India Travels 8 - Agra and the Taj Mahal

This is the first sight you see as you enter the outer gate. Christine and I both had tears in our eyes as it is truely magnificent and fills you with sublime joy.
Looks like we were alone - however there were hundreds of people there (with more to come) at 7a to see the sun rise on the fabled icon.
Inside the Taj, note the inlaid marble walls and carved marble screens.
A view from the side also taking into view the mosque to the left. Directly opposite the mosque on the other side of the Taj is a duplicate of the mosque - however it was used as a guest house. Note all the people on the top of the entrance. This is a good picture location as well as the line to enter into the Taj to view the tombs of Mumtaz and her husband Shah Jahan who built the tomb in her honor. No pictures are permitted of the tombs. They are heavily inlaid white marble as is the entire building.
More to come,
Love to all,
Scott and Christine

India Travel 7 Drive to Agra

The long and crazy drive from New Delhi to Agra (Taj Mahal) The was the last policeman we saw until Agra. He was beautifully turned out and gave us a big smile. Police are not much in evidence in the countryside. We were involved in an accident on the trip, our driver Vikrum said "Police, What Police!" when Christine asked if we had to pull over to the side of the road and wait for the police. Sort it out yourselves is the rule in India

Trucks are highly decorated - all hand painted. This motorcycle driver was wearing a helment, one of the few helmets we saw. We did see as many as 4 adult males and a family of 5 on individual machines. Motorcycles are everywhere weaving in and out of traffic; a good way to get around. However, Scott (who was made to sit in the front seat) was going nuts trying not to be petrified at the speed of traffic. His right leg was stiff from "braking" for 5 hours. Vikrum started to tease Scott and told him that braking was HIS job!

The huts on the roadside are for drying & curing the cow dung/straw mixture discs used for fuel in the countryside. We saw women carrying huge bowls of dung on their head. They took it to the fields where another woman mixed and shaped the discs. Vickum told us that they do not smell when burned. Our reaction was "yeah, right!"

Can you count the people in this vehicle? It is a Tuk-Tuk, a three-wheeled vehicle that delivers any type of cargo. We saw them with as many as 16 people. The open-air top might not have been the safest seat, but probably the least "fragrant".

Yes, those are monkeys crossing the road. At least these ones were on leases, but most monkeys roam freely and have become a menace. However, as there is a specific Hindu God of Monkeys, the debate rages on how to control these revered but aggressive animals. Note the number of pedestrians on this 4-lane highway, people walk out in front of traffic constantly

That is a cobra and he really did come up out of the basket when the man began to play music

Yes, that is a cow in the middle of the road. We saw them sleeping in the road and taking up entire lanes.

A family of 6 shares the back of a tuk-tuk; she looked tired, but the father seems happy. There is a tuk-tuk coming at us on the right; you can see the size of the vehicle.

Akbar The Great's mausoleum (3rd Mogul ruler) stands in a huge garden area of 150 acres about 7 km outside of Agra. These deer were happily feeding and cattle egrets are enjoying the insects the deer flush out for them. First pastoral scene we saw all day...

The is Sikandara, Akbar's tomb in red sandstone. It took 11 years to build - highly carved and mosaic in the first 3 stores and white marble towers. Originally it had huge sandlewood doors and the roof was decorated with silver and gold, all taken by the Jats during their short rule. The upper story of the gate has a 'Naubat Khana; from where the big kettle drums were played from morning to evening to honor the dead emperor

The drive to Agra and once again our heads were on a swivel! We thought that the congestion would clear out as we left Dehli behind... Wrong! The highway system is a patchwork of roads constantly changing from 2 lanes to 4 lanes and driving through center of towns. Berms have been taken over by shopkeepers and turned into market stalls. Although the road may be in fairly good condition, the sheer number of vehicles AND animals sharing the roads made progress slow at best. Christine refused to sit in the front seat and risked certain motion sickness from 6 hours of the start-stop, start-stop method of driving.

Along the journey we were involved in a bus/4-car accident. Scott saw 2 extremely small cars driving TOWARD the bus that was just ahead of us. Scott is desperately braking (so was our driver) and Scott is saying "cars, cars coming at us." The bus was not able to stop and plowed both cars up into the median. Our car hit the back of the bus and the car behind us hit us. Apparently this is not an unusual occurance because Vikrum pulls over to the side and hops out. He inspect the metal bars installed on both ends of the cars and gets back in and drives off. Christine is concerned because the police have not come to fill out the accident report; Vikrum laughs!

5 Miles down the road is a enormous traffic jam (once again NO police). We sat in gridlock for about 1/2 hour as each car, motorcycle, bicycle, bus and truck attempts to gain an inch progress forward. Finally, a civilian comes to the middle of the congested intersection and sorts us all out. Amazing, the vast majority of the drivers were willing to follow someone else's instructions to fix the problem and get moving again.

We stop for lunch at a tacky replical of an Indian palace (think tourist trap). We approach a man sitting on the ground and he offers to make the cobra come out of the basket (for a price, to course). It was pretty interesting to witness a snake charmer; this episode is pictured above. Cannot tell you how many times we stopped for cows in the road, some cows were walking across and others were actually sleeping with all these vehicle passing by. A memorable sight was the 3 cows running fast toward us. Cows must know they have the upper hand because vehicles are scattering to get out of their way. It was utter-ly amazng sight.

As we approached the city of Agra, we saw markets selling inlaid marble and we knew the Taj Mahal was close at hand. Our hotel, The Jaypee Palace, was a large complex of beautiful buildings - conference center, restaurants, big hotel, lovely rooms, gorgeous grounds and a swimming pool. The car was again checked before we entered the compound and we were screened as well. The Indian Government takes a pro-active approach to terrorism and no one complains about excessive searches. There is an offical greeter at the door, but right behind him is a guard with a gun. We may have found Indian less that sanitary (that is another blog), but we always felt safe.

Horns are used very differently in India. If you are honked at it is to let you know that a vehicle is near you. Trucks have signs on the back that instruck "Horn Please" to make the driver aware of your presence. If you are honked at it is not an insult in any way. Vikrum gave us the rule of "Good Horn, Good Prayer, Good Luck" approach to driving. He also said there is only 1 rule to driving and that is that there are no rules...

Hope you are enjoy this travel diary of our experiences in India, Scott & Christine

India Travels 6 The Rickshaw Ride!

The Rickshaw Ride In Old Delhi. Our guide for the day (Anchel) suggested this, she was just ahead of us in the orange sari. Blue tarps were noticeable here and many other areas of the country. Many of the streets are narrow and cars cannot even navigate, so the mode of transportation is rickshaw, bicycle, motorbike .....
or human powered carts. In the beginning of our trip to India, I often noted that the fashion police would be appalled by the clashing of colors and prints/plaids people wore. Didn't take long to realize that perhaps what a person had on their backs, might have been the only clothes they owned.
This is actually a market stall and these clothes were for sale. Note the framework put onto the rickshaws to enable the driver to carry more merchandise. Trash in the streets, along with the stray dogs, packs of monkeys and freely roaming cows were something we never got used to.
Just inside the gate of Jami Masjid (India's largest mosque). This is the mosque where we saw the high-ranking Iman being escorted by guards with machine guns. We had to leave our shoes ourside and wear something to cover our legs and my arms. Yes, that is Christine in a dress chosen to compliment her turquoise scarf. The group of young men to the right kept trying to sell us jewelry and other souvenirs; apparently they didn't get Scott's memo on NO MORE JEWELRY & PASHMINAS.
Scott had to wear a long skirt to cover his legs, carefully chose one to compliment his green Yuengling shirt. The sandstone & marble mosque was built in 1656 by Emperor Shah Jahan, the same ruler that directed the building of the Taj Mahal. The mosque was built on a mound and has now been completely encircled by the city of Old Delhi, which is why we had to take a rickshaw ride to view its black and white marble domes, twin minarets and sheer size
Yes, that is stray dog sleeping in the trash.
This about says it all...India was very much a humbling experience.
Our rickshaw driver with the boy who threw the stone at me. The boys hands were out because he was expecting to have them smacked by the stick in the driver's right hand. Red Fort across the street.
The spaghetti-bowl of electric wires above the narrow alleyways. This made both of us nervous and wondered how many fires this awful mess causes.
The first time in her life that Christine would not stop for a shoe store... Once again gratitude was the spirit of the day. Scott gave our drivers double their fees (the big softie)

India Travel 5 India Gate

India Gate In the center of Delhi is India Gate, a massive red sandstone arch, built to commemorate the 13,516 Indian soldiers that died in WWI and those who died in the North-West Frontier Province and the Third Afghan War. Certainly similar to the "Arc-de-Triomphe" archway. Yes, that is Christine's head in the lower left.

Facing the India Gate is the sandstone canopy where a statue of King George V was install in 1936; the statue was moved in 1960.

The India Gate is also called the All India War Memorial. An Eternal Flame dedicated to the unknown soldiers burns beneath the arch.

All 13,516 name of known Indian soldiers are engraved upon this massive arch.

This Indian soldier is a member of the Air Force and he is honor guard at the eternal flame. Other soldiers were outside and we spoke at length to one, that is when he was chasing children away from getting too close.

India Travel 4 Ghandi

We are sitting on the bench where Gandhi gave audiences. The site guard came over and politely ask us to GET UP before his boss came back and yelled at HIM. As I said, the Indians are unfailing polite, even if you are the one who is offensive.

These are Ghandi's only worldly possessions. Please note the stone on the lower right, it was used for washing his skin. Quite a humbling experience.
The sleeping room in the complex where Gandi lived. The complex was built in the colonial bungalow style and owned by the Birla family, the same family that built the temple we visited earlier in the morning. Gandi agreed to inaugurate the temple on the condition that all strata of society be allowed to enter and worship. He felt that to shake off the yoke of Brittish rule was irrelevant if the Indian Nation was oppressive of their own citizens.

This huge spinning wheel was right outside the bedroom & sitting room that Gandhi occupied. It was one of many that Gandhi used in the complex, as he felt that people needed to be taught skills to take care of themselves. I promptly stubbed my toe on the back support and thought of my father calling me "Calamity Jane"

White Marble memory of the Father of the Nation. "Non-violence is the pitting of one's whole soul against the will of the tyrant... it is then possible for the single individual to defy the might of an unjust empire."

The museum complex was fascinating, educational and thought provoking. We were emotional drawn into the experience and found ourselves wanting more. Our dear friends Vickie and Julie were so close in spirit at this complex.

India Travel 3 Qutb Minar

In the large Mehrauli Complex are many temples, tombs, and a stepwell. This archway, like most, is decorated with inscriptions from the Koran

As a UNESCO World heritage site, there are pieces of demolished buildings just placed here and there. This was from a Hindu temple. Note that the faces have been obliterated because in the Islamic faith no animals can be pictured, this was noticed many times throughout our visit.
Scott named her the Goddess of Intestinal Problems.

View as you enter the complex: The Iron Pillar. This 4th century pillar, originally made as a flagstaff in Vishnu's honor, is a tribute to ancient Indian metallurgy

Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque and at the end of the day, you still clearly see the red powder of my blessing at the temple early that morning. I have been blessed!

Looking up the Qutb Minar. Minar is Arabic for pole or axis There are 5 levels of red sandstone decorated with geometic designs and quranic verses.

Qutb Minar. India's highest single tower, marked the site of the first Muslim Kingdom in North India, begun in 1193

Native green parakeet perching on the side of a mosque. They fly freely and squak constantly - beautiful site and sound!

The Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Hindu motifes, such as bells and garlands, are clearly visible on the pillars of this mosque.

Qutb Minar viewed through the ruins.

One of the many tombs in the complex, this one has lost the covering dome, but retains the red sandstone inscriptions and curved arches.

This site was perhaps one of our most enjoyed in Delhi. It was an invitation to explore. Even with the ever present crowds we were able to move about freely.

India Travel 2 Delhi

Christine and I enjoying a drink outside during our first night in Delhi. Note strung marigold necklaces - also a tradition of Diwali. We saw these necklaces on people, statues, buildings & vehicles!( see below - this picture is out of order). The fireworks and explosions throughout the city were overwhelming - more smoke to an already smoggy environment.

The door where Ghandi left a meeting to go pray. - His last footsteps are raised above the walk and continue down the path to where he was martyered. We were told not to walk on his steps.

Christine with our guide - the small sheltered area just to the left of center is where he was killed. This complex was well maintained and featured a modern interactive museum.

In Agra and the traditional greeting of "Numaskar". Indians are unfailing polite from guides to drivers, hotel employees to servers; we were always greeted with a smile of welcome. We were told many times that we were their guests and that they were at our service. Our personal driver Vikmar never failed to ask how we had slept, how we felt and how else he could make our trip more pleasurable. Most jobs are held by men even in housekeeping.

Our first night in Delhi was also the first night of Diwali or the Hindu Festival of Lights where "Crackers" and fireworks are exploded throughout the city. Pictured above is colored rice display on the floor of Le Meridan hotel in celebration of Diwali; lit candles throughout the hotel displays were quite a surprise. Wondered how my father (the Fire Chief) would have reacted.

Hi All,

Sorry this is a little out of order. I'll let Christine take over now and just write her comments of Delhi and we can add pictures later.

Sat, 6 November. Let me begin with the statement that India is a 360 degree experience! It is a cacaphony of sights, sounds, smells and emotions. Delhi is the capital: extremely crowded, extremely dirty and extremely interesting. We visited the India Gate, a 42 mtr high monument to the 13,516 Indian soldiers that lost their lives in WWI. All of their names are inscribed on this white sandstone "arch-de-triomphe" style archway. The honor guard on duty that day were of the Indian Air Force and rotates daily through the three military services.

The Hindu temple Lakshmi Narayan Mandir was an early stop. Marble construction with ochre and maroon spires was built in 1938 by the same industrialist that owned the complex where Ghandi lived. This temple was one of the earliest Indian temples build without caste restrictions. We slipped off our shoes at the entrance and received blessings with red powder. Walking thru the temple, our guide patiently explained the Hindu gods & godesses while we marveled at the paintings, statues and worshippers. One mother placed her baby face down on the marble in requests for special blessings.

The Mosque Jama Masjid in Old Delhi is the largest in India with a courtyard capable of holding 25,000. Scott had to wear a skirt to cover his legs and I was given a colorful robe for exploring the red sandstone mosques 3 great gates and towering marble minarets. Upon leaving the mosque, we noticed an Iman being escorted by two submachine weilding guards. We were told that two tourists were killed at the mosque just before the Commonwealth Games.

The somber mood was broken by our crazy rickshaw ride throughout the poor marketplaces of Old Delhi. We observed: street dogs everywhere (even one sleeping on top of a car), overhead wiring that looked like a bowl of dirty linguini, wood carving shops, food being prepared in huge vats of oil, throngs of people and garbage in the gutters/sidewalks, open public toilets with privacy screens and small Hindu & Seik temples. Oddest occurance was adolescent boy throwing something that glanced off Scott and hitting me in the arm. Our rickshaw drivers was incensed & was prepared to beat the child with a stick. Very odd...

The last residence of Ghandi was a highlight! This complex is beautifully conserved. We were able to walk beside Ghandi's last footsteps, see many of his spinning wheels, sat on the bench were he gave audiences. A surprise was the glass enclosed case of Ghandi' earthly possessions: his eyeglasses, 2 forks, 2 spoons, 1 knife and a rock. He used the rock to wash himself! Interesting and educational. Unfortunately our visiting president missed this site...

A drive by of the presidential Palace: NO STOPPING was permitted. We were interested to note the Amerian flags being hoisted many places throughout the city.

However, WE were barred from visiting Humayun Tomb because it was closed for US president Obama's visit the next day. We were not pleased!

Final site of the day was the Mehrauli Archaeological Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). This area features Qutab Minar - India's highest single tower at 234 ft celebrates the begin of Mogul (Islamic) rule. The tower is 5 levels high, begun in 1193, completely hand carved and a wonder to the eyes AND it doesn't lean! The complex also has tombs, a mosque, ancient well and a gateway to the complex that is the earliest building in India to employ the arched principal of Islamic construction.

After a long day of walking, dodging cows and people, we were ready for a beer and some dinner at the hotel. Tomorrow was the long drive to Agra.

Observations of the day: Georgous Green Parakeets flying freely about, Cows, Dogs & Monkeys were also everywhere, the air pollution was quite noticeable, security was at high levels with closed circuit TV cameras on many bldgs and elec scanners at hotels. We also discovered Punjab brewed Kingfisher Beer and although a lager, it became our beer of choice throughout the vacation.

Off to the room to wash off the dirt of the day and ready ourselves for the drive to Agra.

Love to all,

Scott and Christine

India Travels 1 Delhi

Hindu Temple - It was sureal, peaceful and awe inspiring.

We took a bicycle rickshaw ride thru Old Delhi. The streets are very narrow, crowded, filthy and the electrical system is cobbled together inviting a fire at every turn. It was facinating as well as depressing. Yet people thrive here.

The steps to the Jama Masjid Mosque - I had to wear a "dress" to cover my legs where Christine had to wear a one piece long "shirt". Shoes were not permitted - you pay a guy to "guard" your shoes - absurd. As we were leaving the Iman was escorted up the steps by 2 armed police carrying sub-machine guns.

India Gate - war memorial w/ 13,510 names of those lost during WWI - you can see the Presidential Palace in the arch in the distance - President Obama was to arrive the next day - we got out of town.

Hi All,

18 November 2010

Our trip was wonderful and unfortunately sickening - yes we both got the "Dehli Belly" after about a week of travels - but luckily this came after we saw the Taj Mahal which we both agree was the highlite of the trip.

We will break this trip down into bits and bites so as to not bore you completely.

Please enjoy.