Flyin' Solo

Shortly after we got up yesterday morning, Wayne announced that he would be leaving me. He didn't give me any explanation or any warning, so it came as a bit of a surprise. It sent me into a bit of a tailspin for a while, as being in India alone is not a welcome situation for me. After he left, I went and visited a smaller group of temples in the east end of town, which weren't as interesting or beautiful as the ones from the previous day. I spent much of the afternoon trying to make travel plans for myself and ran into a few brick walls.

Given my previous experience on the bus when I had the safety-net of a travelling companion, I am really not enamoured with the idea of riding the bus alone. I looked into flights to Agra and finally found out that the airport there has recently been closed to commercial flights. (This seems a bit odd to me given that it is likely the biggest tourist destination in India and I haven't found an explanation for it.) Not surprisingly, I was only able to get this information from a travel chat room on the internet - none of the airlines could tell me why their flights to Agra were no longer flying. The town where I'm staying is not on a rail line, and the nearest train station is five hours away by bus. I decided to book a taxi to take me there instead - I just don't have the strength or inclination right now to deal with another bus ride. Fortunately, the Indian train service has a great on-line booking system, so I have booked my train and reserved a taxi for tomorrow and should be in Agra by late afternoon. After I made all these arrangements, and got a TV installed in my hotel room, I felt much better. I ran into Jeremy last night and had a beer with him over dinner and then spent the remainder of the evening with good ol' TV shows from the US of A.

I must admit that I'm not looking forward to another 10 days in India on my own but am trying to stay positive - a very difficult endeavour. I am hoping that once I get to Agra, and later on to Delhi, I will meet up with some other travellers. This town is a bit out of the way and there aren't many other travelers here.

India continues to disenchant me. My day spent alone yesterday was so much worse without the buffer of my "husband". People are just all over me all the time and there is no getting rid of them. I told one guy who was following me around that I didn't want to talk to him, but he informed me that he did want to talk so he just kept at it. It's not just that they're trying to sell you stuff (which they are) but they seem unable to stop talking. I guess the concept of being alone and silent is as foreign and unappealing to them as their mob scene is for me.

Privacy doesn't seem to exist here on any level. During their endless stream of verbal diarrhea, they'll ask the most personal of questions, from the standard opening of where you're from, to what your name is, where you're staying, your marital status, how much you paid for your last purchase etc. Even the guys in the internet cafe will look over your shoulder and comment on what you're doing on the computer. My tolerance for this is declining rapidly and I have snapped back at them a few times. It's funny how it's okay for them to badger you repeatedly about buying something but when, after you say no eight or nine times, you finally raise your voice they get all hurt and ask you why you're mad.

The good news, if there is any, is that so far I have been relatively safe. I am not being overly manhandled, although there has been some unwelcome physical contact.

Given my discomfort with getting around here, I have decided that I'm just going to go to Agra and then Delhi. Making a bunch of pit-stops and detours along the way is just too tiring and frightening to think about. I know I'm not sounding like a very dedicated world-traveller at the moment, but I really don't want to put up with all the crap to see a few sights. I don't see the point in making myself miserable. Having said that, I am not going to miss the Taj Mahal while I'm here. I'm starting to brace myself for Agra which I understand will be worse than Varanasi was. Oh joy.

I am planning to book myself into nicer hotels in Agra and Delhi so I can at least enjoy some comfort there. Maybe I'll even treat myself to a hotel with a pool in one of these places so that I can escape the heat and enjoy a swim. If being in the streets of these cities gets to be too much, I can just spend time at the hotel and pretend that I'm on a resort vacation. At this point, I'm willing to buy my way out of misery.

I'll be posting again soon. I hope you all enjoy the long weekend.