We left Delhi early before sunrise to catch the 6am train to Agra for our day trip to see the Taj Mahal. Arriving at Delhi railway station we stepped out into a sea of people, street food vendors, cars, rickshaws, tuk-tuk's and motorcycles and the constant beeping horns that we have grown used to hearing. We formed a congo line and wormed our way through the bodies of people sleeping in the waiting area. Many sleep there overnight, some were just transiting waiting for connecting trains. We travelled in first class, of course, and had a comfortable 2 hour journey through "the real India" which is rural and poor. A brief delay on route to remove a water buffalo that we crashed into and got lodged under the carriage. Normal, they have people on board for that job.
The sights along the track are both heartbreaking and mesmerizing. So much poverty. Shanty towns that go for miles with people cooking outside, hanging laundry on the roof, defacating in public, trash piled up on the outskirts, cows and goats tied up to trees. Technically it's not poverty as you can see from the satellite dishes on the roofs and apparantly most residents have cellphones and occupations.
The air is pretty bad here. Not a cloud in the sky, but always a haze hanging quite low. Blue sky peeks out for a few hours midday. Temperature is very comfortable this time of year and there is little or no wind.
