Fatephur Sikri Fort

Agra- Day 3

We decide to take an excursion to another fort, Fatephur Sikri, about 30 km distant, an hour’s drive.  Ashok drives and upon arrival, we are met by a young man, Ali, who Ashok assures us is a ‘good guide.’  Okay – we’ll try this.  

This fort was the center of power for Shah Jai Singh, a rather interesting guy, circa 18th century.  He had three 'main' wives - one Hindu, one Muslim, and one Christian!  None of these wives could provide him with an heir until, miracle of miracles, the Muslim wife produced an heir.  Mmmm . . . we looked at each other and grinned.  There were a whole lot of horses and a whole lot of riders in the shah's entourage . . .

The pool in the center of the royal yard; the wives and concubines could cool off here (fully clothed of course).

Tim told the guide straightaway ‘Keep the touts away from us! We don’t want to buy anything.’  Ali was pretty well-informed but insisted on talking to us as if we were hard of hearing!  Tour groups across the pavilion could probably hear his commentary.  

This series of arches went on and on and on, all perfectly aligned.

Some really interesting features in this fort included elaborate sandstone support structures. and the most unusual corridors.  No doubt many of these design features were for cooling; temps in Agra and the surrounding countryside reach 45 celsius (that's about 120F) with humidity close to 90%.  

So we finish the fort tour and head off to the temple – a bonus with a guide, apparently. 

Well that’s when things went sour.  First he takes us to a part of the temple where workmen sell fabric ‘for charity’ – right!  When Tim tells him ‘NO’ then he directs us to his ‘family’ display of stonework.  Well Tim lost it!  ‘Take us back – NOW!’  It was a bit tense but we made it back to the parking lot where we told Ashok how displeased we were and not to recommend this young man again.  He was profusely apologetic and they negotiated a new ‘fee’ for the guide. 

Sweet ending to our stay.  There was some confusion about Vanda and Craig’s transport to Ranthambore (the Nature Park and Tiger Preserve) and they ended up on a dirt track in a field with a crazed taxi driver!  They were pretty upset and on their way back to the home stay.  

Ranjana was beside herself.  She came to Tim, trembling, and asked him ‘As the senior member of the household, would you explain to them how sorry I am, please, please.’  Of course he said yes and no harm done.  Ranjana paid for the driver, gave them a free night’s stay and arranged new transport for the next day.  Then she needed a bunch of hugs from me!  She even knocked on our door before going to bed, just to get a hug!!

Leena (daughter, left) and Ranjana.

When we were getting ready to leave early the next morning, she said ‘Will you come back for my daughter’s wedding?  You stay here with me, for free, for 6 months!’  I guess I’ve been adopted as her mother!!  A photo of what I’ve dubbed the ‘loaves and fishes kitchen.’  She prepared meals for up to 20 people (yes, there were two seatings on our last night there – people had come just for dinner!) in this kitchen which was about the size of our powder room!!  

 We say goodbye at 6 a.m.

On to Jaipur on Indian Rail.

PS - I'm writing this a couple of days later.  Just had an email from Vanda - they saw two (TWO) tigers at Ranthambore, just 20 feet from the jeep track!

 

The Taj Mahal

Agra - Day 2

Oh joy – the weather is clear and we’re off for our Taj day!  Our driver, Ashok, takes us to the main gate where we buy our tickets.  From there it’s a short walk to the actual Taj.  On the way in, we meet an Indian family who are taking photos (the son is) and I offer to take a photo of the whole family.  They’re so happy they give me their toddler and insist on a photo of me holding him!

 The Taj . . . nothing can prepare you for the sheer, astonishing beauty of it.  Whoever described it as ‘the most beautiful building in the world’ was not exaggerating.  It is almost unreal – seems to hover above the earth (it’s on a plinth) and sit suspended in space.  The Yumuna River is in the background and all you see is this shimmering structure.  It is esthetically delightful and, of course, the story of its origin and building makes it all the more heart-stopping. 

The sheer size of it is evident when you realize that those black specks are people walking around the outside.

We read that the four pillars are actually built with a slight outward tilt so that if anything were to happen, they would fall away from the monument.

A word of advice – don’t go inside.  There’s really nothing to see, it’s dark and very, very crowded.  We were elbowed, pressed, and pushed around (always left to right) in this mob, and I couldn’t wait to get out!  Tim was jabbed in the back and when he turned around, it was a tiny elderly woman who was making her way and herself felt!! 

Fortunately, you’re issued booties so there’s no leaving the shoes (there would be thousands of them!) as with other holy sites.  And there’s a ‘composite ticket’ for foreigners that includes admission to Agra Fort.  Pretty reasonable – around 250 rupees – about $4!  Indians get in for 20 rupees which we both thought was terrific; probably 90% of the tourists were Indian.  Some photos of us with locals!  And a couple we asked others to take of us.

Believe it or not, this is the Assam Girls Rifle Team!!  We also met the Assam Girls Dagger Team but they didn't want their photo taken with us!  (Assam is a part of India we didn't even know existed - way to the East, close to Bangladesh and China.)

 Looking back from the Taj to the grand entrance arch.  The reflecting pool was being cleaned so we didn't get to see the iconic image of the Taj reflected in it.

And, yes, bulls/cows!  Interesting, this is a Moslem holy site and they have cows but they're yoked, tied to posts, made to work rather than wander the streets fouling them and traffic.

On to Agra Fort.  I’m sure you know that Shah Jahan commissioned the Taj after the death of his third wife, Mumtaz, while giving birth to their 14^th child.  It took 20 years to build but partway through, Jahan’s son (Dova?), the designated heir, took over because Jahan's health was failing.   It's a myth that this same son imprisoned him.  Actually, three other sons ganged up on the designated heir, defeated him, and then imprisoned their father, Shah Jahan.  The designated heir was killed and Shah Jahan spent the rest of his life at Agra Fort where he watched the completion of the Taj. 

Now he wasn’t in some mean cell, eating moldy bread, and drinking foul water.  His Fort digs were pretty regal (forts meant something more than a military garrison).  Some photos from the Fort and what the Shah saw.  

Entrance to the fort.

The Taj is just visible through the mist.

Better.

Another one with the Taj barely visible.

Next stop the ‘baby Taj’ where the Shah’s parents (?) are interred.  Interesting because you can see a lot of the same architectural themes, lots of marble but it’s just not the same.  It’s as if it was a warm-up for the Taj Mahal.

And the last stop, the view from the Taj from across the Yumuna River.

 We met our fellow home stay pals, Evo (l) and Davide here.  Yes, this is a river and when the monsoons come it will reach past where the guys are now standing.

Evo's professional photo of us!

Beautiful day!!

Looking for Tigers

Kajuraho - Day 3

(This post is out of sequence!  Holding a baby and meeting Deepu's family trumped everything - but we had one last Kajuraho adventure.)

There is a Nature Preserve and Tiger Park about a half hour drive from us and although we know there is a slim chance of seeing a tiger, we decide to do the early morning tiger hunt.  Just after 5:30 a.m. we’re fetched in a Jeep by Khan and, like so much that has happened to us in India, we’re not certain how much this going to cost or exactly how it’s going to play out but so far everything’s been just fine . . . and this will be too!

At 5:30 it’s flippin cold.  We’re wearing every warm thing we can layer on and are still freezing.  We get to the Park, and this is nothing short of hilarious – there are no less than nine Indian men (I think they were guides or drivers or who knows what) clustered around the check-in counter, all talking at once, one woman clerk attempting to get things sorted.  

Tim and Khan spend some time in the clot of males and Tim emerges having paid half of what we expected to pay clutching the magic entrance ticket. 

  

We didn’t see a tiger.  We drove around for almost 4 hours (3 of them freezing our buns off in our jeep which has been converted into an open-air viewing vehicle).  We did see:  spotted deer, antelope, some spectacular birds, monkeys, hyenas, and one crocodile (I’m still not sure about that sighting – I’ve never heard of crocs living in non-estuarine rivers).   Great guide from the Park, Singh, very articulate and eagle-eyed.

 That's supposed to be a croc lazing on the far bank. (I know, I couldn't see anything either!)

A hyena who appeared to be finishing his breakfast.

Our wonderful guide, Singh - very knowledgeable - his English was excellent and he had a bird book (Audubon in Hindi?).  We had no idea there were so many gorgeous birds here!

We are grinning because the sun is finally out and we have stopped shaking!!

End of Kajuraho, town of sweet surprises . . . off to Agra early tomorrow morning.

Indian Rail

Agra – Day 1

Getting there is definitely half the fun, punctuated by heart-pounding anxiety.  First off, we’re on the same train to our first stop (Jhansi) with Richard and Sally (from Varanasi)!  Hooray – we spend a lovely 5 hours sharing a rather posh first class compartment, complete with reading lights, a wardrobe and joy of joys – a Western toilet (not in the compartment but in our train car).  I’d been having bouts of terror that on this 9-hour  trip (total for two trains) I would have to ‘go’ and be faced with the Indian train toilet.  I saw a photo of one and was truly gobsmacked!  It’s a hole in the train floor with a place on either side to put your feet – I’m not making this up, this is true!  In fact, our compartment even had an icon of a toilet – a real toilet – and a little red light/green light to indicate its availability.   Oh the things we take for granted!

We said goodbye to Sally and Richard in Jhansi with the promise to visit them in Melbourne on our next trip to Australia and invited them to come visit us in the States.  Now all we need to do is find the train to Agra . . . we have 33 minutes.  This is a big station – 7 tracks, crowded platforms and not a tote board in sight.  And it’s been raining so everything is wet, dirty, and slippery.  PA announcements are incomprehensible even though I detect a word of English now and then. 

We locate someone who looks official – a RR person, soldier?? – and ask how we find the track for a train.  ‘Go to track 1, Enquiry.’  We came in on track 7 and it looks like a 1000 yards from where we’re standing to the overpass to cross over all the way to track 1.  Just about now I am so grateful, once again, that we have backpacks – they’re heavy but we can manage a couple flights of stairs.  

Make it to track 1 and there’s no one at the ‘Enquiry Counter’ – arghhh!  18 minutes. 

We find what looks like two politicians (bureaucrats?) sitting on a bench, and I ask them if they know what track the Punjab Mail train will come in on.  Without hesitation, they reply ‘Track 4.”  15 minutes.  Back up the stairs, across the tracks again and somehow we find track 4.  10 minutes.  (Tim has finally stopped saying the ‘f’ word every 5 seconds!) Down the stairs and, miracle of miracles, here comes a train and a tiny illuminated sign blinks the number we’ve been searching for!  Hooray Punjab Mail train!!  5 minutes.  Now we just have to find our car – 2AC.  (Did I mention that trains spend just a few minutes in the station and then they leave!) 

We find it, even find our seat numbers on the outside of the carriage and we’re in, we’re on – we did it!!  We have ‘Lower Berth/Upper Berth’ which means a place to sleep (with a curtain no less).  And no sooner do we stuff our packs in the upper berth and cozy up in the lower berth than we hear chai wallah man come up the aisle.  Life is good.

Agra 6:00 pm – dark, raining, big station (one of the two in Agra).  And our driver is there, right outside, holding a rather droopy sodden piece of paper with our name on it!   Whew!  Off to Aman Homestay, enthusiastically recommended by TA.  Super place!  Dinner is at 7:30 – just time to wash up, unpack a few things and register that we’re in another city.

What a darling place we’re in!  It’s a true homestay – the family lives right here and their home includes a lovely, intimate garden complete with birds, bunnies and loads of beautiful plants.  It’s welcoming and so homey – love it!  The dinner table is filled with people from all over the world, most of whom are, like us, here for only a couple of nights.  Food is delicious – vegan, of course, and plenty of it.  We arrange for our train pick-up driver, Ashok, to pick us up in the morning.  We have two days to ‘do’ Agra and the prediction is more rain!! Not sure how much of the Taj we could see in the rain but . . .

The Most Excellent Surprise!!

Last stop, Deepu’s home in the Old Village.  A bit about the OV – it’s a series of labyrinthine streets, lined with wee stone houses, all joined to one another.  But what makes it unusual is that the castes live in specific neighborhoods and use caste-specific wells.  It probably looks the same as it did 300 years ago.

Deepu’s house seems to be the focus of a lot of activity . . . we’re the honored guests!  ‘Please come in, sit down, would you like some chai?’  The house is about 10 feet square, dirt floor, cooking surface (propane tank fueled) a diagonal in one corner, the ‘sit down’ place a small frame with strapping and a blanket placed over the strapping.  The ceiling is about 5 and a half feet tall, with a big cloth tacked into the four corners - not sure why (to prevent stuff from falling on folks?). 

Counting Tim and me there must be 10 maybe 12 people inside.  We are honored guests so we sit on the frame; everyone else is on the floor.   Deepu introduces everyone – mom, grandma, aunt, brothers, sisters, cousins and – drum roll – surprise, his wife and BABY!  One month old, a little girl, Ritzcika (Riczi for short).  Well, guess who had that baby in her arms faster than you can say ‘Grandma’!!  Photos say it all . . .

Deepu's wife and a few cousins.

The beautiful family.

 Deepu and his Mom.

It took a while to get all these kids to smile but we did it!  The little fellow really got into it.

An auntie with the kitchen as backdrop.

Deepu's grandma (who is 3 years younger than us!).  Love that smile!!

Couldn't resist another photo of these sweet kids.

And darling baby slept through it all!  This red sweater seems to be a special baby gift - noticed it on other babies I saw after this magical afternoon.  Interesting tidbit, Riczi's diaper was a large leaf, artfully cut and folded over her tiny legs and held in place by what looked and felt like the spine of the leaf - amazing!

I am so humbled that we are welcomed so graciously and generously. . . I can’t imagine any other experience in this whole trip - this whole country - even coming close to the sweetness of this time.   Thank you, Deepu and family, for this most excellent experience!!  English lessons to follow!!

Temples, Temples, and More Temples

Kajuraho – Day 2

The temples are magnificent!  We spend about 3 hours wandering around the complex with an audio guide (a bit rickety but it works).  The touts in this town are very aggressive and annoying – we have to get really loud and aggressive to get them to go away!  Not fun.  Anyway, back to the temples – the carvings are every bit as sensual and graphic as advertised.  Remarkably, they have remained pretty much intact for centuries (discovered - surprise surprise - by a Brit!) and are held in place by nothing more than gravity.  Lots of photos . . .

The original complex had more than 85 temples; there are 25 left.  All are made of sandstone.  The gardens are beautiful and perfectly kept.

Several temples have the world-famous sculptural insets.  A few of the more gymnastic ones.

And what may be our favorite - the laughing elephant!

Lunch at the Café recommended in LP (terrific pizza from a wood fired oven – big Italian influence in this town, go figure) and then head back to the Palace to meet Deepu and Nandu.  

Bone jarring tuk tuk ride to the more remote Eastern temples and get to tour one being ‘restored’ – imagine being able to traipse all over a site like that anywhere else in the world!  

The local restoration guy.

 Pieces of the original temple waiting . . .

Finally the Jain temple complex – much like the Western temples in architecture, minus the erotic sculptures, and we learn that the Jains are quite unusual.  For one thing, they don’t wear clothes or shoes – nothing.  There’s a slew of photos of naked Jain (men only) and they pluck the hair from their head and bodies (pluck not cut as that would be harming a living organism).  No Jain women (too smart?) and I can’t understand how one gets more Jains . . . altogether unusual to say the least.  

Postscript - I just learned today that there are two Jain sects.  One of them admits women and actually wears clothes - white robes!

This remarkable day had a great surprise which I'm putting up as another post.