Day 07: 25 Sep ‘09 - Arrival in Delhi
The greeter met us in Delhi with our driver for the remainder of the tour, Nitin. We went straight to the hotel, Le Meridian, and stayed for the rest of the day. Jess wanted to go for a swim, but a closer inspection of the pool indicated that the burgeoning pigeon poopulation left the pool to polluted to pounce upon, and the two pool attendants stood by and gabbed rather that do their jobs of chasing the birds away. So, this pool was too poopy to play porpoise within, which was too bad as the Meridian is a pretty swanky place. However, the pool just soured us on the whole experience, and we give the Meridian in Delhi a thumbs down.
Day 08: 26 Sep ‘09 - Delhi
Visit Jama Humayun’s Tomb [1565 AD], aptly called the predecessor of the Taj Mahal. Visit the Quatab Minar, 72 mt high and one of the perfect towers of the Persian World. Nearby, amidst the ruins of the Quwut-ul-Islam Mosque stands the Iron Pillar, which has stood the vagaries of weather & not rusted over 1500 Yrs. In Old Delhi – Visit Jama Masjid [1565 AD].
Alli and Jess did not do the Delhi city tour as Alli had seen Delhi on her first visit to India, and Jess just was not up to another city tour. Instead the girls stayed in the hotel, went to the spa, went jewelry shopping, and generally had a girls day.
Upon entering Humayun's tomb area, our guide was explaining some of the history of the buildings when this tourist type person walked in front of us Nikon blazing. It was Alex Heihn, and the rest of his family were not far off. Not realizing our paths would cross on our respective tours - both families were showing respective grandmas the North country. After a few words of catching up, we went our seemingly separate ways.
As Indian cities go, Delhi is nice; at least New Delhi is. New Delhi was created with being a national capital in mind and to that end there are wide, clean streets, open green spaces, lots of big buildings, and orderly traffic. Although, we did all the things in the itinerary, there was not one thing that stood out enough to comment upon with the exception to Jama Masjid. We entered the mosque, which is made of red sandstone, on a very sunny / hot day. You have to leave your shoes behind, and the rock is very hot. They had a number of carpet runners to assist with this, but every now and then you had to cross open rock. In the center of the courtyard is a large pond of white marble to wash ones feet. As we moved from carpet runner to carpet runner we had to cross the foot bath, and lo and behold, white marble is quite cool in the midday sun. A welcome relief at the time.
Day 09: 27 Sep’09 - Delhi to Agra (220 Km – 5 Hr)
On the road again – this time with Nitin at the wheel and no guides in the car there was more room in the car to travel around. It is amazing how much room a guide takes up, and prime real estate, too, as they sit shotgun. Oh well, the price we pay, eh? We checked into The ITC Mughal Hotel in Agra. Again, Alli had seen Agra, and she stayed in the hotel. Jess went along because dad insisted that if she was going to see a wonder of the world, the time was now.
We visited the Taj Mahal first, and I do not know how to describe the experience. It is a truly amazing monument of human endeavor. Due to the Dussehra celebrations (they go on for 10 days), and it being a holiday weekend, there were throngs at the Taj. We avoided most of the crowds, and the 2 hour wait to see the inner tomb (we snuck in the back door), and got the see, smell and feel the monument. Indescribable!
Next we were off to the Agra Red Fort, which was interesting, and from which we could watch the sunset light up the Taj. The fort was the palace of Emperor Akbar, and others, and it had a very interesting marble palace. The rest of the place was red sandstone. Please note the growing ambivalence towards forts.
Day 10: 28 Sep ‘09 - Agra
Up early to visit the Itmud-ud-duala Tomb, or mini Taj as it also known, which is one of the greatest examples of inlaid stone in India. As a monument that is not visited much, it is a bit of a wildlife sanctuary, and there are many striped squirrels and parrots. Too bad that Jess did not accompany us; I am certain she would have had a good time chasing the squirrels. Jess and Alli did pigeon pool patrol due to the fact that Agra is in the middle of the country, and damn, it was hot! Also, in Agra, the monkeys are as thick as the dogs of other cities, and it is the people who live in cages. Each house has metal screening over all open portals to keep the thieving buggers out.
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