The Snow Storm of the Century !

This week we were hit with some nasty weather. It started off with the weekend predictions of 1-2inches of ice followed by 12 hours of snow with an accumulation of 6-12 inches. Well, who can predict the weather - computer models can never get it right. A bit too far north, 2 feet of snow, while those 10 miles south, could get nothing.



We were in the - in between - zone. When the real storm hit a little ice started to fall..... and the snow that was supposed to come didn't. Instead, the storm pummeled Midwest Missouri and Chicago with feet of snow. We ended up with and inch of ice and an inch of snow. Heather still had to go to work, highways were closed between StL and Kansas City and everyone heeded the warnings and stayed home.



The kids had the storm day off and then the day after, which I had no problems about, it was really slick on the roads. And then, after 2 days of not having the opportunity to clear the parking lots and sidewalks of the schools, a third day off. I think the school district could have amassed a thousand parents with Mega-Trucks, plows, shovels and thousands of pounds of salt to clear the way of the kids. I mean, if Wal-mart can clear their parking lot and the school can't ??????
So we spent the time off sorting Legos and putting Lego kits together, reading, playing card games, watching movies. The kids do miss school and their friends and teachers....

Safdarjung's Tomb

The day after Thanksgiving we decided to take a short morning trip to Safdarjung's Tomb. The tomb is a typical Mughal garden/tomb with high walls, fountains and a large central domed mausoleum built in 1754. From the maps, it looked like a short walk from one of the metro stops. Fortunately it was a nice morning. The maps took us on the long route from the metro to the tomb. Along the way we passed a gas station with a fresh litter of puppies.... I don't think they were for sale.











The massive complex seemed to spring out from the surroundings. This is New Delhi; the streets are wider and it's very green with trees lining the street. Yet we turned a corner and approached a tall wall and there it was - the large dome of the tomb. 100Rs to get in. The complex was massive - the mausoleum is central with long water canals and fountains set on the sides leading to separate buildings. Most of this tomb complex was in sandstone and the dome was a mix of sandstone and marble. The inside of the tomb wasn't as ornately decorated as most - missing were panted walls and ceilings. The burial tomb was marble. I convinced Joshua to lay down on it for a picture - why does he trust or listen to me ?

















Walking around the outer wall of the tomb I slid through a broken, rusty gate up one of the corner octagonal towers to get a great picture of the tomb with the split tree.









The tomb has been unfairly " criticized for its weakness in proportions hence a lack of balance in its make-up. " What do I know - This impressive place takes up a lot of space for 2 dead guys. But, all of India could find a better place to put their garbage.....









We to a Tuk back to the embassy compound. On the way the driver stopped for a fill up. We got out of the Tuk and a gas attendant filled it up the same way a propane tank for your gas grill would get filled. Joshua got a great picture of the attendant. For 20Rs/0.75L of gas, we were back on our way. How long would that last him ?







Back at the house, Mary showed us how to make chickpea curry and puris - one of my favorite Indian dishes !
Added to that was some mint chutney , yum. In India, I picked up a special fry pan to make puris and samosas - but Heather won't let me fry anything, yet, go my "puris" turn out to be parathas in the chapati pan.... just not the same as frying :)

Thanksgiving in Delhi

It was cold and dark for our morning run. Running in Delhi can be a bit hazardous. The sidewalks are in very poor condition. In the dark you have to avoid the holes, the street lamps - typically placed right in the middle - and electrical wires and pipes that have no origin or destination. So you have to run in the street. Out there, most people are already walking against the traffic, which fortunately at 6:30a.m, is light. In the road, however, you have to avoid the dogs. They are like little speed bumps - they lay in the road and move for nothing; not for cars, tuks or motorcycles.


After our run and still early in the morning, we took Joshua out to INA to pick up some spices. At 9am, the shops were just opening up. The coolies were hanging out waiting for shoppers; chicken cages and iced fish were getting unloaded and put into place.




Here in the States you can already find Indian spices at any grocery store. They're just more expensive. At the INA you can get 2gs of Saffron for 180Rs (< $5), which isn't cheap by Indian standards, but much cheaper than here at home. Coriander powder in the U.S. is $10/bottle; much cheaper in Asia at a buck or two for 100gs. Yet, some spices just have a different quality to them. For example spice mixes : Garam Masala, Chaat Masala, Curry - are better from Asia, because they have all of the individual spice components that are typically left out when produced in the U.S. So, sometimes when you cook Indian food at home, it's not the technique - everyone can cook rice and chicken - it's the quality of the spices that add to the dish and make it taste authentic. Mango Chutney in the states ? disgusting.


Okay - it's not always just mixing stuff together. When we got back from the market, Mary started one of several cooking classes for Heather and I. Today she showed us how to make Samosas. It's the little things that make the difference - like how you form the funnel to full the dough - or using the colder counter top instead of the chapati board. She then showed us how to make Chutney, Paneer Pakora, Lassi and Biryani. Most of the recipes were out of a cookbook she very kindly gave us. To burn off a few calories between the cooking classes and the T-day dinner, we walked to the post office to deliver postcards. The post master was very friendly. There was a guy behind the counter with a motorcycle helmet (the deliverer ?) that picked up the mail and rushed off.


On the way back we found a house under construction..... I'm sure a lot of the buildings are build with the wood scaffolding, however, I wouldn't want to be around until the floor set... and how do they make it level ???



So with turkey, sweet potatoes (we think that's what they were), rolls, and mashed potatoes - we had a few Indian dishes added for the T-day feast. Joshua helped too by peeling potatoes.

A Rest Day

Overnight we got 2 inches of snow. It's cold and windy - I can't keep up with the driveway, from the blowing snow, so I've given up. It's nasty outside, but surprisingly, our local school district was one of the few that remained open. As you can guess, the kids assumed all night long that they would be out sledding today....

The arctic days, like today, make me wish we were back in Delhi. The first week in India was warm and sunny... but,

One day it did get a little overcast. The National Rail Museum is not far from the embassy compound and just a short walk. Joshua loves all things transportation. Most of the trains were outdoors. Indoors there were model trains and train parts. One train was cut in half so you could see the working guts... which there aren't many .
Like many of the monuments around Delhi, there were several groups of school kids touring and taking rides on a small scale train around the grounds. We passed on the ride; once one group of kids got off, the next group filled it to capacity. It was funny to watch the kids ride by, excitedly sticking their heads and arms out the side of the passenger cars. It looked like they were having lots of fun.





On the way home it started to sprinkle. Which was a probably a good thing; We had basically toured a lot of Delhi over the past week, tomorrow would be Thanksgiving, and I think everyone needed to rest......
.

INA Market

Ahhhhhh. A nice night of sleep. In a clean bed. In fresh air.

The embassy compound is clean and green. It's sunny and despite an occasional honking, very quite with only the sound of birds. We started the day off by digging up a bicycle for Julia. One of the families on the compound had an old bike that they pulled out of storage. The only issue with it was a flat tire. The simple pump up wouldn't do the trick; So Julia, Martie and Heather walked up to the bike wallah to get it fixed. The bike wallah had a small shop with all the tools that he needed to fix a bike. He also looked like he had two apprentices with him. He pulled out the tube, patched it and filled it up for 20Rs. Julia really needed the bike. It was a great way for her to burn off energy. She has an independent, explorer side to her. She has no problem jumping on a bike and taking off for a ride without anyone watching her. And neither did we. The compound is a safe place to let the kids out to play on their own. Someone described the compound as a 1950's suburb; and with the 50's styled Ambassadors, it did have the look. Few cars, no traffic and the only people allowed on the compound are the ones that have a purpose being there.

After that, Mary had a couple things to get at the market and Heather and I had to tag along. Typically, Mary would have the groceries when she showed up to work. However, We wanted to see and.... smell.... the market ! So we jumped into a Tuk and headed out to the market. Now, getting a tuk to drive us out there wasn't easy, several drivers were not interested in giving us a ride. A crazed looking driver charged us 60Rs; And being a long ride away and right off of a very busy, major multi-lane road; It can sometimes a challenge to get to.

The INA market is a one story mass of grocery-type shops that looked like they were, simply, assembled in cubes - one next to the other. The very narrow walkways were the openings to the shops. Pooled water was all over the ground. You had to watch out for the larger puddles. To the side of the market, close to the food and chai vendors, was a large cesspit of filth and garbage.

There were individual sections to the market. Several spice market were next to each other selling packets of spices, spice mixes, beans and rice.









Toiletries and cleaning supplies were in one section, canned goods in another.
One section had some of the nicest, freshest looking fruits and veggies I have ever seen. They all looked perfect, fresh, bright. The mushrooms were a prefect shade of off-white, not a spot of brown. Not a speck of dirt on anything. Lettuce, of all verities, perfectly green and clean. I was tempted to grab grapes, apples and bananas, have a seat and watch the crowds go by... but not until they are cleaned.




In another section were the meat sellers. Lamb carcasses were hanging out in the open, butchers were chopping away at chicken and lambs. Chicken breasts and whole chicken - skinned and not - were out on shelves. Below were live chickens crammed into tight cages.

None of the raw food or meat was on ice or refrigerated. Remaining chicken "parts" were mixed with green chillies to make sausages - again in a dirty looking meat grinder. The meat section of the market was in the back. An occasional chicken would be pulled from a cage and "Taken out back" behind the market. Then returned in a less than lively state, minus the feathers. Lamb butchers are right next to the chicken butchers.... which were right next to the fish monger, with all of his crabs in buckets on the ground, with live fish and dead. At least the fish mongers used ice !


The butcher blocks were on the counters, right at the eye level of the buyers.
Once, I had to move Heather out of the way. The lamb butcher block is at the open end of the shop and the people walking by would get an occasional chunk of lamb on them.

Mary picked out a chicken with skin and payed 120Rs for it to be skinned. The seller, who is sitting on the table top with his bare feet next to the chicken (which isn't cold or on ice) passed the chicken to the next guy that skinned it on a long machete looking knife, tossed it into a bag and passed it back to us. Naturally, no one had a sink close by to wash up. They were all, basically, sitting in chicken parts and remains...
Remember, all of the food is cleaned and cooked before eaten. And for the most part, it's "fresh". Meaning that it was probably butchered that morning before you showed up to buy it. No frozen then thawed meats like we have here in the states.

And of course, food wallahs were frying donuts and cakes, and others were making and selling freshly fried chapati and samosas. Food coolies were walking around to help carry your groceries for you. They would follow you along and load all of your goods into a laundry basket. We didn't need that - we were Mary's coolies for the day.



For tonights dinner, Mary is going to show us how to make samosas and chapatis. Now, I must have to have the appropriate tools for the job. So she lead us around to her favorite utensil seller to get us a chapati pan, rolling pin and chapati board - too cool !


Outside the market a woman was having her arms decorated with Mehndi - a temporary decoration of Henna applied for weddings and festivals. Mary said that the woman's decoration will take hours to apply. Then you have to keep your arms out for several hours while waiting for to dry. It will then last several weeks.
Julia had a peacock done on her arm, and it took an hour, and cost only 20Rs. It lasted over two weeks.




In the afternoon, Martie, Heather, Josh and I took a tuk to the India Gate monument. It's a large sandstone monument built as a WWI soldier memorial. Julia stayed behind to take a nap. There was a large crowd there. People were selling kids toys, postcards and henna. But, there's not much there other than people watching, so we walked up to the Cultural Emporium.










The emporium is a governmental shopping mall that has several floors of handicrafts, artwork and textiles from all of the Indian states. All of the prices are fixed, there's no one looking over your shoulder or offering help, and all of the products are genuine. Plus, everything was reasonably priced. Something to think about for our next trip.

Because... we tend to pick up souvenirs that are practical; and ways to remember the trip. Like the exact coffee mugs used at the hawker stall coffee shops in Singapore (used everyday, BTW, bought/not stolen), wine glasses from Santorini (we have only one left, so we gotta go back !) or the chapati pan and rolling pin. Yet, a souvenir I wish I had from all of our trips - a plastic 5L carboy of wine from the Valley of the Women in Egar, Hungary - from the sweetest wine caves in the world.... Martie knows what I'm talking about..... :) We almost lost the kids on that trip......ha, ha.

Fatehpur Sikri

Unfortunately, the camera was dead, so these pictures are from the internet... sorry

Fatehpur Sikri is a massive palace complex built on a hill. Below the palace is the city of Fatehpur Sikri that housed the servants of the palace. The complex was built in 1571 out of sandstone quarried locally. As with the Taj, we had to park outside of the palace complex, then take a tuk-tuk ride to the entrance. It really wasn't that long of a walk, and anyway, the palace is on a ridge and the tuk-tuk couldn't go up it with all of us. So the tuk driver took us to the a point where we had to walk up the switchback to the palace entrance.

The palace is built entirely of sandstone, and not much marble. The sandstone from this area is porous and some of it was lighter red and almost white. The porous nature of the stone turned out to be a good thing, many of the paining on the walls were still visible. The grounds also had a kitchen quarters, which naturally, smelled like a public bathroom....

Joshua loved this palace. Lots of places to roam. Lots of staircases to go up and explore. All of the palaces have a hall for public audiences. However, this one was very unique :

As described elsewhere, better than I ever could : famous for its central pillar, which has a square base and an octagonal shaft, both carved with bands of geometric and floral designs, further its thirty-six serpentine brackets support a circular platform for Akbar, which is connected to each corner of the building on the first floor, by four stone walkways. It is here that Akbar had representatives of different religions discuss their faiths and gave private audience.


After exploring the palace awhile, the guide directed us to the massive open Friday Mosque complex. We walked in through the royal gateway. The other entrance, the Buland Darwaza gateway, is massive at 177ft tall. Outside of this gateway was a small bazaar with people selling faded postcards, Taj models and other knick-knacks, with a view of the city below. A spectacular tomb, made of marble, was the focal point of the Mosque complex. To enter, you had to wear a covering over your head and wash up in the pool outside of the tomb. Several people were inside paying their respects to the tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti. The mosque was in some stage of repairs. Nets and scaffolding was set up. It looked like a restoration was going on. Next to the tomb was a large cemetery where an excavation looked to be in progress.

Now, to get inside from the royal entrance, you had to leave your shoes with the shoe wallah. It was starting to become a pain to do this. All of the local Indians would carry their shoes around. But the guide, and his tipping nature, directed us to leave our shoes there with the wallahs. Upon leaving the Mosque, Heather tipped the shoe wallah a 2R coin (for watching our shoes) and the shoe wallah looked up as if to say "What The .....?" The guide came in, pulled out his wallet and gave the wallah a few more rupee coins. The guide then said to the wallah something like "Those American (only part in English) ......" The guide had mentioned that it was a community based on tipping, and he continued to pass along rupees to everyone - from the tuk and buggy drivers (which we paid for) to the shoe wallahs (which we didn't need). That's fine. It was getting to the end of the day and we were getting tired of being swarmed by the faded postcards and the hands in our faces. We had our fill of Fathepur Sikri, and we were getting exhausted of seeing sandstone palaces, no matter how magnificent they were. So after paying the tuk 100Rs... for what....., the guide told us we had to have one; We were finally going back to Agra to hop on a train to Delhi. It was still early yet, we knew that we had a train to catch, and the guide was getting antsy; Either he thought that there was a chance that we could miss it if there was traffic on the highway back ? He mentioned that it could take 3 hours to drive the 30Kms. And it was starting to get dark. Knowing how there would be lots of interesting obstacles for the driver to encounter on the ride back, I think we were all thinking the same thing - it would probably be better driving back while it was still light out. As expected, it was pretty hairy at times : Bikes, bike rickshaws, tractors pulling wagons full of people, none of which had any tail lights.

We passed a large procession of tuk-tuks in a barren field. They were at one of the two Natural Gas filling stations in town. The guide said that the line could go on for over a Km. But, they had plenty of company, there were cows in the field too, with people collecting dung for cow patty production and an expired amusement park ride that looked to have been forgotten.

The road into Agra was even more crowded than before. The food vendors were starting to creep into the road. People were walking all over the street going to the various stalls to buy meals, fruit and veggies. We also passed a part of town that made furniture. Large fallen trees were on the side of the road and workers were cutting them in parts, by hand. On the side of the road, next to the shops were wood tables, stools and chairs for sale, all "Hand Made". Another part of town looked to have old broken down computers and electronic components that people were rummaging through, sorting and deconstructing.

But before our trip to Agra could be complete, and with all of the towns temples and tombs closing, we had to go to a "Museum". We had 2 hours to wait for the train, how bad could it be ? This museum had jewelry, gems and rugs.... and jewelry encrusted rugs. It's kind of funny. They had pictures and autograph books of "celebrities" and foreign dignitaries that had visited this shop and purchased gems and rugs from them..... So, basically, guides have been taking tourists out to the Taj, then forcing them into shops for the past 100 years.

Finally, before going back to the train, we had a chance to wind down at the Gateway hotel. It was a really nice 5-star hotel and while we were there, a wedding party had shown up. Wedding were happening everywhere around the city. Large city blocks were turned into open fields for the celebrations. The driver told us that 90% of the marriages are arranged. He has one daughter and he only works "part time" - when the tourists are around for 6 months of the year - the other 6 months it's too hot or overcome by monsoon. He has to save up 3-4Lakhs (400,000Rs) and invite 1000+ people. All of the weddings are held in large venues and only on preconceived "lucky" days of the year - which are hopefully outside of the monsoon season.....

Our train was one hour late. And our driver insisted that we stay in the truck until it came. He said it was too dangerous out on the platform. We told him that we could hold our own, and excused him with a tip for driving us around. Joshua was exhausted and had fallen asleep in the truck.

Now for a few notes about the train station in Agra, it's 9-10pm :

A small girl in a school uniform with paint on her hands was looking over our shoulder trying to read our guide book, she would mumble something with a bit of a crazed look about her, and she smelled like fresh paint.

Loads of materials in large burlap sacks were on the Delhi bound side of the tracks. Coolies would jump off the platform and walk over the opposite side to drop this material for the South-bound train.

When a trains stops at the station, food wallahs would rush on-board to sell food, then rush off when the train starts to move again, sometimes they would jump off onto the tracks - better watch out for on-coming trains.

There are very few smokers in India. We rarely see anyone with a cigarette.
An infant was crawling around the platform and almost fell off the platform and onto the tracks - the father caught it just as it was going over the edge.

Very depressed looking women with lifeless babies begging for money and giving everyone the evil-eye.
Occasionally a couple of adults would come by to pester you, but you can easily shoo them away, the kids would attach to Joshua, sit at his feet and touch his feet.

There were a lot of Westerners around, and Indians too, waiting for the train. All of the beggars would get rupees from the people on the platform. However, when you start to pass out money, you attract 10 more to pass out to. One westerner rounded up all of the kids and was giving them food. A few adults looked like they were there with the kids, and sort of, looking over them.


The train ride back was in the dark. We couldn't see anything, except for an occasional fire in the fields. At the Delhi train station hoards of people were all over inside and out. The road was again like one big parking lot and the Large Sikh that dropped us off was there, at midnight, to take us home.

Good Brakes, Good Horn, Good Luck

After lunch, we carried on with our touring of Agra. The guide left it up to us to decide what we wanted to see next. He made some suggestions about local sights - The "Mini Mahal" and something else. However, we really wanted to the former capital of Fatehpur Sikri. The guide and the driver didn't look too thrilled, it was 30Km outside of Agra. Had they told us about the driving conditions we would have reconsidered...... But first, they had to show us a "demonstration" of the Mughal craftsmanship - the way the builders of the Taj inlaid the gemstones into the marble. Of course, this was just a way to get us into shops to buy stuff. All of it was extremely beautiful. Large tables of marble inlaid with stones, tiles and elephants were on display for sale. None of it was in our price range.... most of the marble table tops were in the several hundred dollar range. AND, then you have to get it home - in - one - pi.ece..
We made haste in that shop. Got back into the truck and on our way to Fatehpur Sikri.

Now, Agra seemed like a compact version of Delhi, if that's possible. The traffic appeared 10x more congested. The driver commented that...

"To drive in Agra you need three things :
1. Good Brakes
2. Good Horn
3. Good Luck
Drivers in Delhi drive better, they follow the rules; In Agra they don't follow the rules."

Rules ? What rules ? There are rules to driving in India...... ?

I would call driving/riding in Agra as - Very Dangerous. Trucks were loaded inside and out with people. A small family was crammed in the back of a small truck bed, the woman was barfing outside the back of a truck - holding a small child. Motorcycles, buses, tuk-tuks drove by seemingly without noticing. Buses, full to every inch had people sticking out their heads, barfing out the windows (which are bared over, by the way) and motorcycles, cars, tuk-tuks would ride underneath without a bit of care.

The narrow road out to Fatehpur Sakiri was overwhelmed with all forms of transportation. With the typical motorcycle (usually with 3 people) and occasional tuk-tuk (packed) were bicycles (2-3 onboard), carts pulled by cattle/camels, tractors slowly transporting cow dung or people (over-crowded) or both, and all sorts of stuff that shouldn't be on the road. The buses were the biggest obstacles.
Now, everything drives in the MIDDLE of the road; In a way this makes sense, considering that the SUVs are the next to largest, with tour buses the king of the road. Everyone is passing and honking and driving in the middle of the road. Nothing slows down...... unless...

Suddenly a cow appears in the middle of the road.
Our driver carefully slows down, because the cow is still crossing - it wants to get to the other side.
The driver cautiously maneuvers around the cow missing it by a few feet.
The guide and driver smile to each other and appear to have said - "Wow, That Was CLOSE !"

Okay - as you can imagine, with everyone in the middle of the road and passing other vehicles, there were a lot of close calls. And I mentioned in an earlier post that I maybe lost 1/2 a life in Delhi; On this trip I probably lost a few. I really felt that our luck was close to running out on this trip.

Yet, the driver and the guide looked totally unconcerned about this. The SUV that we were in didn't have a single scratch on it. And maybe for a good reason - the driver might not have owned it and he may have had a lot of responsibility driving this thing. Plus, they drive this route, and in this manner, almost everyday hauling tourists.

It just the way things are in a different country.

Agra and the Taj

The train station in Agra was overflowing with people. We didn't immediately find our driver. We had to walk outside in the mass of people to find him. Once we got past the people directing us to their cabs and tour guides, we found who we were looking for - The guy that had a "Heather Foster" sign. The driver loaded us into a very nice and clean Toyota Highlander-clone and cranked on the AC on the way to pick up the guide.

Our guide was a 24 year-old named Gotham..... right, like the Batman movies, which he pointed out. He started out by informing us that Agra, and it's region, has 2.5million people. And since the Indian government has forbidden them from Industrializing, they live off tourism, handy-crafting and tipping.
2.5mil. I can believe it. They are all on the road - walking, tuk-tuking, biking, cabs, trucks, in/on camel and donkey carts. The place is crowded. Tuk-tuks have at minimum 6 people. Trucks have people in/on/on top and hanging on from the back and sides.

FIRST, unfortunately due to sleep deprivation and jet-lag, I forgot to recharge the battery on my camera. One of those D'OH-slap-yourself-on-the-head moments. I think I took too much video on the train.

We drove to the entrance of the Taj - well actually, you can't get a car that close to it. About a 1/2 mile away is where you buy your tickets to get in. The tickets were 500Rs for Heather and I and Joshua was free. The tickets included a bag with booties, for when walking on the marble, and a plastic bottle of water. A battery powered car takes you to the Taj "entrance" but you still have to walk past hawkers selling postcards, books, and trinkets. The guide told us to "watch out for them, look straight ahead and ignore them". The guide then gave the tickets to the guard at the gate and kept the tickets.

The guide, naturally, knew his history. Heather and I get very easily bored with the names/dates - plus the guide seemed to chatter on to the point that it became a bit of a distraction. I tried to be polite, but he easily noticed Heather's lack of interest. We really wanted to take it in at our pace. Enjoy it for what it was. Heather was there 20 years ago, so maybe she was trying to reminisce about her last trip there. Simply put, the Taj is such an incredible sight - all surrounding noise, like a chattering guide, gets toned out.
It was a Monday, so the crowds were light. The guide noted that on the weekends, it could take several hours to get in and see anything. Guides and groups were everywhere. Pictures every second.

As I mentioned above, I didn't pay too much interest in the history of the Taj, and Wiki is naturally a great source for more info.

The Taj grounds are large. You start off by passing through a large gateway, When you pass the threshold your breath is taken away by the size and beauty of the Taj tomb. The layout of the grounds is symmetrical, so from anywhere on he garden grounds, your focus is on the Taj.

The garden grounds were for the most part clean. Pools, reflecting pools, fountains, tree and flower lined avenues are symmetrically placed around the garden grounds. The only thing that set it off from being perfect was the green, stagnant water and an occasional sock in a pool, and of course, garbage on the ground. However, there were lots of people around to keep the place as tidy as one could when visited by over 3million people a year.


So much detail went into the construction of this tomb. It's made entirely of Marble that is semi-translucent. The entire complex is covered in inlaid precious jewels and massive inlaid calligraphy. The domes are a true marvel - all interior sections were cut in a diamond pattern. Much was mentioned by the guide that the British destroyed and removed many of the gemstones from the Taj. Since then, generations of workers have passed along the trade of restoring and maintaining the Taj and it's jewels. I think the guides knew each other pretty well. Our guide walked us into the tomb and another guide handed him a small flashlight. With the flashlight he could show us the translucency of the marble and the reflective-ness of the jewels inlaid into the marble. No pictures were allowed in the Taj and the only light in there was the natural light from the outside.
The floor of the Taj and the floor around the Taj is made of marble. So, we had to wear our red booties when we were in those areas. The tourists got their booties when they bought their tickets. The Indian tourists using the other gate didn't; Instead, they "rent" booties from a booth next to the Taj - next to the garbage cans where tourists dispose of their booties. I think they are free, yet, tipping is big here, and our guide passed a few rupee coins to the guy manning the booth.

The North end of the Taj provides a spectacular view of the Yamuna river, even on this overcast day. And unfortunately, we couldn't see the Agra Fort in the distance. To the West of the tomb is was a mosque and to the East an identical looking "mosque", but since it's not facing Mecca, it was used as a guest house. On Fridays the Taj is closed to tourists. It is a day that Muslims can come to and use the mosque for prayer. A pool is outside the mosque to allow people to wash themselves off before entering the mosque. Fridays are also the days that the descendants of the Taj builders come in to make repairs and fix broken and removed sections of the inlay.

Exiting the Taj grounds I noticed an additional entrance - the one used my the Indian people. It looked like the city butted against the outer walls of the Taj grounds - darn, it was the Kaserat Bazar. Google map to the Taj, it's a really cool view !
Again it was back through the crowded hawker lane to the battery buggy. This time Joshua made eye contact and was pestered by a guy selling these cool looking folding globes. His price went from really high to 3 for really cheap. Intentionally, they stall the buggy out to all all of the hawkers to do their selling. Most tourist were walking away with all kinds of stuff. Then, on the way back to the truck, we had to pass along and drop off tourists at a "more civilized" hawker area... and then as we were getting in the truck, the guide passed in more postcards, guide books and knick-knacks before we could drive out.

That's life. I don't have any issues with it - it's not our thing to load up with tons of crap on every trip we make. Even if, to us, everything sold was only a buck or two. The hawking really is persistently irritating - even if you buy something - which is usually worse, because once you open your wallet, you are pounced on. And despite how ragged the hawkers look, just stand around and watch, they do sell a lot of stuff.

From the Taj, we drove to Agra Fort, considered the most important fort in India - the place where vast treasures were kept.
The driver dropped us off in the road out front. Again the tourists, locals and hawkers were swarming. A moat surrounds the fort, you have to cross a drawbridge to get to the entrance gate. After entering the gateway you climb a long, steep walkway to the grounds. Monkeys were walking along the top of the walkway.

For some reason, the first thing that you see is a very large - nearly 5ft tall - sandstone bathtub. Why ? It belonged to a Mughal emperor .... Even though it was gated off, people were still trying to get inside of the tub for photo-ops.
Past the bathtub we entered into the wives palace, the Jahangiri Mahal.

There was a large space between the inner and the outer walls of the fort. The guide told us that the Yamuna river used to run next to the fort. Poisonous snakes resided in the moat. If you could make it past the moat and over the 60ft (?) outer wall, you would have had "dangerous animals" to deal with before scaling the even taller inner wall. Of course, the dangerous animals were also useful to hunt for. Almost all of the fort was in sandstone. Only the Mughals personal quarters were in marble..... which was quite a lot marble. There was an enormous slab of black granite (?) used to hold the throne. It was cracked during the 1857 Indian rebellion by a cannon ball that bounced off and left a nice size hole in the Musamman Burj, the tower facing the Taj.

Many great Mughals lived here. The legend : and I won't bore you with the history - A Mughal King built the Taj for his wife, his wife died and she was buried in the Taj; Then the Mughal king was imprisoned in this fort by his son, and he could see the Taj from the marble, gold and gemstone inlaid tower that he was imprisoned in.... something like that... sorry.

It was overcast the day that we were there, - but there were stunning views of the Taj from the fort. The fort contained large recessed courtyards ( the grape garden) where the "maidens" frolicked and played hide-and-seek. Apparently the loser of the games was the "maiden" of the day. The guide was telling us this, for his enjoyment or ours, true or not ? Or stories passed on by childhood locals.
Other sites within the fort was the Nagina Masjid or ladies mosque; A creepy, dark and narrow stairway that had 11 steps (a significance to Mughal architecture) that lead from the royal quarters to the Diwan-i-Am; and a very large marble and jeweled area for the emperors to court the people, the Diwan-i-Am.


Only 20% of the fort is open to the public. The government and the military uses the rest.

Tomb and palace touring was starting to wear on us, and we were ready for some lunch - which we had at a really nice 5-star Gateway hotel. It was buffet style and when we showed up, a large tour group of Europeans had already started... and obnoxiously started drinking beer. The buffet had a tasty selection of Indian food, and also the (bland) Asian noodles and Irish mutton stew. Freshly prepared Naan and chickpea naan was passed around.

It turned out to be a quick bite, we wanted enough time to get out to Fatehpur Sikri - the former Mughal capital some 30Km outside the city.

The Train to Agra

We took the 1st class train to Agra, where the Taj Mahal is. Distance by train is 195Km; This turned out to be a great way to see the countryside.
Joshua, Heather and I woke up at 4am. It wasn't too hard. We are still jet-lagged and I think we got to sleep early the night before. A taxi driver picked us up at 5:30am. The streets were almost empty. In Delhi it's hard to watch the scenery go by in a taxi. We could never be familiar with the city, or it's layout. There are so many round-a-bouts that eventually everything in the darkness starts to blend in together and you soon feel like you are driving in circles. Eventually we took a turn onto what looked to be a parking lot in the middle of the road. The driver stopped the car. There are people, naturally, peeing the wall next to the car; You have to AVOID the "puddles" in the road.... especially in the dark. The entire "parking lot" smelled like one large latrine.
The driver kindly escorted us to the train station and told us the exact place where he would pick us up later, 18 hours later. We didn't carry anything with us, other than a small bag with guide books, journals and cameras.
The floor of the train station was a maze of people.... really A Maze. People were camped out on blankets; Some sleeping, some not; Kids, older folks, adults.

To get to the platforms, you have to walk through a metal detector and pass baggage through a scanner.
The line was long. Some people were carrying large bags of stuff over their heads..... Not to worry..... the driver promptly escorted us to the front of the line, through the narrow opening between the line of people and the gate and past the security check point. No one seemed to notice or care - as if White Foreigners have special permission to do this all of the time. The driver then instructed us to the exact place to find our train car and told us to wait for the train.... Right..... then he was gone, like a ghost. And at 5am in Delhi... who knows, it could possibly have been a dream.
By the way, we handed this very nice escort our cash in $US, and he handed us an envelope with 2 photocopied pieces of paper. One train ticket to Agra, One back.

Then out of the darkness, and within minutes of our arrival, the train came out of nowhere, and on time. From the outside the train looked tired and blue. Inside, it was like an airplane. The rows were 2 seats on one side, 3 on the other. The seats were large, spacious and there was a seat-back tray to use. Heather and Joshua had 2 of the 3 seat section, I was across from them. I didn't have anyone next to me, so I had plenty of room. Joshua is a stubborn kid, he stayed in his assigned seat.

Like an airline flight, the ride included a snack and a breakfast. A tea and biscuit service was first, with a newspaper and a bottle of water. Then the breakfast. The breakfast was actually really good. It came on a tray with small cardboard packages sealed with a foil cover - remember school lunches ? We had a veggie cutlet or paneer (cheese) cutlet that looked like a perogi - loaded with steamed carrots, peas, coriander seeds, cilantro and green chillies. The cutlet looked fried on the outside and soft inside. Came with bread, butter and marmalade. The drink was a 7-up type of lemonade.


Having a window seat gave me an opportunity to see the landscape between Delhi and Agra. And there was a lot to see.

The fields along the route looked clean and very green, but I have no idea what was growing in them. Some of the fields were surrounded with large concrete or corrugated metal fencing. Large wood/leaf huts were scattered along the fields - for storage ? Egrets were standing in fields that appeared to be more water-logged.

The railroad tracks had a "walking path" next to it that ran the entire length between Delhi and Agra. It seemed like a highway, a major route to get between the small towns and shanties. Naturally, the entire length was strewn with trash; Run down with free animals, broken homes in partial construction, loose kids and garbage by the heaps. Herds of cattle and goats were eating out of large dumps of garbage - that were usually located next to a significant water source. I say source, because none of it seemed to be "in place", as if the garbage was the source of the water. People were also rummaging trough the dumps. Piles of cow patties were drying next to the tracks in heaps and stacks, a major source of fuel and income in rural parts of India.

It's morning, so naturally people are awake doing their "personal" #1/#2 business, which regardless of the train moving or not, no one seemed to mind doing it - or seeing it - in the open. It's sad the way things are in this part of India... and it really makes me thankful for what we have in the U.S. . Working sanitation and clean running water.