INDIA - Dehli & the Taj Mahal
January 2 - 5, 2001 Written by Aaron

January 2, we made our way back to Dehli, on an early morning train. Our train left at 5:15am and it should have taken five hours. But as we walked toward the train station, suddenly we watched as the lights went out all over Amristar and we plunged in absolute darkness. We freaked. A helpful pedicab driver came by, and took us to the train station. We turned on our little flashlights to light his way, and he truly saved us. We couldn't believe how dark it was. Little did we know, all of Northern India was without power and would be for a few days. Our January 1 shower was the last shower we were to take until we arrived back in Bangkok on January 6, there was no hot water without electricity, and to make matters worse, a cold snap had froze Northern India and we were wearing all the clothes we had to stay warm. We even used nasty, unwashed cheap hotel blankets to cover us up. Laura thought that we should make it a tradition and not shower for the first five days of every new year. It should have taken us five hours to get from Amritsar to Dehli, but it took us nearly twice that, and we pulled into the Hotel Namaskar at around four in the afternoon. We dined at our usual Pizza Hut there, where we were given a Backstreet Boys lip sync dance show by the guys at the Pizza Hut. A rich, old Indian stopped and talked to us about how we would never see that outside of India. He was right, and we chatted for a long time.

The final days in India were poignant. We were done, but we still had to see the Taj Mahal. We got a car and a driver, and he took us around the Sikh holy places in Dehli, and then on to Agra. Laura was still sick, the weather was cold, and there was no power, but we got there okay. If people only go to India to see Dehli, Agra, and Jaipur, the Indian Golden Tourist triangle, they don't really see India. They see the worst side of the people, greedy, badgering, aggressive, disrespectful. Agra was the opposite of Amritsar, dirty, mean, pinching. We stayed in mediocre hotel that was freezing, and then both Laura and I got sick from the food. We then bought crackers, swearing that would suffice and that we were done with Indian food. The next day Laura stayed in bed and I went to a mosque outside of Agra, and it was just bad as the city. I was harrassed by every known tout, but did meet a nice Muslim man who sold me some marble. We bargained, he was nice, and I didn't believe a word he said. I picked Laura back up and we saw the Red Fort in Agra. The best part of that little trip was our old, polished guide. He had lived in the US washing windows in Boston, and during the tour he quoted the British poet Shelley, "The sweetest songs are those that tell my saddest thoughts." We talked politics and saw the Taj Mahal from a distance from the fort, and had a great time with him. India is again saved by its people, warm, open, hospitable, friendly. Back at our hotel we fell in with marble dealers next door who let us do email from computers powered by a kerosene generator. Still no power. Our driver convinced us to eat at a local restaurant, and we agreed. The food was good and we didn't get sick.

January 5, 2001, our last day. On Fridays, the Taj Mahal is free so people can pray at the Mosque next to the marble mausoleum, and so we got up early and saw the great Taj Mahal. All along, we were going to skip it, but we would have cheated ourselves if we had. It was truly a wondrous thing to see, bigger and brighter, more spectacular than can be represented in a picture. We spent two hours, wandering around the buildings, talking and pondering the existence of such a thing. But this was India. Behind the beauty and grace of the Taj Mahal is a river that the World Health Organization has concluded absolutely devoid of life. The river cannot support life in any form. This, next to what human beings can build when they set their minds to it. But that is India, the sublime and the awful, right next to each other, as close as the slums of Bombay are to the financial district.

A short drive later, eight hours, we fought our way through Dehli commute traffic, were dropped off at the airport, and flew out of India at ten o'clock at night. We arrived in Bangkok at four in the morning, January 6, 2001 and took a shower at the Lakepoint Service Apartments having spent eight weeks (not counting the Maldives) in India.

The beautiful Red Fort. This is the queen's room if I remember correctly. Its all solid marble, and the patterns are carved into the marble and then inlayed with semi-precious stones. Stunning.

Aaron in front of the Taj Mahal. Its big huh!

Is that Princess Dianna or Laura, I can't tell?

On our drive to the airport, saw this outdoor barber shop. Look closely at the center of the photo, he's set up next to the tree. Saw lots of these all over India.

I'm ready to read more, onto the Epilogue.