The Taj and 'Agra-vation' (Mar 26-29)

You know how it can be with exotic things you've always heard about and that when you finally get to see them you think to yourself, "well what was the big deal with that?". We definitely agree that that cannot be said about the Taj Mahal. Your first view of it through the immense front (south) gate (see below).......just takes your breath away, both because of its immense size and amazing beauty. (The view through the gate)... John's word was "stunning" and Lori's was "exquisite".

It really is something...even worth all the Agra-vation of the city of Agra. Because this is such a tourist magnet, it is also a magnet for everyone trying to sell you everything and who just won't leave you alone no matter how many times you feel like you've said no. This is the worst we've experienced in India and we guess there isn't much you can do except just put up with it, although by the end of the day it takes real emotional toll on you. You begin even to dislike yourself for who you are becoming because of your attitude to everyone who appears to be friendly around you but you know just want not only to get something from you but also to rip you off for the maximum amount possible.

But let's leave all that aside and wonder anew at the grandeur of the Taj Mahal. The top of it's dome 20 stories high, all polished white marble, inlaid with coloured stones making floral designs. Each flower can be 30 to 60 separate pieces of inlaid stones and there are countless such flowers. The Taj is a tomb built by the Sultan in 1650 for his beloved wife who died in childbirth with their 15th child. 22 years of work by 20,000 labourers.

We were there at first light and before the crowds built up too much. By the time we left at 11 it was getting pretty full, and with probably 85% of the crowd being Indian. Here's a thought for the day....if there were 10,000 Indians per day coming to see the Taj, how long would it take for 1 billion Indians to each have a chance to see it? 250 years!!!!. And since most people only live for 70, I think you could safely say that the Taj could be packed with Indian visitors every day forever and it will not be possible for every Indian person to see the Taj....

After the Taj we retreated to our hotel for a short rest and then got a peddle rickshaw a couple of kms to see the Agra Fort. All the other forts we've been talking about on the blog have been Indian Hindu rajput forts. This one is Mughal, Muslim. In fact, Agra for many years has been the capital of the Mughal empire that controlled the majority of India for hundreds of years and was the attacker of those other forts we've visited so far. The Agra fort is huge, 20m high walls, 2.5 km in circumference, with several palaces built inside by successive rulers...one of whom was the builder of the Taj so his palace is likewise built of pure white marble + inlay.

Our rickshaw ride to see the fort is an example of the hassle referred to earlier. We agree with the young guy to first take us to the train station to book our next ticket, then to the fort. On the way to the station he stops and says he can take us to a travel agent who can book us a ticket with less hassle and only 20 Rs fee. So we let him do this, thinking he might be right and besides might be nice to support someone who is not in the heart of tourist-ville. We get there and are told that the train is full, we will be on a waiting list but that by paying a 500 Rs extra fee we can have a seat guaranteed with a final price of 1900 Rs per person (which includes his commission of 200 Rs - not 20 -). So we bid him adieu and head back for the original train station destination. There, it is true we have to go on the waiting list....(and there seems to be no possibility for a 500 rs surcharge to somehow guarantee a seat anyways), and so the final ticket price is 720 Rs (vs 1900) per person. At the train station we try to shake free from our rickshaw driver saying we'll find another way home after we've gotten our tickets, but he refuses to leave and waits for us. Rather than being rude we then get back in with him to go home even though we don't want to because it's partially uphill and he can't make it up the hill without getting off the thing and pushing it, while we're bombarded all around with traffic. Finally when we're about half-way home he says he knows this good restaurant he could take us to. And it takes 2-3 minutes of us saying no several times before he decides he better resume the journey and take us to where we want to go. So, in the end when we get back to the hotel, we pay him twice the amount of money originally agreed (because at first we just wanted a 1-way journey rather than round trip) and when he looks at the money he says "What? what about a tip for good service!". This story then continues into the next day as we exited the lobby of the hotel we are once again overwhelmed by guys wanting us to get into their rickshaw and this guy from yesterday starts getting upset and pushing another guy claiming that we are his (I guess because of using him the day before)....It will be good to leave Agra-vation behind.

The next day we took a bus 35km to a nearby town of Fatepuhr-Sikri. The picture below is tossed in to give you a sense of what a bus station is like around here.

One of the Mughal emperors Akbar in 1570ish decided he would make a new capital city here and set about to build a fort with palaces etc. He ended up only being there for 20 years before deciding that Agra was in fact a better place so moved back to the fort talked about above in Agra. Fatepuhr-Sikri has basically been abandoned since. The front gate to this fort is absolutely immense, they say the biggest in Asia and it is something to experience (note how small the people look like in the photo).

Well the rest of the fort is more of the same same....huge walls, a random assortment of palaces etc inside, a mosque, etc. We are coming to the point now where we feel like we've seen all the forts and palaces that we need to.

We are booked tonight on an overnight train to Varanasi although we are 4th on the waiting list to get on. We are told our chances are pretty good but if we don't get on at 9:15 we will have to go back and find another hotel here in Agra for another night or more.

The Thar Desert by Camel (Mar 20-22)

Where does one start when they experience riding a camel in the desert for the first time??

We met our guide and his son by the side of the highway waiting for us with Raja, Jee and Polo. A little apprehension sets in because you have heard so much about the nastiness of camels (i.e. spitting, farting and burping and just generally not seeming very pleasant) not to mention how sore we will likely feel after riding. We booked a 3 day-2 night trek being the over zealous types that we are! I can say that riding a camel is less scary than riding an elephant because they are not as tall.

It didn't take long to get our groove and find a riding position/style that was best although by the end of the first day........John was a bit concerned about his lack of thigh muscle flexibility required for straddling a camel's back but he persevered and the muscles seem to stretch to meet the challenge! Lori did fine the first day but the guide switched her to another camel and the saddle/camel's back was not comfortable but she rode it out and now has paid the price! She was switched back to another camel but alas, the damage had been done - thoughts of riding back for the jeep pick-up the next day haunted her!

Enough of that stuff, the desert is amazingly hot and dry (no surprise there) - there are families that used to farm and raise sheep, goats and cows but they had to abandon that lifestyle and the soil cannot support as much as it used to and the last 3 years have not seen much rain. Our guides do camel treks for 8 months (where they earn $45 Cdn/mth plus tips) and spend the other 4 months cutting sandstone for building construction at a quarry. This rock cutting is done using a pick and it is the hottest time of the year. There is no easy life for people living in the desert. The only water is from wells, so any animal without a human to retrieve water for it, will not live. We passed by a few skeletons on our journey.

There are still people raising sheep and goats (and a few cows) for selling to city markets. One 'shepherd" showed up for lunch on the first and third day. His goats nibbled on John's laces and my sandal straps. They are going around hoovering up any tiny green scrap they can see in the sand. At this point in time we were in an area with a few trees and the owner was up in the tree cutting down the lower branches so that the goats would have something to eat...and it's still 3 more months before the rainy season is supposed to start. The baby goats are particularly cute.... I think they grow into their big floppy ears. Overall though the number of animals is on the decline due to lack of grazing. Our guide said he used to have 300 goats but they died off until he was down to 30 at which point he sold them and used the money to buy a camel (since camel tourism was on the rise), but then there was not enough grazing to keep the camel alive so he sold it to a richer fellow (the camel man, who manages a fleet of 30 of them) who can afford to pay to truck in grain to meet their needs of 20kg per day!. Here's a photo of our guide Jamin (whose English was really good by the way) preparing our meal using little bits of dried sticks gathered from the desert.

Every mealtime, people (friends of our guides) seemed to magically appear and stay for the food. We felt we were feeding a community. It probably helped when we informed them they we didn't need them to cook so much food for us - at least there is more left over for their use. They defintely need it more than we.

Well, the first night, we slept under the stars! It was amazing! So blissfully quiet. Once we settled into our bed of blankets, the wind came up and a stray dog headed for John's side of the blankets and curled up for the night.

The second day, we had a short visit to our guide's village and played with the children and drank tea with the adults. They live in houses constructed from cow manure and sand. These apparently last about 10 years before any maintenance is required. Other homes in the community seemed to be constructed with the sandstone blocks and electrical wires were overhead, having just came in in the past 6 mths but no power was switched on yet and no homes actually wired up to the poles. However, there were cell towers and our guides were on the phone constantly as we were out in the desert as we were never far enough away to be out of signal range.

John plied the guides with as many questions as possible to try and get a feel for life there. They were alway happy to answer but it was hard work...wishing they had volunteered to talk more about their life there. These people in these villages are muslim, and in fact they were part of Pakistan until a war between these countries in the 90's at which time the Indians pushed the border another 100 or so kms back into Pakistan. These people were quite happy about it though, saying life was much better now on the Indian side. There is a school in their village tho' they said there was a teacher there perhaps not even 1/2 of the normal school days. Overall, you have the sense that life here is in big trouble if it doesn't start raining again. It seems the only economic activity now is camel trekking tourists and we all know how fickle that business can be.

We arrived at our second night 'camp' early afternoon. There was a shelter made of wood and grass. This became a real blessing since while we were enjoying our lunch, we heard the sound of thunder but thought it was probably a plane - nope, it was thunder! What are the chances that there would be rain in the desert during the dry season???? Pretty good it seems. We were treated to 3 rain showers and a spectacular light show that went on for hours! We have never seen anything quite like it! The guides weren't impressed though. It actually wasn't enough rain to do more than just dampen the surface of the sand, and it just isn't the right time...they want it to rain in July/Aug and then to get a good drenching, because that is when they plant the crops.

I have to put in a word for our camels - they were great. Aside from the occassional burp or fart, there was no spitting or bad behaviour. The sounds they do make are unlike anything we've heard before loud gurgling especially when they had to kneel down or stand back up.

Lori found them delightful and would pet them and talk to them - which the guides thought was very different. They thought she was crazy ;)

Overall, a nice experience but we find it hard to imagine how some people would enjoy a 7 or 10 day version of such an excursion! OK...farewell to the desert!.

Jaisalmer (Mar 18-19)

We boarded another bus to head 5 hrs further west into the desert to the town of Jaisalmer. What would a town in Rajasthan be without a fort? and so true to form that is the rasion d'etre here. This fort is less impressive in size but more in appearance, looking truly like a sand castle in the sky. Built entirely of local sandstone and with 99 bastions all around the wall, it has a very impressive look.

It was first built in 12th century and over the years this town prospered as it was on the main silk trading route between Arabia and China. Here's a closer look at one corner of the fort from a position up on the wall....

It then fell into decline in the 1500s when shipping by sea began to drain away the business. Nevertheless, the town remains today 50,000 strong with about 25% living up on the hill inside the walls of the fort (which is very tightly packed we might say). There are no motor vehicles in there with alleyways but a few feet wide. Those alleyways are heavily dominated by hotels and souvenir shops these days but still there are active temples and lots of locals with the associated paraphenalia such as cows walking around!

The weather here is well on its way to its summer time maximums of 50 degrees, but right now it's not too terribly bad...perhaps 35 in the day, but very dry and then a pleasant 20 or so overnight so at least at this point in time AC isnt really needed. Also, things are relatively quiet as the main tourism peak season is already on the wane so arranging most things such as accomodation or travel is really easy...just walk in and what you want is usually available. The only real downer is the excessively heavy hassle factor of being stopping you on the streets and making polite conversation, which is always just a lead in for going to their shop. Too bad because it makes you just want to ignore everybody which detracts a lot from the overall experience.

One day was spent walking around inside the fort, viewing the temples, which also include some of the Jain variety with their beautiful carved pillars (this time compared to Ranakpur on a much smaller scale and in sandstone instead of white marble), and of course a palace as well. Some more Jain temple pillars in carved sandstone below.

Many buildings both inside and outside the fort have beautifully carved facades and balconies in the sandstone construction. This makes this town look visually quite appealing as its not the usual cement over brick look of most of the rest of India. Here's a look out over the 'new town' from up in the fort.

To get a sense for this facade-mania here...the photo below is the front facade, of all things, the internet cafe that we've been using. And this is not some isolated case... the majority of buildings in this town have these kinds of elaborately carved sandstone facades!

Guidebooks recommend tourists to stay in hotels outside of the fort walls because the water/sewage drainage system of the fort is not coping with excess drain water (modern plumbing) resulting in the ground eroding away. This was experienced by the collapsing of several of the bastions of the fort wall in the not too distant past.

Our hotel then is outside the fort by 5 minutes walk through lots of narrow streets fillled with traffic and noise of all kinds. The drains seem especially stinky around here for some reason. Upon arriving we started receiving the high pressure sales pitch for the main activity around here which is camel safaris, with the usual lines about once in a lifetime experience in order to sell you on the deluxe tour. These guys were making it very difficult for us to even leave the hotel before signing up which is rather unpleasant to have to deal with. By hesitating and delaying, the price finally came down by about 30% and so we were signed up for the 2 night 3 day package to begin the next day....