India: A dream trip meets reality for me
Jan 27th, 2015, 10:42 AM
#41
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Actually Shah Jahan planned to build another structure in all black marble symmetrically across the river from the Taj but that plan was curtailed when he was overthrown by his son. I've read it was to be like the Taj only in black. Others have said it was to be some sort of moon palace.
Jan 27th, 2015, 10:54 AM
#42
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The matching black structure is what was described to us as well, jacketwatch. The Taj is really just a mausoleum. There are buildings off the the side and one is a functioning mosque but there aren't any rooms or anything in the main structure--just the tomb room. No one ever lived there.
Our marble panel came from a gallery in Agra, not specific to the Red Fort. Funny thing about the shipping. It arrived in fine condition but my husband had it shipped to his office. He saw the DHL truck arrive with the huge crate and the worker got it to about 25 feet from the office entrance and then stopped and told him he couldn't bring it any farther because he was too tired. My husband said, "don't you have a hand truck?" DHL driver did not--they are not provided hand trucks. The delivery company, whose job it is to deliver, does not give their drivers hand trucks and thus the driver just gave up on this one. So....this huge package made it from India, across the ocean to our small town without a problem only to be dropped off in the parking lot 25 feet from delivery point.
Good tip on travel insurance, jacketwatch,--we had it. I always think about the expense of getting medical attention if we were to have an injury while we are hiking somewhere and that always justifies the premium in my mind.
Our marble panel came from a gallery in Agra, not specific to the Red Fort. Funny thing about the shipping. It arrived in fine condition but my husband had it shipped to his office. He saw the DHL truck arrive with the huge crate and the worker got it to about 25 feet from the office entrance and then stopped and told him he couldn't bring it any farther because he was too tired. My husband said, "don't you have a hand truck?" DHL driver did not--they are not provided hand trucks. The delivery company, whose job it is to deliver, does not give their drivers hand trucks and thus the driver just gave up on this one. So....this huge package made it from India, across the ocean to our small town without a problem only to be dropped off in the parking lot 25 feet from delivery point.
Good tip on travel insurance, jacketwatch,--we had it. I always think about the expense of getting medical attention if we were to have an injury while we are hiking somewhere and that always justifies the premium in my mind.
Jan 27th, 2015, 11:03 AM
#43
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I added a pic of the marble panel at the front of my album:
https://sharedonfodors.shutterfly.com/pictures/986
What turned me off about most of the designs we saw was that they screamed "grandparents' house." Being 34, that is not the "feel" I want in my house. But this design, as we envision it on our sunroom overlooking our garden should "work." We shall see.
Plus I will always think of the Taj Mahal when I look at it.
https://sharedonfodors.shutterfly.com/pictures/986
What turned me off about most of the designs we saw was that they screamed "grandparents' house." Being 34, that is not the "feel" I want in my house. But this design, as we envision it on our sunroom overlooking our garden should "work." We shall see.
Plus I will always think of the Taj Mahal when I look at it.
Jan 27th, 2015, 12:23 PM
#46
love the panel - and the other pics. You are very lucky being able to visit India at your age - I'm getting on for twice that and still haven't got there. I have a particular reason for wanting to see India - my grandparents met there and my mum was born there, as was her mum as well. She was nursing in Bombay and my grandfather was in the indian police - shades of the Raj - when he rescued her from drowning in the sea. He was a very strong swimmer - he had a medal for swimming 26 miles in the Ganges in a race held every year at that time. perhaps they got the medal just for surviving. So I've always wanted to see the places that my grandparents talked about when I was growing up - Bombay, and Madras - particularly. but if/when we go, I'll want to see a lot else as well, so thanks for helping me visualise how we might do it.
Jan 28th, 2015, 02:36 AM
#48
Still following and enjoying your trip report -- loved your photos, especially of Varanasi. Fog can be such an amazing enhancer, creating a mystical effect.
We were there 2 years ago in January and also experienced fog, although not to the extent that you did. The biggest impact was on our overnight train from Varanasi to Agra, which ended up being delayed about 8 hours! For some reason, our train was kept back to keep the others on time, so we sat and watched as trains passed us by!
Otherwise, we found the train surprisingly easy to sleep on. We found that there was a gentle rocking and we both fell asleep easily, something neither of us expected to happen. I suspect that our experience of the train ride was better than we anticipated because our expectations were so low.
annhig -- What a wonderful and romantic story about your grandparents! You really do have to get to India!
We were there 2 years ago in January and also experienced fog, although not to the extent that you did. The biggest impact was on our overnight train from Varanasi to Agra, which ended up being delayed about 8 hours! For some reason, our train was kept back to keep the others on time, so we sat and watched as trains passed us by!
Otherwise, we found the train surprisingly easy to sleep on. We found that there was a gentle rocking and we both fell asleep easily, something neither of us expected to happen. I suspect that our experience of the train ride was better than we anticipated because our expectations were so low.
annhig -- What a wonderful and romantic story about your grandparents! You really do have to get to India!
Jan 28th, 2015, 05:31 AM
#49
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annhig--thank you for sharing your grandparents' story. I love it! You must go to India and see those places. It would be so meaningful. I will look forward to coming back in a year or two and seeing your trip report.
Thanks to everyone who has posted for their encouragement. This is the most feedback I have ever had on a TR and I was on the verge of not even bothering. I appreciate people taking the time to look.
FromDC, what other cities are you visiting? I wish you a wonderful trip.
Thanks to everyone who has posted for their encouragement. This is the most feedback I have ever had on a TR and I was on the verge of not even bothering. I appreciate people taking the time to look.
FromDC, what other cities are you visiting? I wish you a wonderful trip.
Jan 28th, 2015, 05:43 AM
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Thanks, we leave tonight, going to Delhi, Varanasi, Agra, Udaipur, Jaipur and Rathambohre. Still gathering information. I was just looking online at table bases for a marble top based on your TR!
Jan 28th, 2015, 06:04 AM
#51
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<i>Jaipur</i>
The "pink city" had a different feel from the others we had visited so far and when our guide here explained that they have a particularly thriving middle class the reason for that feeling "clicked."
Visiting Amber Fort was great. We did not ride an elephant to get there (we're crazy animal people and even more so about elephants after visiting Elephant Nature Park when we were in Thailand). We walked around the fort, which, to be honest, was very much like other forts but on a grander scale. More interesting was the history our guide told us about the city and its rulers. My favorite part was the hall of mirrors because I loved visualizing what that room would have been like with curtains and candles and the sound of the fountain flowing in the courtyard just outside it. It would have been heavenly.
We saw the summer palace out on the lake and the "Palace of the Wind" which is a very beautiful facade in the city.
Then we went to my husband's favorite site of Jaipur, the Astronomical Observatory. We didn't know anything about this site and it was such a cool concept--like a playground of huge astronomical equipment built in the 1700s. He kept exclaiming how he wished someone had built something like it near us in the USA so we could have been there as kids on school field trips. It did make physics and math seem much more exciting than school ever did. We also were lucky enough to have some sunshine come out so we could see the world's largest sundial in action, which was very cool.
From the observatory we went to the Maharaja's Palace/Museum. There are four museum rooms: textiles, miniature painting, weaponry, and the palace reception area. The miniature painting isn't really museum-y so much as there are artists there who paint and sell the miniature paintings the area is known for. And they aren't tiny paintings, just finely detailed. The textiles were interesting. Both of us found the weaponry the most interesting (and had a good chuckle at the signs saying "Hello" and "Gdbye" spelled out in knives). It was also how we first learned about katar (three bladed daggers). So then when we watched "Around The World in 80 Days" later in the trip (yes, that campy Jackie Chan Disney version) and saw them we exclaimed to each other, "Hey! Katar!!" The reception room was cool because it is intact as it was when the royal family stopped using that portion of the palace and has portraits of the maharajas.
Why did we watch that movie? We own it and brought it along to watch during plane/train rides. That begs the question, why do we own that movie? We bought it on clearance when we had a loooooong layover on a trip, thinking we would just leave it behind. But then we decided it was fun to watch and see places we have both visited and not yet been to. So now it's become part of our travel experience.
Our final stop of the day was a place where they demonstrated block printing. I got to try it out. I had no ideal what was involved and it's pretty cool to think that there's some considerable precision in both the carving and the placing of blocks in order to get the final look.
Our guide in Jaipur was our favorite one of the trip. All the guides' English throughout the trip was excellent and easy to understand but this guide's was particularly polished (he sounded like he had lived in the US or UK actually, though he had not) and he spoke very freely about both the pros and cons of life in India. We enjoyed the personal conversation quite a lot. He had a very deep knowledge of the area's history as well. Questions that we expected to get sort of generic answers had very detailed information. He also helped my husband get help from a pharmacy because he had developed conjunctivitis. Actually, the guide thought my husband had a wicked hangover as we were touring with him on January 1. But then we explained the ailment and he helped us with the pharmacy and my husband was able to get immediate relief from the meds, which was terrific. His name is Davindra in case anyone's booking with L&P and wants to make a request for this guide.
<i>Hotel in Jaipur- Arya Niwas</i> -This was a good hotel. We had a balcony room and could look out over the block and see all kinds of rooftop activity, from hanging out, to hanging laundry to kite flying. There's also a pretty, green courtyard in front of the place. The best part of the hotel is their fantastic food. It's counter service (order at the counter, take a number, food is brought to your table), which was unusual and we had to figure out the process at first. But the prices were insanely cheap and the food was insanely good. We ordered way too much because it was so inexpensive and they served some of the best food I had on the trip (outside the portion in Kumaon). The actual hotel room was quite basic but clean and fine and quiet. There are tons of rooms so you'd need to be specific and request something with a balcony or a window as there are a lot of internal rooms that did't look as pleasant when I peeked in.
The "pink city" had a different feel from the others we had visited so far and when our guide here explained that they have a particularly thriving middle class the reason for that feeling "clicked."
Visiting Amber Fort was great. We did not ride an elephant to get there (we're crazy animal people and even more so about elephants after visiting Elephant Nature Park when we were in Thailand). We walked around the fort, which, to be honest, was very much like other forts but on a grander scale. More interesting was the history our guide told us about the city and its rulers. My favorite part was the hall of mirrors because I loved visualizing what that room would have been like with curtains and candles and the sound of the fountain flowing in the courtyard just outside it. It would have been heavenly.
We saw the summer palace out on the lake and the "Palace of the Wind" which is a very beautiful facade in the city.
Then we went to my husband's favorite site of Jaipur, the Astronomical Observatory. We didn't know anything about this site and it was such a cool concept--like a playground of huge astronomical equipment built in the 1700s. He kept exclaiming how he wished someone had built something like it near us in the USA so we could have been there as kids on school field trips. It did make physics and math seem much more exciting than school ever did. We also were lucky enough to have some sunshine come out so we could see the world's largest sundial in action, which was very cool.
From the observatory we went to the Maharaja's Palace/Museum. There are four museum rooms: textiles, miniature painting, weaponry, and the palace reception area. The miniature painting isn't really museum-y so much as there are artists there who paint and sell the miniature paintings the area is known for. And they aren't tiny paintings, just finely detailed. The textiles were interesting. Both of us found the weaponry the most interesting (and had a good chuckle at the signs saying "Hello" and "Gdbye" spelled out in knives). It was also how we first learned about katar (three bladed daggers). So then when we watched "Around The World in 80 Days" later in the trip (yes, that campy Jackie Chan Disney version) and saw them we exclaimed to each other, "Hey! Katar!!" The reception room was cool because it is intact as it was when the royal family stopped using that portion of the palace and has portraits of the maharajas.
Why did we watch that movie? We own it and brought it along to watch during plane/train rides. That begs the question, why do we own that movie? We bought it on clearance when we had a loooooong layover on a trip, thinking we would just leave it behind. But then we decided it was fun to watch and see places we have both visited and not yet been to. So now it's become part of our travel experience.
Our final stop of the day was a place where they demonstrated block printing. I got to try it out. I had no ideal what was involved and it's pretty cool to think that there's some considerable precision in both the carving and the placing of blocks in order to get the final look.
Our guide in Jaipur was our favorite one of the trip. All the guides' English throughout the trip was excellent and easy to understand but this guide's was particularly polished (he sounded like he had lived in the US or UK actually, though he had not) and he spoke very freely about both the pros and cons of life in India. We enjoyed the personal conversation quite a lot. He had a very deep knowledge of the area's history as well. Questions that we expected to get sort of generic answers had very detailed information. He also helped my husband get help from a pharmacy because he had developed conjunctivitis. Actually, the guide thought my husband had a wicked hangover as we were touring with him on January 1. But then we explained the ailment and he helped us with the pharmacy and my husband was able to get immediate relief from the meds, which was terrific. His name is Davindra in case anyone's booking with L&P and wants to make a request for this guide.
<i>Hotel in Jaipur- Arya Niwas</i> -This was a good hotel. We had a balcony room and could look out over the block and see all kinds of rooftop activity, from hanging out, to hanging laundry to kite flying. There's also a pretty, green courtyard in front of the place. The best part of the hotel is their fantastic food. It's counter service (order at the counter, take a number, food is brought to your table), which was unusual and we had to figure out the process at first. But the prices were insanely cheap and the food was insanely good. We ordered way too much because it was so inexpensive and they served some of the best food I had on the trip (outside the portion in Kumaon). The actual hotel room was quite basic but clean and fine and quiet. There are tons of rooms so you'd need to be specific and request something with a balcony or a window as there are a lot of internal rooms that did't look as pleasant when I peeked in.
Jan 28th, 2015, 06:33 AM
#53
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Still following along, and enjoying your photos. I especially love the ones of Varanasi; the mist and fog give it a very different quality compared to what I've seen before. Some of your mountain village pics remind me a bit of scenes from the Sacred Valley in Peru; wondering if anyone else had a similar reaction...
Jan 28th, 2015, 07:39 AM
#54
Loved your photos…and especially the Himalayan foothills…wish we could've it that into our upcoming trip..
Did you think Fatehpur Sikh was really worth the stop? I was going to skip it and get to my next destination faster.
Beautiful panel too! thanks for the monkey warnings re: Agra Fort
Did you think Fatehpur Sikh was really worth the stop? I was going to skip it and get to my next destination faster.
Beautiful panel too! thanks for the monkey warnings re: Agra Fort
Jan 28th, 2015, 09:36 AM
#55
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Are you driving from Agra to Jaipur? If so, I would stop at Fatehpur Sikh only to break up the trip a bit. It's a long drive. But you'll see other more interesting forts and it could be skipped without regret.
Jan 28th, 2015, 04:37 PM
#57
Thanks Schlegal, we're driving from Jaipur to Agra…don't know if that makes a difference. I'm also hoping that in early April we won't have the fog issues that you faced.
Did you eat your lunches with your guides or did they eat alone with your drivers?
Did you eat your lunches with your guides or did they eat alone with your drivers?
Jan 29th, 2015, 05:09 AM
#58
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The majority of the drive will be behind you if you are going the reverse of us--so skipping it makes sense, you will want to get to Agra by that point in the drive. I don't think April is foggy, in fact the cold weather is pretty short lived from what I understand.
Our guides did not join us for lunches. They were all quite scrupulous about disappearing for the duration. Even when we asked one to join us he declined.
Our guides did not join us for lunches. They were all quite scrupulous about disappearing for the duration. Even when we asked one to join us he declined.
Jan 29th, 2015, 09:13 AM
#60
schlegal - that was our experience in Sri Lanka - our driver/guide never joined us even on the last day. well, he'd been away from his family for 2 weeks so who can blame him? And though it's all different to us, for the guides/drivers we are after all just their clients, and there are precious few of my clients that I would like to lunch with.
your description of Jaipur is great - and that hotel is going on my list!
your description of Jaipur is great - and that hotel is going on my list!
