While we knew we are going to be standing out as American tourists in India, we were fortunate enough to start in a city that has adapted to travelers from around the world. The city of Agra is a well-organized chaos that understands crowds and international visitors. The locals are invariably welcoming and go out of their way to try to be accommodating...even more so if the tourist is willing to share some their wealth. Tips were never expected but always appreciated and hoped-for.

Besides starting our Indian Adventure in the tourist-haven of Agra, we choose to hire a local travel agent who advised and enabled us to hire a tour guide for our stay in Agra. This was one of our smartest moves as many of the challenges of navigating the roads, transportation, food, and seeing popular sites were taken care of by a local expert. Simple things such as re-routing us past constuction or taking pictures of the family were handled by our tour guide with ease...including finding some of the best locales for a variety of restaurants and other sites based on our preferences..

After each main tour around Agra (Red Fort, Taj Mahal, masuleums, Sikh temple, etc.), we ended up at the traditional (for tourists) handicraft stores where we spent a few more hours enjoying the shops' tea, coffee, and snacks while perusing hand-woven persian rugs. While shopping for expensive handicraft items is NOT required, most tourists would miss a great deal of the "American-in-India" experience without at least spending a few hours perusing the many craft items that arehand made in India. In our case, Mr. Singh took us to several shops--all related to each other--where we could watch and participate in the making of various items such as persian rugs, marble tables inlaid with semi-precious stones, and silk weavings. It was a smooth and pleasant process that ended in purchases of a few expensive rugs that I expect will become family heirlooms along with stories we tell our grandchildren.