Taj Mahal 'Day' Trip

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  Delhi, India
Sunday, July 13, 2008

Good morning Delhi, good morning world!

Wow - yesterday was a bit of a marathon! I went to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra. Had looked into going on the train on Friday with my travelling buddies Paris and Lilly but the train was full so under duress (I had been told it would be a long day) I booked a coach trip through the hotel for 500 rupees.

I was informed the coach would pick me up outside the hotel at 06:30 and would be back at 23:30. The sales rep assured me this was the best way to visit the Mausoleum and that it would be less hassle than the train. Unsure if the tour I was booking was the same as the lads I had heard a horror story from on the plane from Leh I bit the bullet regardless with little choice really and prepared myself for another grueling journey.

The road trip through into the state of Uttar Pradesh from Haryana where Delhi was almost worth the price of the bus ticket alone... it's so amazing to see the variety of traffic on what must be one of India's busiest and most well used roads. There were cycles and scooters (usually with at least two people on), Pony and Traps, Big trailers being pulled by Huge Water Buffalo (I think that's what they were - the cows with the humps on their backs), trucks with 10s of men and women piled on them - travelling at speed - with many folk casually sleeping, busses packed to the rafters with people and the police and ambulance vehicles trying to keep things in order with their ANCIENT outdated vehicles from the early 60s (police) and early 80s (emergency services).

Me at the Taj (soaked - cheers Monsoon!)

Like most things in India, it was a riot!

The beef I have with the trip was that it wasn't explained to me how many pointless stops there would be. Typically we were first to be picked up and last to be dropped off. It took us from 07:30 till at least 10am to get everyone on the bus and set off from the outskirts of Delhi. Not long afterwards we'd stopped off for 'breakfast' at a sweltering roadside café.

Arriving at the Red Fort in Agra at around 13:45 on a very overcast and Monsoonal day we had 50 minutes to check out the site where the Muslim Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan who built the Taj for his wife Mumtaz Mahal (she died in Child Labour having their FOURTEENTH child in 1631s) was locked up by his son who took over, only able to gaze on the wonder he had commissioned to be built. It was a pretty great fort but viewing the Taj from afar captured NON of it's majesty compared to up close, something that must have frustrated poor old Shah no end. Still, the Fort felt like the support band to the main event and I was eager to shift on to the headliner...

Our tour was then distracted with a visit to a crappy tourist ornament shop and then to a restaurant for 'lunch'. We didn't get near to the World Heritage Site until 17:05 after a lot of messing about with extortionate entrance fees for westerners (750 rupees - locals charge - 20 rupees!), silly rules to get in (Phones and Cameras - OK - MP3 players - non ok? 'Take back to locker room please!'). I managed to catch up with a Dutch guy Mikeil in the grounds and we made our way around the stunning site taking photos of each other and complaining about how little time we'd been given to see the main event after all the messing around.

The Red Fort

We were given an hour and a half, not much in the grand scheme of the day.

The Taj Mahal was completed in1653. I heard a rumour that those who had worked on it when it was finished - thousands of people - all had their hands chopped off so they could work on nothing else afterwards - so as not to tarnish the unique reputation. I also heard a rumour that old Shah had intended to have an identical black version build directly opposite for himself and this was part of the reason he was overthrown as he was seen to be wasting the Empires resources. Regardless of history and rumour, the Taj Mahal is breathtaking in it's beauty. One feels humbled by it's vision when seen through one's own eyes and there is something magic about it's beauty which makes you feel very humbled. I was unprepared for the shock of seeing the very small Marble coffin in the middle on entry also, flanked on it's left by that of her husband.

I think the Taj Mahal is the most beautiful thing made by man I have ever seen. It is a stunning reflection of the power of love - he must have loved her SO much and it has been shown in an absolutely perfect way. Despite how busy it was the power of the place is quite disarming. Definitely worth it.

Then began the torture. We had seen our Taj, now we must suffer! We left the site at 18:05 and didn't get back to Delhi until 04:45! It takes about 5 hrs journey direct, so why the delay? Well, it was utterly demoralizing to conclude that the tour guides had to squeeze EVERY LAST OPPORUNITY to exploit us out of the trip, leaving Delhi we visited two temples and two restaurants, went WAY off the beaten path to see this very important Hindu shrines we hadn't been told about before setting off (no offence to the Hindus but to this untrained eye they DO all look very similar). One, the 'playground of Hare Krishna' seemed a blatant sales pitch to give money to the temple (get your name engraved in marble there - at a cost!)... and our driver then proceeded to take us home the back way (avoiding a toll?) which found us in Gridlocked truck and workers vehicles traffic on some horrible bumby road at 3am. Chaos. Tiring. Demoralizing. Depressing. Took almost every ounce of sheen off the Taj. Thanks guys!

However, after some sleep I'm still glad I did it. I knew what was coming and what to expect, I just didn't expect to have felt quite SO exploited. Still, it was your typical Indian lunacy and that was something to smile about. When I was squirming I felt pretty happy that I knew this would not last for long. Two more days and I will depart Indian soil and in many respects I will breath a sigh of relief.

Train to catch to Mumbai today so I'll sign off.

Cheers all - hope the Homies are enjoying your weekends in England x

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

From the Red Fort	What the prisoner would have seen	Taj	Fort
Sat on the throne	Tourist.	Glorious

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