India supermodel!

Hello all

Here I am again, this time in the sleepy little town of Orchha. I'm enjoying small town life for a couple of days and I've found an internet cafe where my fingers don't ache after a half hour of typing (i have to admit I'm surprised by the lack of technology here). Tonight we are catching the night train to Varanasi so we're getting a chance to catch up on e-mail for a bit before a final dip in the pool and off we go...

I just had an opportunity to read over some earlier blogs and would just like to make a sweeping apology for spelling errors. As I mentioned you have to put some muscle behind these keyboards and I guess my fingers just aren't that strong. So some errors I don't notice - some I'm too tired to fix. I have had requests for additional details in my blogs so I'll do the best I can. Please don't forget to leave comments, I love hearing from people!

So the other day we were in Agra and went to see the mighty Taj Mahal. After paying literally 40x the price of the locals we were issued booties and water and joined the line. It took a little bit for me to recognize that I was the only female in line, I then noticed an all female line and figured that I better go join that one! As is the norm in India it was a very close line (hence the reason for separating the sexes). An older lady behind me decided to take me under her wing and have me do this line "right", so she put one hand on my shoulder in the appropriate shove position and gently escorted me up to the front.

Of course Sandy was no where to be seen as they had 3 guards checking the guys and only one checking the women and all of their handbags! I eventually got through, thanked the lady behind me and found Sandy.

You know all of those pictures you see of the Taj Mahal being quiet and peaceful - they've all been taken before it opened! Loads of people everywhere trying to get the ultimate shot in front of the archetectual wonder (just too tired to go back and fix spelling there!). Personally, I've always really wondered what it looked like inside, so knowing there was only an hour until close, we made a beeline for the line to get in.

Is it possible to be disappointed by one of the 7 wonders of the world? Ya, outside is stunning no question. But inside is nothing but a crypt. I had no idea! But for whatever reason (maybe we should blame the heat for this one) I couldn't stop giggling. I just couldn't believe that it was empty.

Outside we were there to get stunning photos as the sun went down. While getting those photos an Indian woman approached me. At first I didn't understand what she was asking, I thought she wanted me to take a picture of her , but then I got it. She wanted her photo taken with me. The weird part is, by no means is this the first time I've had this request while I'm here. Many like to say hello an wave, some want to shake my hand, I've had entire parades of children following me (not asking for anything,just following me), but any one with the means wants photographic proof that they saw me. Perhaps its just how pale I am (just today I'm starting to notice the first signs of a tan) or the theory that I've chosen to adopt....
"INDIA SUPERMODEL"! After all it is the glamour tour isn't it?

Namaste