Wednesday 20 April 2016
Jaipur
I am finishing my second day in Jaipur and getting ready to head back to Mumbai for one night before the long journey home. I have been very busy during the day and very tired at night, so the blog has gotten a little behind, but I shall catch up.
Before moving the narrative on with my driver, Prakesh, in his nearly new Toyota SUV to Agra, first a few photos, as promised, of Lutyens’ Delhi--not a place to get knockwurst and pastrami (terrible pun, I know!)--but the elegantly designed British government buildings from the 1920s, when the UK believed they would rule India forever. Keeping with the symmetrical patterns of Mughal and Islamic architecture, and adding decorative motifs from the Persians, Lutyens designed a series of massive buildings in contrasting schemes of pink and red sandstone. In the widely spaced avenues and leafy lawns of New Delhi, he created a masterpiece meant to inspire fear and awe, not love and respect. Although the India Gate at one end of the Rajpat (the main avenue), is dedicated to Indian soldiers who fought with the British in WWI and the several Afghan wars that followed, the other buildings are meant to show how little Indians could do on their own.
Saturday 16 April 2016 (continued)
Delhi to Agra
Other than the kerfluffles with the room, the hotel in Delhi was fine. I especially enjoyed one dinner at their Seville restaurant, with two wonderful tapas and a pepperoni pizza. But I will confess the artificial kitsch of the pseudo British Raj architecture is a little much. I don't know that much about the period, but I'd rather stay at someplace more authentic or someplace more modern. But that's just me!
My Delhi driver, Prakesh, who will lead me through the next several days until I depart for Mumbai from Jaipur, and another Audley rep to make sure everything proceeds apace, meet me in the lobby of The Claridges at 9:00 am—my only late morning until I leave for Mumbai. The drive to Agra takes about 3.5 hours, mostly using the well-paved Yamuna Exoressway (with several stops for toll booths). The drive over flat, brown, agricultural land could be almost anywhere in the world, reminding of drives through Iowa or parts of Pennsylvania. We stop briefly at a highway rest area, but will arrive in Agra early enough to have lunch at the hotel.
Saturday 16 April 2016
Agra
I have been upgraded to a Mughal suite at the ITC Mughal Hotel Agra, and indeed I feel like royalty, with a lavish bedroom, separate living room, bathroom with over-size tub as well as separate shower, and a dressing room that automatically turns on its light whenever I enter.
At 4:30pm my local guide, Gary, the second Sikh gentleman who has taken care of me, accompanies me to a local village of about 70 families across the Yamuna River. This community is partially supported by Unesco, and a local young man who speaks excellent English (I had been warned that he might not) guides me through his village, shared by Hindus and Muslims (pretty rare for these parts). I am shown a house in which nine brothers live, along with their two water buffalo tethered outside. The cooking for the entire family is done over one small stove heated by dried buffalo chips, which are also used as fertilizer and for construction projects. I am presented with a small gift of key chain and incense as I leave. There is so much to say about the education of young men and women here but I don't have time at this point.
From here it is a short drive to my first real view of the Taj Mahal, (two photos posted in a previous blog). From royal gardens across the river, with the sun behind me, I watch as the colors of the white marble change with the altering last light in the sky. My guide relates the story of Shah Jahan who built this mausoleum for his most beloved wife (a story well known in the West). I will learn much more about the structure when I return just after sunrise at 7:00 am tomorrow. So early to bed with dreams of the glories of romantic love (although the architecture is, I am afraid, purely and magnificently neoclassic).
Jaipur
I am finishing my second day in Jaipur and getting ready to head back to Mumbai for one night before the long journey home. I have been very busy during the day and very tired at night, so the blog has gotten a little behind, but I shall catch up.
Before moving the narrative on with my driver, Prakesh, in his nearly new Toyota SUV to Agra, first a few photos, as promised, of Lutyens’ Delhi--not a place to get knockwurst and pastrami (terrible pun, I know!)--but the elegantly designed British government buildings from the 1920s, when the UK believed they would rule India forever. Keeping with the symmetrical patterns of Mughal and Islamic architecture, and adding decorative motifs from the Persians, Lutyens designed a series of massive buildings in contrasting schemes of pink and red sandstone. In the widely spaced avenues and leafy lawns of New Delhi, he created a masterpiece meant to inspire fear and awe, not love and respect. Although the India Gate at one end of the Rajpat (the main avenue), is dedicated to Indian soldiers who fought with the British in WWI and the several Afghan wars that followed, the other buildings are meant to show how little Indians could do on their own.
Saturday 16 April 2016 (continued)
Delhi to Agra
Other than the kerfluffles with the room, the hotel in Delhi was fine. I especially enjoyed one dinner at their Seville restaurant, with two wonderful tapas and a pepperoni pizza. But I will confess the artificial kitsch of the pseudo British Raj architecture is a little much. I don't know that much about the period, but I'd rather stay at someplace more authentic or someplace more modern. But that's just me!
My Delhi driver, Prakesh, who will lead me through the next several days until I depart for Mumbai from Jaipur, and another Audley rep to make sure everything proceeds apace, meet me in the lobby of The Claridges at 9:00 am—my only late morning until I leave for Mumbai. The drive to Agra takes about 3.5 hours, mostly using the well-paved Yamuna Exoressway (with several stops for toll booths). The drive over flat, brown, agricultural land could be almost anywhere in the world, reminding of drives through Iowa or parts of Pennsylvania. We stop briefly at a highway rest area, but will arrive in Agra early enough to have lunch at the hotel.
Saturday 16 April 2016
Agra
I have been upgraded to a Mughal suite at the ITC Mughal Hotel Agra, and indeed I feel like royalty, with a lavish bedroom, separate living room, bathroom with over-size tub as well as separate shower, and a dressing room that automatically turns on its light whenever I enter.
At 4:30pm my local guide, Gary, the second Sikh gentleman who has taken care of me, accompanies me to a local village of about 70 families across the Yamuna River. This community is partially supported by Unesco, and a local young man who speaks excellent English (I had been warned that he might not) guides me through his village, shared by Hindus and Muslims (pretty rare for these parts). I am shown a house in which nine brothers live, along with their two water buffalo tethered outside. The cooking for the entire family is done over one small stove heated by dried buffalo chips, which are also used as fertilizer and for construction projects. I am presented with a small gift of key chain and incense as I leave. There is so much to say about the education of young men and women here but I don't have time at this point.
 |
| My guide from the village |
From here it is a short drive to my first real view of the Taj Mahal, (two photos posted in a previous blog). From royal gardens across the river, with the sun behind me, I watch as the colors of the white marble change with the altering last light in the sky. My guide relates the story of Shah Jahan who built this mausoleum for his most beloved wife (a story well known in the West). I will learn much more about the structure when I return just after sunrise at 7:00 am tomorrow. So early to bed with dreams of the glories of romantic love (although the architecture is, I am afraid, purely and magnificently neoclassic).
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