Cows, Camels and Elephants

What a country of contrasts this is. Wealth and poverty / beauty and ugliness. Unfortunately the latter in both instances dominates. We sort of had a plan for the 5 days we were going to stay in India, having booked a hotel which had good reviews on Trip Advisor. We were met at the airport as expected (at 4:30am – plane was an hour late getting there), but were unexpectedly taken to a travel agency and then to a completely different hotel, being told that the hotel we’d booked had suffered a power outage, so was not available….

Our belief is that they take lots of bookings for our original hotel on the basis of the reviews, and then farm people out to lesser quality hotels in the area. Visitors Beware!

Our new hotel was just about acceptable for one night, remembering we were very tired. But Brian rose early to go to the travel agency to ‘get it sorted’! Good things came of this rather bad beginning, because a new itinerary was negotiated and a good time was had by both of us. One major reason for the good time was that the new itinerary included a car and driver for our sole use while traveling in India. Rajesh was a delightful man and a wonderful driver on the chaotic roads of India! Totally helpful, always available and highly recommended if you visit India and need a driver. So after a just a few hours of sleep, we were on the road to Agra with Rajesh!

Day two, we woke refreshed after an evening of sitting on the roof of the hotel drinking beer and watching the sunset (through the pollution haze) over Agra. This was followed by an excellent meal of Indian food – a common feature of the next four days.

The main reason for coming to India was a romantic one. Brian had wanted to show Dawn the Taj Mahal almost since we first met.

Entrance to the Taj Mahal

Now as husband and wife, he was even more motivated to show his love at the most beautiful building in the world. He was relieved when she said that her heart started pounding as she walked towards the Taj, because of its ethereal beauty.

Looking across the gardens back towards entrance

After walking around the site for over 2 hours, we were both honestly reluctant to leave. The place is magical and we could have spent the whole day just staring with joy at the beauty of this magnificent mausoleum.

Classic 'couple' pose at the Taj Mahal - everybody was doing it!

In case you don’t know the story, Emperor Shah Jahan had the Taj Mahal built to commemorate his favorite wife after she died at the birth of her 14^th child in 1631. Grief stricken at her death, he spare no expense in building the tomb in her memory.

Colorful crowd at the Taj Mahal

After we left the Taj Mahal, we went to Agra Fort & Palace which has a great beauty and history of its own. One of its many charms are the number of viewing points facing the Taj Mahal. These viewing points were obviously much used by Emperor Shah Jahan while he was imprisoned in his Palace there for the last 7 years of his life. Unfortunately we used up the camera batteries on the Taj Mahal, so couldn’t take any pictures of the beautiful views from Agra Fort!

Back in the car, we headed off for a long drive to Jaipur where we were to spend the next two nights. Jaipur is a pretty, historical old town, strategically located in a mountain pass about 4 hours southwest of Delhi. Various Rajas once governed vast territories from this area.

Day three involved a trip to the Amber Fort & Palace, easily the biggest we have ever seen. Amber Fort is a huge complex that once housed military, government offices and quarters as well as the Raja’s Palace. It must have been ‘state-of-the-art’ in it’s time – featuring a stunning hall of mirrored mosaics and 17^th century air-conditioning (screens of aromatic grasses hung in the arched opening of the palace rooms and were moistened once in awhile so breezes blowing through would cool the air). Again it has a fascinating history and lots of beauty (and elephants)! But by the end of this visit, we were both full up with sightseeing of forts and castles and palacesJ

Amber Fort overlooking Jaipur

Elephant rides around the grounds anyone?

Mirrored Mosaics in the Hall of Private Audience

Restored section of the mirrored mosaics

View of Jaipur from the Amber Fort

The solution? We asked Rajesh to take us to a place where we could both get a massage. Oh bliss, bliss, bliss…Dawn had a full body Abhyanga massage followed by the Sirodhara head massage (which involves a liter or more of warm oil slowly poured over the forehead for a good 20 minutes). Brian also had the Abhyanga massage, followed by 4 liters of warm oil slowly poured over his entire body for 30 minutes…one of the most sensuous experiences of his life! Unfortunately, Brian’s masseuse was a man, so he had to keep the sensuous thoughts above his neck!! We were told we shouldn’t wash the ayurvedic oil off our bodies or out of our hair for at least 12 hours. Luckily, we weren’t responsible for washing the sheets!

Day four had a relaxing start, with very long showers. Luckily (for a change) our hotel had hot water. Rajesh, like all drivers in India, wanted to take us shopping (they get a commission). As we wanted to buy some material and a rug, we allowed him to take us to where we would ‘get the best quality and price’ in Jaipur. Dawn had a wonderful time picking out colorful silks for cushion covers, duvet covers, and a locally made camel wool rug. Brian had an even better time negotiating the prices, including delivery to New ZealandJ Many happy hours were spent in the ‘textile factory’, much chai drunk and exasperated shop-keeper friends made. Rajesh then took us to a local restaurant for yet another excellent Indian meal.

Have we mentioned how incredible the food is in India?

Fabric heaven in Jaipur!

Day five started back in the car for the trip back to Delhi. After avoiding cows, camel-drawn carts, people, people on bikes, working elephants, colorfully painted lorries, dented 3-wheelers and vehicles driving the wrong way on the highway, we arrived at the hotel for our last night in India.

All the lorries have a "Blow Horn" sign on the back. You're supposed to honk before passing.

One of India's millions of cows, resting by the side of the road

After settling in, we went off to explore the local (and locals’) market. While browsing, Dawn saw an optician and ducked in to see if they sold contact solution for hard contact lens (something she’d been unable to find since Spain). They did! By the time we’d finished in the shop, Dawn had 2 boxes of contact solution, stylish new sunglasses for both of us, plus 3 new pairs of various kinds of corrective lens between us…all to be made and delivered within 24 hours! India can be a great place, where professionalism, service and quality are all to the highest level. If you happen to find yourself in Delhi needing glasses or optometric help – we can highly recommend the shop and its doctors!

So many NEW glasses!!!

Day six was spent preparing for the long trip to Melbourne and reflecting on our experience in India. Although she was expecting it, one unforgettable experience from the trip for Dawn, was seeing what true poverty is like. Although she has seen similar levels of poverty in the Philippines and other places, India is really overwhelming because of the huge number people who have to live this way.

One thing Brian can not understand is why when Indian people spend so much effort in keeping themselves clean, often at public outside washing areas, and have such a professional attitude to business, they can’t organize themselves to clean toilets.

Hmmmm….