India II: Agra and the Taj Mahal

The first full day of my two-week tour of India and Nepal was off to an early start with a 4:30 am wake-up call to catch a train to Agra.   Keeping us entertained were funny train station announcements including reminders that “sleeping on the platform is a bad habit” and “don’t be friendly with strangers”, each prefaced with a trumpet fanfare.  The train breakfast was distinctively Indian – something new (to me) called a “vegetable cutlet”.  It seems like they were trying to imitate a hearty English breakfast sausage but with deep-fried vegetables.  It was interesting although I think if given the choice I’d stick with the continental breakfast.

Our first stop outside of Agra was Akbar’s tomb.  It was built around 1600 on a large estate that now hosts manicured lawns, peacocks and antelope.  This tomb pre-dates the Taj Mahal, which was built by Akbar’s grandson Shah Jahan.   As was tradition, Akbar planned the site himself although it was his son Jahangir who finished its construction.

The four white marble chhatri minarets are similar to those of the Taj Mahal and perhaps inspired Shah Jahan (only two visible in photo below).  The rest of the building is mostly red sandstone.

“Akbar the Great” was a powerful Mughal emperor of a vast empire.  The architecture combines elements from Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity, some think in an effort to achieve religious unity.  Although not all elements are visible below, there were domes and lotus flower motifs associated with Hinduism, crosses for Christianity, and minarets for Islam.  Although difficult to capture on camera optical illusions with the columns and “whispering walls” (points of reverberation amplifying sounds many metres away) were pretty neat for an engineer.

A mix of religious motifs visible in the domes and decorative patterns:

Frolicking peacocks and antelope.  Funny how in India so many of my shots seem overexposed – the sun can be so bright for a Vancouver girl!

Intricate latticed stone screens called jali backlit from inside the tomb.

After Akbar’s tomb it was lunchtime (always delicious, this time Gujurati thali) and then to the Taj Mahal, one of most breathtaking and recognizable landmarks in India.

The Taj Mahal is a beautiful white marble mausoleum built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of this third wife Mumtaz Mahal.  She died during the birth of her 14^th (!!!) child. Sick with grief, legend has it that his hair and beard grew snow white within a few months and  he built the Taj in her memory. Construction took ~17 years and finished in 1657 requiring ~22,000 people including labourers, painters, stonecutters and artists, and more than 1,000 elephants to transport construction materials.

At both the Taj Mahal and Akbar’s Tomb, the four minarets on the corners are not built straight but lean slightly outwards.  Some think this is so that if there was an earthquake (and the area was apparently seismically active in the time before their construction) that the minarets would fall away from the main structure.  However others believe it was done so that the towers appear straight to the eye to correct parallax.

The Taj changes colour depending on the weather and time of day.  Supposedly the best time to visit is during a full moon where the moonlight gives the marble a silvery sheen.  Also recommended is sunrise or sunset with the orange of the sun.  In the winter during my visit there is persistent fog in the mornings, and so we went late afternoon and managed to catch some slanted afternoon light although nothing fiery. 

 Taj in the early evening light:

Unfortunately the Taj’s white marble is slowly turning yellow because of air pollution from Agra.  To try and protect the monument authorities have shut down all industry within 40 km and only electric vehicles are allowed near the structure.

 All Indians seem to want a trick shot of themselves holding the tip of the dome of the Taj Mahal. Kind of like everyone in Europe holding up the leaning tower of Pisa.

Fellow traveller Amy showing off the booties we needed to wear while walking inside the Taj to protect the flooring.

Example bejewelled marble inset inside.  I was taking a break from the crowds in a corner in a patch of light.  I’d never experienced anything like the crowd pushing you through the main tomb area.  So much noise, so many people, so many smells, and yet so dark inside!  This inset escaped unscathed, but sadly many precious and semi-precious stones were ripped from the walls of the Taj by the British during the Indian rebellion of 1857.

There were lots of school kids in uniform and some in casual clothes walking around the grounds.  Some of the boys were particularly interested in us tourists, asking to have their picture taken and posing, like this young man.

These lovely ladies also asked to have their photos taken and enjoyed seeing their own faces on the  screen afterwards.  An outing to the Taj Mahal was a very special occasion.   I hope I can still sit cross-legged at their age – so regal!

India: Delhi Part I

Time to finally dive into stories/photos from my trip to India (last year at this time!).  The flight over was long, but not too bad (~30 hours door-to-door including a 5 hour stopover in Frankfurt where I devoured a ridiculous amount of excellent Lübeck marzipan). 

My relatives picked me up at the ungodly hour of 2 am local Delhi time.  I don’t understand why Delhi has so many late night flights!  On the other hand at least traffic was manageable at this hour and people didn’t lay on the horn quite as often.  

I spent the first two days getting over jet lag before joining a 2-week Intrepid tour.  My Indian relatives were incredibly welcoming and spoilt me with delicious food including idli with coconut chutney and green beans, as well as fresh chapati (unleavened flatbread) with every meal.   I was also impressed by the sheer number of people living in their house (12 including hired help), as well as the bustle of maids, drivers (to get people to work and kids to and from school), multiple cooks, and people stopping by with laundry, ironing, and all sorts of other goods.   India has certainly changed for the middle-class from 25 years ago when I was last visiting family in Delhi!

My first sight-seeing was visiting the Lotus Temple with my Mom (also visiting from Canada), cousin, and my little second-cousins. The temple is shaped like a lotus flower and is a Bahai place of worship.  It’s no ancient architectural wonder (opened in 1986), but I did enjoy the lovely ponds of water (see title shot for this entry) and padding around on the cool white marble in my bare feet.  People of all religions are welcome to worship, although silently.  It was lovely to see Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims all praying peacefully together.

The next day I joined my tour group and we started with a walk around Old Delhi.   Immediately it felt like pure chaos with all of my senses being simultaneously assaulted with noise, light, strange smells and people pressing against you.  Trying to keep up with our local tour leader I nearly got run over by cycle-rickshaws and tuk-tuks multiple times.  We weaved our way through numerous narrow alleyways crowded with shops selling jewellry, spices, hot steaming paranthas (deep-fried bread), fruit trucks burning incense to draw in customers, brightly coloured tunics, and so on.   I wasn’t able to snatch very many photos, but here are a few:

In the midst of the chaos I decided to look up….and saw this mess of wires!  It’s doubtful that all of these are legal connections from the electricity company, but you can’t help but have sympathy for all of those in poverty and unable to pay.  I saw a great documentary this past year on the issue of power generation/supply in India called Powerless.   

I had some relief from the chaos of the street visiting a beautiful historic Gurdwara (Sikh temple) in Old Delhi.  Everyone must cover their heads out of respect before entering the gurdwara. Sikh men generally wear turbans and Sikh women typically wear head scarves.  The temple had bandanna-like cloths on hand for tourists such as myself to visit the gurdwara.

As in all gurdwaras, there is a main hall with the Sikh holy text prominently on display.  Worshippers sing hymns accompanied by musicians. 

A kitchen is part of every gurdwara that provides a free vegetarian meal to any who come (Sikh or non-Sikh).  Everything is cooked by volunteers and serving hundreds if not thousands of meals every day is a major operation!  I helped roll a few roti (another word for chapati), although my oblong bread pieces were far off from the locals’ beautiful symmetrical circles.  We all had a good laugh about that. 

Volunteers making roti in the gurdwara kitchen.

A volunteer stirring a vast vat of ghee (clarified butter)

  

A man perched on a ledge outside the gurdwara.

This was it for Delhi for now, although I returned at the end of my trip.  Next: on to Agra and the Taj Mahal!

San Francisco, California

Before I tackle my trip to India I thought I’d catch up on a fun getaway to San Francisco with my Mom and sister in February.   Despite a four hour flight delay, I was happy to get this shot of the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, and the city just before landing.

San Fran’s City Hall

While visiting the gorgeous domed building we were entertained by some people attempting a new record for longest tin can telephone.  

Imitating the strangely knobby sycamore trees.

Getting into the craft beer scene and loving the flights of taster beers, in this case at the Thirsty Bear.

  

Wine tour through Sonoma Valley on a cloudy/rainy day.  We had the mini-bus all to ourselves and even got a bottle of champagne to split at the end!

                                                                         

Took a very windy boat ride back to San Fran at the end of tour to avoid rush hour traffic into the city.   Gorgeous views, funny signs, and lots of laughs as we tried to stay upright in the gale force winds.

Wandering around Fisherman’s wharf in search of dinner after the rain

Returning to the Embarcadero the next day for Kiran to get her fill of oysters.

Alcatraz, aka “The Rock”.  Former military garrison, military prison and legendary federal penitentiary now managed by the National Park Service. 

Looking back towards San Fran on a bright crisp February day.

A much more relaxed boat ride than the day before on our way to Alcatraz.

Guard tower

Sample cell in the isolation D-block.

I got “thrown in the hole” to see what misbehaving prisoners had to experience.  This shot is just before they close the door leaving you in total darkness.

  

Our best gangster faces.

Outlines of all the knives in the kitchen to easily spot if one if missing

   

I was fascinated by the escape attempts.  Alcatraz is 2.4 km offshore from San Francisco.  But it’s a dangerous swim in cold water and against strong currents to reach land.  Over almost 30 years there were 14 escape attempts made by 36 prisoners.  None were known to be have been successful; 6 were shot and killed during their escape and 5 remain officially listed as “missing and presumed drowned”.  Only one known successful swim was made by John Paul Scott, who was found clinging to rocks near the Golden Gate Bridge in Dec. 1962, too exhausted to even pull himself out of the water.

Another daring escape attempt (and my favourite) was the one by Morris and the Anglin brothers in June 1962. They created dummy heads made with soap, toilet paper and real hair, and left them in their beds to fool prison guards.  They escaped through enlarged air vents in their cells dug out with spoons over a year to reach a ventilator shaft to the roof.  They climbed down from the roof, over the prison fence, and assembled a raft made of prison raincoats and contact cement.  They were never seen again and are presumed dead….

Close-up of the dummy head and enlarged air vent

The only residents these days at Alcatraz are a large variety of sea birds as well as an impressive collection of flora in the garden.

  

On our last day in San Fran we rented bikes to tour the Golden Gate Park and hitched a ride on a street car to check out the famously steep streets.

Went from the far end of the park all the way to the ocean.

I hope everyone’s e-brake is working…