Archives for 2010

The big one.

Bright and early the next morning we met up with our personal taxi driver. We had a four hour drive to Agra ahead of us. Kindly, our hostel packed us each a brown bag breakfast to eat in the car.

The scenes on either side of the car were interesting to behold. At one point we stopped at what seemed to be a mandatory bathroom break place for all tourist drivers (or maybe it was a checkpoint?). How uncomfortable to be in a stopped car without your driver as men selling bracelets and baubles approach your window. Not to mention the monkeys. Poor poor monkeys. Monkeys on leashes are trained to jump on the side of cars to give each tourist a thrill. I just felt sad.

About midday we approached Agra which was full of traffic and visitors despite being 47 degrees Celsius (117F). It was a slow crawl in the taxi to the entrance of the Taj Mahal. As our driver walked us up to the ticket booth we passed camels, horses, and bicycle rickshaws all offering their means of transport. Motored vehicles are banned from getting too close to the Taj in an effort to minimize discoloration caused by air pollution.

Finally, we entered to see the classic sight.

Unfortunately, there were a whack load of tourists. Of course, I’d assume there were less tourists visiting in June than during the cooler months… so maybe it wasn’t so bad.

After taking a few photos and visiting the restroom, we ventured closer to the mausoleum. [ I kept having to remind myself that it was constructed in the 1600s. Incredible.

Unfortunately, entering the mausoleum requires the visitor to deposit their shoes at the door. Um… I’m just going to say marble + 117 degree heat = pain. We were moving as quickly as possible through the throngs of tourists. It was like walking on coals. In a kind gesture, carpets were laid down to make the barefooted walk more bearable. Too bad the carpets were only degrees cooler than the marble itself. Ouch. For sure.

Too bad for the heat because the gardens surrounding the Taj would be a nice place to sit and relax. It did get me thinking of A Passage to India, I must admit. But alas, we had empty stomachs to fill and more to see in Agra.

xo, jill

I should really brush up on famous Indian figures.

The National Museum proved to be quite exhausting, especially when operating on little sleep. While waiting for Molly and Triin to finish up, I definitely took an impromptu snooze. We decided to return to the hostel for a rest before visiting our next destination.

We tried to time it to be at Humayun’s Tomb for golden hour. Unfortunately, golden hour (one hour before sunset) is also just about the time the park closes. We had limited time but luckily still managed to take a few nice photos. [Ok, the second one has some issues…]

Humayun’s Tomb was built by his wife as she grieved his death. It was built before the Taj Mahal in 1565-1572AD. It stands 47 meters high. Imagine this, the small canopy domes were originally covered in bright blue tile. Beautiful.

Located just next door is Isa Khan’s tomb. It was built 12 years before Humayun’s.

xo, jill

The National Museum.

After visiting Ghandi Smriti we continued our sightseeing at the National Museum. The museum boasts over 200,000 pieces from India and abroad, covering 5,000 years of cultural history. That’s a lot.

It was also the site of our first Indian meal. After lunch in the museum’s cafe to recharge our energy, we began exploring the many displays.

My favorites included the beautiful textiles and traditional dress.

Check out these costumes from tribal peoples. They remind me so much of the dress from native North and South Americans.

xo, jill

Except babies.

After a good four hour sleep, we headed down to the front desk to inquire about breakfast. Breakfast was served on the roof under forced shade and weak ceiling fans. We ate while listening to some Australians [which I’ve decided have my least favorite accent of English speakers] and I couldn’t stop giggling. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of viewing this show, you’d know why. [Watch a quick clip!]

During breakfast we met, Triin, a teacher traveling from Estonia. The three of us planned a car trip out to Agra the next day, and thankfully she decided to join us for the current day’s excursions as well. It was a blessing to have her help us get oriented. Off we went in an auto rickshaw…

Our first stop was at Gandhi Smriti, the location of Gandhi’s final 144 days as well as his assassination. Inside the museum you can see Gandhi’s bedroom and his worldly possessions. Kind of makes you feel like a materialistic jerk, no matter how minimally you try to live.

The first floor of the museum reminded me of an old Subway restaurant. Remember how the walls were decorated with old newspapers? The museum featured about a zillion black and white photos of Gandhi and important quotes from both Gandhi and his admirers. Just as I was thinking the place might need a little help with its curating, I stepped upstairs.

Not counting OMSI, this is the most interactive museum visit I’ve experienced. Every display involved the visitor. Whether you were placing wooden figures on a screen to make them talk or scattering “salt”to learn about the Salt Boycott, there was something for the museum guest to do.

Outside you can see the exact spot Gandhi was shot, as well as follow the footprints of his final steps.

The experience left me wishing I knew much much more about the famous vegetarian. Perhaps that’s a biography I should add to my list.

Molly has the best ideas.

Feeling the need for one last quick getaway before summer, Molly proposed we take a little trip…to India! Knowing that both of us want to one day spend a significant period of time in the country, we decided that this would just be a little sampler of a trip.

After some quick visa processing at the Indian embassy, we finalized our itinerary, which was anything but sane. We left Abu Dhabi late on Thursday night and arrived in New Delhi around 4am Friday morning. Friday and Saturday were for exploration until we were scheduled to fly back to Abu Dhabi, arriving just minutes before we were due at work Sunday morning. Plenty of time.

Well the first bit of excitement happened just as we landed in New Dehli. I suddenly realized that I gave our hostel the incorrect flight number. I was really nervous that no one would be there to pick us up. Guess what? No one was there to pick us up! Trying to remain calm (Molly was better at that than me*), I called the hostel. Oops! Not only did I give them the wrong flight number, I also gave them the wrong date! The taxi driver had arrived the previous day and waited for us for 4 hours… Ahem. The hostel sent him out again to get us and after only a 30 minute wait we were on our way!

It was tough to get a good first view of the city in the dark with our sleepy eyes. Turns out our hostel was on an “underdeveloped” road too rough for our taxi to drive down. We had an escort take us from the road down a narrow alley to our hostel. Sometimes you just have to trust [but don’t worry Mom and Dad, I never ignore the funny “danger” feeling in my tummy!].

Happy to have arrived we plopped ourselves down on our bed and fell fast asleep. We needed plenty of rest if we were going to tackle the country in just two days!

xo, jill

*Normally a situation like this would have me freaked out. I’m pretty proud that I was able to remain fairly calm and take care of business. However, all the credit should go to my wonderful travel companion who was so understanding of my mistake and not worried a bit. I’m going to have to channel her during my solo travel time this summer.