THE TAJ AND BEYOND

(Rajasthani Ramblings Part 2)

Travel Tales Index - Rajasthani Ramblings Index - India Pix

Jan 19, 2005 - We have been having too good of a time to send out travelogues. I suppose this is a good thing!

Our trip started out on a slightly bad note as our New Year's Eve flight out of the USA was cancelled. However, we flew the next day, successfully navigated the Delhi airport and took a taxi to our hotel and our "deluxe" room. Total travel time was about 22 hours, door to door.

We decided to put off much of the Delhi tourist attractions until the end of our trip, but did manage to catch a few sights before heading out of town. The first "sight" was a government run craft store. Lois, being the material girl that she is, had great plans for all the buying she was going to do on this trip. We thought that checking out the government store would give us an idea of the high end for prices and quality plus an idea of what crafts are available. The quality of some of the work we saw is hard to describe. Incredibly detailed embroidery, beautiful wood and marble carving, hand made rugs and other textiles.

We visited a Sikh temple (Gurdwara Bangh Sahib) which was interesting. First, we checked our shoes before entering the temple complex. We then followed a marble walkway through a foot wash area before entering the temple grounds. Inside the temple was a large, carpeted, open room with a small altar in the center and three musicians sitting beside it playing some lovely, contemplative music (I recorded a 60 second sampler). People would walk in, touching their hand or head to the threshold, make an offering in front or the altar and then walk around to one of the other sides for silent prayer. I don't know if they have a "service" in the Judeo-Christian sense of the word, but I really liked the mood inside the temple. Within the complex was a huge reflecting pool (over 100' x 100') with a wide marble walkway around it. One thing I noticed (and would notice many more times...), marble is very cold when walking barefoot!

Just to keep things even, we visited the Jama Masjid (Central Mosque), the largest Mosque in India. The courtyard can hold 25,000 people for prayers. The scale of the place was quite impressive and since it was at a high point in the city, we got nice views of the rest of Delhi. The mosque was basically a huge walled courtyard with a small covered area. Across the courtyard are parallel lines every 3 feet or so. If you sit on the lines, you are facing Mecca. So, we sat down (facing Mecca, of course), relaxed, soaked in the atmosphere and people and took some pictures. This led to the best part of the day.

Two Indians asked me a question about my camera as a way of breaking the ice and they sat down and joined us and we talked for an hour or so. We got a couple interesting questions, like "Does everybody have robots instead of servants to do all the work around the house?". Apparently, the movie Short Circuit gave them this impression. They were surprised to find out that most Americans actually have to do their own cooking and cleaning. The question they were most interested in the answer to was "How do I get a visa for the USA?". The best answer we could give was you need business contacts in the USA who would like you to work in the USA and they request the visa for you. Walking back to the hotel from the mosque, we went through mostly untouristed areas with no touts, no hassles, people going about their business and basically uninterested in us - a very pleasant feeling.

From Delhi, we took the train and then an auto-rickshaw (tuk-tuk or motorcycle with carriage) to Vrindavan, where Krishna - as in Hare Krishna - spent his childhood. This is where the headquarters for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness is located and where we spent a couple of days. The greeting we got from everybody - including the Indians that wanted to sell us something was "Hare Krishna". While the town was not touristed, it was heavily visited by foreigners staying at ashrams or living there. Being the skeptic that I am, I figured most of the foreigners we saw in the streets had been carried away by the moment and joined the Krishnas for a month or two until they got tired of it. However, we met a woman from Ohio who had been living there for 25 years and another from France who had been there for 7 years. These two women made me reexamine my pre-conceived notions. We felt nothing from them but very warm, caring personalities that really felt Krishna had made a difference in their lives. At the same time, they did not seem to be proselytizing, which we appreciated.

Vrindavan had a large number of temples dedicated to Krishna and we managed to visit a few of them. Walking around town, a number of people warned Lois to be careful with her glasses as the monkeys (which seem to be all over) love to steal them. So Lois was extra cautious but obviously, I wouldn't be writing this unless she wasn't cautious enough. We were looking at a beautiful marble temple with a number of carved bas reliefs and I was busy taking pictures when I heard Lois scream, "Paul, stop that monkey". Come on, Lois, how do you expect me to catch a monkey? Well, he had run up behind her, reached around and grabbed her glasses without her feeling a thing. A couple local boys tried to help coax the monkey into giving up the glasses by trading glasses for food, but it was a no-go. We managed to recover one lens and a very mangled frame. So, we called Lois' ophthalmologist, got her prescription, went to a local optician and Lois now has a beautiful new pair of Indian glasses. (Which she guards very closely anytime we see monkeys!).

While in Vrindavan, we became friendly with the manager of the restaurant at the Hare Krishna center. He gave Lois and I each a garland of marigold flowers to wear. Feeling foolish wearing a marigold garland, I conned Lois into wearing mine as well. We were on the street looking for an internet shop and a calf that was walking down the sidewalk (a very common occurrence) stopped near Lois and turned his head toward her. Next thing she knew, he was munching down the marigold garlands! While Lois may be an animal lover, I things she views them a little more cautiously after her Vrindavan experiences!

From Vrindavan, we headed to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. We tried to walk in Agra, but found it close to impossible. The rickshaw drivers are desperate for business and follow you everywhere. Plus, the rickshaws were really convenient. We had a rickshaw driver who took us around for 1/2 the day, waiting for us while we looked at various attractions and markets and then took us back to the hotel for 50 cents. However, he also took us to a shop where he gets a bounty for bringing in tourists. The place was really high end, with very expensive items, but even higher quality. Every item was like a work of art. We saw embroidered tablecloths, cashmere men's robes, silk saris, inlaid marble table tops and wool rugs. They were all handmade items with intricate, gorgeous patterns.  So, we got to do a little shopping (but no buying).

Where we did do some buying was in the local market. We passed a sari shop that was about 25' deep and 10' wide with a bench along the wall going all the way from the front to back of the shop. There were about a dozen people, mostly women sitting on the benches and across from them, salesmen were sitting on a table the height of the benches. The men were unfurling saris between themselves and the women. It looked like they had over a hundred saris laying out on the table. Lois watched for a while and couldn't resist, so we ended up with a sari (I'm still waiting to see her wear it...).

We decided to hold off on the Taj Mahal and see some of the other sites in and around Agra first. We figured this would give us a chance to get used to the city and we would build up to seeing the Taj Mahal. The first stop was Akbar's Tomb, built 1600-1613 AD. It was started by Akbar and finished by his son after Akbar's death in 1605 AD. Next was I'timad-ud-Daulah, another tomb, nicknamed the "Baby Taj". This is where we first saw the incredible marble-work and beautiful detail that we view as symbolic of the Mughals architectural style. We viewed each of these as steps leading to the final masterpiece - the Taj Mahal.

Our final day in Agra was dedicated to its two most impressive and memorable attractions - the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. The Taj was built as a mausoleum and the scale of it is amazing. It took 20,000 people twenty two years to build it (1628-1650 AD). The intricacy of some of the inlaid marble designs was what stood out most in my mind. Plus, can you image latticework that is 4 inches thick and carved out of solid marble, by hand? Some of the screens were as large as 8' by 8'! I guess having free (semi-slave) labor helps.

 

While the Taj is world renown and for good reason, I personally preferred Agra Fort. The attraction of Agra Fort was what it was protecting. The King's palace, the Queen's quarters and the mosque. The interior buildings were another series of beautiful inlaid marble work and carved screens/latticework. Throughout, there were water channels to create waterfalls and run fountains. They used rainwater collected in huge tanks on the roof or else a waterwheel was used to carry water to the top to keep the flow continuous. Usually, forts we have seen were solely occupied by soldiers, not the King and his harem, so the interiors were not nearly as impressive. Those maharajas knew how to live!

Our next stop was Fatehpur Sikri, an old walled city. When we arrived in town, we were pleasantly surprised. There was basically one road and it wasn't too crowded so it was actually pleasant to walk around. The wall which surrounded the town was huge, probably about 40' high and about 10' wide. We had to walk about 1/2 mile out of town to get to it and then took a staircase to the top. We walked along the wall for a mile or so and saw a couple of interesting sights. One was our first wild peacock, sitting on top of a huge rock outcrop. The other was a school where we saw two outdoor classrooms with the students sitting on the ground and the teachers using small blackboards. One boy noticed Lois, she waved, he waved back and then the whole class turned around and started yelling “hello” in unison. We said hello back and decided to move on before the teacher lost all control of his classroom!

 

From Fatehpur Sikri, we took a local bus to Bharatapur where we found a nice guesthouse for $5 a night with an excellent backyard garden for hanging out and relaxing. The reason for coming to Bharatapur was Keoladeo Ghana national park, a marshy bird sanctuary. We rented two old, clunky, one speed bicycles for the day, hired a guide and off we went! The guide showed us all sorts of birds, owls, peacocks, kingfishers, cranes, herons, storks, ducks and others plus jackals, spotted deer, blue bulls and antelope. For me, the nicest thing about the park was that it was a quiet, peaceful spot with lots of trees and bird calls and no honking horns.

It takes a while to get used to India and I'm not sure we're there yet. Let's start with the traffic and associated noise. While there may be lane markers, these don't even act as guidelines. It is a total free-for-all with cars, motorbikes, bicycles, horse or camel drawn carts, cows, pigs, dogs and pedestrians all trying to make their way along. The motorized vehicles weave in and out amongst each other and the livestock while pedestrians try to keep out of the way! When someone wants to pass, they just blow their horn continuously until they get through. We have always enjoyed wandering around foreign cities because it is the most interactive experience. However, dealing with the noise and obstacles in the street can be very tiring.

After the traffic comes the smells... and they are usually not particularly good ones. Most of the sewers tend to be open ditches on both sides of the road. In many towns, the sewer pipes from each house just dump into the open ditches. Then, of course, you have all the livestock running free contributing to the need to watch your step on the street!

Finally are all the people that want to sell you something. In some places you are continually hounded to take a rickshaw rather than walk and it can get to be annoying after a while. Or someone wants you to check out their souvenir shop, restaurant, hotel etc.

On the plus side, this has been in many ways a very easy trip. Transportation, while slow and crowded is very frequent. Our longest wait for a bus to leave the station to our destination has been about 20 minutes. Typically, we arrive at the bus station and there is a bus leaving almost immediately. They tend to be crowded leaving town, but once they are 5-10 miles out, the aisles are usually clear and you can get a seat if you don't have one already.

In general, the Indians we have met are extremely friendly and helpful. Those that know some English want to try it out on us and those that are fluent do their best to help us out and give us pointers on India. Many people are interested in what our impression is of their country and whether or not we like it.

The food has been fantastic. Indian food is so varied and there are so many different dishes to try that it is wonderful. Due to the sanitary conditions, we tend to stick to restaurants for the middle class and not eat much street food. We have paid between $3 and $9 for dinner with the average being around $5. The snacks on the street are usually around 25 cents for a samosa or 250 grams of pakoras.

The landscape outside of the cities and towns has been mostly flat and either cultivated with mustard seed or else growing scrub brush. We have not seen many trees.

Well, that brings our travelogue up to around January 14. Enough typing. Time to go see some more!

Paul & Lois

 

Rajasthani Ramblings Part 1                 Rajasthani Ramblings Part 3

 

All content is copyright © Paul Schneider, 2005.