Our coach bus for the 4 - 5 hour ride from Jaipur to Agra was an 18 seater. We rode in comfort and got to spread out a bit. The Oberoi packed us breakfast boxes for our journey. Mmmm...
Along the way I saw what we think was the answer to a scavenge:
Q: What type of animal is used for the amusement of travelers? A: Monkey on a stick. At the office where we pulled over for the driver to pay the toll that must be paid between states, I saw out the window an old gnarnly man who held a stick upright which was grasped by a monkey on a chain. The man smiled at me.
As we had requested, the bus dropped us at the Oberoi Hotel. Sherry had stayed there recently and knew it to be the closest you can get to the Taj. There is nothing obstructing the hotel's view of the Taj Mahal. Every guest room faces the Taj. The hotel provides golf carts to take guests to the Taj. We were driven over in an EZ-Go golf cart and got to the point where vehicles cannot proceed. Our driver led us to the ticket window, down the alley of street vendors. We were scavenging with Sherry (who had been to the Taj Mahal) and Ken (who had not). She had given us a heads up that the drama of seeing the Taj is seeing it from the outside. Inside, there is very little to see, as it's a tomb and there is very little space to enter inside.
It was so incredibly hot. The heat was relentless. We had drinking water with us (which I kept pouring on my head and down my shirt for a moment of relief before it dried ina few seconds). All I wanted to do was take the picture and get out of there.
On the way down the souvenir lane, we did the quick scavenge of buying a piece of pietra dura (inlaid stone). I only wanted to get back to the Oberoi to escape the heat. Besides, one of the mandatory food options was to have lunch at the Oberoi.
We walked right in to the lovely, air conditioned restaurant, sat down, and Alex said he needed some bread or something - that he needed to eat. Then he started to faint. I pushed his head between his legs and dumped water on his head and down his back. Ken called to the hostess and the restaurant staff whipped up their electrolyte concoction of water, honey, salt and lemon. Ken snapped a photo of the chef-hatted chef leaning over Alex, working on him. That photo would have been a great souvenir to have, but Ken's camera was stolen moments later.
Alex revived and ordered lunch. We also put in an order for gnocchi to cover a mandatory food scavenge (in honor of National Gnocchi Day in Uruguay).
After lunch, we got into the car we had rented to share with Sherry and Ken and headed across the bridge to do two scavenges across the river from the Taj - one of which involved viewing the Taj from the other side of the river
First was the Baby Taj. The car's air conditioner wasn't working well and we had about 4 hours of touring lined up in the area around Agra. At our request, the driver called for a replacement car.
I looked over at Alex, who was leaning his head against the window, not looking great. I told him to keep drinking water. I suggested to Alex a Plan B - that we abort the trip, leave Sherry and Ken with the replacement car, and we return to the Oberoi in this car. We could rent a day room to sleep in AC for about 4 hours until time to leave for our 8:30 PM train back to Delhi. While waiting for the replacement car, we called the Oberoi to book it and check in over the phone so we could go right to a room.
Arriving back at the Oberoi about 10 minutes later, the hotel's wonderful staff greeted us, placing umbrellas over our heads for shade, and led us across the palace courtyard to the lobby entrance.
They asked me to have a seat while they get someone to take us to our room. Alex headed over to the sofa. While I sat at the check-in area (happy to be seated; as the heat made me dizzy), I glanced over my shoulder at Alex. He was leaning over a very large pool of vomit, and was continuing to vomit.
I went over to him at the same time that the hotel staff rushed over. The hostess pointed the way to the bathroom. Maternal instincts in gear, I snapped, "No! Let him finish and then take us to our room".
The bellman who led us to our room waited while Alex took a shower, handed him a bathrobe, and took his vomity clothes to the laundry with the promise to return them clean in 3 hours.
Room service brought liter bottles of water and packets of World Health Organization electrolyte replacement mixture measured for a 1 liter bottle. (We were probably not the only guests to ever suffer from the heat).
My turn. Once he was tucked in bed, I got sick. We set the alarm for 7 PM, asked for a wake up call and went to sleep
At 7, when neither of us could stand up without feeling woozy, we decided that it would be really stupid to try to maneuver an Indian train station in this state.
Before going to sleep, we had called the front desk to ask to extend for the full night and explained that we also needed help figuring out how to get back to Delhi. We had to be in Delhi by 6:00 PM but the only daily fast train (the one we were too ill to take) departed at 8:30 PM - getting us back to Delhi too late.
Moments later, a guest services representative and the hotel concierge came to the room to help us with our travel plans. That was a first! Lie in bed, head on the pillow while two in staff help you map out your options. There was an 11 AM, slower train, but it breaks down a lot and might not get us back in time, and the ticket office was closed so they couldn't check availability although it was likely sold out; or we could have a driver for the 5 hour car ride. We decided to wait until morning to find out about the train option.
Silver lining -- waking up at dawn with the Taj Mahal outside the window like it's there for nobody but us. Just amazing.
At 6 AM I emailed Bill to ask for some guidance. The rules required a train for this leg, but we were now at risk of missing our deadline. He called and was very kind - saying that we should do whatever is safe and comfortable, and don't worry about the points.
We had also called Larry at night for a sanity check that we were doing the right things. He was reassuring and calming, as always. In the morning when we awoke, we called again so that we don't have a perfect record of calling only for medical consults.