Sitting on the train on the way to the Taj Mahal, I saw an Indian man reading a local paper in English. One of the headlines was, Go Soft on Mothers who Kill Girl Child. It was incredible to see the headline firsthand. It made me sad. Despite the fact that dowry is now illegal in India, the practice has not completely dissipated and there are still families who kill their newborn daughters if they have more than two or three girls and no sons.
On a lighter note, we were on our way to the Taj Mahal in Agra, India!
When we got to Agra, the bus took us right to lunch at another gorgeous hotel. We ate a delicious lunch and then found out that there was a rooftop balcony with a great view of the Taj! I didnt have my camera with me, but wow, just wow. The roof looked out over the back gardens of the hotel and the flowers were in full bloom and there were delicate fountains all around. The Taj Mahal dominated the horizon, its white marble dome gleaming in the sunlight. I was immediately in awe of the Taj and that was before we were even there.
When we finally did get to the Taj, we walked past a bunch of mom and baby monkeys on out way to the gate. I have pictures! The line at the gate was divided into men and women and took a long time to get through because theyre super strict about what you can bring in (basically cameras and water, nothing else).
I dont have the words to do justice to the Taj Mahal. It was absolutely majestic and awe inspiring. Plus, the story behind the building of the Taj is so beautiful and romantic!
After the Taj, we went to the nearby Agra Fort, which has a much less romanticized history. The Agra Fort is a redish brown colored walled castle within viewing distance of the Taj. It was the home of royal family for a while before the capital was moved. Later, it was where the emperors youngest son imprisoned him for the last eight years of his life. The son declared his father unfit to rule, locked him up and overthrew his oldest brother to take power. The emperors favorite and most powerful daughter chose to spend eight years in the Agra Fort caring for her ailing father until his death. Despite his imprisonment, the emperor was always within view distance of the Taj where his beloved wife was buried. When he finally died, his body was entombed next to her.
There were even more monkeys running around at the Agra Fort, which always make me smile. After the Fort, we went back to the gorgeous hotel for lunch before embarking on a three-hour bus ride to Jaipur where we checked into our hotel, ate dinner and I crashed instead of going to the dance club upstairs. Note: the pillows and comforter at that hotel were the most wonderful, comfortable, delightful pillows and comforter I have ever experienced.
Day 4
Our wake up call wasnt until 6am, which everyone was excited about. It was by far the latest call we got on the entire trip! The first part of Jaipur we got to see was the Pink City. Its only one section of Jaipur, which is huge because its the capital of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Every single house and building is painted pink (and by pink, I mean varying shades of pink-ish/orangey). It was cool to drive through because its a famous historic district, but we were in a hurry, so we only got to stop for a few minutes to take pictures.
We were in a hurry because we were on our way to the Amber Fort on the outskirts of Jaipur. Its built on a steep hill and there are two ways to get to the top. One is by jeep, but the cooler way is by ELEPHANT! Ive made it a goal to ride elephants as much as possible on this trip. Anyways, animal welfare law dictates that each elephant can only make the trek four times per day, so even though there are a ton of elephants, there is also a long line of hopeful tourists every morning. The line was super long when we got there, but we all got to ride the elephants. While we were waiting in line, hawkers tried to sell us everything from t-shirts to little statues. I bought two wooden statues of Ganesh, the god of good luck and remover of obstacles, because Id been meaning to pick one up and Im a decent bargainer. I paid 100 rupees for each, which is about 2USD. Not the greatest deal in the world, but it was worth it. On the way back down I also bought a turban from a hawker for a friend back in Madison.
The ride itself was pretty cool because we got to sit with out legs dangling off the elephants left side, which gave us a great view of the nearby town, lake and the Beijing-esque wall protecting the fort.
The Amber Fort was yet another gorgeous display of architecture. It was the ancient citadel of the ruling Kachhawa clan of Amber, before the capital was shifted to present day Jaipur (this is what Wikipedia has to say). Two of the coolest things about the Amber Fort were the Sheesh Mahal, which is a room pack with intricately decorate mirrors, which I there were used to help light the room. The second most interesting part of the Fort was the carved wooden screen that hid the upstairs rooms from the courtyard. This was where the women were allowed to stand. They could still see what was going on below through the carved gaps, but the men in the courtyard couldnt see them.
After the Amber Fort, we went to lunch.
To Be Continued
Saturday, March 27, 2010
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