I booked a Tat Khal train ticket, tat khal means emergency or last minute and are available the day before departure. I was to leave Wednesday at 11:30am. The morning of I met my Australian retiree friend for breakfast. Again she helped me get to New Delhi Train Station, find my platform, and wish me well in my travels. Such a lovely lady.
The three hour train ride was mostly pleasant. India is always noisy and sometimes you just want peace and quiet, especially after staying in a major city like Delhi. That being said I have always loved bus, train, or plane rides and it was nice to just sit back and take in the Indian countryside.
When I arrived in Agra I caught a rikshaw to a Hotel I had read about in the Lonely Planet. The information I was given about the hotel was incorrect and this particular hotel was way out of my price range. Luckily my rikshaw driver was still around and drove me to the same place my Australian friend had stayed at a few nights before. The Taj Guest House, just a few blocks over; I got a very basic room on the main floor for a reasonable price. After all it was only one night so I could deal with my cell block. My Australian friend had put it best when she said I had been spoiled by Udaipur, which I think was partly true. The hotel room I had there was incredible! Incredible view, incredible owners, abundant space, decent bathroom. It was pretty swank. I paid the same price in Udaipur as I did in Agra, for a fraction of what I got. Quite the spectrum indeed.
Too excited to do anything else I washed off the train ride, put myself together and headed straight to the Taj Mahal. To enter into the Taj you have to walk down a long, narrow street which is laden with souvenir shops, touts, and vendors. In Agra, I learned, sales pressure is far greater than anywhere else I have been. It is much more aggressive as I am sure the competition is far more fierce!
I bought my ticket and started to head into the Taj when I was stopped by a man. He told me that there was free water and shoe cover. In that instance all I wanted to do was to go see the Taj, which was just steps away. I could get water at any time and I really just didn’t want to be bothered, by anyone. I could see people inside the Taj grounds wearing their shoes so I didn’t understand why this man was telling me to leave my shoes at the entrance. I knew that you were not allowed to wear shoes inside the tomb of the Taj, but I figured you could take your shoes off at the entrance to the tomb, not the entrance to the Taj grounds. After a frustrating conversation I finally realized that the man was letting me know that they were offering free shoe covers, like the little booties we get at Fort Mac because our boots are so dirty. Once I realized this I thanked the man for letting me know, and he walked me over to get the water and shoe covers. I have already learned that nothing is free in India, even if people say so, it usually isn’t true, there is always an exchange of something. Hence my suspicion and frustration. Same was true in this circumstance. Despite the fact that this man helped me get the water and shoe covers he also wanted me to come to his shop to buy, whatever it was that he sold. Of course!
I got inside the Taj grounds and could see the Taj Mahal peeking out through an arched doorway ahead of me. I was so excited. I hadn’t planned on going to see the Taj while in India. I didn’t think it would be on my route and I sometimes lack the desire to do all the stereotypical tourist things, for a variety of reasons. But the closer I got to the Taj, the more the anticipation built. Entering into the fort doorway the Taj was in plain view now and it was absolutely stunning, perhaps even breathtaking. On the other side of the entrance I had to stop dead in my tracks and just take it in. I have never seen such a beautiful sight! Tourists are buzzing every which way and it looks like a beehive with swarming wasps moving all around the tomb. All of the busy bees working towards keeping the Queen Taj bee, alive and well through tourism dollars. It really is a sight to see.
After I regained power and movement in my legs I walked closer to the Taj. But I couldn’t go far without having to stop and take picture after picture after picture. I would go ten feet, stop for a photo op. Then another ten, photo, then maybe 15 feet. This went on for the entire length of the fountain walkway leading up to the Taj.
I usually attract attention as a tourist in India. I cant go far without people noticing me, the clothes I wear, and the colour of my skin. The Taj was no exception. Just the same as me stopping every ten feet to get a photo of the Taj, I was stopped every ten feet by locals wanting to get a photo of me! I was already a little irritated with the week; being in Delhi, a huge city, with very little space to yourself, constant noise, activity, and movement. I was longing for some self time, especially in the presence of such an incredible building and world wonder, but Agra was not the place to get it! I would say yes to photos for some people, mostly women or families, and no to others, mostly young guys. In addition to the attention I was already drawing, this day I was wearing my very brightly coloured Indian suit; purple and yellow. I believe I drew even more attention looking like a patriotic peacock of a tourist in India!
I got a slight reprieve while in the tomb. I wish I had a stronger and more varied vocabulary to describe everything about the Taj and the tomb. It is not even so much what I saw its just the feeling or energy that it emanates. It is a powerhouse of . . . No it is powerful and distinguished. You respect its presence so much so just by it being there. Much the same way Dr.Shiva holds an incredible power that you are absolutely amazed by when in her presence! I spent a few minutes inside the tomb just standing there taking it all in. Despite the fact that everyone else is doing a merry-go-round inside the tomb, I stood off to the side and just felt it. Again, truly amazing.
I once again joined the ranks and shuffled along with everyone else until I was outside the tomb again. Once outside many people take pictures of their loved ones with the Taj or the surrounding river, in the background. I chose to sit down on the cool marble floor of the Taj platform and again just be in its presence, or have its presence be in me. Well that was my plan. I was approached by Indian tourist after Indian tourist wanting my photograph. I couldn’t get over the irony! Here I am at one of the few wonders of the world and people are more eager and excited to get my photograph than a photo of the Taj! It didn’t make sense to me. After a while I grew tired of the constant badgering and decided to leave the main platform. I had refused a photo from one group of boys who kept asking and started to follow me. I kept on refusing a photo but they kept insisting. At one point I actually found myself fleeing from them! I thought I had escaped them and was sitting quietly on a bench when they found me again! They still wouldn’t stop insisting and bugging me! I started to get really upset because they just wouldn’t listen to me. Even before this they kept trying to take a picture of me just in the background even though I had already said I didn’t want my photo taken! This last time when I started to get upset they finally got the hint, even more so because I started drawing attention from other tourists noticing the scene. After they left more tourists started asking for my photo! I now know what celebrities feel like being hounded by the paparazzi! Once I left the Taj Mahal I bee lined it through the long corridor of shops and went to a rooftop patio where I could view the Taj Mahal and sip a cup of chai by myself!
For all of the Taj's beauty and splendor Agra; the city which houses it, does not match. The town itself is dirty, busy, lacks charm, and character, and is full of people looking to get something from you. Early the next morning I was greeted by an unpleasant surprise as I got food poisoning from food I ate in Agra. This wasn’t my first experience in India getting sick from food, Im sure it wont be the last either. However, to date it has been the most severe. I had a arranged to go sightseeing that day and wasn’t sure if I could manage it given my new situation. I had some ginger tea, sucked it up and went sightseeing. After the Agra fort, where I spent at least a half hour just sitting on a bench enjoying the quiet solitude I went to a garden with a view of the Taj across the river. I spent another half hour having a snooze when I realised that I didn’t have the energy to sightsee and really just wanted to get back to Delhi, rest, and prepare for my flight to Goa the next day. I went to the train station and bought a general boarding ticket to New Delhi. I am still learning about traveling in India. There were two assumptions I made at this point. One, was that ‘New Delhi’ meant the New Delhi Train Station and two, that there would be seats in the ‘general boarding’ compartment. As everyone on the platform made a run for the train I too hopped into a compartment which had basically shelving for which to sit. It looked like the place you put your baggage on a train, not where you put yourself. I couldn’t sit upright in the ‘shelf’ I got into, not to mention the fact that above me where a row of Sadhus, their rear ends only inches away from my head. On top of this the entire compartment smelt like cow dung, I’m not really sure of the source. After a few minutes of being incredibly uncomfortable and realising I would not last the three hour train ride to Delhi I decided to go sit on the ground away from the shelving. After doing so a man outside the train said that there was a ‘ladies cart‘, a standard part of most transit vehicles in India. So I hopped off the compartment I was in and got into the ‘ladies cart’ which was packed! There was one spot available on a top “bunk“. So I climbed up there and shared the top bunk with a man sleeping next to me. I could not sit up straight, I definitely came to appreciate body space after this experience, I could not stretch out my legs, I could barely move, but I rationalized that it was better than waiting around dirty Agra for many more hours suffering through my illness. So I hugged my backpack, hunched over like Quasimodo and rested. After a while the cute little girls sitting across from me let me stretch my legs across to the opposite bunk, which was a nice reprieve. The sleeping man woke up in the last half hour, enough time for me to lay back and let my neck and spine be straight. Lovely.
I made it to Delhi in one piece. Although when I got off the train I soon discovered that I was not at New Delhi Train Station, which is only a five minute walk from the hotel I was staying at. But somewhere in the south of Delhi. So I hired a taxi and got a ride to New Delhi. A ride where I could stretch out my legs, hold my back and head up straight, and not have a man sleeping next to me. It was amazing!
I can say that I saw the Taj Mahal, a wonder of the world. It is a wonder! It is a wonder that such a beautiful building exists in such a horrible city. It is a wonder why Indians are more interested in taking a picture of a white woman than the Taj Mahal, it is a wonder why my digestive system can tolerate much of the food I ingest here in India, without even further illness and distress. Most importantly it is a wonder why I am fortunate enough to be able to travel to India, experience the good and the bad, and be able to share it with all of my friends and family back home. That is probably the greatest wonder for me!
No comments:
Post a Comment