The Taj Mahal Experience

Today we went to the Taj Mahal for the first time in our lives.  Blown away by the fantastically beautiful architecture and gardens. It is better in real life than we imagined. Even with the crowds and the terrible pollution that made seeing from the Taj Mahal to the entry gate rather difficult. The TM was so incredible to see. 

To the right we have the TM in pollution and in reflection. And below there is a photo in the TM of onyx inlay of verses from the Koran above semi-precious stones creating beautiful symmetrical flower patterns.

We saw a family of five pigs run acrosss the road downtown on the way to the marble mausoleum.

Driving here is worse than we imagined. Fortunately, we pay to have someone else do it for us. I (FF) can see why people are so religious here. OMG!   OMG!! OMG!!! for the pedestrians, cows, buses, mangy dogs, rickshaws, cars, camel and horse carts, that weave in and out at various speeds and directions with no lines on the road.  It is the most crazy thing I have ever seen in my travels, ever.

The food is wonderful and we have been eating all sorts of great things we've never heard of. ( No bad symptoms so far : )   (MT). I (FF) could eat Indian food every day.

We keep remarking about how sweet and kind people are.

We are staying in this hotel that is really fancy--the travel agent arranged it in a package, so we had no idea--we feel really strange with the room service popping in and out turning down the bed and replenishing things and begging to do things for us. They re-fold the points on the t.p. It does not seem like the sort of place that people who are egalitarian patronize. But we are adjusting, knowing it is temporary and this is what they do here. We try very hard to be respectful guests.

Last night's mega holiday celebrating the return of light, Diwali, was wild--fireworks bursting all over the place; the electricity going off and on because of the drain on the power grid due to all the lights strung in markets and on buildings; and marigolds and decorations strung all over.

Two days ago we were in the old area of Delhi and we were going down this very narrow alley (no cars can get through) and there was a major jam--people were crowded around to see the filming of a scene of a Bollywood movie with two famous actors, KK and I can't remember the guy's name. We had just driven by the theater school where many famous actors are trained, including the famous Shahruh Kahn (sp?) SRK.

These two photos are of a step well in the middle of the city of Delhi. They were generally built 400-600 years ago in northern India to capture monsoon rains. The water level is high at the time of the monsoons and as the water is consumed or evaporated, people used the steps that lead to any level of water in the well.  There would be times of day when men would go to the wells and separate times that women and children would go. Hindu women bathed directly in the water and Muslim women would bathe in the alcoves along the sides, as they did not bathe in their drinking water. I went down to the bottom of this dry well and there were pigeons and bats. The wells are really beautiful and ingenious for the geology and environment. Most are no longer in use.