We have a three hour drive so I’m going to write what I see and bring you along for the ride.

We are leaving Delhi, and its pockets of absolute poverty, behind.  Destination,  Agra and the famous Taj Majal.  For several km along the newly built expressway, we see that the outskirts of Delhi are being developed with technology companies (Samsung) and back offices (MetLife).  Apartment complexes are being constructed across the road – not unlike those we saw rising in China but about a third smaller and from an untrained eye, not nearly as well built.

Eventually this gives way to fields of mustard that stretch for miles; huts of straw house farmer and family;  piles of brick are laid beside the road and farmers seem to be working together to build a more solid structure for themselves and their neighbors.  Some fields are cleared and boys play cricket with crude bats and stumps.  It is Saturday and school resumes on Sunday for those fortunate enough to have one; otherwise, the kids will help in the fields.  Our driver was a villager.  He explains that life was very hard in the villages compared to Delhi.

The expressway ends as we get close to Agra – the final stretch is to be finished in a year or so – and we find ourselves now on the more commonly depicted local road.  In order of appearance, no repeats:  rickshaws jammed with 6 adults and three children, cows, pedestrians, local busses, pigs, dogs, goats, children, small cars, a horse drawn buggy, white cows pulling carts…. all sharing with our driver a road wide enough for three cars.   I would say a three lane road but there are no lines painted; in fact, it’s only partly paved in places.

Once in town, there are small shops and three-walled homes lining the roads.  Fruit and veg carts; some covered with a cloth but most not.  Metal being pounded to make it useful for something, anything.  The family cow is chained to a peg nearby.

The town of Agra has a new section as well.  A KFC and McDonalds; two level concrete structures with craft shops, ATMs and Vodaphone stalls.  We get our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal and turn into our rather luxurious hotel.  The contrast with the outskirts of town is overwhelming.