Adventures in India

Journal #23 March 8, 2009

On Friday March 6th I woke up early to head to Agra to see the Taj Mahal!!! It took us about 40 min to get to the air port. The air ports were very similar to the ones in the US. High security, no liquids, and so on. The seats on the air planes recline so much further than other air planes though! We flew into New Dahli and had to take a train to Agra. The train station was just like the one in Slumdog Millionaire, lots of people and very busy. We had about a 2 and a half hour train ride, 5 hours later we arrived in Agra. I have never been so anxious to get off a train.

It was 11 at night and we had not eaten since breakfast. It was not a good day of traveling. Everyone was cranky and tired. It was also sad because a family was with us and they had a one year old daughter. She did so amazing during the trip, but I felt so bad cause she was soooo tired and could not sleep because the train would stop almost every 15 min.

So when we arrived we went straight to the hotel and ate dinner. We stayed at the “holiday inn.” The food was sooo good I think I ate 2 little children. Me and Elise were roommates, thank goodness. We had an early wake up call so we went to bed early, we were going to see the Taj Mahal!!!!

So on Saturday we left the hotel at 6 am. When we got to the Taj we had about a half mile walk and there were beggers and people selling stuff. It was a little overwhelming. We had to wait in line for about 20 min. In front of my group was a couple from India but now lived in Canada. They were really nice and told us how much we really needed to pay the sellers. The men and the women had to stand in separate lines to get through security. At one point we had about 8 Indian women try to cut through our group. They were pushing us shoving us into the people in front of us. The lady from Canada told the security guards and they came over with their guns and started yelling at the women. I was never really scared at this moment but a little startled at how mad the women got at us.

So when I got to security I walked through the metal detector and they searched my purse. They told me that I was not allowed to take my deck of cards in, I was a little startled by that. They said that I had to take it to the lockers and pay to keep them there. I said I would just throw them away but they got mad at me and said “No take to locker.” Thank goodness the lady from Canada had to put stuff in the lockers too because it was about a mile walk away from the Taj. The entire way she told me how to deal with the men at the lockers, to follow her lead because they will try to charge me more. She taught me several words that I would need to know. I was just a little frightened. So it worked out well, I got a locker for my deck of cards and headed back to the Taj. I was soooo thankful that lady was with me.

When we got back inside I realized that my group had left me. A little frightened because I was not with the lady anymore I started walking really fast. Then I got to an area where it split into three different parts, which way to go?? I was starting to get really scared. So I picked the left and I am super glad I did because about a miles walk and I was with my group. When we were able to see the Taj I was pretty much blown away. It is sooo gorgeous. I can not imagine that a king would build this to show his love for his wife. A year ago I never would have thought that I would be standing in the same place where one of the 7 wonders of the world is. After all the scariness, tiredness, and upsetness, I had no worries. I WAS AT THE TAJ MAHAL!!!


ME AND MY ROOMMATE MEGHAN AT THE Taj Mahal!

The gardens were immaculate, the marble was just gorgeous, and the architecture was magnificent. How could they have built this so well so long ago. We walked around for about and hour and just took a lot of pictures.


MONKEYS OUTSIDE THE TAJ MAHAL!

After going back to the hotel and getting dinner we headed to a palace. The palace was about an hour away from the hotel but we rode through cities that were fascinating to look at. I was able to see people in their everyday lives at work. The palace was pretty cool, but my favorite part was when some boys jumped into a pool about 50 feet high to show off and get some money from us. The pool was soooo gross and you could see the dirt spreading when they jumped in. I gave them some good money for doing that.

Then we headed back to the hotel for lunch and then we proceeded to a fort in Agra. The fort was really cool and pretty. At this point I was getting a little tired :) The fort was cool because our group was sitting waiting and a group of Indian College students were all in a line taking a picture about 50 feet from us, so we all go in a line behind them without them knowing and they took the picture, when they noticed they got really excited and had to take several pictures with us. Not a single word was exchanged during this encounter between any of us and I could tell that we all were enjoying the same experience and know how similar our lives were.

When we left the fort we were taken to a place where marble accessories were made. That was pretty cool and I was able to buy a marble Taj Mahal. We then proceeded to the Taj for the sun set. Elise, Thomas, and I went on an adventure and went into the Mosque, took a bunch of pictures, and Thomas got attacked by monkeys. That was really funny but scary :)

When we left we headed to the train station to head back to Dahli. The train station was extremely hard for me. This was the first time that I was actually impacted by the children begging for food. The children had several problems with their bodies, some had clef lips, some were missing limbs, and some could not even walk. It was heartbreaking. I sat there and tried to hold back the tears but I was unsuccessful. It was so hard not to give those kids some food, they were not even begging for money, just food. I knew that if I gave one of them food they all would come running.

The train ride was much better then the last. We were on the express train so we got there in one and a half hours. When we arrived at the hotel I was amazed at the gloriousness of it. It is called the Lalit and is probably one of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed in. The beds were sooo comfortable and the pillows were so soft. I fell asleep watching homeward bound. We were able to sleep in a little bit but I woke up early for breakfast. OMG, the breakfast was awesome. Probably best yet. They had every type of breakfast food possible. They had from doughnuts to smokes salmon, from omelets to Japanese stir fry. They had everything.

When we got ready everyone headed to the Red Fort. When we got there it was closed because the ex-President of Pakistan was there. I was a little sad but right as we were about to get on the bus they opened it. So that was perfect timing, oh yeah I forgot to tell you. We were running about 30 min late because a boy on our trip PJ got drunk the night before and passed out outside on the patio of the hotel, and was woken up 10 min before we left. So it was actually perfect that this incident happened because we would have missed the fort.

But anyway, the fort was pretty cool. We only were there for about an hour and then headed for lunch. We went to a local restaurant where they served us chicken nuggets and ice cream, haha, not very local.

Well, it was time for us to leave Dahli. The flight was pretty good, I slept most of the way. The plane was full of SAS students. When we were leaving the airport my group was the first to leave, we had 5 other busses behind I was so proud of ourselves because we knew the line would be soooo long to get on the ship if we were the last bus to get there. As we were driving a bus passed us and we all started screaming, it was a race, our bus driver kept trying to pass them but was not successful. Finally right before the port be cut them off and we were first!!!! But then we stopped a the gate, our bus driver did not have the paper work to get through the gate :( we sat there for probably 10 min watching every bus pass us in the time being. Ahhhhhhhh we were sooo close.

It took us about an hour to wait in line and get all our bags checked, not a very fun night. We were all so tired and crabby. When I got on I headed up to our private dinner on the ship and then headed to bed, it had been a long day and a long trip. I really enjoyed my trip! The people on it were really fun and the places I went were really cool. I would have to say my favorite part was the Taj Mahal though!! I mean how could you not love seeing one of the seven wonders of the world. I really enjoyed Dahli but Agra was not my favorite place. If I ever come back to India I would definitely stay in the Lalit in Dahil.
I hope everyone is doing well.

Love
Michelle