Leaving Delhi, The Taj Mahal, and some lessons of India

So here I am sitting in an internet cafe in Varanasi thinking about the past 5 days in India, although it seems more like 5 weeks. Even though I'm not even a week in, I'm already exhausted from traveling.
The rest of our stay in Delhi was nice, but after 3 days I was ready to leave. Our timing was unfortunate because the Commonwealth Games are coming to Delhi, so there's construction everywhere, which of course means lots of dust and noise. Combine that with intense heat and sweat and you don't get the most pleasant of combinations. One day I ventured out past our main hotel's street to see some of the older monuments of Delhi and soon found myself in near desperation trying to find a subway station that's "right around the corner," according to our hotel clerk. Any person offering help was just ostensibly attempting to guide me to another government tourist office, which is just one of many scams in Delhi where you are taken to a very cozy air-conditioned office where they offer you tour packages of India for insanely inflated prices. Pretty soon I found myself greeting any person on my way to the subway with "Hi, I'm looking for the subway station, and no, I'm not going to the government tourist office, thank you." After navigating through a maze of construction obstacles and endless offers of rickshaw rides, I found the station! The Delhi Metro is very clean and organized, although not used by many non-Indians. I was the only non-Indian in the station and was getting many lengthy stares. But the ride was quick and easy and although I missed my stop and was fined 50 rupees, I had made it to the Jama Masjid, an old mosque built by Shah Jahan, the same guy who built the Taj Mahal. Once I got there, I was denied entrance since it was prayer time for the Muslims. I took a cycle rickshaw over to the nearby Red Fort, was hassled again by sales people of all kinds, took some pics of the Fort, decided it was too hot to go in, and headed back to the Metro. I got back to the hotel and relaxed in the delightful A/C and realized that yeah, I'm ready to leave Delhi.
Our train to Agra was scheduled for 6:15 the next morning, but when we carried our heavy backpacks to the station bright and early, we saw that it had been re-scheduled for 9:30. We decided to use this delay to our advantage and booked train tickets in advance from Agra to Varanasi. In India there is a separate booking office for foreigners and it's always a good idea to book as far in advance as possible, since trains fill up very quickly. An estimated 18 to 20 million people use the Indian railway system daily.
Since we booked a first class car, our trip to Agra was very very comfortable. We got a full Indian breakfast (including Corn Flakes served with warm milk...sounds kinda gross, but it was actually really good) and English newspaper with Delhi news. Once in Agra, we took a taxi to a recommended hotel and after some hard bargaining, found ourselves in a room with a direct view of the Taj Mahal. After a quick shower and lunch, we made our way towards the Taj on foot, since it was only about half a mile away. We had hardly stepped out of our hotel's gate when we were accosted by sales-people of every sort. "Hallo! Hallo! Come see my shop! I give you good price on sandals, hats, cold drinks, cold beer, tobacco, marble, hallo hallo!" The sales pitches were intense and unrelenting all the way to the Taj and severely tested our patience, but we made it! Even with the large crowds and afternoon heat, the Taj was still just as amazing as I had imagined. Truly a magnificent structure. The inside was nice, but I was distracted since we weren't allowed to wear shoes and the marble floor was HOT. I kept thinking back to the scenes in Slumdog Millionare and to prevent my shoes from getting stolen and sold on the streets, I just kept my flip flops in my back pack :) Not that this would've really happened...they had a guard and an organized cubby system.
The next morning we saw the sunrise from the roof of our hotel with the Taj again in plain view. We had been told that the best time to see the Taj was at sunrise where the quality of light makes the view most splendid, but sadly it was cloudy and hazy, so the view was just kinda amazing, not totally. I was able to create a nice sketch of the Taj while sipping delicious Indian coffee, but very soon after the sun rose it got a little too hot for comfort, so back to the comforts of the room I went. We were taken around Agra that day by a taxi and saw the Agra Fort, where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son for the last 8 years of his life. While this betrayal was a terrible one, the Shah did have a sweet view of his own creation out of his tower prison cell window. Upon exiting the Agra Fort we had to wait a few minutes on our driver, which left us wide open and vulnerable to all the beggars and sales-people waiting by the entrance. After almost 15 minutes of unrelenting persistence, I finally caved and bought a portable wooden chess set from a guy for 100 rupees (2 dollars). He started his offer at 1200 rupees, so as I said before, haggling is a good skill to have.
Then, our driver took us to see "the finest marble crafts in all of Agra." I had been warned that some drivers would take you to their friend's shops in hopes of collecting a percentage of whatever you buy. And in this case, our driver did indeed collect, because not only was this place air-conditioned (it was around 110 degrees that day), but the marble crafts in there were nothing short of astonishing. They had boxes, plates, tabletops, chess sets, carved animals, and many other objects all carved from the same white marble used on the Taj and imbedded with precious stones. Not your typical souvenier shop. I found a very beautiful gift for a very beautiful woman (sorry to spoil the surprise, Mom). After another delicious meal we were taken to another temple known as the Baby Taj, but decided not to go in and asked our driver to take us to Tundla, where our train would depart. We waited over 4 hours at the station, but this gave me time to sketch more and play a game of chess.
So some lessons and observations I've made on this trip so far include a fascinating look into Indian culture and the differences in everyday behaviour from our own culture. First off, Indian people stare. A lot. Even though I'm sure they're quite used to seeing foreign tourists, they still walk by you and stare the entire time, especially if you're female. If you're sitting down and eating in the same restaurant, rarely will you see them looking anywhere but in your direction. It's not any kind of rudeness, just an interest in the unfamiliar. Also, Indian men and woman both pick their noses openly in public without any attempt to hide it. They also spit a lot. However, any Indian person I've spoken to has been extremely polite and friendly. They almost always ask the exact same questions, those being "What is your country? How long you stay in India? and What is your profession?" They are also very curious to know what we think of India and are always extremely delighted with any positive response.

Coming up next: Varanasi, the Holy Ganges, and staying where the Beatles stayed!