The Taj Mahal and a little bit of Delhi

We left behind huge expanses of land filled with wild animals and no humans (see Serengeti one, two, three, and Ngorongoro) to a country of nearly 1.2 billion, contained in an area roughly a third the size of the United States. We were also headed to the land of curry, a food Jesse notoriously dislikes.

The centuries-old history and culture of India, majestic architectural monuments and museums of Delhi, Agra and Mumbai have a unique attractive force. – Vladimir Putin

We were off to India… in monsoon season, June through September, so we decided to spend as little time as possible in the rainy lowlands. Instead, we would travel to Leh in the Kashmiri Himalayas, near the border with Tibet (China), Nepal and Pakistan. The high desert in this area is typically unaffected by the monsoon.Though dry, the downside is that some of these areas are jointly claimed by India, Pakistan and China, thus military presence is high – but more on that in later updates.

Our port of entry was Delhi and given the relative proximity of Agra, we had serious FOMO on the Taj Mahal. So we improvised a 40 hour whirlwind of Taj-based activity before heading to the mountains.

On arrival, we hired a car. The driver spoke no English and would pull over randomly to smoke. Nevertheless we layed our lives in his nicotine stained hands as we drove to Agra (Jen slept). Agra, besides being home to the Taj, is a bustling city full of sights sounds and smells, though rarely are they pleasant. Jesse has worked in the major cities of Africa, SE Asia, Latin America and has a pretty good basis for comparison. The difference in India is the sheer volume of life. The streets overflow with it – human, bovine, equine, goat, stray dog, monkey – glorious life and all its fluids splendor.

True travel purists would immerse themselves in this. We took the easy way out. We booked the fanciest hotel in India, the Oberoi Amarvillas. The Serengeti Migration Camp was very nice, but the Oberoi took it to another level. From the guards in their white uniforms and hats…To the entranceway…
To the view…To the pool, it was all incredible, with impeccable service.
Our housekeeper, Rohit, even left us a gift! Perhaps every guest got one, but we fell for it.After cleaning up, a rest and a quick lunch (turns out Jesse likes Indian food afterall – mmm… murgh), we went to the main attraction:The construction of the Taj Mahal was ordered by Shahjahan, the Mughal Muslim ruler, in 1631 as a monument to his second and favorite wife (of four). She had died unexpectedly during the birth of her 14th child. It is said over 20,000 non-union workers participated in it’s construction. A true love story.
Soaked in romance (and sweat) we took the obligatory couple’s photo…Which was followed by our “volunteer” photographer arranging us in this prom-like pose.After paying for our glamour shots, we paused in the smothering heat and humidity to take in the surroundings and to people watch. It turns out we weren’t the only ones people watching. We got a lot of stares, and we weren’t quite sure why. People were even taking clandestine pictures of us. Jesse thought they were admiring his beard. When we caught these fellows, they then shamefacedly asked us if they could take our picture, which turned into a hilarious marathon joint photo session.
Needless to say, the Taj is impressive and beautiful and probably worth the trip, but what we found equally interesting were the people. Indians from all walks of life visit the Taj. Many visitors were dressed in beautiful sarees or colorful outfits that had some meaning beyond our comprehension. For some reason, there were very few Western tourists (perhaps explaining our paparazzi…)On our return to Delhi, we had time for only one sightseeing stop before heading to Kashmir, and we chose the nearby Gurudwara Bangla Sahib. Unwittingly, we went during a festival celebrating the birthday of one of the Sikh Gurus, so the place was crazy! We donned some headscarves, removed our shoes, and dove in.
By the time we headed to the airport the next morning at 4am, the party had moved to the streets. Those Sikhs know how to celebrate.