NB: The Taj Mahal is Closed on Fridays
we were starving by the time we arrived in agra, and stephanie had the splendid idea to treat us to a fine lunch at a nice restaurant overlooking the taj. we found the fine lunch and nice restaurant (in a fancy hotel where we were the only visitors who arrived by autorickety-shaw -- a dissonant sight against the clean, shiney, well-groomed grounds of the multiple star hotel) but had to sacrifice the view because for some reason the restaurant is on the ground floor. wow. it was really yummy. and such a strange feeling to walk into america -- that's what it felt like, stepping through the looking glass doors into a western land of fine decor, staff in costume, our reflections in the floor following us across the lobby past the huge bouquet of fresh tiger lilies and down the stairs past the rose petals floating in basins of rose water to our cushioned chairs and thickly clothed table with silverware laid out with proper etiquette. actually, it was just what we needed. that and the soft toilet tissue i took from the first stall in the bathroom.from there we walked back out and our lemon of a rickshaw pulled back into the lot (not allowed to wait for us inside the gates of the hotel) and picked us up and took us to the back side of the taj mahal, a vantage point from which you can see the entire structure. he tried to convince us that we should first go to a factory, but humorously backed off to our repetitive chorus of no, no factories, no factories, no, no! "one more time?" he asked us. funny.
we went to the taj and soaked in its splendor, the only white people there on the rainy friday afternoon. we declined the camel ride, toys children were selling, but gave in to the man selling the powder bindi kits. i also gave in and bought a couple of other items, which are pretty funny things to buy outside the taj, but i plan to give them as gifts, so i'll leave you in suspense for now.
then back to train station to get on the overnight train to india's holiest city, varanasi (bananas? yes, i want some bananas. -- varanasi sounds a lot like bananas when pronounced correctly in hindi, and we were hungry for fresh fruit.)
more to come about varanasi...
posted by Dr.Quel @ 8:00 AM
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