"If I live to see the seven wonders..."
This is going to be a long one, so I'm going to jump right into it...
After Tuesday's attacks, I was expecting some pretty lengthy delays at the airport for my trip to Delhi. So when I found out that my flight on Friday night was delayed by two hours, I wasn't too surprised or annoyed. It was the first time that I'd flown Air Deccan (India's Southwest), so after I made it through the first gate check, I wasn't really sure where their ticket desk was. So, as I was wandering through the terminal, who should I run into, but Seth Doane! (My friend from Delhi who I have never met, but was planning on meeting that night in Delhi. He works for CNN and had been in Mumbai for the week covering the train bombs.) We didn't have much time, so we said a quick hello and promised to see each other in a few hours.
Now, our plan had been to arrive in Delhi around 8:30, check into our hotel, have a cocktail, meet Seth for dinner and then head out to a club for some revelry. But, after the flight delay, we didn't even make it to our hotel until 11:30. So, dinner plans went out the window and we headed straight to Dublin, a club close to our hotel. Dublin is an "Irish Pub," complete with the traditional Irish dance floor playing Hindi music and TVs playing Bollywood movies. I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't in Ireland. Seth, Andy and I made the most out of the hour we had at the club by alternating shots for drinks and dancing to Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai (my "Oh Oh Oh Oh" song), which they played TWICE (in an hour, mind you). Afterwards, we headed to Seth's hotel to hang out, perused his picture albums, magazines (you don't realize how much you miss People until you don't have it anymore), and ordered room service. Back to the Taj for three hours of sleep and then up at 7am to catch the train to Agra. Three hours later, we arrived and headed to our hotel, the Oberoi Amarvilas - which now goes down as one of my favorite hotels of all time. It was exquisite. Some picture to set the scene...
Rather than rushing to the Taj Mahal like a tourist, we tried to play it cool. You know, act as if one of the seven wonders of the world wasn't five minutes away. So, we hung out by the ba-eutiful pool, ate lunch (the first spinach salad I've had since I've been in India...glorious), swam, napped, and then went to the spa for a massage and facial. At about 6pm, I couldn't take it any longer. I put on my black socks and sandals, slung a camera around my neck, and set out for the Taj Mahal. (Andy, who was able to play it cool, stayed back for another nap). The Oberoi was ridiculously close to the Taj, so they provided golf carts to take you from the hotel to the main entrance. 750 rupees later (US$16...or 20 rupees, US$0.40 if you're Indian), and I was standing before the Taj Mahal...
It's hard to describe the feeling of actually seeing the Taj Mahal. It is so completely and utterly iconic that it truly does feel surreal to see it in person. Since it was later in the day, I was able to really enjoy it without getting heat stroke. There were TONS of people ranging from ancient Indian men (such as this debonair gentleman, who I think would be a great mascot for the Taj Mahal)...
to tan, hard-core backpackers wearing trendy Euro outfits like capri-type shorts and tank tops. (Argh! If I only I had a picture to go along with that statement.)
So, let's do this for my description of the Taj Mahal: Copy and paste the word "breathtaking" into www.thesaurus.com and you've got my description. There are not enough words in my vocabulary to accurately describe this place. However, for me, the most interesting and memorable part of visiting the Taj Mahal was getting to see everything SURROUNDING the actual building. You see so many pictures of the Taj, but with no idea as to what's behind it...
to the sides of it...
or behind the camera man when he's taking the photograph we've seen a million times...
So, I spent almost as much time looking and exploring around the Taj Mahal as I did mesmerized by the main structure itself.
Knowing that I would be back the next day, I left after about an hour to meet back up with Andy for dinner at the hotel. Based on how phenomenal our lunch was, we had high hopes for the upscale Indian restaurant in the hotel, and were not disappointed. There were only about fifteen tables or so in the restaurant, intimately nestled around a stage in the center of the room. During dinner, a sitar and bongo drum pair played traditional Indian music, creating a beautiful backdrop to the dinner experience. (The bongo drum guy was on a break when I took this picture which is fine because the lady sitar player was the real powerhouse of the team...sort of the Indian version of the Stevie Nicks/Lindsey Buckingham relationship - only the bongo guy hasn't spent his whole life lamenting the fact that the sitar player is more popular than he).
For the first time in India (or ever), I had THALI. Thali is an Indian tradition: served on a big platter, several small cups of various Indian dishes are arranged around a pile of rice, with naan served on the side. It's a fantastic (and my now favorite) way of experiencing Indian food because you get to try everything. (Okay, it's a sampler platter basically...but a classy, classy sampler platter). Andy and I spent most of the dinner trying to decide what our favorite was (which was very hard and, at times, got a touch stressful until we had decided on a winner. Mine was the Macchi Anarkali, fish cooked with pomegranate).
After dinner I hung out by the pool and read. Here's a picture...
The next morning, we got up and decided to have breakfast on our terrace, which overlooked the Taj. Fresh mango, all bran, yoghurt, a quick shower and it was off to the Taj for round 2...and this time it was HOT. I'd always imagined that when I saw the Taj, I would be very, very hot. Now, while I have a vivid imagination, I didn't even get close to HOW hot it would be. Literally, sweat pouring down my entire body. It was ridiculous, and yet, all part of the experience. Andy and I bounced around, taking pictures, avoiding wasps and getting in other people's pictures, and repeating the phrase, "I can't believe we're here." It was great.
Oh, I should probably talk about what's inside the Taj (since you can't take pictures inside). Um, well, aside from the body that's somewhere down in there, there wasn't much to it. It's amazingly small (for how gloriously gigantic the entire building is). There is some cool tile work, but nothing that is more remarkable than what's on the outside. To be honest, the best part is that it's a cool respite from the scorching heat outside. Trust me though, you come to see the Taj for the outside, not the inside.
After a few zillion pictures, Andy decided to head back to the hotel, and I headed off to see Agra Fort. Remember the fort that I saw in Jaipur? That was a fort. When Agra Fort was being built, the guys building it must have been like, "Uh, we're really not going to be able to compete with the Taj Mahal over there, so let's just throw up some walls and be done with it." Seriously. I flitted around for half an hour, got really, really bored, and made a break for it. After the AGRAvating experience at the fort, I decided to take an autorikshaw to Mehtab Bagh (or, the "Moonlight Gardens"), which are these beautiful gardens across the river behind the Taj Mahal.
I wanted to go to Mehtab Bagh because I'd read that the view of the Taj was better due to the distance from the monument. And it was. However, the best part of Mehtab Bagh wasn't the spectacular view of the Taj Mahal, it was that fact that you had this spectacular view all to yourself. Aside from a few women tending the gardens, it was just me. The actual Taj facilities are crawling with people. People everywhere. It's quite impossible to have a peaceful experience (not to say that it's unenjoyable...its just not very peaceful and/or spiritual.) However, to view the Taj from Mehtab Bagh was on a whole other plane. I cannot accurately describe how moving it is to view the monument from this vantage point and under these conditions.
The above picture is one of the many snaps (as they call photographs our here), that I took from Mehtab Bagh. I can't tell you how many pictures I took of that big pile of marble. Here's my favorite...
Oh, wait. That's a bag of chips with Christina Applegate's picture on the front. (Her agent must have made that deal pre-"Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead.") Anyways, these chips are very popular with the local Agrites. Here is my actual favorite picture...
It almost becomes a sort of OCD-type obsession. I think it's because every...single...time that you look a the Taj Mahal, you're so floored that you think to yourself, I have to take a picture right now! Really, it's bizarre. (Basically, if this isn't enough for you, let me know and I can send more. Clear out your inbox first though.)
I made it back to the hotel just in time to eat a quick lunch, shower, and hop in the car for the five hour car ride to the Delhi airport. During the ride we had a police officer ask to hitch a ride, saw a snake charmer get struck by a cobra that supposedly was not poisonous, a truck almost topple over into a crowd of people digging a whole in the middle of the freeway, a 40 foot high Hindu goddess statue, a beautiful sunset, an Over The Hedge/AMD billboard, various large dead animals including a cow, and a McDonald's.
The trip back to Mumbai was pretty standard: two hours of waiting on the plane with no air conditioning before taking off, the kind of turbulence that TRULY requires a seatbelt, the scariest landing I've ever experienced, and a cab driver who tried to charge us 500 rupees from the airport to our hotel (almost triple what the actual cost should be).
I love India.
"...I'll make a path to the rainbow's end..." -SN
This is going to be a long one, so I'm going to jump right into it...
After Tuesday's attacks, I was expecting some pretty lengthy delays at the airport for my trip to Delhi. So when I found out that my flight on Friday night was delayed by two hours, I wasn't too surprised or annoyed. It was the first time that I'd flown Air Deccan (India's Southwest), so after I made it through the first gate check, I wasn't really sure where their ticket desk was. So, as I was wandering through the terminal, who should I run into, but Seth Doane! (My friend from Delhi who I have never met, but was planning on meeting that night in Delhi. He works for CNN and had been in Mumbai for the week covering the train bombs.) We didn't have much time, so we said a quick hello and promised to see each other in a few hours.
Now, our plan had been to arrive in Delhi around 8:30, check into our hotel, have a cocktail, meet Seth for dinner and then head out to a club for some revelry. But, after the flight delay, we didn't even make it to our hotel until 11:30. So, dinner plans went out the window and we headed straight to Dublin, a club close to our hotel. Dublin is an "Irish Pub," complete with the traditional Irish dance floor playing Hindi music and TVs playing Bollywood movies. I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't in Ireland. Seth, Andy and I made the most out of the hour we had at the club by alternating shots for drinks and dancing to Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai (my "Oh Oh Oh Oh" song), which they played TWICE (in an hour, mind you). Afterwards, we headed to Seth's hotel to hang out, perused his picture albums, magazines (you don't realize how much you miss People until you don't have it anymore), and ordered room service. Back to the Taj for three hours of sleep and then up at 7am to catch the train to Agra. Three hours later, we arrived and headed to our hotel, the Oberoi Amarvilas - which now goes down as one of my favorite hotels of all time. It was exquisite. Some picture to set the scene...
Rather than rushing to the Taj Mahal like a tourist, we tried to play it cool. You know, act as if one of the seven wonders of the world wasn't five minutes away. So, we hung out by the ba-eutiful pool, ate lunch (the first spinach salad I've had since I've been in India...glorious), swam, napped, and then went to the spa for a massage and facial. At about 6pm, I couldn't take it any longer. I put on my black socks and sandals, slung a camera around my neck, and set out for the Taj Mahal. (Andy, who was able to play it cool, stayed back for another nap). The Oberoi was ridiculously close to the Taj, so they provided golf carts to take you from the hotel to the main entrance. 750 rupees later (US$16...or 20 rupees, US$0.40 if you're Indian), and I was standing before the Taj Mahal...
It's hard to describe the feeling of actually seeing the Taj Mahal. It is so completely and utterly iconic that it truly does feel surreal to see it in person. Since it was later in the day, I was able to really enjoy it without getting heat stroke. There were TONS of people ranging from ancient Indian men (such as this debonair gentleman, who I think would be a great mascot for the Taj Mahal)...
to tan, hard-core backpackers wearing trendy Euro outfits like capri-type shorts and tank tops. (Argh! If I only I had a picture to go along with that statement.)
So, let's do this for my description of the Taj Mahal: Copy and paste the word "breathtaking" into www.thesaurus.com and you've got my description. There are not enough words in my vocabulary to accurately describe this place. However, for me, the most interesting and memorable part of visiting the Taj Mahal was getting to see everything SURROUNDING the actual building. You see so many pictures of the Taj, but with no idea as to what's behind it...
to the sides of it...
or behind the camera man when he's taking the photograph we've seen a million times...
So, I spent almost as much time looking and exploring around the Taj Mahal as I did mesmerized by the main structure itself.Knowing that I would be back the next day, I left after about an hour to meet back up with Andy for dinner at the hotel. Based on how phenomenal our lunch was, we had high hopes for the upscale Indian restaurant in the hotel, and were not disappointed. There were only about fifteen tables or so in the restaurant, intimately nestled around a stage in the center of the room. During dinner, a sitar and bongo drum pair played traditional Indian music, creating a beautiful backdrop to the dinner experience. (The bongo drum guy was on a break when I took this picture which is fine because the lady sitar player was the real powerhouse of the team...sort of the Indian version of the Stevie Nicks/Lindsey Buckingham relationship - only the bongo guy hasn't spent his whole life lamenting the fact that the sitar player is more popular than he).
For the first time in India (or ever), I had THALI. Thali is an Indian tradition: served on a big platter, several small cups of various Indian dishes are arranged around a pile of rice, with naan served on the side. It's a fantastic (and my now favorite) way of experiencing Indian food because you get to try everything. (Okay, it's a sampler platter basically...but a classy, classy sampler platter). Andy and I spent most of the dinner trying to decide what our favorite was (which was very hard and, at times, got a touch stressful until we had decided on a winner. Mine was the Macchi Anarkali, fish cooked with pomegranate).
After dinner I hung out by the pool and read. Here's a picture...
The next morning, we got up and decided to have breakfast on our terrace, which overlooked the Taj. Fresh mango, all bran, yoghurt, a quick shower and it was off to the Taj for round 2...and this time it was HOT. I'd always imagined that when I saw the Taj, I would be very, very hot. Now, while I have a vivid imagination, I didn't even get close to HOW hot it would be. Literally, sweat pouring down my entire body. It was ridiculous, and yet, all part of the experience. Andy and I bounced around, taking pictures, avoiding wasps and getting in other people's pictures, and repeating the phrase, "I can't believe we're here." It was great.
Oh, I should probably talk about what's inside the Taj (since you can't take pictures inside). Um, well, aside from the body that's somewhere down in there, there wasn't much to it. It's amazingly small (for how gloriously gigantic the entire building is). There is some cool tile work, but nothing that is more remarkable than what's on the outside. To be honest, the best part is that it's a cool respite from the scorching heat outside. Trust me though, you come to see the Taj for the outside, not the inside.
After a few zillion pictures, Andy decided to head back to the hotel, and I headed off to see Agra Fort. Remember the fort that I saw in Jaipur? That was a fort. When Agra Fort was being built, the guys building it must have been like, "Uh, we're really not going to be able to compete with the Taj Mahal over there, so let's just throw up some walls and be done with it." Seriously. I flitted around for half an hour, got really, really bored, and made a break for it. After the AGRAvating experience at the fort, I decided to take an autorikshaw to Mehtab Bagh (or, the "Moonlight Gardens"), which are these beautiful gardens across the river behind the Taj Mahal.
I wanted to go to Mehtab Bagh because I'd read that the view of the Taj was better due to the distance from the monument. And it was. However, the best part of Mehtab Bagh wasn't the spectacular view of the Taj Mahal, it was that fact that you had this spectacular view all to yourself. Aside from a few women tending the gardens, it was just me. The actual Taj facilities are crawling with people. People everywhere. It's quite impossible to have a peaceful experience (not to say that it's unenjoyable...its just not very peaceful and/or spiritual.) However, to view the Taj from Mehtab Bagh was on a whole other plane. I cannot accurately describe how moving it is to view the monument from this vantage point and under these conditions.
The above picture is one of the many snaps (as they call photographs our here), that I took from Mehtab Bagh. I can't tell you how many pictures I took of that big pile of marble. Here's my favorite...
Oh, wait. That's a bag of chips with Christina Applegate's picture on the front. (Her agent must have made that deal pre-"Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead.") Anyways, these chips are very popular with the local Agrites. Here is my actual favorite picture...
It almost becomes a sort of OCD-type obsession. I think it's because every...single...time that you look a the Taj Mahal, you're so floored that you think to yourself, I have to take a picture right now! Really, it's bizarre. (Basically, if this isn't enough for you, let me know and I can send more. Clear out your inbox first though.)
I made it back to the hotel just in time to eat a quick lunch, shower, and hop in the car for the five hour car ride to the Delhi airport. During the ride we had a police officer ask to hitch a ride, saw a snake charmer get struck by a cobra that supposedly was not poisonous, a truck almost topple over into a crowd of people digging a whole in the middle of the freeway, a 40 foot high Hindu goddess statue, a beautiful sunset, an Over The Hedge/AMD billboard, various large dead animals including a cow, and a McDonald's.
The trip back to Mumbai was pretty standard: two hours of waiting on the plane with no air conditioning before taking off, the kind of turbulence that TRULY requires a seatbelt, the scariest landing I've ever experienced, and a cab driver who tried to charge us 500 rupees from the airport to our hotel (almost triple what the actual cost should be).
I love India.
"...I'll make a path to the rainbow's end..." -SN
posted by Steven | 11:28 PM
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