in the mud, pointing to it as a part of their shtick). Part of the technique that touts, hawkers, and beggars use is to ask where you are from and try to start a conversation with you about that, then find some cruel way to twist the conversation towards money that you need to give them. I think this is true psychological warfare. Did you notice I used the word ‘tout’? That is because I am hip to the lingo of travel in India. Touts are basically con men and other such tricksters. More on touts later. When I'm not so exhausted from touts wearing on me all day.