The freeky mess we got in

The risho driver told us there was still one hour time before the train left to Dehli, so we ask him if he got commissions from shops and because he did we thought to do him a favour and let him drive us to a shop.
I took us to a jewlery shop, where the stuff was sad and expencive, we had a look and we did not want to stay any longer while what we thought was the owner asked us to have a little talk.

Informed by us stupid cows that Nico was leaving the day after he asked us if we were interested in earning a little money by doing him a little favour.
The favour was the following: due to the rising tax prices in India he asked Nico if he wanted to export his stones to France and give them to his agent in Paris. All this by risking nothing as the stones would be sent from Agra to Paris at his home address, post expences paid by the shop, and he would be present to look at the sending of the package and the owner would make a contract in which he testified and declared this and that.

It all seemed shiny and bright, no risks included plus the money promised to Nico were quite a lot, he would have hearned 1500 E more or less just by borrowing his home address.
Well I know the way I write it makes it smell fishy already, but it was not so, truely not at all.

Well we agreed on the business and the guy started to pack the precious stones ( I was hypnotized, I went bananas) while an other older man gave Nico papers and papers to sign, did get his credit card, passed through the machine and paff everything was finished.
We got out of the shop thinking that we were very lucky to meet such people willing to enrich us so generously.

Unfortunately in the train we woke up. We did and it was 100 times better to wake up with a hang over rather that waking up from frode on the only late night train to Dehli, the day before Nico had to leave!

Shit shit doubble and tripple shit! He got us, he got ME I thought, damn I never got tricked like that in any of my trips! And yes they tried before but ho no not me never they never got me and now kaboum fallen full weight into a trap! Tears, remorse, fights, blaming, its your foult, no its yours yeah alright its mine aaaargh what we do and so, for the fact that we realized so late that the snaeky bastard had passed the card on the machine and we now recalled everything, Nico also remembered the amount of money taken. round 70,000 Rupies, the limit.
Voila les jeux sont faits! Rien va plus!

On the train we thought of blocking the card and that made us feel better untill , once in Dehli, we called the bank and we found out that the card can be blocked ONLY from the moment of the phone call. Operations before remain valid. Hey u guys out there... remember this!

So we spent the night thinking about what to do, making up a bluff, take the train to Agra, not possible, too late etc. We went to bed agreeing that the morning after we would try a last desperate bluff phone call to the fraudolent man, and well in case everything went wrong I could sell my car to pay at least half of the amount of money so skillfully robbed .
The night I cried and had nightmares (I love my car!), I was happy to wake up as my consciousness never left me even when sleeping I did not forget the tragedy I was in.

I stood up and left Nico in bed, went downstairs with a very suspicious determination and called the man. Well allowed me now to self celebrate my interpretation of the tough girl because if I was playing in a movie I would have won an Oscar! (thanx Miika if you are reading this, it's all thanx to our real life acts)
I called the bastard up and asked him the amount of money he had robbed us, he answered (!!!!) 70.000 Rupies! So very quitely I asked him to stop the operation, he sayed he could not. I asked him to find a solution between the phone call and the moment we would get to the police, and told him there was a taxi waiting to take us to Agra.
HE BOUGHT IT!!
He said he would find a solution and I told him we were getting there in only the time it takes to drive to him, about 3 and half hours.
Rushed in the room, woke Nico up, felt like a dragon, told him quikly what happened and we stepped outside the room, half skeptically, half hopefully.

The taxi did not come on time, so we went off to the taxi stand, we found a man, told him 'How much to Agra". In too long time and after too much mess of people (in no time we were sorrounded by 15 taxi wallas) we were in a taxi and the driver went to the gas station next to the taxi stand.
I found out he did not speak a word of English.

I stepped out of the taxi, determined in NOT going with that man, I sensed we needed more then a taxi driver, but also a little help and support, so I looked around and my eyes stopped on a Sik man who seemed to be the boss of the all story. I looked streight and meaningfull into his eyes and told him "You have to understand that we REALLY need a driver who speaks English, its VERY important we can talk to the driver!" The man must have sensed the urgency of my request, and just asked me to wait.
So this same man that before was rushing us into the non-english speaking taxi, saying "no problem no problem" now was riding the crowds of bewildered taxi drivers heading to the only quite man of the all lot. This was the very first man we had asked for a ride, ( 'How much to Agra") and he did speak English and it was on the path of our destiny that he had to take us to Agra.
So he did.
In the taxi I finally relaxed and cried of despair, stress and distress and I looked around the landscape and it looked really ugly. I disliked everything I saw and thought it was hell.
When we arrived to Agra there were 10 pretty faces in the shop of the frode man, the precence of the taxi driver waiting for us outside made me feel safer.

After quite of a discussion the old man of the papers, the side show man, (the real boss apparently) took us to the bank where they were trying to convince us that they were stopping the operation.
We looked around, we looked at each other and in an instant we realized we did NOT trust the bank. It was just too dodgy and everybody seemed to know what was going on.

So we decided to go for the cash, we went back to the shop and we miracolously managed to get the cash money, 70.000 rupies. In an exageration of my distrust I started to check the money to verify their authenticity, but I gave up after a while, too many notes and well, thinking about t, it was quite funny, I felt too much like in a movie and I guess I was loosing grip to reality ;o)

We got out of the shop with the cash and well with our hearths back at the right spot! Plus for me I can say with a lot of adrenalyne rushing in my body. Hehehehe...!
Finally we could relax and smile and... pay attention to the taxi driver... that turned out to be a real right man! He had very well understood the situation from the beginning and he did not say a word in the Dehli Agra trip, but now on the way back he did speak, and he spoke really good.

He told us about samanas and the way he looks at life, his religious point of view, all this while I was looking at the landscape, that this time seemd beautifull and sweet to my eyes. His words were soothing and sweet and when we stopped with him for a splif (!!) I had already felt all the joy of the world again, and could start being sad for the imminent departure of Nico.

Muckesh (the taxi driver) told us he had prayed in the morning for a little money to help his family and when we got into his taxi he thought his prayers were heard by a generous god, because he also took Nico to the airport that night for a price quite high and I bet Nico left him quite of a tip.

When we went back to the hotel we could rest a little, very little, as there was the bag to make and a plane to catch and all the rest and well....I dont know why, we started to fight and I was so upset I just went away for some time.
When I was back it was time to leave and it was quite a quick good bye, Muckesh waiting to leave and put the bags here and no put them there and good bye Nico take care you too, so he went.

I spent the night smoking.