When we booked our weekend trip to Agra, we decided to fly into Delhi and book a car to drive us to Agra from Delhi. We decided to do this, because it ended up being about 1/2 the price that it would cost to fly directly into Agra. The drive took us about 4 1/2 hours each way, and at first we thought we had made the wrong decision (since the travel time for the weekend took A LOT longer than the actual time we spent int Agra). However, at the end of the weekend, I realized that the drive was a lot more interesting than the flight would have been. We saw a lot of things that we have not been able to experience yet in Bangalore. So, looking back, I'm glad that we decided to do the drive from Delhi! The drive was.....interesting (for lack of a better word).
Our driver was not what we expected. I think we have been spoiled with our car and driver in Bangalore, so we were expecting similar service with the car in Delhi. For starters, the guy had a terrible cough and was hacking away the entire drive (which wasn't so much fun, considering we were crammed into a small car as it was). Once I got over the fact that our less than comfortable....I started to really enjoy the ride and the villages/towns we passed along the way. From the Delhi airport, to get out of the city, we passed through a HUGE office park with an IBM office included. Pretty much every US company you can think of, seemed to have a large building there. There were also a lot more office buildings under construction in the surrounding area. Delhi and the surrounding towns that we passed on the way to Agra were scenes of contrast. There were huge office complex's and shopping centers, with slums situated in between (villages filled with mud huts and tents). It surprised me how close together these two very different images were to each other. Once we got out of the outskirts of Delhi, there were mainly small villages. There were people and animals everywhere.... the roads and the side of roads. Even though I was exhausted (from waking up at 3 AM that morning!), there was no way I could sleep because of all the different things to see and experience along the way!
Another thing I noticed, amidst the small towns and villages we passed on the drive, were the gigantic Science and Technology campuses lining the road. We must have passed about 5 huge complexes on the drive, and they all looked brand new. There were a couple under construction as well.
All in all, I'm really glad we did the drive, even though it was LONGGGG....I'm glad we were able to experience it :)
Photos: Camels pulling large loads on the side of the road; a barber shop; views from the car; an impromptu cricket game
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