Just A Couple Of Sandstone Buildings In India

OK--- following the Taj Mahal we decided it was time for lunch. Fortunately, our hotel had a roof top restaurant with a great view of the Taj. (Unfortunately, however, we think the hotel also had fleas.) (Gid: Think? Know. I think I'll write a cranky letter to Lonely Planet about it.)


After lunch it was off to the Red Fort. The Red Fort is only about two km away from the Taj Mahal. In fact, Shah Jahan ( the Taj's builder) was imprisoned in the Red Fort by his son, Arungzeb, from which he could see his creation. Shah Jahan was kept there until his death in 1666, after which he was placed in the Taj Mahal next to his wife (for whom the Taj was built).




(The Hall of Public Audience)


(View of the Taj from the Red Fort)


(Gid: Other fun fact: Arungzeb killed his older brother as part of the struggle for the crown, and then sent his head in a box to his father. Forcing his father in a prison where his only view was his favorite wfe's tomb, and then sending him his eldest son's head? Stone cold. Billy and Aaron, take note.)

The Red Fort, unlike the Taj, was pillaged by the British. All of the precious stone inlaid in the sandstone was removed. One of the really cool features of the Red Fort was the old school air conditioning... there are shallow troughs running all over the complex through which water was conveyed in order to cool the fort.

(The dark spots are where stone used to be.)

(Gid: I saw the system in operation once in a documentary on Mughal design--- very cool. As for the looting, our trip to the Red Fort easily could have be sub titled "or: Why the British East India Company were liars and scoundrels." No joke. They even call them liars in an informational marker.)

The next day we traveled about an hour outside Agra to Fatehpur Sikri. It was the former capitol of the Mughal empire under Akbar.

Photos of Agra:

About ten minutes outside Agra our driver stalled the car and couldn't start it again... right in the middle of an intersection. We had to wait for about an hour for the next car to arrive. In the mean time, while the driver was pushing the taxi to the side of the road from outside his closed driver door, a guy on a scooter tried to edge past us. Our driver, having placed himself way out of reach of the brakes not only ran into the scooter but pushed the scooter into a banana cart. Mostly, there was just annoyed looks and explanations of why the other driver was at fault. The banana cart proprietor didn't seem to mind as long as we didn't park the car in front of his cart.

(Gid: Classic India. The motorcyclist appeard fine, though annoyed. I pushed the car out of the way with the vendors, and we all had a good laugh. Erin, however, was not amused. Funny, that.)

After about two hours we arrived at Fatehpur Sikri--- built in 1570 by Akbar, Shah Jahan's grandfather. It's hard to describe the opulence with which this must have been built... the only appropriate Western corollary I can think of is Versailles. For example, there's a life-sized Parcheesi board. And, the palace is so big we kept getting lost and we circled the same building several times before we could move on to another part of the complex.






The architectural detail was amazing.

(Gid: For me, Fatehpur Sikri is, in some ways, even better than the Taj. You get to see a preserved series of buildings that mirror the political system of the time--- the little enclaves where advisers schemed, the palaces for the wives, the large entertainment buildings, the multiple Indo-Muslim touches, including Jain building columns. It's incredible. Fatehpur Sikri was also where Akbar, who was actually quite spiritual, gathered all of the notable leaders of the many faiths of his empire and looked for commonalities in order to create a kind of single, unifying faith. Obviously, this didn't succeed, but it's very much in the vein of the mystical tradition on India, and according to what I've read, India's Muslims.)

Again, more old school AC:

Operations and Maintenance:



(Gid: One other note--- Erin and I saw a water buffalo grazing on some grass near a dilapidated entry gate... created a stark image of a lost age. We caught a few photos, but it was a uniquely Indian shot, and a reminder of the stark truth "This too shall pass". )

That evening we hopped aboard the night train to Varanasi.

It took about 13 hours... but when you're asleep most of the time, it's not a bad way to travel. Gideon, just by existing, clearly annoyed the woman sleeping below me. We're still not sure what that was all about.

(Gid: I thought only Erin felt that way towards me. Apparently, it's both cross-cultural and international.)

After getting into Varanasi, we hired another rickshaw driver. This guy pulled all the same tricks as the rickshaw driver in Agra: pulling out a notebook with comments from previous customers, trying to get us to commit to sight-seeing with him, etc. Last time we got conned into overpaying, which wouldn't have been a huge deal if the ordeal had been hassle-free. Not only did we over pay, we paid up front and then almost got cheated out of our final rickshaw ride to the train station. It was at that point that Gid laid down the law and we got our ride for free.

(Gid: Refer to Taj "Game Face" photo.)

What's so frustrating is that you have to keep your guard up all the time. Even the hotel manager in Agra seemed to be in on the ploy.

(Gid: Dollars to doughnuts he was. It's a growing and common Indian tradition to soak the Westerners of whatever they can get. Hard to blame them, sometimes--- we do have quite a bit more than they do, and 100 rupees is only about $2.25, which has little impact on our daily lives, but great impact on the lives of the average Indian citizen. On the other hand, it sometimes becomes out-and-out theft--- claims of no change when they clearly do have change, or not providing services that have been paid for. What's sad is that the general rule becomes "If they're trying to be helpful and friendly, they're trying to take your money.")

Right now, were staying at a pretty great hotel and are taking it easy for the next couple of days. I think our plan is to schedule a guided tour with the government run tour agency... that should include a boat ride on the Ganges at 5:30 AM. I'm somewhat prepared for dead bodies and King Cobras... maybe.

(Gid: Just plain Cobras. Now, a bite can kill an elephant, but what's the worry?)