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Published: December 12th 2009
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The next four or five Blog entries will be from several weeks ago and will be the rounding off of our journey. They will all be sent from our home here in Australia but will refer to places we have seen and enjoyed in India.
So, from the 11th of November (Greg and Catherine) and 22nd of November (Catherine only).
The first step of our Intrepid tour was the trip by train, on the 6 am to Agra. Indian railway stations are a bit of a treat for the senses with a crush of people, many many platforms and open-air urinals, but the train was clean and on-time, which counts for a lot in our book (blog!). The complexities of getting tickets and finding seats were helped by Narji our group leader, so it was with some surprise that I noticed him waving good-bye to the train as we pulled off. Sucked in, as he hopped back on 20 seconds later. This proved to be standard for practical joking by our man. Second class travel was great. We were provided with a breakfast, and hawkers came through constantly selling Chai Marsala, chips and other stuff. A few hours down
the track we were getting off and struck up conversations with the locals who were really very friendly. We met up with one of these guys later, as he was the local and regional manager for Costa Coffee, a franchise that is making big strides in this massive country. As brother-in-law Tom warned previously, Agra does not have much to recommend it, other than of course the Taj Mahal. Prior to that ultimate experience, we did have an opportunity to visit a carpet factory which we were happy follows ethical employment practices, and we purchased a lovely handmade carpet for our home. The predominant colours are reminiscent of a peacock’s so it should be a wonderful piece once completed and shipped.
We also visted the Red Fort - one of many we visited in India.
The Taj….After all the build up and hype, and wishes for clear skies and small crowds, the building itself takes over your consciousness: the superb form of the dome; the endless facets and symmetry; the translucent colour of the marble. Like our blog from the Valley of the Kings, there is almost nothing one can write that has not been captured more eloquently
by others. Magnificent. The experience was not without hassles and annoyances. Many touts and tricksters prowl the grounds and try to get you to pay them for photographing you, or being photographed with them, or selling you shoe coverings or something else. They were a minor inconvenience. Luckily by this time we were getting a little hardened to these games and could avoid them by adopting the blankest of facial expressions. My brother Ian, refers to the look one gets when all facial muscles are completely flaccid. This seems to work well. Catherine and I spent about two hours walking around, exploring, admiring and photographing. Still she was not at all disappointed to know that she will be returning on her next trip. In passing, we noted that it is possible to get a cab in Delhi and to come to the Taj and then turn around to get home in one day. Can we say this doesn’t seem like a good plan. If you disregard all the touts and tricksters, which is possible, then many, many of the people were simply charming. We had the great experience of walking along fully engaged with a group of boys talking about
the wonders of the Australian cricket team, and their own plans for cricketing careers, and listening to their commentator-like catch phrases. Saying that the Australian’s were finding success through “optimistic fielding” was one such classic.
Catherine did return to the Taj on the 22nd of November, and enjoyed several more awestruck hours. This time she was lucky with the weather as you can see. Another titbit of knowledge that intrigued us was that the four minarets on the outskirts of the Taj are angled oh so slightly outwards, so that if there was ever an earthquake, they would fall away from the building.
On each trip through the Taj, we only spent single nights in Agra before heading out into rural Rajasthan.
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