Thwarted again!?
OK...I did see the Taj today, just not all of it (so this isn't a completely sad story).
When I got off the train in Agra, a driver asked me where I wanted to go. I told him to take me to the Taj. He said the Taj was closed today...WHAT!?! You've got to be kidding me. No way...this has to be some kind of scam to get me somewhere else? I was so in denial I told him to take me there anyway. He said there's no way to see it, even from the road. Stay calm Jason.
It was no scam...the Taj is closed on Fridays for cleaning! I grabbed my guide book and, sure enough, in the corner of one of the pages, there’s a tiny little box with a solid dot in it by Friday. I consulted the key, and a sold dot means: closed! The thought that the Taj could be closed had never even crossed my mind (and on a Friday?). I just started laughing. Could I miss out on the Taj for a second year in a row, and after such "careful" planning? Last year it was a sandstorm. This year it was for cleaning! I kept thinking of Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation getting to Wally World and it being closed.
And how did I miss this? I PRIDE myself on being travel-savvy and planning. Feeling stupid just doesn't quite do it justice...it was more shock. But I didn't go into complete meltdown mode (Gina you would have been so impressed with me). I knew I couldn't have gone on any other day on this trip anyway, and the train ticket was only a few bucks...I hadn't really lost anything. And I knew there had to be a way to see something. And there was.
All was not lost. I did see the Taj. And I am happy. I was able to find a driver who took me to a place where you get a great view of the back of the Taj (don't laugh...you'll know why when you see the pictures). At first I thought I’d be disappointed (I even had thoughts of jumping fences or crawling through the brush to get the regular view - serious thoughts). It turned out to be great. The Taj is perfectly symmetrical, so if you see the back, you've seen the front. The front has a reflection pool (that you always see in pictures) that the back doesn’t have, but other than that, it's the same. And it's only one big room (a tomb), so other than seeing the inlaid marble up close, not getting inside isn’t so bad (just a little bad:)). I'll probably cry at some point for not getting in, but right now I'm fine.
In a way it was kind of neat because there were no tourists at the viewpoint, just some goat herders and some kids. It felt authentic, like the way it must have looked to travelers hundreds of years ago...rising up out of nowhere, so amazing that it couldn't be real.
For those who don't know, the Taj Mahal is a memorial a Mughal emperor made to his favorite wife when she died (I wonder what the runner-up got?). It's considered the greatest monument to love ever made. It was completed in 1652. It took 20,000 workers 22 years to complete! It's all marble, inlaid with tons of precious stones and gold (literally).
Sometimes hyped things can be a disappointment. I was even bracing myself for this. I can tell you that the Taj was no disappointment. It is absolutely stunning. If the "backside" looks amazing, you know it's amazing. I can definitely see it being one of the 7 wonders of the world. I can't imagine what it took in engineering to pull it off 400 years ago. What a gift to have an opportunity to see it! I have a new goal now, to bring Gina here to see it.
It is hot. I mean painfully hot. It’s somewhere over 110 today..AND humid. I'm beating the heat in an internet cafe. If you could stay out of the sun it wouldn’t be so bad, but, as a tourist, you're always in the sun. There's a fort I want to see today, but I'm going to wait until a little later. Unfortunately, it won't make much difference. At least the sun won't be beating down though (and there are some thunderstorm-like clouds building...could it rain? My train back to Delhi doesn't leave until 8:00pm, so I've got plenty of time to hang out.
I've hired a driver for the day - about $20 US dollars (he's asleep across the room :)). He's taken me to a couple of shops that use traditional methods to inlay marble and make Persian rugs (just to be doing something out of the heat). Sounds boring, but it has been really cool. The rugs are amazing. It takes one preson 4 months to make a medium size rug (and I'm sure they work more than 40-hour work weeks). I got some video of them tying the knots...not like anything I've ever seen before. If handmade Persian rugs are expensive, it’s completely justified. And you wouldn't believe how hard these guys tried to sale me something...it was really kind of sad.
I've had enough interaction with kids here that I'm excited about getting to Nagpur with Loren. I want to see what the school is all about and what I can do to help. Plus it's a bit cooler in Nagpur :).
I hope you are all well and I wish so much that you could be here (but only in winter :)). I'll have another day in Delhi before my flight to Nagpur.
Stay cool.
Jason
When I got off the train in Agra, a driver asked me where I wanted to go. I told him to take me to the Taj. He said the Taj was closed today...WHAT!?! You've got to be kidding me. No way...this has to be some kind of scam to get me somewhere else? I was so in denial I told him to take me there anyway. He said there's no way to see it, even from the road. Stay calm Jason.
It was no scam...the Taj is closed on Fridays for cleaning! I grabbed my guide book and, sure enough, in the corner of one of the pages, there’s a tiny little box with a solid dot in it by Friday. I consulted the key, and a sold dot means: closed! The thought that the Taj could be closed had never even crossed my mind (and on a Friday?). I just started laughing. Could I miss out on the Taj for a second year in a row, and after such "careful" planning? Last year it was a sandstorm. This year it was for cleaning! I kept thinking of Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation getting to Wally World and it being closed.
And how did I miss this? I PRIDE myself on being travel-savvy and planning. Feeling stupid just doesn't quite do it justice...it was more shock. But I didn't go into complete meltdown mode (Gina you would have been so impressed with me). I knew I couldn't have gone on any other day on this trip anyway, and the train ticket was only a few bucks...I hadn't really lost anything. And I knew there had to be a way to see something. And there was.
All was not lost. I did see the Taj. And I am happy. I was able to find a driver who took me to a place where you get a great view of the back of the Taj (don't laugh...you'll know why when you see the pictures). At first I thought I’d be disappointed (I even had thoughts of jumping fences or crawling through the brush to get the regular view - serious thoughts). It turned out to be great. The Taj is perfectly symmetrical, so if you see the back, you've seen the front. The front has a reflection pool (that you always see in pictures) that the back doesn’t have, but other than that, it's the same. And it's only one big room (a tomb), so other than seeing the inlaid marble up close, not getting inside isn’t so bad (just a little bad:)). I'll probably cry at some point for not getting in, but right now I'm fine.
In a way it was kind of neat because there were no tourists at the viewpoint, just some goat herders and some kids. It felt authentic, like the way it must have looked to travelers hundreds of years ago...rising up out of nowhere, so amazing that it couldn't be real.
For those who don't know, the Taj Mahal is a memorial a Mughal emperor made to his favorite wife when she died (I wonder what the runner-up got?). It's considered the greatest monument to love ever made. It was completed in 1652. It took 20,000 workers 22 years to complete! It's all marble, inlaid with tons of precious stones and gold (literally).
Sometimes hyped things can be a disappointment. I was even bracing myself for this. I can tell you that the Taj was no disappointment. It is absolutely stunning. If the "backside" looks amazing, you know it's amazing. I can definitely see it being one of the 7 wonders of the world. I can't imagine what it took in engineering to pull it off 400 years ago. What a gift to have an opportunity to see it! I have a new goal now, to bring Gina here to see it.
It is hot. I mean painfully hot. It’s somewhere over 110 today..AND humid. I'm beating the heat in an internet cafe. If you could stay out of the sun it wouldn’t be so bad, but, as a tourist, you're always in the sun. There's a fort I want to see today, but I'm going to wait until a little later. Unfortunately, it won't make much difference. At least the sun won't be beating down though (and there are some thunderstorm-like clouds building...could it rain? My train back to Delhi doesn't leave until 8:00pm, so I've got plenty of time to hang out.
I've hired a driver for the day - about $20 US dollars (he's asleep across the room :)). He's taken me to a couple of shops that use traditional methods to inlay marble and make Persian rugs (just to be doing something out of the heat). Sounds boring, but it has been really cool. The rugs are amazing. It takes one preson 4 months to make a medium size rug (and I'm sure they work more than 40-hour work weeks). I got some video of them tying the knots...not like anything I've ever seen before. If handmade Persian rugs are expensive, it’s completely justified. And you wouldn't believe how hard these guys tried to sale me something...it was really kind of sad.
I've had enough interaction with kids here that I'm excited about getting to Nagpur with Loren. I want to see what the school is all about and what I can do to help. Plus it's a bit cooler in Nagpur :).
I hope you are all well and I wish so much that you could be here (but only in winter :)). I'll have another day in Delhi before my flight to Nagpur.
Stay cool.
Jason
posted by atlantaclimber at 2:31 AM
1 Comments:
WOW, so glad you got to see the Taj and report to us. I am so impressed that you are enjoying this trip alone and feel totally comfortable going around a foreign country on your own. Love reading about your travels, feels like we're there with you. We are meeting Gina (hopefully, have to confirm) for lunch after church on Sunday. Looking forward to seeing your pixs. Deitra
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