Friday and Saturday in India

It is now 0900 on Saturday morning. Well we spent much of Friday on the bus traveling between Delhi and Agra. It is about 6 hours drive on good roads. On the way we experineced some of the police corruption we learned about. As we came through one town the officer pulled the gate in front of our bus. He waved us off on another direction. Our bus driver, drivers assistant and tour guide spent about 15 minutes arguing and bantering with the officer. He wanted 2000 rupees to let us through on that road. (about $40). Eventually we were able to get through for 200 Rupees ($4). It was interesting to watch. We stopped at two true Indian businesses on the way also. One was a metal forgery where they make parts for automobiles. The other was a bathroom fixture company. Lets just say they both run without much oversite for safety, but the employees seemed content. In the foundry, they heat up steel, put it in a press, stamp the form, send it to a machine that takes off the excess metal, then throw it in a barrel to cool. Once cool, the parts are grinded to desired shapes and put in a pile for shipping. At the bathroom fixture company, they get casted faucets delivered then they tap and die the ends for fittings, add the fittings, test for leaking, polish them, and the package them for sale. None of this makes much sense truely until pictures can be seen. Truley amazing stuff. We then stopped and had lunch at about 1300. The staff at this place treated us like kings, served all kinds of vegitarian foods, and waited on us hand and foot. Lunch took over 2 hours, but the time sure flew by. The food here is amazing. I think I could eat it on a regular basis without any difficulty. Much of it is vegitarian too. This morning we got up at 0500 so we could be at the Taj Mahal for sunrise. The Taj is truely one of the swonders of the world. It is just amazing to see. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be on this trip and experience this. I wish Jennifer were with me though. That would make it the best. We are shortly going to head to the Agra Fort and then back to Delhi to check back into our hotel.