India: Week One

Whoa...and what a week it has been! We've covered 4 cities and 3 states so far!

Delhi Population: 12.8 million
After arriving late last Thursday evening, Friday was spent organizing our trip with a government travel agency and doing a little bit of touring around the city. The hot spots included:
1) Humayun's Tomb: a 16th century Persian-style (the first of its kind!) tomb built by the Mughal emperor Humayun...it's completely made with red sandstone and white marble, which is said to symbolize the merging of the Persian and local cultures. Needless to say, it was beautiful. And...oddly enough, there were Jewish stars lining the entire structure. Queen Esther was a Persian Jew...maybe it was built by her grandfather?!?!
2) India Gate: this HUGE gate commemorates the 90,000 soldiers of the British Indian Army who lost their lives while fighting for the British Indian Empire (AKA: the British Raj in World War I & the Third Anglo-Afghan War). I probably would have enjoyed this more had I not been battling the growing nausea...phew, thank you for that free bathroom in the neighboring park! However, the India Gate did provide our first opportunity to talk with Indian friends...tourists from a southern state called Kerala. This older couple were so fascinated with us--probably because we were one of the first white people they've ever seen.

Agra Population: 1,321,410
Agra...geez...I thought Delhi was hectic. Agra was like a humid sauna, heated at 115 degrees, that left me feeling exhausted before we even started the day. But, of course, it was well worth it because Agra is home to the ever spectacular Taj Mahal!
1) Taj Mahal: Our driver Sunder set us up with a tour guide (most likely a business partner of some sort...meaning, Sunder probably got a cut of the money we paid for the tour), Dean. Dean (obviously not his real name...but that's what he told us to call him because his Hindi name was WAY too long & hard for us foreigners to pronounce) was a pretty knowledgeable guy and showed us all of the great picture spots. What I can tell you about the Taj Mahal is that it is even more shock & awe than you imagine it to be. The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who actually built this mausoleum as a memorial for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, said of the TM: "it made the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes"...and, after seeing it, I believe it!
The TM took 22 years and over 20,000 people to complete. It consists of three different types of building techniques: in-lay, embossing, & screens. Walking through and drinking in the magnificence of the Taj, I couldn't help but be humbled by the intricate and detailed work of all of those Indian and Central Asian workers who dedicated their lives to this piece of art.
Besides the actual tomb site, the TM also includes 8 gardens (fully symmetrical), a mosque and a guest house. The place was crawling with tourists, both local & foreign...but the best were the lawn maintenance crew cutting the grass with SHEARS! Can you imagine?!?! No tracker lawnmowers here!
After our Taj tour, we got a private demo on the in-lay work. And unfortunately for me, I got sucked into buying (what turned out to be) $118 Taj-like marble coasters. Oy vey. Lesson #1: never do that again. Dad & Debra, hope you like your gift!
2) Agra Fort: originally intended as a military structure in 1565, but later turned into a prison where Shah Jahan's son locked him up for 8 years! Geez, talk about lack of respect for your elders! Overall, a pretty sweet fort...plus, we got some great views of the Taj here as well. I will say that the BEST part of our time at the Agra Fort had to be the 30 minute wanna-be conversation with Kailash, an Indian guy (probably about our age) who was from a small village. He tried so so so so SO hard to speak in English with us...but overall it was just a bunch of sign language, smiles, and head nods. We did get his picture though and he wanted ones with us.

On a side note: here in India, as a white person, you're either the target of intense, piercing stare-downs (especially for me--as a white woman), or the paparazzi. I swear, once you give the ok to have your picture taken with one Indian, a swarm attacks you with flashes of the camera. They want you to hold their babies, to pose with their wives, or to take individual shots. It's hilarious! You'd think we were Britney Spears and JT!

On the way to Jaipur...
1) Fatehpur Sikri: Population 28,750
Here we had a roadside stop to tour the Jama Masjid mosque (and there is also a palace, but we were too overwhelmed with the Indian paparazzi and the rain that we cut our touring short). This mosque was built in 1571 to commemorate Emperor Akbar's military victory in the Indian state of Gujarat.
2) Monkey Temple: This temple complex was built to honor the Hindu deity, Hanuman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanuman...and is home to a gabillion monkeys! We bought some peanuts and feed them right out of our hands--and atop our heads & shoulders!

Jaipur Population: 2.63 million
Everything in Jaipur...all of the buildings, homes, restaurants, etc. etc. are painted salmon-pink--a color apparently associated with hospitality. It's just as much of a hustle and bustle as Agra & Delhi: touts trying to sell you things everywhere, street food vendors (we had our first experience with street food here...samosas! Delicious!), and kids following you for half an hour trying to convince you to give them money (yes, a little girl--probably about 9 years old--stuck to our sides for half an hour, with her hand out and puppy dog eyes, begging for money. Aye, that was hard...really hard).
1) Amber Fort: (Shout out to Amber Tacke! What what! Thought about you a lot here, girl! Hope your ACL heals quickly!) Definitely my FAVORITE fort we've seen so far! It's a massive maze-of-a complex that we took elephant rides up to get to the top (two elephant rides in one year, not bad...not bad at all!) that was built in 1592 by Maharaja Man Singh, the Rajput commander of Akbar's army. We could have spent all day exploring this HUGE fort...but alas, more sights were yet to be seen!
2) City Palace: a palace complex including courtyards, gardens, and buildings full of exhibits containing royal costumes, shawls, weapons, and ceremony halls. My highlight was getting my palm & face read by a older gentleman who learned the trade from his father, and his father before him. He told me some pretty spot-on stuff...and answered some questions I have about my future career (yes, I am going to get a job after all of this travel!), and marriage. According to his predictions, 28 will be a big year for me and my husband-to-be!
3) Bazaar: Block after block of shawls, kitchen utensils, shoes, purses, clothes, fruit stands, and camel leather products...So my bargaining skills have definitely improved! I'm trying not to buy too much (considering I'm traveling for 6 months and my backpack is already full enough!) but I couldn't pass up an elephant wall hanging! :)
4) Hawa Mahal: In the "Top 1,000 Places To See Before You Die" book...YES! Love crossing stuff like that off my list! Feminism at it's best, well, for 1799 at least...Maharaja Sawaj Pratap Singh constructed this five-story structure to enable to ladies of the royal household to watch Jaipur life and the processions of the city. It's only decorated on the front side...but it's absolutely stunning. Millions of tiny glass windows and delicate shutters. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Mahal
5) Jaipur Blue Pottery: Jaipur specializes in blue-glazed pottery with floral and geometric designs. I could have bought the whole store!! But only a few of you lucky people will be receiving such beautiful gifts...

The next day we traveled 5 hours by car back to Delhi to catch our flight to Amritsar, which ended up being delayed...and delayed...and delayed...apparently this happens A LOT in India. After our 12 hour journey, we made it safely to Amritsar.

Amritsar Population: 1.01 million
After the intense tourist-driven Golden Triangle (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur), Amritsar was a breath of (not so) fresh air. Granted, it is still a big Indian city...with diesel fumes, crazy rickshaw drivers, and touts waiting to snag their next deal...but it is about 5 notches down from the utter insanity of the Golden Triangle. And for that, I'm grateful!
1) Golden Temple: Whoa. I mean...WHOA! Pretty much I think this gold-plated gurdwara has made it to my top ten favorite (man-made) structures. Maybe I should write my own "1,000 Places To See Before You Die"? Amritsar, and more specifically the Gold Temple, is the holiest place for people of the Sikh religion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism Finally, people who smile back at my huge Texan grin!! What a relief (and blessing) from the eye-torching stare downs! Upon entering the Golden Temple, we had to leave our shoes at the shoe check (out of respect, of course)...and give 'em a good wash in the recycled foot-washing-water. Basically the actual temple is in the middle of a holy pool (however, you'd probably get a holy-lot of diseases if you actually swam in it), which is surrounded by a marble walkway and all enclosed by large marble walls and towers. The complex also has a museum, langar (community dining hall), and free sleeping quarters.
We explored the entirety of the property...and honestly, I could have spent all day there, taking it all in & people watching. Sikhs from all over the world visit the Golden Temple to pay respects to their founding 10 gurus...and of course, to dine at the FREE community mess hall. We had dinner there, and let me tell you: it was amazingly good! The whole dining experience is like a well-oiled machine, run completely by volunteers who cook, serve, and clean. You could spend hours just watching the process unfold. It's been estimated that they feed about 10,000 people A DAY!!! (and up to 60,000 during holidays and festivals!)...now that my friends, is a shit load of people!
We also ventured into the actual temple and joined in for a little mediation time to the sounds of the priests continuously chanting in Gurmukhi from the Sikh holy book by loudspeakers, which can be heard all over the complex. My experience of the chanting had a trance-like effect...and was so calmly! We sat and chatted with a young Sikh guy for a good half an hour about his religion, family, work, and school life. He probably had the best English of anyone we've talked to thus far...and let me tell you, I'm grateful for that!
2) India-Pakistan Border at Attari-Wagah for the border-closing ceremony: Yes, I said it...Pakistan. The border is about an hour away from Amritsar and every day people make the trek to view the spectacle that is the closing-of-the-border ceremony. This extremely theatrical show includes both Indian and Pakistani military members meeting to lower their respective flags, engage in sing-offs, and demonstrate the most ridiculous high-kicking (Caity, you'd be SOOO impressed!!!) and flag parading. The laughs I had definitely made it worth the crammed bus ride!

And if you're reading still...you're a saint. So that's pretty much my first week in India in a nutshell. Today we made the 6 hour journey up north to the Tibetan refugee area of India to a small town named McLeod Ganj; we'll be here for five days...and I think I just might be in heaven! But you'll hear about that in the next one :)

Thanks for sharing in my experiences!

Much love,
Ilene