We are in Udaipur. To get here we hired a driver who was really great. He was cheerful, helpful with info and he had lots of experience on the highways (which is a whole other topic to explore) - the same driver we had for our long day trip to Agra. Did I blog about that yet? I may be getting behind.
So, I'll back up. We went to see the Taj Mahal, which is about a 4-5 hr journey from Jaipur. On the way we stopped in Fatepur Sikri, a ghost town of sorts. It was a village (with astonishingly intricate carvings, decorative red stone architecture...beautiful), which was abandoned in ancient times (I'm bad with dates) for unknown reasons. It was thought that they left because of a lack of water, but Ravi read that this has been denounced by scholars.
The Taj was, of course, breathtaking. But, also a bit of a let down, because the experience of it was ruined by the process of getting there. As a work of art, yes, it was worth seeing. And no doubt it deserves the hype. It's just that to see it we first had to run the gauntlet of "touts" who were...persistent is too nice of a description. One guy followed us from the entrance gate and would not give up on the idea that we really needed a guide (we didn't even realize how ridiculous this idea was until we got in to the Taj). We did all we could to brush him off - even accepting a camel cart ride from another tout just to get away. He jumped on the cart. He finally left when both Ravi and I were clearly angry, and Ravi told him "even if it were free we wouldn't hire you". As soon as we got off the cart there were more 'guides', but this time Ravi just asked them back, "what will you pay me to take you as a guide?". I think it caught them off guard, because we didn't have any long term followers again.
If you ever go, you DO NOT NEED a guide. The beauty of the structure lies in its simplicity and symmetry. There aren't a lot of rooms to discover or hidden places. The history of it can be read online in about 5 minutes. There is stream of people being herded through it by guards (even blowing whistles to control traffic). I imagine that any guide who gets hired probably tries to get money up front and disappears at the first opportunity.
The process of getting in is similar to airport security. No food (that one I don't get), no cell phones, bags and bodies checked and scanned. Separate lines for women and men (at least this is true in Indian airports - I can't tell you how much I resent this method, no matter what their justification for it). As we approached the Taj, there were signs for Indians to go one way and tourists ("non-Indians") to go another. We ignored this wondering why they would separate people this way. Taking the gender thing into ethnicity now?
At the ticket gate they had given us 2 sets of shoe covers - you have to either remove shoes or wear covers over them. We asked for 2 more for the kids, but because their admission was free, we would have to pay for them (same with the complimentary water bottles). After just getting past the touts we were highly sensitive to any hassle, and more than a little frustrated, so we decided Ravi and I would go barefoot and the kids could use the covers. We had a bag to put shoes in, so we didn't have to leave them anywhere. Great plan, right?
That's how we discovered the reason for the two lines of people. Indians, who would generally opt to go barefoot, had a carpet to walk on until they got into the cool interior of the Taj. Non-Indians, it was assumed, would choose to keep their shoes on. So, no carpet. Just REALLY hot marble. I walked first. Then sprinted. I think a few seconds more and I would have burnt the skin off my feet. Truly.
I wish I could have seen it all alone. At sunset. With no touts, or security, or whistles, or lines of people. I think in a situation like that it may have brought tears to my eyes, and a feeling of awe. Sometimes the most beautiful things are ruined by fame.
On the 'plus' side: we saw lots of monkeys on the way out. Kids loved that part.
We saw more things in Jaipur, which i wish i had time to blog about, and Ravi and the girls were lucky to explore some real gems, crowd-free. I missed the last two days, but they took lovely photos.
The photo I'm posting is in the car on the way to Agra. We had stopped in a touristy little restaurant/gift shop where Uma picked out a turban. No pics to post of the Taj since we didn't have the iPhone with us inside the grounds and no way to download the photos on my SLR camera.
Next up: Udaipur.
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