The Road to the Taj Mahal

                Writer’s block is dangerous. It’s dangerous because it not only keeps a writer from accomplishing his goal and passion but also, in the long run, allows the writer to forget precious details about what it is he has to write about. The week after my last post I went through that, and had a hard time picking my mind, trying to scoop up every detail about the rest of my trip throughout Rajasthan and eventually, much to my shame, I gave up trying and decided that it simply wasn’t the right time to write and that “tomorrow” would bring a new sunrise and with it new inspiration. Tomorrow came and the day after, so did the respective sunrises but unfortunately, no inspiration. Tomorrow turned into the last weeks of my stay in India, and as the last week approached I couldn’t be bothered to write... you were leaving, how could I even consider wasting precious time with you on something as trivial as this? And yet, you thought otherwise. You saw this blog as something important to me, to who I am, and you urged me on, gave me words of encouragement and believed that if I tried hard enough, I could find what I needed to kick start that inspiration into action. It’s been a week since we said good-bye at the airport and it only took the walk back to the car to realize that the inspiration I had needed had been with me the whole time... Alli, this post goes to you. I love you.

                There’s nothing quite like a road trip, especially if you’re with friends. December 5^th brought with it an incredible start to our particular road trip. Only in a country like India will you plan to wake at 06h00, on a Sunday morning, to beat traffic and thus assure that crossing a 200Km distance will only take five hours! For this part of the trip we rented a vehicle and, contrary to the Indian custom, our driver met us that morning at 7am sharp as agreed. He introduced himself as Ras – short for Rasander – and I almost immediately took a liking to him, mostly because he didn’t have the look of someone who was trying to work out exactly how much money he could swindle out of us, unlike what I’d grown accustomed to by Taxi and Tuk-Tuk drivers all around, and also from anyone who had something to sell. Now if you’re planning on visiting India anytime soon and wish to travel around the Golden Triangle (Delhi, Agra and Jaipur) I strongly recommend renting a car and, if possible, go for Kalka Travels and ask for Rasander. Ras is one of the kindest and most honest people I’ve ever met and will forever remain as someone who contributed to making my trip to India that much better.



Rasander

All set and ready we took off toward the province of Uttar Pradesh and started what was one of the most fun and incredible journeys I have ever had. Hardly an hour into our journey Ras surprised us by suddenly pulling up alongside the road, right in front of an 80ft statue of the God Krishna. Now unlike any other sight we visited throughout our trip, this statue is actually quite young, only two or three years have gone by since it was built. Aside from its size and the fact that it’s in the middle of no-where, what made this statue such an incredible sight was the fact that – according to Ras – it was fully paid for by local lower class farmers and farm folk. As you walk up to the statue you’ll find a small sign written in chalk, asking you to “Please Remove Your Shoes” before stepping onto the path that leads up its base. As there is literally nothing or no one else around, one could easily walk up to the statue in footwear, and to hell with taking shoes off at 08h00 on a cold morning... yet something compels you to. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that some higher power was at play, but perhaps a deep sense of respect for the people who no doubt went thought painstaking efforts and sacrifices to make this statue possible. It takes less than five minutes to see and yet, I found myself remembering it throughout our trip more often than I’d have expected to.

A few hours ahead Ras surprised us once again when he stopped an hour outside of Agra in a small town called Sikandra, which is home to Akbar’s Tomb, a sight none of us knew was even on the way, despite having our friendly Lonely Planet guide with us. Akbar was a Mughal Emperor who lived during the late 16^th century and was responsible for a number of constructions that not only led to Agra becoming the capital of the Mughal Empire for over two centuries, but also inspired countless other constructions that followed, including the Taj Mahal. Among these Fathepur Sikri stands out as his greatest construction but we’ll get back to this in a bit. Much like the tombs Allison and I had already visited in Delhi, Akbar’s Tomb was mainly built out of red sandstone and true to the style of the Era is perfectly symmetrical. Now because of its proximity to Agra, wherein lie the famous Taj Mahal and Red Fort, Akbar’s Tomb might possibly go unnoticed by most and ignored by others, however if you’re planning on visiting India and you have the time I strongly recommend stopping at Sikandra and paying this sight a visit, not only for whose tomb it holds but also for its amazing architecture – which eventually inspired other great constructions like the Taj itself – and the gardens that surround it.

According to the information plaques at the entrance, these gardens are called a “Charbagh” and are characterized by being enclosed and divided into four quarters, each of these representing one of Life’s stages. This particular garden is home to a large number of Macaques and Dear, which roam freely and add to the beauty. All in all, a nice way to enjoy a short break after a four and a half hour drive and, a small taste of what was still to come!

Once in Agra it didn’t take long for us to find our hotel, the Saniya Palace, and by now we were all pretty excited, as it is famed for its terrace restaurant and view of the Taj Mahal. Now, Amritsar aside, I have no complaints whatsoever regarding the quality of the Hotels at which I made reservations, only about their practises... in particular the Saniya Palace. Whenever you look up a hotel online, on websites such as TripAdvisor.com or HotelBookings.com, almost every single hotel will have good and bad reviews, in different measures yes but they will be there. Knowing this and accepting it makes for choosing a hotel a whole lot easier, because you seek out those that have the least amount of bad reviews and the higher praises on the positive ones. When preparing for my trip to India, the Hotel Saniya Palace was one such Hotel, not to mention the only budget Hotel I’d come across that included breakfast in the tariff. However, the night we got back from Amritsar, Thomas and I decided to confirm all the details about the various places we would be staying at throughout our journey and we noticed that two new reviews had been put up for the Saniya Palace, both less than a couple of weeks old. I would love to say that the reviews were smashing and encouraging, but unfortunately they weren’t. The most recent reviewer complained that he’d arrived at the Hotel and was told that his room had been given to someone else and, given its proximity to the Taj Mahal, the hotel was now fully booked. As I explained in my last post, when travelling to and around India, one has to be ready to accept that plans aren’t going to go smoothly and may have to be changed at the last minute, something that happens more often than not. Let us call this the Indian Factor.  On one hand I felt that I didn’t have to worry, I’d given the hotel a call only a couple of days before and they’d confirmed both the rooms I’d reserved would be available, but on the other hand I couldn’t deny that the Indian Factor seemed to loom quite darkly over this hotel, so we began looking for alternative places to stay, just in case.

An interesting aspect of the Indian Factor is that the lower your budget the higher the odds are of it taking effect on any plans you may have made. Curiously enough it was precisely the budget issue that allowed Thomas and I to be prepared for a rather unpleasant instance in which the Indian Factor took place quite resoundingly. In my last post I mentioned how Thomas and his girlfriend are travelling around the world and, as you can imagine this means they’re on quite a tight budget. Respecting this, I sought out the best budget hotels I could find based on user reviews on-line and Thomas in turn understood and respected my wishes to have a minimum degree of comfort during my vacation with my girlfriend.  Unfortunately, due to our recent experience in Amritsar – where the hotel tariff didn’t meet the hotel standards – Thomas felt that we should confirm the details of all the hotels I’d booked in advance, which turned out to be quite useful indeed. By now most of you have guessed what obviously happened to us. We arrived at said “palace” and were greeted by its “ruler” – who seemed shocked to see that we’d made it to Agra, let alone his hotel – who proceeded to inform us that the two rooms I had reserved four weeks prior and confirmed only two days earlier, weren’t available because the guests in one room were sick and bed bound and no explanation was brought forward as to why the other room wasn’t available either. Thank goodness for TripAdvisor.com... Had I not read the reviews that described exactly what had happened to us I might have actually believed him, but the truth is this is India and all this man is interested in is making money and not much about keeping a good reputation for his hotel. Luckily I was prepared for this so, not allowing it to bother us, we simply walked out of the Hotel with the addresses for the other hotels already in hand. As we reconvened with Ras and discussed which hotels would be in our best interest, he suggested that we forego those on my list and opt for one closer to the Taj instead, explaining that the best time to visit it is as soon as the gates open, and so we would want to be as close as possible to avoid the queues. Curiously enough we had a bunch of locals hovering around us, doing their best to convince us to stay at their hotels, promising comfort and quality and guaranteeing low prices, all around. We decided to visit the hotel closest to us, not only because it was considerably inexpensive – only Rs.400 (less than $10) a night – but also because they were the only ones to claim having hot water.

Road outside the Taj Mahal

After a brief inspection of the rooms it took us no time at all to decide that this particular hotel was even shabbier than the one in Amritsar, however by now neither of us could be bothered with searching for something better and we all agreed that this was as good as it was going to get. The rooms weren’t clean but they weren’t filthy, the hot water ended up being a fib but it was at least lukewarm, and finally to make up for all that was unpleasant the rooms did have cable TV with a couple of western movie channels. The rest of the afternoon was spent in our respective rooms, not only because we were quite tired from the trip but also because Laura and I were coming down with a cold and decided it would be best to recover as much as we could for the next day – visiting the Taj Mahal.

Now before moving on I feel I should explain a bit about the area that surrounds the west wall of Taj Mahal. Whenever you see the Taj on television you’re almost always presented with a view of magnificence and immaculateness but, quite understandably, you’re hardly ever presented with the filth and poverty that surrounds the Taj itself. By this stage, and thanks to my experience in Amritsar, I was no longer affected by culture shock, so I wasn’t at all appalled or put off by the dirty streets, filthy cows and loud hagglers, however I was somewhat surprised by the macaques that roam the rooftops of Agra. Personally, I rather enjoyed watching these little critters running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop but the truth is they are quite bothersome to the locals on a daily basis and also the tourists who might want to enjoy a nice meal or drink on any give roof terrace... like the four us on our first day. At the end of our long day we decided to enjoy the wine we’d brought with us, along with the sunset and the view of the Taj. However, no sooner had we set our table, we were suddenly charged by a fairly sized macaque who seemed to be going for the wine bottle we’d just put on top of the table. Luckily this Pinot Noir aficionado primate missed his target but, from there on out, whenever we were on a rooftop we’d be on a constant vigil for any others like him. The rest of our first night in Agra was spent enjoying an amazing dinner at the Saniya Palace – no hard feelings were harboured as you can see – with an even more spectacular view of the Taj by night, made better when all the lights around the area went out, leaving the Taj perfectly outlined by the glow of the city behind it.

Rooftop view of the Taj

Taj Mahal by night

The next day our alarms went off at 05h00 and, by 05h30 we were out in the cold making our way through the empty streets to the Taj’s west entrance. After waiting for a considerable period of time – tickets are supposed to start being sold from 06h00 and we only got ours at 06h45, despite being the first in line – we finally made our way to the entrance and after a brief security inspection we were allowed through. Now as you walk into the Taj Mahal’s perimeter, you don’t immediately see it as access to the charbagh is made only through a narrow passage way at the main gateway, the Darwaza. As you walk towards this entrance you begin to see the Taj through its massive archway and you’re gradually presented with its stunning magnificence that leaves no doubt as to why this is – and forever should remain – a World Wonder. One of the hardest trials of writing this particular post was finding the words to describe the Taj, words that I’m afraid still fail to do it justice, so please take into consideration that no picture, no travel guide or blog and no person – no matter how educated or knowledgeable – can ever prepare you for the overwhelming feeling you get once you’re there.
Ras had been right, if there is any time of day that is best suited to visit the Taj it’s at Sunrise, as you’re presented with a number of different shades of white as the sunlight reflects of this mausoleum’s surface, while it rises higher in the air; there is also hardly a sound, not only due to the early hours and the isolation from the city itself, but also because all those around you are just as awe struck, each doing their best to drink in as much of it as they can, as if it might all suddenly vanish and prove to have been nothing but a dream. To be honest during my entire time at the Taj I kept waiting for it to dawn on me that I was actually there, I couldn’t quite come to terms with it. Allison, who was visiting the Taj for a second time, explained to me that she felt much the same.

History speaks of the Taj Mahal as a monument that was built out of Love, a show of love that almost brought the nation to ruin. Three and a half centuries later that love carries on, transformed and apparent in the face of every single local or native that walks past you. Whereas the tourists will gaze upon this mausoleum with a look of complete and utter astonishment, the Indians will gaze upon on it with infinite pride. If ever there were a handful of symbols that best reflected the culture and perseverance of a nation, the Taj Mahal is certainly a contender for the title of Champion.

Taj Mahal at 07h00

On this particular day we were doubly fortunate, as a blanket of mist kept rolling in the from Yamuna river, shrouding the Taj with an air of mysticism – pardon the pun – making this sight all the more spectacular. Our first half hour there was easily spent regarding it from a distance, slowly easing our way toward the tomb itself, like one would while walking up to an animal grazing not wanting to scare it off or, in this particular case, wanting to enjoy it for as much and as long as possible. Another fantastic aspect of the charbagh are the reflection pools that run along its length and divide it into its distinctive quarters, and at the center you’ll find a raised square platform with a fountain with a bench on each side, facing the direction of the pools, from which some of the most common pictures of the Taj Mahal are often taken.

Reflection Pool

Its reflection on these pools is perfect, and can only be fully appreciated when the fountains that are laid along their length aren’t working and the water is completely still. Little by little though, more people walk in and the beautiful silence is gradually consumed by clicks and flashes of powerful cameras and you move on forwards and witness something new. The tomb that already seemed gigantic from afar now appears colossal as you reach its base! I found myself thinking ‘no wonder it took over twenty years to build...’

Yamuna Fog

As we walked around the mausoleum, the mist, which by now had almost entirely faded, was replaced by a dense fog that rolled in from the Yamuna, so dense in fact that it covered all but the dome of the Taj and its surrounding minarets, thus allowing for even more magnificent pictures before we finally headed to the inner chamber. Now, as I mentioned before, Allison had already been to the Taj, on a previous visit with her family almost a year before, only back then they visited the Taj in the early afternoon, a time at which it’s teeming with people and so, if one wishes to visit the inner chamber of the mausoleum one might wait up to two hours at least, as the queue can circle around the tomb twice, and so they did. We on the other hand had to wait only a handful of minutes before walking into the darkened chamber. No pictures are allowed to be taken in here – a rule that most tourists pointedly ignored – which is regrettable as the interior of the Taj is without a shadow of doubt a masterpiece of its own.

Jaali Archway

At this stage I must confess that, had I gone alone or with someone who didn’t have the same cultured eye as my girlfriend, I might not have appreciated the chamber’s true beauty. As we walked in it was almost completely covered in darkness, as the sun wasn’t yet high enough in the sky to bathe the chamber in natural light – a downside to visiting at such early hours I guess – but enough light came through to allow us to appreciate the intricate perforated marble windows – known as Jaali screens – as well as the inlaid precious and semiprecious gemstones that cover the surrounding walls and reflect what little light managed to come through, along with amazing plant motifs and carved pattern works along the archways. At one point a tour guide pulled us aside and placed the tip of a pen-light against an inlaid green gemstone, shaped in the form of a vine, allowing the light to travel through it and momentarily breaking the darkness with a beautiful green glow. Exactly at the center of the inner chamber are the cenotaphs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shan Jahan – respectively the wife in memory of whom the Taj Mahal was built and her husband, the Mughal emperor at the time – surrounded by a 6ft octagonal Jaali screen with an opening at two of the sides that allowed us to view the cenotaphs themselves, which following the chamber and the mausoleum’s decoration are extremely intricately decorated with inlaid gemstones and Islamic calligraphy. It took us less than ten minutes to visit the inner chamber, but we stayed around the Taj and its gardens for another hour, simply enjoying its splendour and basking in the sunlight as we idly walked about.

Alli at what she does best!

But as the saying goes, all good things come to an end and when the area began getting fairly crowded we took up and left, still mesmerized by what and how much we’d seen in what now seemed an incredibly short amount of time.

I wish I could say that the rest of our stay at the city was as pleasant, but unfortunately Laura and I still hadn’t fully recovered so it was mostly spent in our dingy hotel recovering for our trip to the city of Jaipur the next day. We left Agra the next day, agreeing that it wasn’t the most appealing of cities but knowing that our visit to the Taj Mahal will forever remain as one of our most cherished memories of this trip.