We left Jaipur, and Rajasthan altogether, and we soon found ourselves in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Our first stop in this new state was at the magnificent fortified ghost city of Fatepur Sikri. This city was once the short-lived capital of the Mughal Empire between 1571 and 1585. Today it is famous for its large and beautiful mosque, known as the Dargah Mosque, and that was our reason for stopping. We toured around the mosque for about an hour, and were surprised by its sheer size and overall design. We entered through the Buland Darwaza (Victory Gate), the largest gate in all of Asia. We proceeded to walk around and explore. Soon after we were asked to leave (not us specifically, but everyone there) as a group of VIP's were coming to visit. We headed down and thought that we would be back on the road, but as it turns out, in India, if there are VIP's on the road, everyone else must wait with their cars pulled off to the side for the VIP's to pass. We ended up waiting for over an hour, but finally they came. We were thinking maybe they were important political figures, or even Bollywood stars, but they turned out to be delegates from the Commonwealth (nothing too exciting!)
The VIP's left, and we were soon on the road, heading towards the city of Agra. We were thrilled to be heading here, as it is the city that is home to the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world! We quickly unpacked our bags and then headed out for some grub. We wanted to get some good food with a good view of the Taj. We found one restaurant and went in. As it turns out, they don't light the Taj at night, so it was dark, but we could still see it. It was beautiful!! We thought that we would eat and stare at the beautiful building, but we were forced to leave. Not by anyone, but rather through our own convictions. Our driver, Beer, had come along with us for the evening to enjoy our last full night together. However, the restaurant where we were planning on eating told him that he would have to go downstairs and wait for us. Because he was Indian he wasn't allowed to eat there. We wouldn't have any of that so we went to look for something else. As it turned out, all the restaurants we tried with a Taj view said the same thing. How unfair to our friend! We decided to go to a restaurant near the city centre, and it was great. We ate good food and had a lot of laughs, and that was worth more than a shadowy Taj view.
The next morning we woke early, 5 am, with hopes of making it to the Taj for the Sunrise. When we looked out the window it was far too cloudy, so we decided to just rest in bed and go later in the day in time to catch the sunset. Around noon we began our day. We went first to the Agra Fort and palace, a beautiful massive red-sandstone structure built in 1565. We toured around and enjoyed the beautiful buildings. After that we stopped at Mickey D's, for the first time in India, and filled our bellies with a couple of yummy Maharajah Macs! Canada should look into getting some of these bad boys!! We were full and ready to go the the most remarkable sight in India, the Taj Mahal.
The Taj Mahal has been described as the most magnificent building ever built for love. The Taj was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1631, as a memorial for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child. It is said that the Emperor was so heartbroken that his hair turned grey overnight! The Taj was then created and completed 2 years later, and stands today as a reminder of the love of an emperor. It is a fantastic building, and we were thrilled that we had been given the opportunity to see it. It was more beautiful in person than any picture could ever illustrate. It was massive and at first sight literally took our breath away. We stayed there until sunset, admiring its beauty and trying to get in as many photos as we possibly could!
That night was a sad one, as it was time to leave our friend Beer and head out on our own for the remaining time we had left in India. After hugs and well wishes, we were on our overnight train, heading for what is said to be the holiest Hindu city in India called Varanasi.
We arrived in Varanasi at 5 am, and were thankful that we had been set up with a train station pickup (we had no idea where we were, and since we always had Beer we weren't used to finding our way. We would soon get back in the habit though!) We were dropped off at the hotel an hour later and within a few minutes we were in bed catching up on some z's (you can never get a proper sleep on the train!). After some time we decided it best to head into the city and see what all the fuss about Varanasi was. We made it to the main area after a short auto rickshaw ride, and were not overly impressed. It was busy, noisy, crowded, just like any other Indian city. We made our way down to the Ganges River (also known as the Ganga) as proceeded to walk along the river bank. We passed by many Ghats (stairs that lead down to the river), where people bathe, wash cloths, swim, etc. in the river. There were even ghats designated as cremation areas where cremations were constantly taking place. We spent the afternoon walking up and down the river, although there wasn't really too much happening, and we still weren't blown away (as quite a few people we talked to described Varanasi as the highlight of their trip). We also weren't impressed with the water itself. We did some reading (Lonely Planet, as usual) and found that in in 100ml of bathing water, the acceptable amount of fecal coliform (poo) should be less than 500 (in Niagara Falls it is roughly 80). However, water coming out of the Ganga is so septic, that the numbers are in the neighborhood of 1.5 million!!! We were not going near that water for anything!!
At least thats what we said. Not necessarily what we did. The next morning we made our way back down to the river and jumped in!! We were splashing all around and gargling the water in our mouths...
GOTCHA!
Actually, we hired a boat and road up and down the Ganges as the sun rose. It was an amazing time, as we saw people come down into the river to pray, bathe, brush their teeth, swim and wash their clothes in their holy water. It is said that all Hindus try to make it into the Ganga at least once in their lifetime, and it is an honour to die in Varanasi and to be cremated there. The experience of seeing the Ghats at dawn was a beautiful sight to see, and really made our time in Varanasi worthwhile. That night, with our time in Varanasi at and end, we were back on the train, and quite literally, heading for Bollywood!
We left Jaipur, and Rajasthan altogether, and we soon found ourselves in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Our first stop in this new state was at the magnificent fortified ghost city of Fatepur Sikri. This city was once the short-lived capital of the Mughal Empire between 1571 and 1585. Today it is famous for its large and beautiful mosque, known as the Dargah Mosque, and that was our reason for stopping. We toured around the mosque for about an hour, and were surprised by its sheer size and overall design. We entered through the Buland Darwaza (Victory Gate), the largest gate in all of Asia. We proceeded to walk around and explore. Soon after we were asked to leave (not us specifically, but everyone there) as a group of VIP's were coming to visit. We headed down and thought that we would be back on the road, but as it turns out, in India, if there are VIP's on the road, everyone else must wait with their cars pulled off to the side for the VIP's to pass. We ended up waiting for over an hour, but finally they came. We were thinking maybe they were important political figures, or even Bollywood stars, but they turned out to be delegates from the Commonwealth (nothing too exciting!)
The VIP's left, and we were soon on the road, heading towards the city of Agra. We were thrilled to be heading here, as it is the city that is home to the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world! We quickly unpacked our bags and then headed out for some grub. We wanted to get some good food with a good view of the Taj. We found one restaurant and went in. As it turns out, they don't light the Taj at night, so it was dark, but we could still see it. It was beautiful!! We thought that we would eat and stare at the beautiful building, but we were forced to leave. Not by anyone, but rather through our own convictions. Our driver, Beer, had come along with us for the evening to enjoy our last full night together. However, the restaurant where we were planning on eating told him that he would have to go downstairs and wait for us. Because he was Indian he wasn't allowed to eat there. We wouldn't have any of that so we went to look for something else. As it turned out, all the restaurants we tried with a Taj view said the same thing. How unfair to our friend! We decided to go to a restaurant near the city centre, and it was great. We ate good food and had a lot of laughs, and that was worth more than a shadowy Taj view.
The next morning we woke early, 5 am, with hopes of making it to the Taj for the Sunrise. When we looked out the window it was far too cloudy, so we decided to just rest in bed and go later in the day in time to catch the sunset. Around noon we began our day. We went first to the Agra Fort and palace, a beautiful massive red-sandstone structure built in 1565. We toured around and enjoyed the beautiful buildings. After that we stopped at Mickey D's, for the first time in India, and filled our bellies with a couple of yummy Maharajah Macs! Canada should look into getting some of these bad boys!! We were full and ready to go the the most remarkable sight in India, the Taj Mahal.
The Taj Mahal has been described as the most magnificent building ever built for love. The Taj was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1631, as a memorial for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child. It is said that the Emperor was so heartbroken that his hair turned grey overnight! The Taj was then created and completed 2 years later, and stands today as a reminder of the love of an emperor. It is a fantastic building, and we were thrilled that we had been given the opportunity to see it. It was more beautiful in person than any picture could ever illustrate. It was massive and at first sight literally took our breath away. We stayed there until sunset, admiring its beauty and trying to get in as many photos as we possibly could!
That night was a sad one, as it was time to leave our friend Beer and head out on our own for the remaining time we had left in India. After hugs and well wishes, we were on our overnight train, heading for what is said to be the holiest Hindu city in India called Varanasi.
We arrived in Varanasi at 5 am, and were thankful that we had been set up with a train station pickup (we had no idea where we were, and since we always had Beer we weren't used to finding our way. We would soon get back in the habit though!) We were dropped off at the hotel an hour later and within a few minutes we were in bed catching up on some z's (you can never get a proper sleep on the train!). After some time we decided it best to head into the city and see what all the fuss about Varanasi was. We made it to the main area after a short auto rickshaw ride, and were not overly impressed. It was busy, noisy, crowded, just like any other Indian city. We made our way down to the Ganges River (also known as the Ganga) as proceeded to walk along the river bank. We passed by many Ghats (stairs that lead down to the river), where people bathe, wash cloths, swim, etc. in the river. There were even ghats designated as cremation areas where cremations were constantly taking place. We spent the afternoon walking up and down the river, although there wasn't really too much happening, and we still weren't blown away (as quite a few people we talked to described Varanasi as the highlight of their trip). We also weren't impressed with the water itself. We did some reading (Lonely Planet, as usual) and found that in in 100ml of bathing water, the acceptable amount of fecal coliform (poo) should be less than 500 (in Niagara Falls it is roughly 80). However, water coming out of the Ganga is so septic, that the numbers are in the neighborhood of 1.5 million!!! We were not going near that water for anything!!
At least thats what we said. Not necessarily what we did. The next morning we made our way back down to the river and jumped in!! We were splashing all around and gargling the water in our mouths...
GOTCHA!
Actually, we hired a boat and road up and down the Ganges as the sun rose. It was an amazing time, as we saw people come down into the river to pray, bathe, brush their teeth, swim and wash their clothes in their holy water. It is said that all Hindus try to make it into the Ganga at least once in their lifetime, and it is an honour to die in Varanasi and to be cremated there. The experience of seeing the Ghats at dawn was a beautiful sight to see, and really made our time in Varanasi worthwhile. That night, with our time in Varanasi at and end, we were back on the train, and quite literally, heading for Bollywood!
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