Memoirs of Rangoli ... (p45) - Agra ... the lost kingdom of Mughal (cont.)

Agra,

Uttar Pradesh, India
February 2016

we left Agra fort and went back to the hotel. it was time for breakfast, but since it was not included in the room charge, and there was no buffet available, we ordered a'la carte. i had nan with dhal, if i've not mistaken, and gosh..i must say, at any part of india that i'd been in this trip, perhaps this was the best combination of vegan-staples that met my appetite.

we decided to visit the bazaar along the streets near the Jama' Masjid of Agra, to do some last minute shopping. just some tips about shopping in Agra...or perhaps in India.

1. the auto-rickshaw drivers like ours, persistently wanted to bring us to the big shops instead of the local bazaar. reason being, they'd get the commission from the shops. the selection would not be that vast, as you'd be stucked in one big shops. the price...well...it started with a quantum, but you could negotiate/bargain. try 70% off, for a start. 

2. we experienced this back when we were in Chadni Chowk of Old Delhi...i mean we noticed, when Rahul brought the ladies to a shop, instead of a wholesale malls etc. and he was also insisted to keep us intact with his plan on visiting certain shops etc.

3.obviously, they are very persistent and you really need to be careful with scam or its siblings. money is more than king in this part of the world!

4. we insisted our auto-rickshaw drivers, to bring us to the local bazaars of Agra, instead of their recommended shops. it put some face on theirs, as they were clearly disappointed, but had to agree with us as they knew that somebody else would be on their way, if they declined to take us to the place. we told them not to wait as we would be wandering for a while....and again..they insisted to stay and wait. that was also the same as Rahul's act back when we were in Old Delhi. they wouldn't want to loose you to somebody else.

5. the bazaars along the streets around the Jama' Masjid of Agra...obviously a shopping heaven! especially if you were looking for clothes, fabrics etc. but one thing that we noted was - the price was non-negotiable ...as it was already cheap!

so we arrived, and spent our time...wandering and did some shopping, while memo-graphing the days of locals there.

enjoy the pics!

we paid another visit to the Jama' Masjid, with thought of memo-graphing the locals while waiting for the Friday prayer. it was still early, and there was not much people around, other than local kids, that were excited to see us pointing our camera towards them and asked them to pose etc. i was suddenly being approach by two elders, mumbling something and then asking for money. i wasn't sure it was dubbed as a donation or fee as we were tourists that wandering on their ground. Syib came to rescue the clueless me and we left them, after firmly said no to their request.

we saw our drivers with their frowning face, waiting for us and quickly approaching us, telling...it was time to go. and guess what, they brought us to the shops where they planned to bring us earlier. perhaps for sake of commission. well... lucky for them, some of us were still in mood for shopping and did some shopping there.

once settled, we went back to the hotel and ended our services with the drivers for the day. we had our lunch at the hotel and had jama' prayer.  it was then time to rest, as Syib told us that our last activity would be in the evening - watching sunset from the riverbank of Yamuna River.

tbc.