April 2009
Once upon a time, at 4am in the morning, four volunteers set out their journey to one of the most famous wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal. They have no clue whatsoever on what an incredible adventure it is laid ahead of them…
The volunteers consist of 3 ladies and a gentleman (who now calls himself a proper adult). They enlisted themselves in the incredible tour bus which, as the incredible agent said, will depart from Delhi at exactly 6am (take note, 6:00AM!). They were so excited about the trip that they want to go there as early as possible and as fast as they possibly can. They could hardly sleep during the night before the incredible trip. They packed some sandwiches and some fruits, in case they get hungry along the way. They arrived an hour early to their designated place for pick up. Much to their surprise, after waiting an hour and a half from the designated time for pick up, nothing was on sight…not a single soul not even the shadow of the bus appeared. Bless the soul of the receptionist of the hotel nearby, who offered his phone to contact their incredible agent. The incredible agent answered at the other line with a froggy voice, maybe from staying up late and gulping barrels of alcohol to celebrate his having some commissions from the innocent 4 unsuspecting volunteers. That’s the time he arranged for a car to pick up the nearly hungry and frustrated but still excited volunteers. And they waited for another hour until the sun is in its full rising. Incredible!
The level of excitement was up and running again when they settled themselves on the incredible tour bus. This time they have already wasted 4 hours of their precious time waiting for nothing. However, settling in and cuddling together in the last row of the bus, telling stories and exchanging laughs made their waiting time undetected, until they became weary of the number of stops the incredible bus made and they were still at the very heart of Delhi at 10am. Incredible!
Arriving in Agra at an hour past noon, they were whisked away from the incredible bus to an incredible rickshaw by another sweet taking incredible insect…err…agent. They have no clue that they were conned until they realized they were forced to see some souvenir shops and made to endure hearing sweet talking incredible salesmen. Hey, they wanted to enjoy the cultural sites, not the damned carpets, stones and strings! Incredible!
All in all they only spent an hour in Taj Mahal and half an hour at the back of the Agra Fort….but 4 hours in the incredible rickshaw and the damned expensive shops. The incredible rickshaw driver was vehement that they have to see the shops or else he will not have his incredible commission and thus, his family will go hungry for the day. But hey, that’s not their problem! They paid 800 rupees each and all they get is the trail for expensive shops, empty pockets and body aches! Incredible!
At last, closing to night time, they were ferried to their incredible bus…physically exhausted, mentally drained, disillusioned, and numb to the bones! Staring at nothing…they asked, “what’s next?”. And they asked themselves, “Can they endure more of these incredible people?”.
The next few stops were temples God knows where! They were led into some dark alleys, which looked like the alleys where Jack the Ripper once enjoyed killing his victims into shreds. It was an eerie, slimy feeling walking along narrow, wet and dark alleys towards the unknown temples. The exhausted, rain soaked volunteers temporarily relieved to have warm shelter inside the temple even though they have to take off their shoes. However, their relief soon waned when they saw some tombs engraved inside the temple walls and wet floors on their bare feet. Incredible!
The incredible journey was topped by a hilarious moment when the incredible bus stopped for dinner at an incredible restaurant. The gentleman volunteer, so hungry and exhausted, ordered his dinner of rice and one chicken paneer. While the other 3 volunteers watched him ate his incredible dinner, a crashing sound caught their attention from the front side of the incredible bus. Lo and behold! It was their incredible driver, fell down on the plastic chair while cleaning the windshield of the incredible bus! And poor plastic chair, crashed into small pieces. Thank God, they were not hit by the plastic splinters and the incredible driver survived the crashed! Incredible!
The 4 incredible volunteers finally arrived in Delhi at 2 am! Never thought they would survive the incredible bumpy bus ride and mental torture of the incredible trip. Incredible!
Once upon a time, at 4am in the morning, four volunteers set out their journey to one of the most famous wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal. They have no clue whatsoever on what an incredible adventure it is laid ahead of them…
The volunteers consist of 3 ladies and a gentleman (who now calls himself a proper adult). They enlisted themselves in the incredible tour bus which, as the incredible agent said, will depart from Delhi at exactly 6am (take note, 6:00AM!). They were so excited about the trip that they want to go there as early as possible and as fast as they possibly can. They could hardly sleep during the night before the incredible trip. They packed some sandwiches and some fruits, in case they get hungry along the way. They arrived an hour early to their designated place for pick up. Much to their surprise, after waiting an hour and a half from the designated time for pick up, nothing was on sight…not a single soul not even the shadow of the bus appeared. Bless the soul of the receptionist of the hotel nearby, who offered his phone to contact their incredible agent. The incredible agent answered at the other line with a froggy voice, maybe from staying up late and gulping barrels of alcohol to celebrate his having some commissions from the innocent 4 unsuspecting volunteers. That’s the time he arranged for a car to pick up the nearly hungry and frustrated but still excited volunteers. And they waited for another hour until the sun is in its full rising. Incredible!
The level of excitement was up and running again when they settled themselves on the incredible tour bus. This time they have already wasted 4 hours of their precious time waiting for nothing. However, settling in and cuddling together in the last row of the bus, telling stories and exchanging laughs made their waiting time undetected, until they became weary of the number of stops the incredible bus made and they were still at the very heart of Delhi at 10am. Incredible!
Arriving in Agra at an hour past noon, they were whisked away from the incredible bus to an incredible rickshaw by another sweet taking incredible insect…err…agent. They have no clue that they were conned until they realized they were forced to see some souvenir shops and made to endure hearing sweet talking incredible salesmen. Hey, they wanted to enjoy the cultural sites, not the damned carpets, stones and strings! Incredible!
All in all they only spent an hour in Taj Mahal and half an hour at the back of the Agra Fort….but 4 hours in the incredible rickshaw and the damned expensive shops. The incredible rickshaw driver was vehement that they have to see the shops or else he will not have his incredible commission and thus, his family will go hungry for the day. But hey, that’s not their problem! They paid 800 rupees each and all they get is the trail for expensive shops, empty pockets and body aches! Incredible!
At last, closing to night time, they were ferried to their incredible bus…physically exhausted, mentally drained, disillusioned, and numb to the bones! Staring at nothing…they asked, “what’s next?”. And they asked themselves, “Can they endure more of these incredible people?”.
The next few stops were temples God knows where! They were led into some dark alleys, which looked like the alleys where Jack the Ripper once enjoyed killing his victims into shreds. It was an eerie, slimy feeling walking along narrow, wet and dark alleys towards the unknown temples. The exhausted, rain soaked volunteers temporarily relieved to have warm shelter inside the temple even though they have to take off their shoes. However, their relief soon waned when they saw some tombs engraved inside the temple walls and wet floors on their bare feet. Incredible!
The incredible journey was topped by a hilarious moment when the incredible bus stopped for dinner at an incredible restaurant. The gentleman volunteer, so hungry and exhausted, ordered his dinner of rice and one chicken paneer. While the other 3 volunteers watched him ate his incredible dinner, a crashing sound caught their attention from the front side of the incredible bus. Lo and behold! It was their incredible driver, fell down on the plastic chair while cleaning the windshield of the incredible bus! And poor plastic chair, crashed into small pieces. Thank God, they were not hit by the plastic splinters and the incredible driver survived the crashed! Incredible!
The 4 incredible volunteers finally arrived in Delhi at 2 am! Never thought they would survive the incredible bumpy bus ride and mental torture of the incredible trip. Incredible!
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