Winter Break Part 2: The Taj Mahal or Why I LOATHE Agra.

So, Kathryn and I left to do our tour of the 'Golden Triangle' (that's Delhi, Agra and Jaipur) on the day after Christmas. Now, train is the most economic way to travel in India. It may take a bit longer but there are trains going just about everywhere. The problem is that they can book pretty fast and Kathryn and I never solidified our plans before she got here so we were scrambling at the last minute to book trains. You can do it online and I got a few that way but sometimes it's tricky and we still needed to get a few tickets. Well, luckily there's a booking office in town so we headed down there only to find that we can't get a train to Agra from Delhi or one from Agra to Jaipur. We cut our losses and take what we can get and decide to figure it out when we get to it. Luckily, some trains have a certain quota of seats reserved for foreign tourists, but you have to get them directly at the station. We had time so we decided to hoof it early to the station and we managed to snag tickets to Agra but still nothing to Jaipur.

We had an uneventful train from Dehradun to Delhi and spent the night in a fairly seedy hotel in the middle of Parhagange, a neighborhood in Delhi right by the train station known for it's cheap rooms. After a late, cold shower we snuggled in for an early rise back to the station to head to Agra. We were more than happy to be leaving the cold water, men sleeping in the middle of hallways, and indecipherable screams and noises coming from outside the window. On the train I met two men from Malaysia on an 'extended' business trip to the Taj. I also met a nice young man on a real business trip. He and I got to talking and he told me that he was going to be married this spring and that his honeymoon was going to be in Mussoorie. We exchanged information and promised to meet up when they arrive. Meeting him was the highlight of my day (and probably the trip). Meeting someone who was as nice and genuine as he was while I had the day I did (I'll tell you in a minute) was nice and refreshing and really tells me that there are good people out there. You just have to look (sometimes too hard).

After we arrived Kathryn and I made a bee line for the pre-pay taxi stand. See, at a lot of airports and train stations there are government sanctioned taxi stands that have fixed rates for travel to various places. It's a good thing to look out for these so that you don't get ripped off by someone offering a 'fair deal.' Well, we got ours and a little extra. A young man tagged along with us. Apparently he is studying to get a license to be a tour guide in Agra and was on break for the holidays. We weren't paying him, he was doing it for poos and giggles. Whatevs dude.

This is the guy. Ali is his name. He's a decent fellow and a good time. If you're in the area let me know and I'll get you his information.

The only thing we really wanted to do in Agra was see the Taj Mahal. We were really planning on going in the morning, seeing it and bugging out to Jaipur in the evening. That did not happen. Kathryn managed to book us a hotel and we organized a car to take us there in the morning. It just made things less hectic.

I'm getting off topic. We get to the Taj. Well, we get to a place about a kilometer from the Taj. Motor vehicles can't get within a certain radius of the place in order to preserve the white marble which is not so slowly yellowing from the pollution. Ali gives us instructions to talk to no one, go no where with anyone and just stay in line. He's not going to go to the Taj with us... some guide. Kathryn and I mosey on up to where the lines are and they go on for literally as far as one can see in either direction. Here's where things start getting crazy. See, you first have to join the line to get your ticket. The only thing is that the booth is all the way at the front of the line by the entrance and we did not see it at first.

Immediately, we were pounced on by various men, most to be government workers, who wanted to take care of us (for a nominal fee I'm sure). Most offered to take us to another gate where the wait would only be ten minutes. Unsure of where to go or even if anyone we talked to was really a government employee we stumbled around a bit and finally figured out that you have to go to the front of the line, past these barriers to get the tickets and then all the way to the back to wait for two hours or so to get in.

One thing about Indian landmarks you should be aware of. They have jacked up prices for foreigners. We're talking like Rs5 versus Rs200 in some places. The difference isn't quite so large at the Taj because both prices are ridiculously high. However, if you live in India like I do you can usually flash your PAN (Personal Account Number) Card and they'll give you the Indian rate. Big tourist spots like the Taj don't care and you pay full price no matter what. I forked over the Rs750 per ticket and Kathryn and I made our way from the front to the very back. It was quite nice at first. We stood in the sun and watched the vendors sell their wares to others. We got hassled by little kids selling Taj snow globe key chains quite a bit too. Usually, I tend to just plain ignore people peddling things to me or begging for money but here you're stuck in line and can't just walk away. So after about the fourth kid I started having fun with them:

Kid: Five key chains! 200 rupees! Good deal!
Me: I will give you 300 rupees!
Kid: [Stares blankly]
Me: 300 rupees! [Kid exits]

I had fun doing that. I think my favourites though were the guys offering to take us out of line to another gate where the gate would not be longer than ten minutes:

Teenage Jerkwad: Sir, there is a much shorter line at the other gate. No longer
than a ten minute wait. I can take your party there for
Rs2000.
Me: I don't know... You see, I really like queuing in lines. I heard
that the Taj had fantastic ques. That's really why I'm here.
TJ: You LIKE queuing!?
Me: Oh I LOVE it! [by this point people are staring]
TJ: I can take your whole party for Rs1000 sir. Ten minute
wait. How many are in your party?
Me: [looks up the line, counting] Twenty-six.
TJ: Twenty-six in your party sir!?
Me: [pointing] That's right. Twenty-six. [people start giggling]
TJ: I can take you to the other gate. No more than a ten minute
wait. Only Rs500.
Me: I don't know. We've been in line an awfully long time... I feel
like we're dedicated to this line.
TJ: Rs200 sir. I take your whole party.
Me: Eh, I don't know...
TJ: [exacerbated] Free sir!
Me: You know what? I think I'm just going to stand in line. I love
lines!
TJ: Where you from?
Me: What do you think?
TJ: Whachudink? Sir, you people there are CRAZY! [exits]

Too much fun really... I guess they have it coming to them if they're going around trying to scam people like that.

Anywho, when we started off there were two lines heading toward the entrance. Somehow, by this time a third had formed. Things got complicated when the lines split up into men's and women's lines. Everyone one tries shuffling into the proper line and literally just push you out of the way. I got annoyed and forced some guy behind me. That's when some teenagers started turning around and staring at me, pointing, talking and giggling. It was really annoying. People kept trying to cut in line. My advice would be that if you're there and someone says they're trying to get to the other side of your line make them go behind you. There were even some guys trying to cut in line right after buying their tickets so that they bypassed the two hour wait I just endured. Luckily, there are police towards the front that threw them out.

We finally got inside. Kathryn is wowed by the Taj. I've already seen it and wasn't that overwhelmed the first time. This time I'm ready to get in and get out. I'm already annoyed with the place.

From the first look through the gate you can tell this is a place that everyone wants to see. The grounds are literally covered in people. Some are lounging in the gardens. Others are taking photos that look like they're holding the Taj (OMG! That is SO funny!!!). Most are standing in more lines.

Cripes...

The tomb is on top of a platform on top of another platform. The Indian nationals have to take off their shoes when they go up and leave them in this tiny little alcove as they visit the tomb. Foreigners, however, get nifty shoe booties to wear so they don't have to (Slumdog Millionaire anyone?). You also get a little bottle of water. I guess that's what the extra Rs500 for the tickets is for. We slip on the booties and go on up. That's when we realise our predicament. The line to get into the tomb extends from the entrance all the way around the top platform, down some stairs and then snakes its way around the lower platform. Everyone is packed gut to back as if all the Beatles got back together and went back on tour one last time and they're not going to get tickets. I even saw an older man beat up a kid younger than me for cutting. This is serious.

Kathryn and I look around a bit at the mosque and the people in line. I try convincing her that it's not that great and we should avoid the line. She says we've come this far and we're getting in line. Dammit. We get in line behind a family of tourists (they had booties too) and wait. We meander around and occasionally are asked for photos (Catching a glimpse of a white person is like seeing that woodpecker that made headlines a few years ago. Double kudos if you get your kid in the picture!). A few people get tired and drop out of the line and we casually keep advancing. At one point I realise there are other white foreigners behind us. I think their guide saw us and figured, 'They're white, we'll just say they're family if anyone asks.' I didn't care much, they were behind me. As I was getting closer to the stairs going up I must have daydreamed too much because all of a sudden there was a new woman and her daughter in front of me. "Madam. Excuse me madam. The end of the line is over there." She completely ignores me. I gently place my hand on her shoulder and repeat in a firm but friendly tone. Her daughter (not more than ten years old) cries out to me, "No uncle! Please!," as if I'm taking food from them leaving them to surely starve (part of me wishes I was...). Still, I am ignored. I look around and see that no one is going to help me so I give up. Not Kathryn though. Oh no. She butts the woman out of the way and reclaims her position. I remain behind, laughing. The little girl keeps looking back at me with an expression saying, "HA HA!" I could have backhanded the little brat.

The remainder of the line waiting went pretty much without incident. There were a few people trying to not so slyly get our picture. They may or may not have ended up with pictures with ridiculous faces and/or inappropriate hand gestures. I can neither confirm nor deny such things. What can I say? I was annoyed.

Hey look, it's the Taj. Again.

Notice the large amounts of people. Several of whom are making funny poses for 'that shot.' I think that at this time of year the Taj sees about 10,000 visitors a day.

Sun setting behind the Taj.

Lines. There's a line going all along the perimeter up top which then comes down and snakes around the platform we're on.

People people every where.

Before this trip I had seen exactly one chipmunk in the entirety of India. Over the course of our few days traveling around I saw close to a hundred. Wha' happened?

As we were about to leave and head back towards the gardens we got mobbed by a class of school kids wanting their pictures with us. We had no choice really but to oblige. I found it humourous that there was a white man laughing and taking pictures of them taking pictures of us. I stopped and chatted with him briefly. "You know," he said, "we're just as exotic to them as they are to us." I just smiled and nodded in agreement but something was bugging me. I mean if I were to see an Indian family walking down the street of my hometown I might think that it's not something you see every day but I'm not going to try to take their picture either by mobbing them or suruptitiously snapping a photo from a distance. You would think that with globalization and the resulting global community we live in that seeing someone that doesn't fit in with your exact picture of everyday life just because of their ethnicity would not be that big of a deal. I don't know...

So, we finally left the Taj and met back up with our taxi. The two of us were exhausted so rather than going to Agra Fort (where the king who built the Taj was imprisoned by his own son) like I had hoped we stopped outside of it and just snapped a few pictures. We figured that we'll see plenty of forts in Jaipur. Really, we just wanted to relax for a bit at our hotel (VERY posh by the standards set by our previous one) and then get something to eat.

We did just that. After resting for a bit Ali decided to take to 'see the art of Agra.' Really, it was just an excuse to visit some emporiums. I didn't mind to much because they really did take you through the method of how things were made and it was really cool to see all of that. We stopped by a Persian rug place where each knot is hand tied one by one. I found a chess set very much like dad's one from my Uncle Melhi for only Rs6000. Unlike dad's though, this one was made of rosewood and ebony whereas his is ivory. The pieces were gorgeous and intricately carved with the kings being elephants with the house thingies on top. I could have kicked myself for not picking it up. Especially after seeing a near identical set in Delhi for Rs47000! Ah well, dad wants to go to Agra...

A statue in front of the fort.

Carpets.

Designing the carpet. It's just like a bitmap. Fill in squares with the desired colour pattern and use it to make the carpet.

From what they say, a carpet this size (3'x7' I think) takes about four months of work to complete.

We also went to a factory where they inlay marble with precious and semiprecious stones just like what was done at the Taj. Some of the pieces are very intricate and all contain a little blood of the artisans who crafted it. See, they have wheels they use to grind the pieces down with and since the pieces are so small that part of the finger gets rubbed away was well as the stone.

The little stones cut into various shapes to make flowers and other patterns.

The wheels used to cut the stones.

Some of the pieces were quite large.

And others were quite small but fairly intricate. If I recall correctly, is piece and the one above cost roughly the same due to how intricate this one is.

Dinner was much appreciated by our hungry bellies and we turned in for an early night. The next day was going to be a road trip to Jaipur.