Today we traveled to north India, and it was a long day. But great.
We woke up about 1:30 am so we could catch the bus to the airport. Two hours of sleep = not fun. We got to the airport 3 1/2 hours early for our flight. Miraculously, I didn’t get charged for my extra bag or my overweight bags, which could have easily set me back a hundred bucks because of the strict weight limits (15 lbs for carry-on bags and 33 lbs total for the one permitted checked bag). Others in the party did, but I skated. The plane flight was great; there was an empty row across from me so I moved over there, laid down and got a two-hour nap. We landed on time and got on our bus. What a contrast to the buses we’ve been driving around in! This one is huge and comfortable and has ice-cold AC. Wow, what luxury. A lady with a snotty-faced baby begged as we got on the bus. She was asking for water (I actually understood her), and I did not like walking by her at all.
After a quick stop at a western-style mall to visit the ATMs and buy some lunch, we hit the road to Agra, the city where the Taj Mahal is located. On the way, they drove us by several interesting things in Delhi, including the president’s residence and the vice president’s residence. The vice president’s place was surrounded by big barbed wire coils and gun emplacements on each corner. We also drove through embassy row and saw the US embassy (right across the street from the Pakistani embassy), and a whole bunch of others. We saw a large, old building and I asked the guide what it was. He said it’s one of hundreds or thousands of old castles in Delhi that have been there for centuries. Apparently there are so many that it’s no big deal to have one in the neighborhood. I joked, “ Oh, so basically homeless people live in there and pee in it?” He said yep. We also drove quickly by a tower older than Taj Majal. The Taj Majal is only 400 years old or so, and there’s plenty of stuff around here that’s more like 1,000 years old.
We stopped by a huge government building complex, apparently built by the British. Huge, impressive buildings in an area unlike the rest of India—wide, straight streets with wide medians and open grassy spaces. Our tour guide said, “The Britsh built this in 1920 and there’s no traffic and when it rains it doesn’t flood. Now it’s the modern world and we can’t seem to build anything like this.” We walked around and took some pictures of the imposing buildings. I took a selfie with some guards, and bought a banana from a street vendor. He asked for 10 rupees (16 cents), which seemed high to me. So I offered two rupees. He gestured for me to just take the banana—kinda with a disgusted face. Well, I wasn’t going to take it for free after being treated dismissively, so I gave him five rupees and walked off. I asked my guide what the going rate is, and he said two bananas for five rupees. So I guess my first offer was pretty close. But as he says, there’s a skin tax here. When you’re white, you pay more. Whaddya gonna do.
As we sat in traffic in Delhi on a road with three jammed lanes in each direction, our guide told us that when he was young (about 20 years ago), it was only one lane in each direction, and traffic was very light. He said you could sit there for several minutes without seeing a car. Now India is richer and people can borrow money to buy a car, so the number of vehicles has exploded.
Then we had a few hours’ drive through the country to Agra. I was surprised how fertile and rural the country was as we drove through. It looked like Iowa, except the farms were smaller and less uniform. One of the main crops was some kind of cattle feed that looks like sugar cane. I saw potatoes and rice too. There were many chimneys maybe 40 feet high—for much of the trip you could look around and count 20 or more of them in sight. Apparently the area is big in brickmaking, and those chimneys are for the ovens where they bake the bricks. I also saw a couple ancient irrigation pumps with big flywheels.
When we arrived in Agra, we went to Agra Fort. It was really cool. It’s huge and imposing and made of red sandstone. There is a lot of awesome Mogul architecture, and a nice view of the Taj Mahal up the river. There were elaborate gardens and careful engineering to cool the interior of the palace parts of the fort where the royalty lived. I couldn’t stop thinking about the thousands and thousands of people who slaved for their whole lives to build that place. Afterward we had amazing Indian food for dinner. And the hotel was incredible. A real hot shower! And then sitting around in air conditioning! All by myself because Lily preferred to room with her buddies! It was decadent. And then, as i looked out from my fourth-floor room onto the street teeming with poor people, I couldn’t help but think that I guess things haven’t changed all that much in Agra from the time that the poor people were toiling to build Agra fort. I realized that I’m the rich, pampered guy looking down on the hot, sweaty working class. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling.
Selfie with the fifth-graders on my last night to tell them bedtime stories
The fifth-graders in their bedroom
Lily conked out at the Chennai airport
Random temple we drove by
Government building complex
Selfie with some security guards outside the government buildings
A scene out the window as we drove from Delhi to Agra
No big deal. Just crossing a six-lane divided highway with two little kids and a head bundle.
The "Baby Taj Mahal," across the river from the original Taj Mahal
At the hotel lobby in Agra
The entrance to the Agra Fort
At the entrance to the Agra Fort
Right inside the gate of the Agra Fort
Right inside the gate of the the Agra Fort
Agra Fort interior
The group in the Agra Fort
A view of the Taj Mahal through a window of the Agra Fort
