Trans-folks in India/GUYS LOOK AT MA TAJ MAHAL PHOTOZ/Those god damn monkeys

Lemme tell you all about our hot sweaty trip to the Taj Mahal!

Traffic was bad.

This is a bread thing.

And a large bucket of dal

Weird.

These monkeys were bad news. When you're stopped on the road, beggers will come up with their pet monkeys which will start rubbing their balls all over your car window. If you take a picture of this, the owners will bang on your car windows and roofs demanding money. We still had monkey ball-prints on the windows by the end of the trip.

It seemed a little imprudent to turn around and start taking pictures of the trans folks right after taking a bunch of pictures of the monkeys, so I didn't do it, but there's a lot of trans folks in India.

Since forever ago, there have been trans- communities in India, where trans folks can go and generally be more accepted. You either join these communities on your own, or if your born intersex, your parents might give you up to one of these communities, but Linda says that's not so common anymore. These communities help each other out to find work, live in an accepting environment, and a bunch of other good stuff. Traditionally, Linda says, when children are born, trans folks come to homes and perform dances and ceremonies -- and if it's an intersex baby, recruitment. 

It's also considered good luck if you give money to trans folks here in India. So many people do this that beggers will sometimes dress up in women's clothing to try and score some extra cash. How do you tell if you're talking to the real deal? Try puttin the moves on her, and see who chickens out first.

Anyway, this has been going on for centuries, and as a result, it's a lot easier to be a transgender person here in India than it is in the US. There's famous trans Bollywood actors and actresses, talk show hosts, and even politicians. Check out Shabnam Mausi for example. She got elected just four years after trans folks were granted voting rights. Try and beat that US!

On an unrelated note, this is what trucks look like in India.

In India, all trucks and large pieces of machinery are considered holy and under the auspices of Vishwakarma, the Hindu god of big machinery. He's who you blame when your truck won't start.

He's known for making all the big machines in the Sanskrit epics such as the Pushpaka, the original 18-wheeler. The Pushpaka was what Rama and Sita drove back to Ayodhya at the end of the book after the whole Lanka affair -- very significant, because it took Rama and his buddy Hanuman more or less five thousand pages to walk to Lanka on the way out.

The Yamuna is a nasty, nasty river. It's inadvisable to plant vegetables near her banks, because they'll be too toxic to eat.

Here's the ticket office of the Taj Mahal! What you're missing just after the left bottom corner is the huge line.

Here's how you're supposed to walk around the Taj Mahal. If you zoom in, it shows you the correct order of the paths you're supposed to take.

Woah dude!

Like, the Taj Mahal!

This guy here is clearly taking some videography after the sign.

If you paid for the expensive tickets, you get to walk on the left hand path, so you don't have to mix with the common folk.

One with the whole family!

This stylish footwear is required for entrance into the Taj

Cool!

The Yamuna river. It's in nasty condition. We tried to bring some prayer flags, but they weren't on the list of things you're allowed to bring in, and they didn't know what they were, so they said we couldn't bring them in.

Sometimes the guards forget their rifles at home and have to improvise.

OMG! Everyone's looking down here! What's everyone looking at?

All the loose change. If you were to go down there and pick it all up, you'd probably make enough money for an entrance ticket to see the Taj Mahal.

Everyone's tryna see what's in here.

There's nothing in here, guys, it's not worth it.

These flowers are called Shiva's Hat or something. I don't really remember. It was really hot out.

Right before we left Agra, which is where the Taj Mahal is, we took some pictures by the Yamuna. The banks are covered in piles of trash, which you can see in the background here.

The flags are pretty, though

Dabangg!

And bye.