Aug 16, 2001 A Mouse in the House, Trip to Agra, The Taj Mahal and The Toilets!
Well, yesterday is over and it is now the next morning and A. is showering so I will begin to write. It will probably take all day to do this.
The whole day began yesterday after a nite that we basically did not sleep well at all. It started when we got back to the room after sending my last e-mail a couple of days ago. We were very tired and wanted to go to sleep early so we could rest enough before getting up at 4 AM. We came up to freshen up a bit (you walk around here sticky all the time) before eating (Chinese food!),
when all of a sudden a mouse ran across the room...A MUST read!! Typical India!
We called the desk and they said "no problem" - 3 guys came up to the room armed with plastic bags!!. Luckily, they saw the mouse so they knew we weren't imagining things. And then they just started to enjoy themselves, giggling, moving furniture, banging doors for over 1/2 hour.
Never saw the mouse again and they decided we he had slipped out under the door. OK....we went to eat and came back just ready to shower and plop into bed. Opened the door, and what do we see? Mr. Mouse standing there with a big grin on his face, waving at us and saying "Hi, guys...I'm still here!"
We went down to reception and they simply offered us another room-that was the solution they could think of. We were so exhausted and it meant packing up all our stuff again (it was already 10 PM) and moving but we had no choice. They helped us and exactly half hour later we were settled in our new (nicer with bathtub.. but no plug) room.
We were all wound up by then though and both of us had a very difficult time sleeping. At 4 AM, really exhausted, we got up to begin our day. A cab took us to the train station and we sat in our reserved AC seats and from the time we got on the train all kinds of food kept coming...Including a bottle of mineral water for each passenger...the train has a special holder on the back of each chair to hold the water. I tried to sleep but with no luck. Too interesting watching the countryside roll by. Very nice quick train ride and we arrived in Agra and went to look for our driver.
It was obvious to us that this time we would definitely find him waiting since the same person who arranged the first one whom we never found, was very concerned this time and sent us e-mail with extra precautions listing the number of the car, number of the company owner, and exact location where the driver would be waiting. Guess what? He wasn't there!!!
We looked around for a little longer and then decided to simply call. We were very relaxed and calm. Then all these other guys started jumping on us but we've gotten so good at ignoring them that they are basically invisible to us. We kind of just walk through them.
Just as we were going back in to call, a man approached us and asked "Are you Miss Jane!". He had a letter from the guy who made the arrangements so we knew he was the company owner,,,, and just then a little guy with a sign saying "Miss Jane" comes running over...he was the driver and he had arrived a few minutes late...he got a real tongue-lashing from the owner but then we were off with driver and guide for the entire day. It is the only way we could have gotten out of this day alive!
Agra is even more yucky then Delhi. Hot, humid, polluted, noisy, overcrowded and guys jumping all over you everywhere, even through the open car windows, to sell you junk! We decided to see other things first and leave the Taj Mahal for after 4 at the suggestion of the guide when it would be a little cooler. He was very nice and competent but it was difficult to talk to him which means we missed out on alot of information but it was fascinating talking to him. He is not the first Indian we have had philosophical discussions with re: religion...there is so much in common with Judaism and belief in a direct link with God without middle men and that we are all created in the God's image and there is a piece of God in each of us, reward and punishment...he told us many interesting stories in his broken hard to understand English with heavy Indian accent.
One thing he said was in his religion, it is known that if a man takes more than he deserves for a service he performs or a job he does (this after we started talking about cheating and rip-offs in India) then the extra money he gets will be taken away from him in the form of medicines he must by for his sick children! Very interesting concept.
And you would not believe how much the Indians, everyone we have spoken to, hate the Muslims. They do not understand why we don't give them back what they give us, eye for an eye and be done with it!! They are great supporters of Israel, understand our reasoning and agree with it, are trying to form alignments here for active work on the part of Israel and know more about our history and heritage than I could have imagined. It is very warming to the heart to hear their beautiful words of encouragement and support!
Well, we had a very difficult day. We went first to see some beautiful mausoleum to the Guru of his religion which I wrote down but don't have with me right now...doesn't matter...It is a beautiful edifice with hand cut marble everywhere cuttings of all kinds of fruit trees and vegetables etc. and just like all fruits and vegetables live together and complement one another, so all religions must live together. This is one of the basic tenets of his religion.
Then we went to Agra fort
which is amazing but enormous and we were both very weak by this point. No sleep, heat, no matter how much we drank it wasn't enough. But from this fort you see the Taj from the distance across the Yamuna River and it was amazingly beautiful.
We spent an hour there which was more than enough and then met our guide and we had to decide how to spend the rest of the day. Train doesn't leave till 8 PM. He had a whole itinerary planned but we simply were not up to it. So he tried to figure out what we could do. It was only 11 AM.
So we said we needed to eat and be air-conditioned. He took us to a restaurant
Aside: toilets: I've tried several kinds already and have no problem with any of them. Even used the "India water pitcher and left hand clean up job" and found it very pleasant and practical. One toilet was a plain hole in the ground with sort of a bowl with foot pads to place your feet on when you squat and that's it; another was basically the same but it flushed!!; and then of course the "western" toilet in the train which was a real accomplishment - you have to hold on for dear life to the hand rail provided while the train sways in order to aim properly and steadily and keep the flow going in the right direction. basically I find no problem with the toilets - the public toilet, although it had a smell, was no worse than any public toilet in any public place anywhere in the world and maybe the smell was even less stinky than many places I've been in other countries.
back to my story.
Our India guide even tried to dissuade me from using the public toilet and wait until I get to the "real" toilet at the restaurant but he doesn't know my bladder. I think he was embarrassed but I reassured him that all was well and I am very adaptable!
So, we went to a restaurant called the "Only Restaurant" and I really must recommend it. Wonderfully A/C, great toilets, beautiful decor, perfect service and absolutely delicious food. They even have a full explanation of what each dish is made of. I found something - don't remember the Indian name, with 9 kinds of fresh vegetables, fruit and nuts in a light cream sauce which I ordered "not spicy". When it arrived, I tasted it, and I guess for him it was "not spicy" but not for me. He asked how it was and I said "spicy" and without a second thought just pricked up my plate and took it away. A minute later he returned with a new portion which was truly not spicy. ! He probably couldn't understand how I could enjoy eating something so tasteless, but it was pure heaven. We also ate 2 kinds of Naan, bread-one prepared on a tandoori stove very similar to bedoui pita or Iraqi pita but more tasty, seems like whole flour, and softer and it was filled with cheese, dates and nuts! Fantastic.
We rested in the restaurant until our guide came to fetch us 1 1/2 hours later and forced us to reluctantly leave the AC. But first we discussed the rest of the day. He realized we didn't feel well and so took us back to his house!
Were we met his whole extended family consisting of 14 people including his grandmother who "rules the roost", he calls her the commander, his 2 children, his wife, his brother and his wife and their children. Amazing family, poor, and simple and serene and religious and happy. Two days earlier was a birthday festival for their Guru so we benefited by being offered all types of delicious sweets that had prepared for the celebration. Don't remember what they were all called but several types of balls called Ladoo, were offered, made from wheat (I think farina) and sugar and butter and seasoning...absolutely delicious melt in your mouth stuff, just sweet enough...but we were so full from the restaurant we could only take little tastes of each thing but the smile on the grandmother's face was worth the effort of tasting all of them.
Then they simply gave us their beds, which are in the "living room" and left to let us rest until we had to leave 2 hours later for the Taj Mahal.
Well, the Taj Mahal...the reason we suffered through this whole horrible day -is a s beautiful as you can imagine it to be - but not worth the price in money ($25!!!!) or in physical energy expended on such a day - it is disgusting outside of it...I can now understand all those who say "don't bother" - you well not feel cheated if you come to India and don't see the Taj Mahal
Our driver picked us up and then took us for a bowl of soup at the same restaurant as we needed nourishment and AC again urgently and we still had time before the train left. In the end, we still wound up waiting and almost fainting away at the crowded and very hot train station for a long time. The train was late but we finally found ourselves seated and wanted to sleep but again they started with the food:
Tomato soup with breadsticks and butter, dal (lentils) very spicy, rice-delicious-tofu or chicken in delicious sauces, and a little crockery pot of delicious cool yogurt and naan (bread). All piping hot and fresh. And , as if this was not enough, ice cream for dessert. And of course a bottle of mineral water.
Well, we finally got to Delhi, had to get back to the hotel. We are already experts and a driver tried to scam us with the "I'll take you to a better hotel" after we already agreed on a price and promised to deliver us to our hotel...not realizing that we were already 3 days in our hotel and knew how to get there...and we both jumped down his throat and almost physically assaulted him we were sooo tired and angry...we gave him "what for" and that was the end of the story...Well...he was a maniac driver...our first since our arrival...all the others were fine..but we did get home safe and sound at 11:30 and were so full of adrenaline by then that it took us a few hours to fall asleep...but then we slept so well until my Mother woke us early with a phone call!
Tomorrow we are off to Manali and then up to Leh in the Himalayas until the 31st of August when we will be back in Delhi.
PS: One of the other people who will be traveling with us to the Himalaya with our guide is a travel writer for a big company in India much like lonely planet but for the local market.
His web-site for his company is as follows if anyone is interested in seeing it. The purpose of this trip is to check out Leh so he can write about it for the site.
traveljini.com
The whole day began yesterday after a nite that we basically did not sleep well at all. It started when we got back to the room after sending my last e-mail a couple of days ago. We were very tired and wanted to go to sleep early so we could rest enough before getting up at 4 AM. We came up to freshen up a bit (you walk around here sticky all the time) before eating (Chinese food!),
when all of a sudden a mouse ran across the room...A MUST read!! Typical India!
We called the desk and they said "no problem" - 3 guys came up to the room armed with plastic bags!!. Luckily, they saw the mouse so they knew we weren't imagining things. And then they just started to enjoy themselves, giggling, moving furniture, banging doors for over 1/2 hour.
Never saw the mouse again and they decided we he had slipped out under the door. OK....we went to eat and came back just ready to shower and plop into bed. Opened the door, and what do we see? Mr. Mouse standing there with a big grin on his face, waving at us and saying "Hi, guys...I'm still here!"
We went down to reception and they simply offered us another room-that was the solution they could think of. We were so exhausted and it meant packing up all our stuff again (it was already 10 PM) and moving but we had no choice. They helped us and exactly half hour later we were settled in our new (nicer with bathtub.. but no plug) room.
We were all wound up by then though and both of us had a very difficult time sleeping. At 4 AM, really exhausted, we got up to begin our day. A cab took us to the train station and we sat in our reserved AC seats and from the time we got on the train all kinds of food kept coming...Including a bottle of mineral water for each passenger...the train has a special holder on the back of each chair to hold the water. I tried to sleep but with no luck. Too interesting watching the countryside roll by. Very nice quick train ride and we arrived in Agra and went to look for our driver.
It was obvious to us that this time we would definitely find him waiting since the same person who arranged the first one whom we never found, was very concerned this time and sent us e-mail with extra precautions listing the number of the car, number of the company owner, and exact location where the driver would be waiting. Guess what? He wasn't there!!!
We looked around for a little longer and then decided to simply call. We were very relaxed and calm. Then all these other guys started jumping on us but we've gotten so good at ignoring them that they are basically invisible to us. We kind of just walk through them.
Just as we were going back in to call, a man approached us and asked "Are you Miss Jane!". He had a letter from the guy who made the arrangements so we knew he was the company owner,,,, and just then a little guy with a sign saying "Miss Jane" comes running over...he was the driver and he had arrived a few minutes late...he got a real tongue-lashing from the owner but then we were off with driver and guide for the entire day. It is the only way we could have gotten out of this day alive!
Agra is even more yucky then Delhi. Hot, humid, polluted, noisy, overcrowded and guys jumping all over you everywhere, even through the open car windows, to sell you junk! We decided to see other things first and leave the Taj Mahal for after 4 at the suggestion of the guide when it would be a little cooler. He was very nice and competent but it was difficult to talk to him which means we missed out on alot of information but it was fascinating talking to him. He is not the first Indian we have had philosophical discussions with re: religion...there is so much in common with Judaism and belief in a direct link with God without middle men and that we are all created in the God's image and there is a piece of God in each of us, reward and punishment...he told us many interesting stories in his broken hard to understand English with heavy Indian accent.
One thing he said was in his religion, it is known that if a man takes more than he deserves for a service he performs or a job he does (this after we started talking about cheating and rip-offs in India) then the extra money he gets will be taken away from him in the form of medicines he must by for his sick children! Very interesting concept.
And you would not believe how much the Indians, everyone we have spoken to, hate the Muslims. They do not understand why we don't give them back what they give us, eye for an eye and be done with it!! They are great supporters of Israel, understand our reasoning and agree with it, are trying to form alignments here for active work on the part of Israel and know more about our history and heritage than I could have imagined. It is very warming to the heart to hear their beautiful words of encouragement and support!
Well, we had a very difficult day. We went first to see some beautiful mausoleum to the Guru of his religion which I wrote down but don't have with me right now...doesn't matter...It is a beautiful edifice with hand cut marble everywhere cuttings of all kinds of fruit trees and vegetables etc. and just like all fruits and vegetables live together and complement one another, so all religions must live together. This is one of the basic tenets of his religion.
Then we went to Agra fort
which is amazing but enormous and we were both very weak by this point. No sleep, heat, no matter how much we drank it wasn't enough. But from this fort you see the Taj from the distance across the Yamuna River and it was amazingly beautiful.
We spent an hour there which was more than enough and then met our guide and we had to decide how to spend the rest of the day. Train doesn't leave till 8 PM. He had a whole itinerary planned but we simply were not up to it. So he tried to figure out what we could do. It was only 11 AM.
So we said we needed to eat and be air-conditioned. He took us to a restaurant
Aside: toilets: I've tried several kinds already and have no problem with any of them. Even used the "India water pitcher and left hand clean up job" and found it very pleasant and practical. One toilet was a plain hole in the ground with sort of a bowl with foot pads to place your feet on when you squat and that's it; another was basically the same but it flushed!!; and then of course the "western" toilet in the train which was a real accomplishment - you have to hold on for dear life to the hand rail provided while the train sways in order to aim properly and steadily and keep the flow going in the right direction. basically I find no problem with the toilets - the public toilet, although it had a smell, was no worse than any public toilet in any public place anywhere in the world and maybe the smell was even less stinky than many places I've been in other countries.
back to my story.
Our India guide even tried to dissuade me from using the public toilet and wait until I get to the "real" toilet at the restaurant but he doesn't know my bladder. I think he was embarrassed but I reassured him that all was well and I am very adaptable!
So, we went to a restaurant called the "Only Restaurant" and I really must recommend it. Wonderfully A/C, great toilets, beautiful decor, perfect service and absolutely delicious food. They even have a full explanation of what each dish is made of. I found something - don't remember the Indian name, with 9 kinds of fresh vegetables, fruit and nuts in a light cream sauce which I ordered "not spicy". When it arrived, I tasted it, and I guess for him it was "not spicy" but not for me. He asked how it was and I said "spicy" and without a second thought just pricked up my plate and took it away. A minute later he returned with a new portion which was truly not spicy. ! He probably couldn't understand how I could enjoy eating something so tasteless, but it was pure heaven. We also ate 2 kinds of Naan, bread-one prepared on a tandoori stove very similar to bedoui pita or Iraqi pita but more tasty, seems like whole flour, and softer and it was filled with cheese, dates and nuts! Fantastic.
We rested in the restaurant until our guide came to fetch us 1 1/2 hours later and forced us to reluctantly leave the AC. But first we discussed the rest of the day. He realized we didn't feel well and so took us back to his house!
Were we met his whole extended family consisting of 14 people including his grandmother who "rules the roost", he calls her the commander, his 2 children, his wife, his brother and his wife and their children. Amazing family, poor, and simple and serene and religious and happy. Two days earlier was a birthday festival for their Guru so we benefited by being offered all types of delicious sweets that had prepared for the celebration. Don't remember what they were all called but several types of balls called Ladoo, were offered, made from wheat (I think farina) and sugar and butter and seasoning...absolutely delicious melt in your mouth stuff, just sweet enough...but we were so full from the restaurant we could only take little tastes of each thing but the smile on the grandmother's face was worth the effort of tasting all of them.
Then they simply gave us their beds, which are in the "living room" and left to let us rest until we had to leave 2 hours later for the Taj Mahal.
Well, the Taj Mahal...the reason we suffered through this whole horrible day -is a s beautiful as you can imagine it to be - but not worth the price in money ($25!!!!) or in physical energy expended on such a day - it is disgusting outside of it...I can now understand all those who say "don't bother" - you well not feel cheated if you come to India and don't see the Taj Mahal
Our driver picked us up and then took us for a bowl of soup at the same restaurant as we needed nourishment and AC again urgently and we still had time before the train left. In the end, we still wound up waiting and almost fainting away at the crowded and very hot train station for a long time. The train was late but we finally found ourselves seated and wanted to sleep but again they started with the food:
Tomato soup with breadsticks and butter, dal (lentils) very spicy, rice-delicious-tofu or chicken in delicious sauces, and a little crockery pot of delicious cool yogurt and naan (bread). All piping hot and fresh. And , as if this was not enough, ice cream for dessert. And of course a bottle of mineral water.
Well, we finally got to Delhi, had to get back to the hotel. We are already experts and a driver tried to scam us with the "I'll take you to a better hotel" after we already agreed on a price and promised to deliver us to our hotel...not realizing that we were already 3 days in our hotel and knew how to get there...and we both jumped down his throat and almost physically assaulted him we were sooo tired and angry...we gave him "what for" and that was the end of the story...Well...he was a maniac driver...our first since our arrival...all the others were fine..but we did get home safe and sound at 11:30 and were so full of adrenaline by then that it took us a few hours to fall asleep...but then we slept so well until my Mother woke us early with a phone call!
Tomorrow we are off to Manali and then up to Leh in the Himalayas until the 31st of August when we will be back in Delhi.
PS: One of the other people who will be traveling with us to the Himalaya with our guide is a travel writer for a big company in India much like lonely planet but for the local market.
His web-site for his company is as follows if anyone is interested in seeing it. The purpose of this trip is to check out Leh so he can write about it for the site.
traveljini.com
posted by Jane @ 5:37 PM
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