Ali Baba and the forty thieves
Trip Start
Jan 17, 2011
1
27
67
Trip End
Jul 19, 2011
Fatehpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh, India
Sunday, March 6, 2011
2 hour bus ride later we got off to a bad start as we were given the wrong directions through the bazaar. Thought our luck had changed when we met a friendly local who said he would show us a short cut. 1 hour later, after a visit to his family home to meet the wife and kids, parading us through the village ( a huge trail of kids following behind made us feel like the pied piper), offer of a 'special' cigarette, barage of compliments about Mike's wrestler physique (local opticians must be closed down) and 100rs down, we arrived at the temple.
Enter to worst hawking and begging we have encountered. Followed for 30 minutes by same group of kids and shop owners whilst we were trying to take in the scenery. Captain Jack Sparrow tried to pick a fight because we wanted to see the sights instead of going to his shop. The only funny part about it was that everyone kept calling Mike Ali Baba because of his ever growing beard.
Finally ran off for shelter to the secure surroundings of the 'pay in' palace where no hawkers are allowed. A peaceful walk around the beautiful grounds gave us some time to prepare ourselves for going back outside.
We successfully managed to dodge the hoards of kids trying to take our used palace tickets to head for a spot of lunch. Tasty curry and our first sample of gulab jamil (Indian sweets) was the perfect end to the crazy Fatepur visit.
