India: Agra

February 7, 2016

I woke up at 5:00 a.m., far before my alarm was set at 6:00, and couldn’t fall back asleep. So I used the time to catch up on some reading and call family before we left at 7:00 for Agra. We had packed our bags the night before, and headed downstairs; the hotel had arranged a driver for us for the four-day trip we were embarking on. First we would head to Agra, to see the Taj Mahal, and then head to Jaipur. The hotel was kind enough to pack us breakfast in to-go boxes, which turned out to include sandwiches (crusts cut off!) of coleslaw, fruit, pastries, and orange juice. An odd combination, but the loving quirkiness made it charming. (My first meal here without paneer!) The drive to Agra took about 3 hours, and I slept most of the way.

The streets that we drove through upon entering the city were much more like the scenes I had read about in travel guides, very different from cosmopolitan Delhi. Streets were shared by a mix of cars, rickshaws, tractors, pedi-cabs, cows, goats, motorcyclists, monkeys, and of course pedestrians. Cows! Monkeys! Welcome to India, for real. We saw all sorts of shops, homes, and businesses jumbled together on the street, and my eyes were glued to the window the whole time. When we commented on the monkeys, our driver told us that they’ll eat fruit if you give it to them. So we pulled over, and Mike reached out a hand with an uneaten apple from breakfast. Sure enough, a monkey leapt onto the windshield, grabbed the apple right out of his hand, and jumped back onto the wall where it sat happily eating.

We took a bridge across the Yamuna River, and could see large colorful squares on the banks below. Upon taking a closer look, we realized that it was people doing laundry. The swatches of color were sheets and clothing, but they made up a huge patchwork across the banks. The river runs very dry for most of the year, except for monsoon season in the summer.

When we finally got close to the Taj Mahal, we picked up the tour guide that the hotel had set us up with. We rode to the entry point, bought our tickets, and took the taxi bus to the Taj complex itself. The government tries to limit driving near the Taj to decrease pollution, which darkens the white marble. After a quick ride and the requisite security screening, we entered through the east gate into the gardens in front of the red sandstone gateway.

The perimeter walls and gateway were made of the same red sandstone that we had seen at Humayun’s Tomb yesterday. It’s a gorgeous stone: clay-like red in tone, with dots, splotches, and streaks of a creamy white in some pieces. The gateway had similar motifs as the Taj itself, with inlays of Islamic scripture and flowers. Our guide explained what all of the stones were and where they were from: malachite green for the vines, onyx for the lettering, coral for the red flowers, tiger eye for yellow flowers, and reflective pieces of shell, among many others. The intricacy of the detailing was incredible throughout the entire complex.

Once we proceeded through the gate, the sight of the Taj Mahal greeted us across a long complex of symmetrically planned gardens and pools. It looked creamy white in the morning light, reflected in the pools and framed by the landscaping, set against the hazy Agra sky. The Taj is set on a tall plinth, and framed by 4 minarets. The minarets lean slightly outward, legend has it to protect the Taj from damage during an earthquake. There are two identical buildings to the east and west of the Taj; one is a mosque, and the other was built purely to maintain symmetry. It was used by the British during their occupation, but now sits empty. Both buildings are of red sandstone, with inlay work and domes similar to the Taj.

We approached the Taj, stopping at various points along the pools and landscaping to take advantage of the perfectly framed and reflected views. When we reached the Taj itself, we had to wear shoe covers that had been handed to us with our tickets. We walked up the stairs and walked around the base of the building, marveling at the intricate inlay work and stone carving. We stepped through a doorway set within a carved marble screen, and entered the main room. Two tombs sat in the center, surrounded by a marble screen. The screen itself was made up of marble panels, cut from single pieces of stone into lace-like lattice work, each design different. The tombs (replicas of the originals, which are located many meters below) were made up of layer and layer of inlay work.The walls of the room had more inlay work and Islamic scriptures. Although the Taj Mahal looks big, the interior room is quite small and was extremely crowded, so we didn’t stay for too long. We walked through the perimeter rooms, which were far less ornate, and exited onto the platform at the north, with a view of the river. We admired the mirror of the mosque from the platform, then descended back down to the gardens and made our way out. (Later in the day, the four of us agreed that we felt like our tour guide had rushed us through the grounds. Although he was nice, he didn’t give too much more information than what we had already read… from here on out, we’re going at our own pace and doing audio guides.)

Our guide took us to a showroom where artisans practice the same stone inlay techniques utilized on the Taj Mahal. We got a brief demonstration of the techniques used, explaining the labor that goes into making a panel. The inlay pieces are cut to shape, laid on top of the marble and traced, and then the marble is chiseled away to accept the inlay pieces, which are set with a glue. The artist gave stone bindis to Paula and me, and then we went into the showroom. The owner showed us the difference in semi-precious stones used, and explained how the yellow tiger eye from India is translucent, and allows light to pass through differently than the other stones. We walked through the showroom and although the salesmen were pretty pushy, Potter and I decided that we liked the table tops enough to get one. We chose an octagonal piece with blue and orangish yellow flowers. The table comes with a wood octagonal base carved with patterned screens. It will get shipped to us in NY, and we can’t wait to set it up in our living room! The showroom also had dining room table-sized pieces, which I’m sure cost a fortune, but maybe one day when we’re rich and famous… They were stunning!

Our guide then took us to a place for lunch. It was becoming clear that he must be getting kick-backs for bringing us in and any purchases we made, but we liked the table so much that we weren’t offended. The lunch place was definitely only patronized by tourists, but the prices were reasonable and the food turned out to be delicious so it was alright. We sat outside near a little stage that had been set up to put on marionette performances, which were so incredibly cheesy and a clear tourist trap. We laughed at the other tourists who got suckered in, especially when the marionettes started “singing,” which sounded more like a dying bird. Anyway, our food was good, but by the end of lunch we were exhausted and headed in to our hotel.

We’re staying at the Gateway Hotel, and it became clear that carved screens and marble inlay are the dominant motifs of Agra. There are shops everywhere selling pieces similar to what we bought, the hotel lobby was full of inlay tables, and the screens are everywhere, even in cheap knock-off form on the guardrails of the highways! The headboard in our room has inlay- it’s everywhere. We took some down time at the hotel to nap, read up in our Lonely Planet guide, and journal. Outside of our room we could see a wedding event being set up next door- complete with colorful lights and blaring music. For dinner we kept it low key and went to the hotel restaurant. It ended up being one of the best meals of the trip so far! I had a milky drink (which I thought was a salad when I ordered it) of almonds, cardamom, spices, and fruit- it tasted a bit like a spicy ginger cookie and was delicious. Potter and I shared a saffron parantha which was slightly sweetened and also tasty, and I had a tandoori dish consisting of hollowed out potatoes filled with a mixture of paneer, cashews, pomegranate seeds, and other nuts and spices. It was the most unusual food I’ve had so far (except for maybe the lychee) and I loved it. Everyone else’s meals were a hit as well! After eating we walked around the grounds for a bit. There’s a beautiful pool, grassy lawns, and of course, the wedding going on next door (oontz, oontz, oontz, oontz).

February 8, 2016

We woke up, had breakfast at the hotel, then headed off to the Agra Fort. Apparently it’s the largest intact fort in all of India, and is not one to be missed. We were torn between seeing the fort and getting to Jaipur earlier, but I’m glad we stayed for the fort because it was indeed impressive. We did an audio guide, which proved very useful and informative (so far we’ve had great experiences with them). The fort was constructed by Mughal emperor Akbar in 1565. We wandered the grounds through various gates, halls, gardens, palace rooms, and courtyards. White marble, red sandstone, and stone inlay have been the themes lately on our trip. The fort also afforded faint views of the Taj across the river through the mist (or was it smog?). While exploring we spotted many more green parakeets and a couple monkeys scaling the walls, too.

Our next stop was Fatehpur Sikri, an abandoned city 40 km past Agra that served as the capital of the Mughal empire from 1571 just until 1585. It took us a while to find the audio guide (we were determined to avoid the live tour guides who kept harassing us to sell their services), and by the time we were all set up we had traversed the entire complex, gotten lost, and had to replace a broken audio guide. But after many laughs about how ridiculous everything was, we were finally set up and ready to go. At this point, we’re feeling very well-versed in the main elements that make up an ancient fort or city in India: you have the welcoming hall, where the emperor made announcements, greeted public visitors, and heard grievances; the gardens; the social and residential areas; and the mosque. We didn’t make it to the mosque at Fatehpur Sikri, but you can’t do it all. The city is carved red sandstone, and I had lots of fun photographing and sketching all of the wonderful details and framed views.

On our way back to the bus we passed through some markets where vendors were practically harassing you to come in, but Paula had spotted some elephant pants and I had seen some shoes I liked, so we decided to take the plunge and try our hand at some haggling. The shoes ended up being pretty crappy quality, but I did find some purses that I liked. The key in haggling is quote a very low price, and then walk away like you’re not interested when the merchant says no. Once you start to walk, he’ll lower his price; I got him down from 1,200 rupees for one purse to 1,500 for two. Not bad! Paula got her pants, too, so it was a successful mission. We got back in the car, and our driver took us to a hotel someone had recommended for a (very late) lunch. The food was nothing special, but it was nice to sit out in a little grassy oasis to relax for a little while.

I had the front seat in the car for this leg of the trip, and the views fascinated me. India is so large and so dense, and I again found myself unable to sleep because I kept wanting to watch everything. Things that we saw:

• Motorcycles with men in heavy jackets and helmets driving, with women with fabulously colorful saris sitting side saddle on the back, their clothing flapping in the breeze
• Cows, goats, sheep, pigs
• A cow lounging in the middle of the road (it gave zero fucks)
• Camels pulling carts
• Tractors pulling carts
• Small towns of simple 1-2 story structures that would appear out of nowhere along the highway, and then disappear as quickly as they had come into view
• A distinct lack of road rage. Although the driving is ridiculous, no one seems to take it to heart when another car honks at them or cuts them off.
• Brick factories, with kiln chimneys reaching high into the sky spewing dark clouds
• Yellow fields of mustard plants
• Small-scale temples with distinctive tall, squared domes, often only 1 story tall
• Tons and tons of trucks with elaborate paint jobs. We got stuck in a toll booth line for quite a while, and I had fun taking pictures of all the different designs. Which of course elicited stares from the truck drivers to see a white girl with a fancy camera in the middle of India, but oh well.
• The trucks also kept cracking us up with their horns. Horns here aren’t like they are in the States; they are higher pitched downright musical, whining arpeggios as they roll down the highway. We joked that it almost sounds as if the driver has a keyboard on the dash!
• A surprising amount of drivers (both motorcycles and cars) driving on the wrong side of the road, usually in the shoulder, for no apparent reason
• Trucks loaded up with cargo covered in stretched white plastic so high and so wide they looked like marshmallows bursting at the seams

Upon nearing Jaipur, our driver told me that he didn’t know where exactly he was going in the city and asked me to navigate. It’s a good thing T-Mobile gives us free data abroad! Once we got into the city, the main artery through town that I had planned to take was apparently turned into a one-way street for the night, so we had to re-route significantly. Completely ridiculous. We ended up having to take a very roundabout way to reach the hotel, zig zagging all over the city. The streets were insanely crowded (they felt even worse than Delhi), and the lack of street lights didn’t help any, as people, bikes, push carts, and cars crossed all willy-nilly. There’s no sense of lanes in India, so people just push forward, weaving in and out of traffic as they please. What would have in the US been a one-lane street had 3 motorcycles and 2 rickshaws parallel with us at one point, all trying to wind down a tiny road. Absolute insanity. It was beyond hectic and stressful, but I finally got us to our hotel, Jas Vilas, which has turned out to be a tiny oasis amid the chaos. The innkeeper was a very nice and chatty man (he remarked on what a good year it had been for the Mets when we told him we were from NYC), and all of the rooms and hallways are adorably painted with stenciled flower motifs. After putting down our bags, we headed to the open-air seating area outside the kitchen to munch on paneer-stuffed paratha and vegetable pakora (delicious) and decompress with some Kingfisher beers. The inn is entirely open air, with the hallways of the rooms facing directly onto the seating area, pool, and grassy lawn. Balconies from the four stories drip with flowers, and the walls and ceilings are painted with vines and flowers… I can’t wait to see it in the day time!