So beautiful are the buildings, yet the streets so filthy.
We have not yet seen it like this and are a bit in shock. I feel I’m in the
middle ages walking on the streets, trying to evade the dirt everywhere and
trying not to breath when walking past the numerous latrines along the road
spreading there odder. The sewer system is open and as to be expected does not
add to the odder. There seems to be no
system in place for waste as dustbins, or people cleaning the streets, except
for them once in a while burning the waste on a pile. The street where our
guesthouse is located is a little better, causing us to mainly stay indoors our
remaining 2 days in Agra. It’s shocking that there are so many extremely badly
kept houses and dirt in such a close proximity to the Taj Mahal, as our
guesthouse is so close by, we walk there in 2 minutes. As you walk around the outer
wall of the Taj Mahal the waste is knee high and on the waterside you need to
be careful how to shoot your picture as the beach in front of it is so covered
in waste that we don’t dare walk there. Let along take a boat ride on the
river. You must surely get dysentery if you fall in there. We normally eat out at different places, but
the couple we walk into we leave again to eat in our hostel restaurant as at
least the food is reasonable here and we didn’t get sick yet.
And the thing is that it’s not like this in the rest of
India, Mamallapura, was clean, with people sweeping the streets every morning.
The beach was a mess, but hey, you can’t have it all. Hampi was clean, like
Goa. Delhi surely wasn’t, but I would say not as bad as Agra still. I truly
understand my younger self now, arriving in Delhi, getting sick and then going
to Agra, being in a bus accident and then not liking India. It’s not the best
way of seeing India really.
Anyhow, our time in India is coming to an end and it’s right
on time.
