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Friday, January 11, 2008

What a day!

Today we rode for 8 1/2 hours, including the three hours that it took us to find our way to, through, and out of Delhi, to get to the city of Agra where the famed Taj Majal is.
On this day our patience was stretched and tested to the limits as we inched along at no more than 30mph through the harrowing traffic that defines the highways and byways of India; where, at the same time one must deal with animal-drawn (cows, donkeys, camels) carts bicycles, bicycle-taxis, rickshaws, rickshaw "trucks", regular taxis, regular cars, tractor-trailer, dumptrucks, buses, motorcycles and pedestrians. Not only does one deal with all this "traffic" traveling at various speeds from 0 to 60mph, but there is the added challenge that one can encounter them coming AND going on the same side of the highway as well as crisscrossing from side to side! This is why since we arrived in India I have often felt that we are stuck in a game of "Frogger" (on steroids!).
So, after traveling a mere 100 miles in no less than 7 1/2 hours, both Kevin and I were so much near our breaking points that Kevin had actually kicked a car that got too close to us and I was quietly singing Abba songs and we were ready to turn on each other...but we didn't, and we were rewarded when we simultaneously looked to the right shoulder and saw the huge shape of an elephant materialize right before our eyes! That's right, we finally saw the elusive pachyderm we've been searching for since we arrived in this crazy country. And that is reason enough to end the day with a big Woo Hoo!!!
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