… with very little sleep! A few weeks ago, we decided we should visit the Taj Mahal while we were in India, not knowing when or if we will ever be back. A travel agent friend on board (who also wanted to see the Taj Mahal) set up a trip for 8 of us.
After leaving the ship, we took a taxi tour of Goa, including two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: St. Francis of Xavier Basilica (left) and St. Francis of Assisi Church (right), which are across the street from each other.
Goa has lots of little villages and farmland on the city outskirts and was a much prettier place than Mangalore. Our driver even stopped at a roadside stand to buy us a pack of beedies, the tiny cigarettes rolled at home by housewives as a cottage industry. There are about 30 of them in a tiny pack for about $1.00. We had a quick lunch (french fries and Kingfisher beer!) at the Goa airport before flying to New Delhi. It took nearly 2 hours to get to our hotel in chaotic traffic: lanes were nonexistent, bicycles and motorbikes vied with tuk-tuks and heavy trucks for road space, and pedestrians darted into traffic. Frank had a front seat view!
We were up at 4 am the next day to catch the 6:15 train to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Billed as “high-speed” – but not a bullet train! The scenery on the 2 hour ride was amazing – huts made of hay, wheat fields, slums, temples, churches. Arriving in Agra at 8:30, we met Waheed, our wonderful guide. Here we are fresh after 4 hours of sleep. And here’s Waheed …
First stop: Taj Mahal. The van dropped us at the entrance, and we took a short camel cart ride to the gate. Unexpected fun! Almost everything is prohibited at the Taj – you can bring a wallet and money, cellphone (turned off), a camera (not a videocamera) – and not much else.
We made it through security and entered the west gate, an architectural wonder in its own right. This brought us to the outside courtyard and gardens. The Taj Mahal was visible through the inner gate, gleaming and shimmering in the sun.
The Taj Mahal was built in 1631 by Shah Jahan as a tomb for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz and the Shah were married for 19 years, and she bore him 14 children. Shah Jahan also built much of Agra Fort (the Red Fort) and other buildings in Agra. Earlier buildings were made of red sandstone; Shah Jahan used white Indian marble from Rajastan, much harder than other marbles. Waheed said it is the second hardest substance in the world, after diamonds. Hmmm… It IS very different, with sparkling crystals in it that reflect light, making the building glitter in the sun. The marble is also somewhat translucent, so at dawn and dusk it can glow pink depending on the light. The precious inlays include lapis, carnelian, coral, turquoise, onyx, malachite, and others. The Arabic letters flanking the arched doorway are much larger at the top than at the bottom to make them all seem the same size from the ground. The minarets are slightly tilted at 96 degrees to make them look straighter and be more durable. The foundation for the building is a floating foundation - although I don’t understand the mechanics of it. We were not allowed to take photos inside the actual tomb.
Here is one of the monkeys we saw at the Taj. This little guy had figured out how to open water bottles offered to him. When one tourist gave him a bottle and then tried to take it away, we saw lots of monkey teeth and a nasty temper. the second photo is the view from the Taj back to the inner gate. Beautiful gardens and fountains. Contrary to published reports I’ve read, everything seemed to be in good shape, well maintained, clean and lovely.
There were so many beautiful sights at the Taj Mahal; Waheed knew every good camera angle and took many photos for each of us. His creativity was an inspiration! We figured out that he has visited the Taj Mahal about 2000 times as a tour guide.
Our day was only half over; more to come in the next blog post!
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