Most random question yet

Before I get to the most random question I've been asked so far on this trip, I'll sum up my "taj experience.

The first time I saw the Taj was on the train. As it crossed the bridge entering Agra, I was able to look out the window and see the Taj in the distance. Even from there, it looked quite majestic.

I ended up staying at a budget hotel called Sai Palace. I highly recommend it. For 250 rupees (little over 6 USD) I had a large room, equally as large bathroom, and a small view of the Taj. I could walk right out of my room to improve my view, and if I walked up a few stairs, I had an unblocked view of the the Taj. Not bad at all.

Ended up going in around 4:30 PM. Even at that time of day, it was pretty hot. You have to take your shoes off and go bare-feet on the white marble. Thankfully they lay a carpet-like thing (not quite soft enough to be a carpet) for you to walk on. Anyway, I'll just say it is as impressive as everyone says it is, and is worth the 750 rupees (about 19 bucks) to get into the place.

If I were to do it over again, I'd go earlier and just hang out wherever there was shade. Part of the enjoyment of the Taj was just sitting around with middle class Indians, soaking up the surroundings. Oh, and Agra isn't so bad. The touts are pretty tame. Luxor, Egypt and Fez, Morocco still hold the #1 slot of most annoying touts in the world.

So let's move on to the most random question I've been asked. Yesterday I took a 14 hr train ride from Agra to Amristar, where I am now. As I'm sure you'd guess, a large number of people came and went during my ride. The last group was these 4 sikhs (pictured above). After asking where I was from, one of them asked, "What's the price of almonds in California?"

Now had he asked me the price of any other nut, I would have had to say, "umm I have no clue." Alas, I have been buying almonds from Berkeley Bowl for the past couple years. I know my almond prices. I remembered paying around 7 bucks/lb and so I told him, "Close to 15 dollars/kilo" but then I remembered that was the highest I paid. Sometimes I paid about 5 bucks/lb so I clarified: "Actually it ranges between 10 and 15 dollars/kilo." They seemed satisfied with my answer.

Why did they ask? They were sellers of dry foods.

And now I'm in amritsar. I have yet to see the Golden Temple. That shall be for tomorrow. I haven't really gotten a good read of the the city yet; I arrived late, slept a bit late, and walked around for 45 minutes this afternoon before I decided I better get out of the heat, so I took a nap. Nap turned out to be a couple hours longer than planned. So it goes.