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Published: July 16th 2009
In Agra, the incomparable Taj Mahal exceeded every expectation. Perhaps more surprisingly, so did our final stop in Delhi. The final stretch of our Indian Odyssey took these weary travellers to Agra in the state of Uttar Pradesh and then on to the Indian capital, Delhi. We had most certainly saved the best until last, and as a result finished our Asian Adventure on an absolute high.
We've had a while to think about what to write in this final Indian blog, we're still struggling for the right way to describe the magic of the Taj Mahal - there are simply no words.
Whether it's the first glimpse we got from our guesthouse roof, watching the dying rays of the sunlight on the marble dome with a beer in hand, admiring the incredibly detailed gem inlay work, or being struck breathless by the full frontal view when you stroll through the front gates at dawn, the Taj defies description.
Obviously, if pictures can never do it justice - and they can't - what chance do our words have? So instead of going overboard (more than we have already), we'll borrow some words from Rudyard Kipling - a
"native" of India (and no slouch with a pen) - as even he struggles to describe the Taj...
”As the train sped forward, and the mists shifted, and the sun shone upon the mists, the Taj took a hundred new shapes, each perfect and each beyond description. It was the Ivory Gate through which all good dreams come; it seemed the embodiment of all things pure, all things holy, and all things unhappy. That was the mystery of the building.
It may be that each must view the Taj for himself with his own eyes, working out his own interpretation of the sight. It is certain that no man can in cold blood and colder ink set down his impressions if he has been in the least moved."*
Of course, you could argue that describing the difficulty of description is a description in itself - so we’ll leave it there. Suffice to say we thought it was totally unbelievably freaken cool and by far the best thing we’d seen in India!!! In our humble opinion the Taj is the most beautiful man-made thing on earth, made all the more moving by the incredible love story behind its
Simon with the Mahatma and his missus
at the Gandhi Smriti museum, the house where he spent the last 144 days of his life and was assassinated on January 30, 1948construction.
And so, back to the blog... We spent three days in Agra, a large chunk of which was spent sitting relaxing on the balcony of our guesthouse, or in the rooftop restaurant, admiring our famous neighbour only a few hundred metres to the north.
The Taj is in the middle of a relatively run-down area (typical India really) with no flash hotels or development which you might expect given the tourist traffic. The irony is that the cheapest hotels have the best view!
Aside from the Taj, Agra seemed a fairly uninspiring city. We did however venture out to Fatehpur Sikri - a deserted city in the middle of the desert which had to be abandoned due to lack of water. It was pretty atmospheric, but on an incredibly hot afternoon after visiting the Taj that morning we came away a bit disappointed.
We’d allocated four nights for our last stop in Delhi in case of delays or changes to our plans, but as it turned out we were bang on schedule as we rolled into New Delhi train station on another memorable train ride. The prospect of spending three full days in a place
described by several people we’d met as “my least favourite city in the world” didn’t exactly fill us with joy.
Perhaps because of this, we found Delhi unexpectedly charming. From the art deco colonnades of Connaught Place and the planners dream that is the immaculately laid out government area of New Delhi to the bustling chowks of Old Delhi and the riotous main bazaar of Paharganj (where we stayed), Delhi was - for want of a better word - fun. Although it did live up its reputation for constant harassment!
We managed to drag our tired bodies out for two full days of sight-seeing, in the process discovering a couple of absolute gems - the poignant Gandhi Smriti museum (located in the house where he was assassinated) and Humayun’s tomb, a stunning architectural precursor to the Taj in red sandstone and white marble which was near deserted when we visited.
The food in Delhi, and one offensively cheap cafe in particular, was great value and we concluded our culinary voyage with some classic curries. Amy also managed to pick up multiple scarves for 70 cents each - we were busy trying to decide which one to buy
Detailed inlay work on the Taj Mahal, Agra
The whole thing was covered in this stuff - incredible! Our guide claimed there was NZ Paua in it..we didn't tell him that at the time the Taj was built NZ hadn't even been discoverd yet! and then realised it was ridiculous even thinking about it! We’ll take them all thanks...
Delhi is the starting or finishing point for about 90% of travellers to India, and after observing some greenhorn tourists just setting out we realised how hardcore and confident we had become - maybe even a little bit cocky (especially towards rickshaw drivers). Our brand new packs of five months ago are now looking several years old.
So that was India! When we added up all the states we’d visited and realised that it was less than half of the total, we realised the true breadth and variation of the country - two and a half months and we only nipped around the outside! Perhaps we will return one day, only time will tell.
Is there anything we’ve learned from India? Hmmm don’t know - ask us in a couple of months or maybe even years! India is different in almost in every way to the world we come from. You don't question things or look too closely at a lot of stuff; you just go with the flow and say to yourself - "only in India". It constantly reminded us how
lucky we are to be who we are.
And so it was that we boarded our plane out of India on the 127th day since we left New Zealand, our circumnavigation of the subcontinent complete. It’s fair to say neither of us was sorry to see our Asian adventure come to an end, with the prospect of returning to normal life (and temperatures) in England incredibly appealing.
India is no holiday - but it is an unforgettable experience. We did it!
*In case there are any literary purists reading - we played fast and loose with that quote by deleting some rather large chunks, all in the name of streamlining! We hope you can forgive us...
**************AFTERWORD**************
Stay tuned for the final blog of The Asian Adventure, a general summing up of the whole affair, and some interesting statistics from our travels - not to mention the first episode of The European Escapade! Coming soon to a computer near you...
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Di
non-member comment
Wow
YES!