The Taj!

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Happy New Year to everyone! I made it to the one place everyone has to go to in India. The Taj Mahal. And it is pretty amazing despite all the hype. There are intricate designs in the marble that I never saw in any of the pictures. But to back up....

I had a wonderful Christmas dinner with all the folks at the Z Hotel in Puri. 10 days of relaxing, shopping and sightseeing there made me ready to brave Varanasi. So on the 27th I headed off to see mother Ganga on a 20 hours train ride. Some kids looking to learn English came to say hi and their father told them to climb right up in the top bunk with me. Now I'm all for a little friendly conversation, but they wouldn't leave. I even said I had to go to the toilet and they let me out and were still there when I came back. I finally had to tell them it was time to go and that I wanted to take a nap. Alas, I arrived in Varanasi relatively un-harassed but a bit bleary eyed as I have yet to acquire the skill of sleeping anywhere no matter the circumstance.

After a quick nap I decided to explore the city. My first walk along the ghats must have been a lucky one, because I ran into Andrea and Krista whom I had briefly met in Darjeeling a few weeks before. I ended up hanging out with them all through yesterday! We went on a sunset boat ride, lit candles for our families, and saw the burning ghats. I'm still not sure what I think about those, but it was interesting to see death dealt with so publicly. Despite what everyone said I actually liked Varanasi, its narrow alleyways, and constant commotion are part of its charm. We had lots of fun getting lost in the crowds and eating too much at the prevalent German Bakeries. It was only on New Year's Eve when it started to rain and the mud mixed with cow shit and covered everything that I started to get a bit tired of the city.

New Year's Eve was quite low key with an indulgent dinner and fireworks viewing from the roof of our hotel with another friend Tatiana. There were lots of small displays of star bursts all over the city, like Chinese New Year on a small scale. On the first day of 2010 we set off for Agra to see the Taj, but fog and a cold front delayed our train by 9 hours. So Andrea and Krista and I did the quick version of taj viewing, so they could rush off to catch flights in Delhi. But it was still worth it!

Today I went to Fathepur Sikri to see the palace of Emperor Akbar. This was my first introduction to Mughal architecture and it was quite amazing. It was actually a mix of Mughal, Jain, Bhuddist and Persian styles, with what I was told is the highest gate in Asia outside the mosque.

Tomorrow I am off to Delhi for half a day and then on to Mumbai. Catch you all later!

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