Agra - It has been a fun filled crazy trip since Chris and Jeff arrived. The train ride back from Bikaner was uneventful. Still dirty like the train into the desert, but much more manageable since we eventually got out of the dust. Delhi was hectic as always, but it was nice to see Chris and Jeff. We did a full whirlwind tour of Delhi taking in all of the sites (too many to mention them all). One of the highlights for me was the Bahai temple that is shaped like a lotus. I had not seen it before. It was stunning. The inside was plain, but seeing a huge white lotus in front of a blue sky was phenomenal. Our train to Varanasi was not the greatest, either (well, for Jeff and I especially). We were on the bottom bunk and it was pouring rain and we couldn't get the window to stay shut. It was a battle that left us wet, our bags slightly wet and with not much sleep. The train was also 4 hours late, so heeding my advice of no train food all of us were famished by the time we finally got to Varanasi. Varanasi is beyond words and even description, but I will try. It is one of the holiest cities in India and as such is a big tourist place for foreigners and Indians. Every step you take you are hounded by touts trying to take you to their silk shop or trinket shop or fabric shop. The alley ways beside the river are so narrow that vehicles cannot go down them, although bicycles and motorcycles and cows and everything else try. Our hotel was right on the Ganges and had a phenomenal view of the sunrise. The first morning we were there we took a boat ride on the river and then again in the evening. You get to see everyone and everything doing their business in the river. Bathing (humans and more), drinking, peeing, dumping garbage, burning corpses. We spent our days winding around the area and shopping. Jeff and I bought a lot of beautiful batiks and clothes. Shirley, Chris, Jeff and I went for an afternoon to Sarnath, a big Buddhist place where the Buddha gave his first sermon. It was nice because it was a Deer Park. It was peaceful and not too hot. We saw a Japanese, Chinese and Tibetan temple that were beautiful. Each of the traditions use very different images and art, but all are equally beautiful and serene. We took an overnight train to Agra last night. It was the best yet, as I fell right asleep and got woken up 20 minutes before we were to get off. We checked into the hotel and have been sightseeing all day. It isn't quite as hectic here as in Varanasi or Delhi, but we have yet to get near the Taj Mahal. I am expecting to be mobbed by people selling stuff. Earlier today we got to see the "Baby Taj", which was a precursor to the Taj Mahal. You can recognize many similar themes. The white marble and the inlaid marble work compares to the Taj, but the Taj is just on a bigger scale. We have been getting glimpses of it all day, but will head to the Taj Mahal for sunset and then sunrise tomorrow. The whopping almost $20 US to get in is a bit of a pisser, but I did spend the money on the plane ticket, so I guess I will have to suck it up. Sorry if I have repeated what Jeff has said on his post, but we are both writing at the same time and I figure we will have different ways of perceiving our adventures!