Day 8
Off to Agra! This will be the highlight of our trip to India as we were going to see the Red Fort and Taj Mahal. We took the train and the interior was susprisingly clean and new and we had a comfortable trip in the sleeper coach. Upon arrival, we went immediately to our new hotel, which was by Singapore standards, 3-star but at the time, it was way better than the motel-class hotel in Ghaziabad. The rooms were nicely furnished and we took a nice rest in our rooms (mine is a suite!) after our long journey on the road and railway.
Near death experience waiting for the train.
Suite sweet suite.
We saw the Red Fort first, which was rather like the castle of the rulers of the Moghul empire. The whole place was built in sandstone and we were greeted by a big gate which used to be surrounded by a moat - but now they emptied it and grew grass all around the fort. The view was very good, and from the place we entered the emperor used to ride with his army carrying the treasures he took away from conquering distant lands. The people of the city would climb up the red towers and throw flowers, with all the bands playing and pretty girls waving.
Back to reality. We then entered a big garden where a large stone vessel was displayed. The vessel hollowed out from a single large rock used to be the emperor's bath tub where he bathed in wine. His life was basically, extremely exorbitant. Architects at the time believed in duality and almost every structure there was another one mirroring it. The architecture was also rather like the Forbidden City, where you entered garden after garden, pavilion after pavilion. We also saw where the emperor did his administrative work, it was the only marble structure in the entire fort. In winter the walls were filled with hot water to ward off the cold and in summer, cold water. That was about it, the Agra Fort.
Back to the hotel for lunch. No continental stuff, still Indian cuisine.
We had a long rest all the way to 4 pm in the hotel till we visited the Taj! The Taj, being addressed as a female here as it was the tomb of emperor Shah Jahan's favourite wife, had a veil, like all the woman wore at that time. The veil took the form of a giant sandstone gate with inlaid marble and semi-precious stones. The artwork on the Taj was never painted on or carved on, created only from the collage on jewels. Inside, we finally saw the Taj Mahal, a true wonder of the world. It was every bit as beautiful as they saw as we saw the white marble turn pink in the sunset. This marble used to build the Taj was of the highest grade as it would change colour under different light, never get scratched, gets shinier with every touch and waterproof. My my, the price of true love. Haha.
Taj's veil.
The Taj's surroundings were as beautiful as the mausoluem itself; very well-maintained and everything. The thing I like most about the whole thing would be how meticulously the Indian government preserves this wonder; the surrounding area banned fuel engines and allowed only battery-operated vehicles, no shoes on the Taj or buy a shoe cover and security everywhere. The wonder was not damaged to the slightest bit and everyone was caught in the air of respect, never crossing anyone mind to vandalise the Taj or carve grafitti.
Day 8 was wonderful.
Day 9
We started the day by visiting our sick friends who spent the night in the hospital. They had a bad fever and had to go under drips. At the sight of us, they lighted up immediately and we had fun taking pictures of them. Haha. We moved on to another "excavation site" of India's many relics. It was the home of a Moghul emperor and the walk was quite nice. (Don't know what to say here) It was very much like the Red Fort. However, something we dreaded from the start of the trip finally hit us. I did not expect it to happen here, though at the Red Fort it did occur to us a little bit. These dealers who tries to force into our hands every bit of low-grade souvenirs that we practically do not want or already bought. Words fail me here to describle them, let's just say that they were beggars with a cause; but at least they were doing something to make a living.
A story: Here I was walking, minding my own business, and there came a horde of souvenir-desperadoes trying to sell something to me. Be it bead necklace, terribly made models of the Taj Mahal or postcards, they were all the same. Finally, I decided to buy postcards to ward these guys off. I need not walk far (or any further from the place I was "assaulted") before a young boy tried to sell me postcards. "Four for 100" (Four sets of postcards for 100 rupees - SGD3.8) I said, "Five for 100. Final." Along came a middle-aged man who pushed the boy away and said, "Five, I sell you." The boy incensed, cried, "I came first, six!" The middle aged man: "I sell you six! 100!" Then they started fighting. As I could watch on no longer (our group was leaving), I upheld justice and paid the boy, 100 for six. The last I saw of him was his triumphant look...
At night, we went to a marble emporium to buy models of the Taj. This emporium sold genuine marble and those who had bought beforehand discovered that theirs were fake.
REAL MARBLE: let light pass through
no powdery residue
cannot be scratched by a wooder plank
second biggest taj in the world
Of course, all this came with a price.
Off to Agra! This will be the highlight of our trip to India as we were going to see the Red Fort and Taj Mahal. We took the train and the interior was susprisingly clean and new and we had a comfortable trip in the sleeper coach. Upon arrival, we went immediately to our new hotel, which was by Singapore standards, 3-star but at the time, it was way better than the motel-class hotel in Ghaziabad. The rooms were nicely furnished and we took a nice rest in our rooms (mine is a suite!) after our long journey on the road and railway.
Near death experience waiting for the train.
Suite sweet suite.
We saw the Red Fort first, which was rather like the castle of the rulers of the Moghul empire. The whole place was built in sandstone and we were greeted by a big gate which used to be surrounded by a moat - but now they emptied it and grew grass all around the fort. The view was very good, and from the place we entered the emperor used to ride with his army carrying the treasures he took away from conquering distant lands. The people of the city would climb up the red towers and throw flowers, with all the bands playing and pretty girls waving.
Back to reality. We then entered a big garden where a large stone vessel was displayed. The vessel hollowed out from a single large rock used to be the emperor's bath tub where he bathed in wine. His life was basically, extremely exorbitant. Architects at the time believed in duality and almost every structure there was another one mirroring it. The architecture was also rather like the Forbidden City, where you entered garden after garden, pavilion after pavilion. We also saw where the emperor did his administrative work, it was the only marble structure in the entire fort. In winter the walls were filled with hot water to ward off the cold and in summer, cold water. That was about it, the Agra Fort.
Back to the hotel for lunch. No continental stuff, still Indian cuisine.
We had a long rest all the way to 4 pm in the hotel till we visited the Taj! The Taj, being addressed as a female here as it was the tomb of emperor Shah Jahan's favourite wife, had a veil, like all the woman wore at that time. The veil took the form of a giant sandstone gate with inlaid marble and semi-precious stones. The artwork on the Taj was never painted on or carved on, created only from the collage on jewels. Inside, we finally saw the Taj Mahal, a true wonder of the world. It was every bit as beautiful as they saw as we saw the white marble turn pink in the sunset. This marble used to build the Taj was of the highest grade as it would change colour under different light, never get scratched, gets shinier with every touch and waterproof. My my, the price of true love. Haha.
If I had that kind of money...
Taj's veil.
The Taj's surroundings were as beautiful as the mausoluem itself; very well-maintained and everything. The thing I like most about the whole thing would be how meticulously the Indian government preserves this wonder; the surrounding area banned fuel engines and allowed only battery-operated vehicles, no shoes on the Taj or buy a shoe cover and security everywhere. The wonder was not damaged to the slightest bit and everyone was caught in the air of respect, never crossing anyone mind to vandalise the Taj or carve grafitti.
Day 8 was wonderful.
Day 9
We started the day by visiting our sick friends who spent the night in the hospital. They had a bad fever and had to go under drips. At the sight of us, they lighted up immediately and we had fun taking pictures of them. Haha. We moved on to another "excavation site" of India's many relics. It was the home of a Moghul emperor and the walk was quite nice. (Don't know what to say here) It was very much like the Red Fort. However, something we dreaded from the start of the trip finally hit us. I did not expect it to happen here, though at the Red Fort it did occur to us a little bit. These dealers who tries to force into our hands every bit of low-grade souvenirs that we practically do not want or already bought. Words fail me here to describle them, let's just say that they were beggars with a cause; but at least they were doing something to make a living.
A story: Here I was walking, minding my own business, and there came a horde of souvenir-desperadoes trying to sell something to me. Be it bead necklace, terribly made models of the Taj Mahal or postcards, they were all the same. Finally, I decided to buy postcards to ward these guys off. I need not walk far (or any further from the place I was "assaulted") before a young boy tried to sell me postcards. "Four for 100" (Four sets of postcards for 100 rupees - SGD3.8) I said, "Five for 100. Final." Along came a middle-aged man who pushed the boy away and said, "Five, I sell you." The boy incensed, cried, "I came first, six!" The middle aged man: "I sell you six! 100!" Then they started fighting. As I could watch on no longer (our group was leaving), I upheld justice and paid the boy, 100 for six. The last I saw of him was his triumphant look...
At night, we went to a marble emporium to buy models of the Taj. This emporium sold genuine marble and those who had bought beforehand discovered that theirs were fake.
REAL MARBLE: let light pass through
no powdery residue
cannot be scratched by a wooder plank
second biggest taj in the world
Of course, all this came with a price.
No comments:
Post a Comment