INCREDIBLE INDIA - the promotion campaign chosen by Indian's government: very appropriate.
Now let me tell you what happened at the Delhi International Airport on the 31st.
At 5.40am, three hours before our flight, we turn up at the terminal to clear all the formalities, only to be told that the check-in counter opens at 6.40 and that the plane is delayed. We battled for over an hour with Indians trying to push in front of us and ramming their trolleys into my legs, eventually we check-in and clear immigration. With 2hours on our hands and some rupees to spend, we decided to hit the duty free. EASY? Of course not... None of the duty free shops accept rupees.
"Please, can I pay in rupees?" I asked. "No, only dollars or euros"
"Why? Are we not in India?" "Because it is illegal to leave the country with rupees"
"Well! Let me spend them then." "Not possible. You change them." "OK, but where?" "Not here. No bank here. Go back past immigration"
Hurdle 1: getting from immigration to the bank. I was told I could not pass because they were changing shifts and the new officer had not yet arrived so the formalities of letting me get to the bank could not be completed. 10 minutes later the new guy rolls in. The "formalities" consisted in keeping my boarding pass... (far too difficult for the intermediary to do??) Who cares that I had a flight to catch and that it is illegal to leave India with rupees.
At the 1st bank, T (them):sorry sir we open at 9, check the corner one. 2nd bank T:come back in 20 minutes. 3rd bank same company as 1st bank 50 meters away, same time table. T:we are still closed. 4th bank I lost my patience, screamed, and got my money taken, but: T:were did you get the money from? M:a bank! T:can you prove it? M:I have the receipt, T:fine give me the money. M:10.870, T:give me the receipt, Oh this is from an ATM, I can only change 10.000 rs with an ATM receipt, M: but the receipt says 20.000. T:not possible. M:fine only change 10.000 now and then I'll give you a second order for the next the 870 separate. T: Humm. Ok, I change them all in one go.
Finally with my dollars, I went back to the immigration desk were a long queue was now formed. I walked past everybody and sprinted directly to the desk of the man with my boarding pass, ignoring the shouting of the guards saying to stop. It worked. 1 hour later I was finally back at the Duty free to buy 1 bottle of gin (that I felt like downing straight) and 1 of champaign that, I found out last night, had gone off... INCREDIBLE INDIA, what better slogan??
Incredible India.
I am sure you have seen this small marble thing on other pictures before.
Agra Fort is what you need if you are followed by thousands of touts.
A carpet maker in Agra.