Getting to Delhi

After visiting Akbar's marvelous (and void of tourists) Fatephur Sikri early on Friday morning, we got a local bus back to Agra then tried to arrange a train back to Delhi. The office at the train station, however, sold only second class tickets. They said that we could upgrade on the coach.

When our train pulled into the station, a mad dash of young men ran along the platform to literally jump on the still moving 2nd class coaches, which were packed to the gills (and had no AC). What to do? We searched the long 15+ car train for the AC carriages, which of course were on the farthest end of the platform from where we stood.

When we found the nicer class of train cars, we soon discovered that no seats were available. After deliberation, we remained on the train (the first scene from "Ghandi" popped into my head). We found an upper hearth bed in an AC sleeper carriage that was windowless and used to store blankets. The man below allowed us to store our bags below his bed, and we crammed ourselves next to the blankets, side by side, hunched over cross legged for the three hour trip to Delhi. We awaited eviction or fine from the conductor. It never came, just a few strange looks from the paying first class customers.

Here we are in peaceful south Delhi, with a full day taxi hire planned for a few more sights and shopping on our last full day. Humayan's Tomb awaits!

Agra: Taj Majal and More

It does not disappoint. Perhaps the planet's most famous building. The monument to grief stricken love. The white marble, luminous this morning as the sun fought the overcast sky...yes, India made it a pain: selling tickets a kilometer away rather than at the gate. Yes, that Japanese woman trying to shoo people out of her photo inside the no-photo shrine. And India is smelly and noisy. But the morning hue, the inlaid marble:  you made your point Shah Jahan.

We arranged a taxi to take us to the Red Fort and "baby Taj" - an earlier, less large yet still impressive and finely detailed tomb in Agra. From there we visited the tomb at Sikandra. But for the Taj each site would be a major tourist attraction and were worth the time.

We have now fought through the touts' lies and the streets of animal excrement to reach Emperor Akhbar's Fatephur Sikri. India is both easy to love and easy to hate: I hope our last few days have more of the former.

Off to Agra

Plenty of rain today in Manali but the greenery is still nice. Overnight bus to Delhi then off to see the Taj Mahal. Trip is winding down.

Off to Agra

Plenty of rain today in Manali but the greenery is still nice. Overnight bus to Delhi then off to see the Taj Mahal. Trip is winding down.

Leh, Kashmir and Manali

We ended up spending close to a week in Leh so I probably ought to explain it all a bit.  Jammu and Kashmir is an Indian state in the far north of the country, bordered by Pakistan.  The state is "disputed," meaning that Pakistan thinks some of it should be part of its country, and India thinks it belongs to them.  In the Northern part of the state, the majority is Muslim, in the southern part the majority is Hindu.  The western portion of the state is a subregion known as Ladakh.  Ladakhis are (mostly) Buddhist and are related to Tibetans - in fact, the state is full of refugees from Chinese-controlled Tibet.  They also consider the Dali Lama their spiritual leader.

On our first overnight, we needed a special permit to visit a town called Turtuk, about 20 kilometers from the Pakistan border.  Getting further away from Leh, the village was a Muslim town that was controlled by Pakistan for twenty years in the middle part of the last century (Pakistan and India have fought several wars over Kashmir).  Our shared taxi had an Indian couple, a pair of French guys, and the two of us.  The rough road first tool us over the Kardung La pass, one of the highest motorable passes on the planet.  Following various tributaries of the Indus river, the road was a lovely if grueling trip. 

Once we arrived, a steep climb on foot from the road took us to the village, which was busy with workers threshing wheat amid gardens, apricot trees and fields of grain.  The following day we returned for Leh, followed by another lovely and grueling journey to a nomadic village beside Lake Tsomoriri.

We took it easy our last day in Leh, and then began the two day journey over the Himalayas on the Leh-Manali road.

The journey was truly spectacular, with varying landscapes of dessert, rocky mountain, and eventually the lushness of Himachal Pradesh.  I would describe the road, but the folks at IRT should give you a good idea:

We spent about 4 hours waiting for the road to re-open just over the Rohtang Pass, but arrive in Manali we did, more or less safe.  Today we relax here, and tomorrow we are back to Delhi and onward to Agra and the Taj Mahal.