"I really need to get my teeth cleaned..." Emily said in front of the all-marble Taj Mahal.
It wasn't the effect I was expecting, but understandable nonetheless. The Taj is beautiful, masterful and imposing. While it appeared much the way I imagined it, the immenseness of the marble was astonishing. I've never seen anything larger than some sculptures in the Louvre made from 100 percent hand carved marble.
The entire building is a sculpture. That's what makes it so impressive.
The things no one ever says - or at least to me - is that it's kinda' creepy inside the dome with the two crypts sitting in the center of a giant, dark rotunda. It's a tomb, after all - it's just a really nice one, so it's easy not to think of it that way.
They also don't tell you that the hand carved, giant sandstone gates and entrance areas are also extremely impressive. If they weren't the prelude to the Taj, would probably be sites to visit in their own right.
Most importantly, no one tells you that you have to take off your shoes to go up to the Taj, walk around and through it. No one mentions there's a lot of smell of feet. Not the Taj itself - just the experience of walking in crowds of people in socks and bare feet. A lot of foot smell. I'm just telling it like it is to prevent future surprise.
Of course, it's completely worth it. The Taj is one of the sites that deserves all the hype it gets. Hype does not diminished it in any way. It is almost unfathomable that it was built in any era - let alone almost 400 years ago.
However, if you're staying in Delhi and making the Taj a side trip as we did, then the Taj is actually just a couple of hours of a much longer day. It takes about four hours each way by car or two to four by train to Agra - depending on which one you take - and then transportation time between the train station and the Taj. Buses take even longer than all of these.
Because we screwed up and didn't book the express train in advance and because we're lazy, spoiled and older than our self-images, we worked out a deal on a car and driver package (which every travel agent in Delhi wants to sell you). Of course, it was nice and easy - at least from a logistics and transportation standpoint. We had it cushy.
At the same time, it was a somewhat trying day from an emotional, psychological point of view.
We had the luxury of getting out the door at 8 am, instead of the typical 6 am required for the express train or buses. Because we're not early risers, we haven't noticed before the gray haze that makes the morning sun a strange yellow ball. No aurora, no shining glory - just a disc in the sky creating a dim, diffused light. The mixture of pollution and fog conspire create an environment in which morning, feels like the dullness of a bedside reading lamp.
Our extremely nice and cool driver was from Assam, in the north of India and famous for its tea. He had more of a Tibetan look and a kind, gentle way about him. We liked him right away. He said he drives to Agra almost every day. Emily surprised him by asking for Hindi music while we drove. He liked it, we liked it - everyone was happy.
Except a lot of the people outside the car. Delhi has such massive poverty and destitution compared to everywhere else we've been in India. It's hard not to look out the car window and notice the hundreds and hundreds of people laying on the sides of the road, sitting doing nothing and of course coming to our car window begging. One person was laying in the road, and people we just driving around him or her.
There's not much pretty about the road between Delhi and Agra. Despite it being a major national highway with relatively good road conditions, it's lined with people living in shacks and hovels. It passes through some of the poorest, most wretched towns - and of course, took us to Agra, one of the worst cities I've ever seen.
The highway is filled with auto-rickshaw taxis which should seat two to three comfortably instead brimming with 11 or 12 people. I counted five hanging out the back of one, sitting in a space we find too small to place our bags. Most amazingly, in the middle of this high-speed highway are tractors pulling trailers full of goods and/or people. We saw one trailer with at least a dozen guys in the back.
The trailers and auto-rickshaws run are constantly at risk of massive collision as aggressive Indian drivers cut it close - if you can call it that - trying to get around the slow-moving vehicles. Many of the aggressive vehicles also happen to be gas and oil rigs.
At one point, we pulled over so our driver could get out and buy a tourist vehicle pass from one of the toll authorities. We were parked in a line of similar vehicles, all with tourists in the back. Naturally, vendors hang out there and come around trying to sell trinkets and novelties.
One man walked up to Emily's window and threw a monkey at her. The monkey must know the drill. He quickly grasped onto Emily's window for dear life while Emily went into a quick and temporary shock.
The man wanted us to pay to take pictures with the money.
"No, sir, we do not need your monkey. Sir, please do not throw your monkey at my window."
Compared to some of the other aggressive vendors I chased off - he moved on with his monkey relatively quickly.
Along the way, one of the most intriguing sites were occasional rows of fast food restaurants. At one point there was a Pizza Hut. Our driver told us he really likes KFC - it's his favorite. At another point - about 38 km from Agra was a line-up of a gas station, a Cafe Coffee-Day (Starbucks-style chain) and a McDonald's with drive-thru...followed by people living in branch and straw shelters on the side of the road. On the way back, we stopped so Emily could take pictures to use in her classes. There, by the McDonald's drive-thru sign were three dirty, disheveled road-children. We don't even know what to do with that....
Agra itself is a pit. Once the imperial capitol of India and beyond under the Mughals, Agra today is an industrial wasteland filled with squalor, disorder and poverty unlike anything I've ever seen. Our driver told us there are more street children in Agra than in Delhi's more than 100,000 street kids.
Standing out among the living ruins are reminders of a wealthy, glorious past. Several Mughal tombs made of sandstone are Taj-esque in style and design. On a hill overlooking the Taj sits the Agra Fort - a military barricade turned elaborate palace from the 1600s when the Mughal Empire was at its height. The area is filled with phenomenal Persian influence Indian imperial design. But all around it is the worst that the modern, industrial world has to offer - right down to the drying out, toxic Yamuna river in which people still bathe and drink.
Our driver took us a to a tourist restaurant for lunch. As we entered there was a man in costume with playing a sitar while a little girl of maybe seven years, also in costume, danced for the patrons entering and exiting. It was heartbreaking.
Between where we parked and the entrance to the Taj, we were aggressively accosted by people wanting to sell us all manner of things including guided tours, toys that "helicopter" into the sky, trinkets, horse and buggy rides and camel rides.
There was also a man walking around carrying king cobras - I think charming them.... I was not keen on him getting close enough for me to learn about it. If you're gonna charm snakes for me - and I might pay for that - please keep your snakes in a basket.
And then there was the Taj - the diamond well inside the rough. Worth it all. Its view of the river is still pretty with tree-lined river banks behind it. There is, at least one thing still beautiful and preserved.
At the same time, there sits the Taj in its royal splendor. Outside sit its subjects, completely dejected. It's hard not to notice and feel some shock and shame.
By the time we reached the hotel last night, we learned several things. We're scheduling teeth cleanings in Bangkok. The Taj is truly great. And we are confused in minds and hearts at how to approach such serious, undeniable destitution - and most importantly, child exploitation and abandonment.
As we talked about it over dinner, I thought back to a documentary I once watched on Mother Theresa and the beginnings of her work in Calcutta. Someone asked her how she could face it all and not feel overwhelmed. She said she helped one person at a time - and when she had help, they helped as many people as they could, person by person.
We can't really fix anything - but don't want to do nothing. So, we figure we can give food to some of the hungry we see, and try to do something - even if it's just here and there. Because in the end, doing something is better than nothing, and if you don't find your heart in Delhi, then you don't have one.
It wasn't the effect I was expecting, but understandable nonetheless. The Taj is beautiful, masterful and imposing. While it appeared much the way I imagined it, the immenseness of the marble was astonishing. I've never seen anything larger than some sculptures in the Louvre made from 100 percent hand carved marble.
The entire building is a sculpture. That's what makes it so impressive.
The things no one ever says - or at least to me - is that it's kinda' creepy inside the dome with the two crypts sitting in the center of a giant, dark rotunda. It's a tomb, after all - it's just a really nice one, so it's easy not to think of it that way.
They also don't tell you that the hand carved, giant sandstone gates and entrance areas are also extremely impressive. If they weren't the prelude to the Taj, would probably be sites to visit in their own right.
Most importantly, no one tells you that you have to take off your shoes to go up to the Taj, walk around and through it. No one mentions there's a lot of smell of feet. Not the Taj itself - just the experience of walking in crowds of people in socks and bare feet. A lot of foot smell. I'm just telling it like it is to prevent future surprise.
Of course, it's completely worth it. The Taj is one of the sites that deserves all the hype it gets. Hype does not diminished it in any way. It is almost unfathomable that it was built in any era - let alone almost 400 years ago.
However, if you're staying in Delhi and making the Taj a side trip as we did, then the Taj is actually just a couple of hours of a much longer day. It takes about four hours each way by car or two to four by train to Agra - depending on which one you take - and then transportation time between the train station and the Taj. Buses take even longer than all of these.
Because we screwed up and didn't book the express train in advance and because we're lazy, spoiled and older than our self-images, we worked out a deal on a car and driver package (which every travel agent in Delhi wants to sell you). Of course, it was nice and easy - at least from a logistics and transportation standpoint. We had it cushy.
At the same time, it was a somewhat trying day from an emotional, psychological point of view.
We had the luxury of getting out the door at 8 am, instead of the typical 6 am required for the express train or buses. Because we're not early risers, we haven't noticed before the gray haze that makes the morning sun a strange yellow ball. No aurora, no shining glory - just a disc in the sky creating a dim, diffused light. The mixture of pollution and fog conspire create an environment in which morning, feels like the dullness of a bedside reading lamp.
Our extremely nice and cool driver was from Assam, in the north of India and famous for its tea. He had more of a Tibetan look and a kind, gentle way about him. We liked him right away. He said he drives to Agra almost every day. Emily surprised him by asking for Hindi music while we drove. He liked it, we liked it - everyone was happy.
Except a lot of the people outside the car. Delhi has such massive poverty and destitution compared to everywhere else we've been in India. It's hard not to look out the car window and notice the hundreds and hundreds of people laying on the sides of the road, sitting doing nothing and of course coming to our car window begging. One person was laying in the road, and people we just driving around him or her.
There's not much pretty about the road between Delhi and Agra. Despite it being a major national highway with relatively good road conditions, it's lined with people living in shacks and hovels. It passes through some of the poorest, most wretched towns - and of course, took us to Agra, one of the worst cities I've ever seen.
The highway is filled with auto-rickshaw taxis which should seat two to three comfortably instead brimming with 11 or 12 people. I counted five hanging out the back of one, sitting in a space we find too small to place our bags. Most amazingly, in the middle of this high-speed highway are tractors pulling trailers full of goods and/or people. We saw one trailer with at least a dozen guys in the back.
The trailers and auto-rickshaws run are constantly at risk of massive collision as aggressive Indian drivers cut it close - if you can call it that - trying to get around the slow-moving vehicles. Many of the aggressive vehicles also happen to be gas and oil rigs.
At one point, we pulled over so our driver could get out and buy a tourist vehicle pass from one of the toll authorities. We were parked in a line of similar vehicles, all with tourists in the back. Naturally, vendors hang out there and come around trying to sell trinkets and novelties.
One man walked up to Emily's window and threw a monkey at her. The monkey must know the drill. He quickly grasped onto Emily's window for dear life while Emily went into a quick and temporary shock.
The man wanted us to pay to take pictures with the money.
"No, sir, we do not need your monkey. Sir, please do not throw your monkey at my window."
Compared to some of the other aggressive vendors I chased off - he moved on with his monkey relatively quickly.
Along the way, one of the most intriguing sites were occasional rows of fast food restaurants. At one point there was a Pizza Hut. Our driver told us he really likes KFC - it's his favorite. At another point - about 38 km from Agra was a line-up of a gas station, a Cafe Coffee-Day (Starbucks-style chain) and a McDonald's with drive-thru...followed by people living in branch and straw shelters on the side of the road. On the way back, we stopped so Emily could take pictures to use in her classes. There, by the McDonald's drive-thru sign were three dirty, disheveled road-children. We don't even know what to do with that....
Agra itself is a pit. Once the imperial capitol of India and beyond under the Mughals, Agra today is an industrial wasteland filled with squalor, disorder and poverty unlike anything I've ever seen. Our driver told us there are more street children in Agra than in Delhi's more than 100,000 street kids.
Standing out among the living ruins are reminders of a wealthy, glorious past. Several Mughal tombs made of sandstone are Taj-esque in style and design. On a hill overlooking the Taj sits the Agra Fort - a military barricade turned elaborate palace from the 1600s when the Mughal Empire was at its height. The area is filled with phenomenal Persian influence Indian imperial design. But all around it is the worst that the modern, industrial world has to offer - right down to the drying out, toxic Yamuna river in which people still bathe and drink.
Our driver took us a to a tourist restaurant for lunch. As we entered there was a man in costume with playing a sitar while a little girl of maybe seven years, also in costume, danced for the patrons entering and exiting. It was heartbreaking.
Between where we parked and the entrance to the Taj, we were aggressively accosted by people wanting to sell us all manner of things including guided tours, toys that "helicopter" into the sky, trinkets, horse and buggy rides and camel rides.
There was also a man walking around carrying king cobras - I think charming them.... I was not keen on him getting close enough for me to learn about it. If you're gonna charm snakes for me - and I might pay for that - please keep your snakes in a basket.
And then there was the Taj - the diamond well inside the rough. Worth it all. Its view of the river is still pretty with tree-lined river banks behind it. There is, at least one thing still beautiful and preserved.
At the same time, there sits the Taj in its royal splendor. Outside sit its subjects, completely dejected. It's hard not to notice and feel some shock and shame.
By the time we reached the hotel last night, we learned several things. We're scheduling teeth cleanings in Bangkok. The Taj is truly great. And we are confused in minds and hearts at how to approach such serious, undeniable destitution - and most importantly, child exploitation and abandonment.
As we talked about it over dinner, I thought back to a documentary I once watched on Mother Theresa and the beginnings of her work in Calcutta. Someone asked her how she could face it all and not feel overwhelmed. She said she helped one person at a time - and when she had help, they helped as many people as they could, person by person.
We can't really fix anything - but don't want to do nothing. So, we figure we can give food to some of the hungry we see, and try to do something - even if it's just here and there. Because in the end, doing something is better than nothing, and if you don't find your heart in Delhi, then you don't have one.
Thanks for the wonderful photos and essay.
Posted by: HF | 01/31/2011 at 10:25 AM
Great blog today and great photos.
Posted by: Lauree Feigenbaum | 01/31/2011 at 09:58 PM
Lovely write up about your experiences; sad to see you will be carrying back images of filth and poverty that plagues our country so much.
I hope you do have some happy remembrances from here.
Posted by: Shalini baisiwala | 02/01/2011 at 06:31 AM