Taj Mahal trip

This weekend was the trip to the one and only Taj Mahal. It was great, wonderful, hectic, annoying, frustrating. Ahh! There are so many emotions here. One minute I am so annoyed that our guide is being super loud, rushing us from a car to a rickshaw and there are a million people throwing their hands in your face to give the money or buy something, the next I am in a temple, sheltered from the noise and thinking that there is no beauty that I've ever seen like the devotion that Indians have to their Gods and Religions. Then I step out to see the Taj Mahal for the first time and it's grandeur is more than I could ever imagine, and in the next moment, four boys run over one by one and have a picture snapped with me without my permission. Or people just take pictures of us on their way by us, making us feel like animals in a zoo. Or we are posing for our own picture and all of a sudden there are 10 camera's flashing taking pictures of us. Men stare. Children beg and break your heart. The history blows your mind. I can't explain it! It's so bizarre! As our driver said, "That's India! Anything is possible!"

Friday night started the yin & the yang. We took a tuk tuk as soon as I was done work to the White Temple for Vishnu (one of the major three Gods) and his wife Laxmi. You go up the stairs and it's HECTIC, you step inside and it's SERENITY. Quiet, calm and beautiful white marble. After we went to the Bazaar for a bit of shopping and then out to a traditional Indian restaurant for dinner. It was delicious. Pepto Bismol chewable tablets have become a good friend of mine, but I'm happy to report that I am still taking my malaria pills and haven't been sick since the first day.

Saturday morning we left at 9 a.m. for Agra and the road trip was spectacular. There are never really any stretches of road without people or something to look at. We got to see the rural countryside though and it's stunning and vast. Although, it's quite normal for there to be tons of traffic coming head on in your lane and weaving in and out to narrowly miss vehicles and bikes along the way, so while it's a beautiful drive, you often have to fight off a heart attack. We arrived in Agra for lunch at about 1:00 and Surprise! This is a normal Indian day, trying to simply check into our hotel:

First of all, we went to the wrong hotel. Then, this is how that conversation went: "Driver: Do you know what hotel you are staying at? Us: Uhh, we thought Sohan told you? Driver: Ohh you are staying at the Maria Pleraza (or something like that) and we laugh because it's close to Maria Theresa's name. Driver: Oh there it is, and pulls a u-turn into the Hotel Amar. Us: Hotel Amar? We thought you just said Maria Pleraza... Driver: Smiles, "Yes, yes. No problem! No problem."

Whaat?!!!

It's hilarious because it's almost as if we are all having different conversations and then trying to live in the same world together. I know that half the conversations I had with the driver were probably completely different to him than what I thought we were talking about.  We also had a guide show up that we never exactly asked to have, but that miraculously showed up at our hotel the moment we arrived - obviously called by our driver. Indian people are some of the nicest I've ever met, but there's always something cooking there. And then the power goes out in the hotel and Maria Theresa doesn't have her Indian visa and we have to get it faxed. So - what should take 20 minutes takes 2 hours. That's India.

Anyways, the Taj Mahal! When you first drive in, you must be dropped off and then take a tuk tuk in. You then pay 750 Rs and walk through a gate into the main entrance of the grounds. The history is beautiful, the Taj was built by an Emperor (don't expect to see dates or names here...) for the love of his life, his wife who died in childbirth, the Queen. It's probably the largest tangible act of love in the world. When you walk in the gate, you can just see the tip of the building...and then -- TADA!!! You walk through the larger gate and it feels like you walked into a movie or a picture. I got goosebumps, fought back a tear and then had someone take a picture of me and I was back to annoyed / frustrated. Back and forth. You look around at the beautiful gardens and feel the sun on your back and you're just astonished, then not one, but eight people run into you and you're feeling frustrated again. Apparently 10,000 - 15,000 people go through everyday to the Taj. Bah!

After this, our guide had something up his sleeve. He drove us to a Marble Emporium where we got entirely schmoozed, served chai tea and given a private showing - then to a Gem & Embroidery store - then to a carpet making store. It was really an entirely whole new experience and we laughed at ourselves even because there's so much beautiful stones and crafts and we bought something everywhere we went. I may or may not have spent all the money I had budgeted for October...oops. But when you are buying statues of Gods in marble and your sales person is blessing you, you feel like everything will be okay! Lol. Maybe that's the problem here. You rely too much on the Gods and not enough on ourselves.

Anyway, Sunday was delightful. We had coffee and went to the Agra fort. The fort was built by the Emperor who built the Taj Mahal's grandfather. It took 80 years. Later, when the Taj was built, it was placed so you can see it from the top towers of the fort. Now THAT was magical - gazing out and seeing that sight. You feel like an Indian princess...

I have so much more to say; however, I have to get ready for my day of work and should be wrapping this up. More stories to come!! Click on pictures if you want to see larger.

Ang - how Aladdin is this?

This is right outside of my girls school.
The pipes running through the water frighten me for them.

Yellow - my girls schoolroom!

The White Temple at sunset.

Dumplings in a Masala sauce.

The gate before the Taj Mahal.

Walk through the doors and ...THIS !!

The Riders...at the Taj Mahal.
Spreading the love.
Many of the volunteers here have now heard my love for them.
Maybe this can pick their season up.
If not, there's always next year boys.

The Agra Fort

The intricacies are amazing. 

Looking out at the Taj Mahal from the fort.
Maria Theresa, Jimena & our guide laughed at me because I was dancing around,
wishing I could be transported back to this time,
and come out in the morning and yell "Good Morning all" from the tower.
Fantasies.

These are all different gem stones, similar to the Taj Mahal.
The work is incredible.

One of the stores where we were taken after
and received very special treatment
 - the carpet makers.

On the way home we stopped at a Palace leaving the Agra state.
I wish I could tell you more about it. But instead, I can only
tell you that inside that window is a holy man's mosque who granted
a very important wish to a very important Emperor.
And so we laid flowers on his tomb, tied this string to his window and made a wish.

The second largest gate in the World, behind the Notre Dame.

Pyaar! ("love" in Hindi)