Sunday, 2 November 2014
Pati and BeeBee got up at 7 am and had breakfast in the terrace cafe, as usual. As they were heading out for the fair, their breakfast friend of the day before was checking out. He was headed for the train station and will get in to Agra at 9:30 tonight. There he will immediately go to see the Taj Mahal in the light of the full moon. He had only a very small backpack on his back for his month-long trip through India.
Pati and BeeBee started out walking for the fairground and were soon picked up by a tuk-tuk, which made the trip much faster. By 10 am, they were seated at the top of the fairground stands on rickety plastic chairs, but in the shade. The horse-dancing competition was scheduled for 11 am, and promptly at 11am, the awards ceremony for another India vs. the rest of the world competition was held. (No one would have come, otherwise.) The stands began to fill with all those people who are not willing to come early for seats and wait. Actually, the first people there were beggar women, who were stretched out asleep in the shade, with their laundry hanging on whatever was available, and their children out begging. (They target foreign women. The best begging ploy so far: tap the target on the knee and simply say "money.")
The horse dancing competition began just before 11:30. There were probably 8 competitors. BeeBee lost count while trying to maintain "her" space and still see the competition through people who stood up or leaned in front of people who had got there earlier. Although there really was not enough room, there were even people standing behind Pati and BeeBee, in danger of falling off the back of the stands. One woman in particular was American, with an Indian guide. She got there around 11 am and was impatient for the event to start. After the first horse, she was impatient for it to end. She left after the second horse. There was another group, possibly American, that swarmed onto the stands at about 11am, grabbing seats, and in general were obnoxious. At precisely noon, they all got up and left, blocking the view of those behind them. Their seats were promptly grabbed by Indians who had been standing, and others filled their vacuum, standing and leaning in. So it was difficult for Pati and BeeBee to see the performance of the last two or three horses. The horse dancing was probably very good (three horses used the same primitive trampolines as the camels yesterday), but they were just not as exciting after seeing the camels dance.
After the competition, Pati and BeeBee fought the crowds to go to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. They were seated at a table with a young Danish girl, who has been doing volunteer work in India for a few months after graduating college. She had wanted to see the camel racing, but that is next Thursday, so she (and Pati and BeeBee) unfortunately will not see it.
After this, Pati and BeeBee fought the crowds again through the market to go find the craft fair that was to open at 3 pm today. They had high hopes that there would be good souvenir shopping there. They searched everywhere, and finally came upon a new set of stalls with several of them offering merchandise. Unfortunately, what is being offered is carnival- rather than craft-quality. Maybe something better will turn up tomorrow.
There are 4 huge ferris wheels here, along with other carnival rides. One ferris wheel is in operation today (for the first time), and Pati had looked forward to riding it to get great pictures from the top of the fair and the town. Today, Pati got his first good look at the passenger compartments: each is an enclosed compartment seating perhaps 4 not-too-big people, but with no safety bars, no seat belts, open to two sides and no doors. Hummmm. Pati will think about this some more later.
Leaving the fair, they were soon overtaken by a tuk-tuk, which they gratefully climbed into, and arrived back at the B&B, where they climbed to the terrace cafe to consume 2 liters of cold water and a pot of black tea.
Pati and BeeBee got up at 7 am and had breakfast in the terrace cafe, as usual. As they were heading out for the fair, their breakfast friend of the day before was checking out. He was headed for the train station and will get in to Agra at 9:30 tonight. There he will immediately go to see the Taj Mahal in the light of the full moon. He had only a very small backpack on his back for his month-long trip through India.
Pati and BeeBee started out walking for the fairground and were soon picked up by a tuk-tuk, which made the trip much faster. By 10 am, they were seated at the top of the fairground stands on rickety plastic chairs, but in the shade. The horse-dancing competition was scheduled for 11 am, and promptly at 11am, the awards ceremony for another India vs. the rest of the world competition was held. (No one would have come, otherwise.) The stands began to fill with all those people who are not willing to come early for seats and wait. Actually, the first people there were beggar women, who were stretched out asleep in the shade, with their laundry hanging on whatever was available, and their children out begging. (They target foreign women. The best begging ploy so far: tap the target on the knee and simply say "money.")
The horse dancing competition began just before 11:30. There were probably 8 competitors. BeeBee lost count while trying to maintain "her" space and still see the competition through people who stood up or leaned in front of people who had got there earlier. Although there really was not enough room, there were even people standing behind Pati and BeeBee, in danger of falling off the back of the stands. One woman in particular was American, with an Indian guide. She got there around 11 am and was impatient for the event to start. After the first horse, she was impatient for it to end. She left after the second horse. There was another group, possibly American, that swarmed onto the stands at about 11am, grabbing seats, and in general were obnoxious. At precisely noon, they all got up and left, blocking the view of those behind them. Their seats were promptly grabbed by Indians who had been standing, and others filled their vacuum, standing and leaning in. So it was difficult for Pati and BeeBee to see the performance of the last two or three horses. The horse dancing was probably very good (three horses used the same primitive trampolines as the camels yesterday), but they were just not as exciting after seeing the camels dance.
After the competition, Pati and BeeBee fought the crowds to go to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. They were seated at a table with a young Danish girl, who has been doing volunteer work in India for a few months after graduating college. She had wanted to see the camel racing, but that is next Thursday, so she (and Pati and BeeBee) unfortunately will not see it.
After this, Pati and BeeBee fought the crowds again through the market to go find the craft fair that was to open at 3 pm today. They had high hopes that there would be good souvenir shopping there. They searched everywhere, and finally came upon a new set of stalls with several of them offering merchandise. Unfortunately, what is being offered is carnival- rather than craft-quality. Maybe something better will turn up tomorrow.
There are 4 huge ferris wheels here, along with other carnival rides. One ferris wheel is in operation today (for the first time), and Pati had looked forward to riding it to get great pictures from the top of the fair and the town. Today, Pati got his first good look at the passenger compartments: each is an enclosed compartment seating perhaps 4 not-too-big people, but with no safety bars, no seat belts, open to two sides and no doors. Hummmm. Pati will think about this some more later.
Leaving the fair, they were soon overtaken by a tuk-tuk, which they gratefully climbed into, and arrived back at the B&B, where they climbed to the terrace cafe to consume 2 liters of cold water and a pot of black tea.
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| Horse Dancing |
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