29 May 2008

So we boarded the bus to Agra, which was accented by the smoke of incense filling the bus. My lungs don’t take kindly to smoke weather it be exhaust, cigarette, or incense, so in spite of the aroma, it was a less than enjoyable way to start my day. After this I basically slept on the 3 hour trip down. The first stop was Fort Agra. This was a fortress built by the Mughals and then used by many other inhabitants to follow. The fort was never taken while it was used as originally intended. Now tour groups invade it every couple hours. It was beautiful architecture with red sandstone and marble sections. It is surrounded by a dry moat that would have been filled with poisonous snakes and lions. There is a photo of the sign that gives the history of the fort for those interested. Moving on, we made our way to some shopping where we got some of the same stuff we have been used to seeing for those who wanted to pick any elephants, or Taj Mahals up. From here we went to the actual Taj Mahal, or Crown Palace. The pictures you get of this place don’t do it justice as you might imagine. The larger than life creation is an amazing sight filled with nuances of detail that are truly wonderful. We paid our IRPs 750 while Vibha paid her IRPs 10 to get in. Foreigners really get ripped off. Luckily our fee came with a free guide that showed us around and showed off the wonderful alignment of the palace’s symmetrical gates, echo-enhancing double dome structure (the dome of the Taj Mahal actually has another smaller dome inside it to cause echo to reverberate), and optical illusions built in to the palace. After this we took some lunch (thali is apparently a sample platter or meal) and left for home. On the way we hit up the birthplace of Krishna (One of the incarnations of Vishnu) which was actually a prison. Krisha is one of the most well known Gods of the Hindu religion and is recognizable by the flute he is almost always playing. He is renowned for his charm, good nature, and as the most beautiful person on the planet. Most people seem to add on “in spite of also being very dark skinned if you can imagine.” The Indian culture is not one that is so proud of dark skin, and products such as ‘fair and beautiful/handsome’ are mainstream skin care products supposed to give fairer complexion. There is usually surprise when they find we often believe dark skinned people are beautiful, and fair skinned often are not. Krishna has a nice temple here now too. Unfortunately pictures in temples are forbidden, and so I have none to show, but there are some of the outside of some temples. We boarded the bus and slept most of the way back. In the morning there was a movie we watched about brothers who grew up boxing for India that was pretty good. There was drama in the family, reconciliation, humor mixed in, and good values all around. The movies are long here though, with 3-4 hours not being strange.