Arts and Crafts in Agra...

Despite being on a private tour, we were still taken to a variety of shops where we actually had little or no desire to purchase anything. However, it was interesting seeing how the inlaid stonework is done and how carpets are made. While I expected the shopping to be fantastic since I really like Indian clothing and jewelry, I was disappointed. Not sure if we were just shopping in the wrong area or if what I like is mostly made for export.
When our tour was over, the guide was going to drop us off at the train station three hours before our train left. We felt like snobs, but asked him to drop us off at a 5-star hotel so we could hang out in comfort instead. We were entertained by this young man and his brother with their handmade puppets, which we gladly bought for the girls. The train arrived back in Delhi at 10 p.m. and our flight left at 5 a.m., so we hung out in our hotel lobby before catching an early taxi to the airport. While I loved the wedding and am glad we went, I was very happy to arrive back in Holland.

Candy and Pens and Lots of Guilt...

My Indian friend from The Hague suggested that we bring candy and pens to give to the children that approach us for money. Surprisingly, that didn’t happen very often and we still had quite a supply leftover once we arrived in Agra. Our tour guide said that it was better to help the kids enrolled in school that lack the proper school supplies, so we made several stops when the school kids were heading home for lunch. Afterwards, I felt bad that we didn’t bring separate packs for each kid since we were actually giving so little and yet have so much.

The Taj from Afar...

One of the bonuses of visiting the Agra Fort is the view of the Taj from across the river. Rumors say that Shah Jahan (ruler of India from 1628 to 1657 who built the Taj), was imprisoned for 8 years in the above tower by his son. Our guide said that this rumor persists because it sounds romantic that he would have stared across at the memorial for his beloved, but it was likely that even if he were in the tower that the ill 64-year-old would not have had good enough sight to see 1.5 miles away.
A strange optical illusion occurs within the grounds of the fort. From the closest point to the Taj, it is small in the background, but from across the main courtyard, it seems to move closer.

Agra Fort...

After the Taj, our guides dropped us off at the Agra Fort, another UNESCO site. It is the most important fort in India as the country was governed there for hundreds of years. We let one of the locals talk us into hiring him as our tour guide, which was helpful as we wandered around this massive fort with 70-foot walls. It was fun finding monkeys scrambling around.

A Love Story?

Seems that most visitors only want to take photos of the Taj from the front. It was fun going over to the side and having the place to ourselves (it may have only been for one minute, but it was still amazing considering the crowds). Yes, that tiny little person is me.
Silly me, I didn’t realize before our visit that the Taj is actually a mausoleum. Some claim it’s a great love story that the Shah had this built after his wife died. Somehow learning that she was the first of three wives and she died while attempting to deliver his 14th child, takes some of the romance out of it for me.

The Majestic Taj Mahal...

The first glimpse of the Taj Mahal through the Great Gate is truly impressive. Built in 1648, it is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, combining Indian, Persian and Islamic styles. While earlier Mughal construction was made of red sandstone, this was built with white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones. The decorative work on the interior is very intricate and lovely. While we could only see the red sandstone surrounding buildings from the exterior, they had matching decorations. Over two million people visit this UNESCO World Heritage Site every year. Luckily we arrived early in the morning, so it wasn’t too crowded.

A Day in Agra...

There was no way that we could come this far and not see the Taj Mahal. We had a 6:30 a.m. train to Agra (population 1.7 million people). Unlike our last experience at the train station, this time everything went off without a hitch (although Jimmy was disappointed that we didn’t see the con man so we could con him back). The first class train car was quite nice and included breakfast. Didn’t manage to take any photos out the window to show the enormous amount of trash. After seeing a lot of cows rummaging through the trash heaps filled with an amazing amount of plastic bags, Jimmy said it’s too bad that no one’s invented edible bags. While we normally like to walk around any city that we visit, we’d had enough of Delhi to know that hiring a driver for the day made more sense. Of course, we didn’t realize that the driver would then invite his friend along to play tour guide, but the price was ridiculously low and he was very helpful.

Chaos Reigns...

If I had but one word to describe what I experienced of Delhi, I’d say Chaos. Perhaps the disorganized encounters at the Indian Embassy in Holland should have forewarned me, but it was nothing compared to the real thing. I traveled a lot in the Far East in the 90’s, but that also didn’t prepare me for the jostling crowds and the insane traffic. Even the markets were hard to walk through as bike rickshaws were constantly trying to squeeze through the narrow paths and there were rarely sidewalks. Traffic lights were rare in the market area and crosswalks were completely nonexistent. I’m usually pretty daring after years of jaywalking with the Hash, but I froze and Jimmy had to drag me across several streets. While I am glad that we went, I won’t be rushing back.

Now, That’s Fresh Milk...

Guess you know that the milk’s fresh when you see the goat right there at the dairy. There weren’t a lot of animals at the market, but we did come across a few monkeys that were begging, some stray dogs and one large cow that was tied up. As we headed to the subway (which was very modern and clean, but with a very haphazard security system), we passed through the blacksmith section of the market where you could find a plethora of metal parts and tools.

Butcher, Baker & Candle Stick Maker...

Actually, we never did see a candle stick maker, but we did see a lot of other things being made in the Delhi market. These fellows at the baker were very happy to have their pictures taken and even asked to see the screen to make sure they looked good. We bought five big pieces of their fresh bread, which turned out to be our dinner.

The Old Delhi Market...

The Old Delhi Market was unlike other markets we’ve visited in Asia. Rather than a mix of products, each type of good is in its own separate area. First we passed through cell phones and small electronics, then through cameras and photo albums. We found the elaborate silver jewelry, but never managed to find the costume jewelry which was a big disappointment as I was really looking forward to buying some fun bangles, earrings and glass beaded necklaces. Although I wasn’t in the market for a sari, that area was fun to walk through as it was very bright and colorful.

In the Big City...

After a 5-hour trip down the crazy toll road from Chandigardh, we arrived in Delhi (with a population over 13.5 million). We had the driver drop us at a guest house that Davinder’s aunt recommended. Unfortunately, it wasn’t conveniently located and we opted to switch to a Ramada closer to the center (another costly error as we weren’t in a position to negotiate and had to pay last-minute inflated prices).

We caught an auto rickshaw into Old Delhi, founded in 1639, to go to the market. Traffic was hectic. We passed by the impressive Red Fort and a beautiful temple. Unfortunately, the rest of what we saw of this historic district wasn’t very impressive. Many of the buildings we saw were badly dilapidated and in need of more than a paint job.

A Rock Star at the Rock Garden?

After taking a photo of some school girls, a few of them came up to me and asked for my autograph. The pen they gave me wasn’t working, so I grabbed the first thing I could find in my purse—an eye liner. I had to stop after the third hand as I didn’t have a sharpener and needed to use it that evening. As we continued to walk around, I was stopped twice to have my photo taken, the first time with a newlywed couple and then with a family. We figured there were three possibilities:

1) They’d mistaken me for someone else and were greatly disappointed when they saw my signature.

2) They’d never seen a white person close up.

3) They wanted proof that they’d seen a floozie with bare ankles. (Mandy thinks it was this one!)

Sunday at the Rock Garden...

This city isn’t really a tourist destination. We only had a few free hours between events, so we were happy to have a chance to check out the one place Lonely Planet said not to miss: the Chandigarh Rock Garden. Started in 1957 and completed in 1983 by Nek Chand, the Rock Garden covers 40 acres with recycled industrial and home waste. With a whopping admission fee of 10 Rupees ($0.22), our expectations weren’t too high so we were pleasantly surprised. The first section was giant canyons and waterfalls, the second section was a lot of funky sculptures and the third was a playground with large mosaics.

Shopping in Chandigarh...

We should have taken a nap, but instead we went to Sector 17, the shopping district. This area was filled with very nice stores on the ground floor, but looked largely deserted on higher levels. There were some persistent beggars, who we were better prepared for with pens and candy on our second visit.

Sister-in-law Shawn from London came along to try to help me find an outfit for the wedding. Luckily I had borrowed an Indian suit from a friend in The Hague, as we quickly discovered I was too broad-shouldered for the affordable suits. I especially enjoyed my return visit the next morning with Mandy (a cousin from London). Rather than search through racks, a salesman had her sit and brought her elaborate and colorful outfits to choose from. I was surprised that they didn’t ask more about what she was looking for or made recommendations based on her figure, but rather just filled up the counter with options. Amazingly, she found two lovely outfits and left very happy.

Friday in Chandigarh...

The wedding events all took place in Chandigarh, India’s first planned urban development (PUD) started in the 1950’s. This city is India’s richest, greenest and least polluted. The population is nearing 1 million; it was originally designed to have 13 sectors, but today has 70. Being the naive person I am, I thought it would be reminiscent to Tierrasanta, the lovely PUD where I used to live in San Diego. Silly me!

Despite not having a map, the driver eventually found our hotel in Sector 43 and our friend was in the lobby to great us.

This cow was being walked in the uncle’s neighborhood, where many of the events over the four days would take place. We saw haircuts given on street corners here as well as in Delhi. This city has a high concentration of Sikhs, a warrior offshoot of Hinduism that doesn’t believe in the caste system. Our friend’s family is easily identifiable as Sikhs by the men’s turbans; neither the men nor women typically cut their hair ever in their lives.

Valuable Lessons Learned in India - Part 3

* When you need to regroup, escape to a 5-star hotel.

Although we still hadn’t fully figured out the con, we decided we needed somewhere comfortable to get our wits back. To the disappointment of our scammers, we had our taxi drive us to the nearest 5-star hotel. There we had a nice breakfast and called Davinder for his advice. The next real train wasn’t until 5pm, so we opted to have him arrange for a private driver. The 3.5 hour train ride then turned into a 4.5 hour death-defying 200-mile car ride. This whole screw-up cost us an extra $150, but at least the con men didn’t benefit. And I managed to keep my eyes open during the ride as I tried to capture on film a fraction of the insanity that we saw.

While we were travelling on a toll-highway, there didn’t seem to be any vehicles prohibited. There were tractors of all sizes and fancy painted trucks. The only big rigs seemed to be oil tankers. There also weren’t any lane restrictions or lanes for that matter. Everyone used horns rather than blinkers to communicate where they were headed. It seemed very random to me, but clearly had some pattern as we didn’t see any accidents in either direction.
A variety of animals also pulled carts along the highway including horses, donkeys and cows. Clearly they weren’t able to keep up with us when we hit 60MPH on the few segments that were far enough between villages.

Valuable Lessons Learned in India - Part 2

* Being just 5 minutes late for the train is just long enough to be susceptible to a sweet talking con man.

With all of our years of international travel, you would have thought we would have seen right through the guy that told us our train had left and that he’d help us to get tickets for another train. Worse than that, not only did it take us 2 days for the full implications of his con to finally sink in, but we later discovered that our train was actually 25 minutes late. Instead, we’d already been put in taxi to a Ticket Office to book tickets for a train that didn’t actually exist. That nice reservation clerk then offered to book us a car (presumably the guy at the station would have gotten a cut). Luckily, some part of our brains started functioning again and we passed.

It’s nice that the driver’s wise enough to wear a helmet on the highway, but guess he’s not too worried about his wife or child. We failed to manage to get a photo of the many ladies carrying babies on motorcycles or the family of four with one child in front of the driver.
There was an endless parade of interesting vehicles on the shoulder of the highway including these wheelchair cycles. Sorry, but also missed taking a photo of the fellow walking two monkeys.

Valuable Lessons Learned in India - Part I

I usually wait to end my entries about a trip with the Valuable Lessons Learned, but as we started learning our lessons as soon as we arrived, it seems more appropriate to start here.

* Telling a taxi driver there’s an extra tip if he drives fast is not a great idea if your wife’s nerves are already frazzled.

Our flight was 2.5 hours late and it took a ridiculous amount of time to get through customs; after very little sleep, we were already dazed. Rather than having a relaxed 3.5 hours between our flight and our train trip to where the wedding was being held, we had a tense 20 minutes to get to the train station. While Jimmy found the taxi ride exhilarating, I found it horrifying; I spent much of it with my eyes closed as I feared not just for our lives, but for the many people that crossed our paths in cars, on bikes or on foot. Amazingly, we survived and arrived only 5 minutes late.

Rickshaws are used throughout India, but no idea why they were allowed on the highway. We never did manage to ride in a bike rickshaw, but had many rides in auto rickshaws (which are actually 3-wheeled scooters with a vinyl roof and back and cloth on one side. They all had meters in them like real taxis, but were never used. We always made sure that the fare was agreed upon before getting in (a 40-minute ride cost under $5, so a very economical way to get around).

Off to India...

When Jimmy’s co-worker Davinder invited us in December to his wedding at the end of January in India, I basically shrugged it off. I mentioned it to Marianne after taking care of her kids for a weekend and was surprised when she said she’d look after the girls as this wasn’t an invitation to turn down. Frankly, I had no idea what to expect, but booked our tickets and on January 29th we arrived in Delhi. There’s definitely stories to tell, but in the meantime I have so many photos of incredible things we saw on the highway, that I’m doing several entries, so bear with me.

After all the things we’ve seen carried on bikes in Holland, we didn’t think we could be surprised anymore, but we constantly were. Need some bamboo?

Not entirely sure what this fellow is carrying, but appears to be a trash man.