Agra - Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal...there are no words.

Fatehpur and Sikandra

After some lunch, we headed to Fatehpur and Sikandra. It is a sprawling complex of buildings/palaces, meant to house the three wives of the king. (The guide had a really good story involving intrigue, court drama and all that). A short walk away from the royal palaces is the complex that houses the tomb of one of their revered holy men, who allegedly advised the king to marry a Hindu woman in order to sire a son.

It was really hot (I'm a complainer, I know), so I didn't get a lot of what the guide was saying. Here are pictures.

I tried the panorama function but there's still distortion between the second and third frame. I have to work on that.

Here is a pool. In the middle of which is the area where the musician, who was able to light fire with his music, used to play. (Again, a fascinating legend)

This was designed by the king to symbolize the coming together of the Catholics, Muslim and Hindu (he had wives of those religions).

At Sikandra, you are required to remove your shoes to get inside...and it isn't very clean inside as they have a market and a lot of people and not a lot of trash bins.

Agra - Akbar's Tomb

Our first stop was Akbar's Tomb. Akbar was a prolific builder including the Agra Fort, Fatehpur, and Sikandra.

When we went there, the skies were blue though a bit cloudy. Then, while exploring, a short burst of rain fell, but the hot sun dried the pathways really quickly, too.

The gateway at the entrance to the tomb complex.

Upon entering through the gate, there is a long path, and the building housing the tomb will be on the horizon.

Akbar's Tomb

The details of the outside roof:

Inside, it is intricately decorated. Here is a small sampling of what the inside looks like.

In this portion, you can see the restoration efforts

There is also a room inside with  a tomb (not sure if replica), where a docent will show you the magnificent acoustics. This explained how, while we were walking outside, I thought I heard singing. To get to that room, you had to walk down a long dark tunnel.

And, coming from that dark tunnel, the entryway looks fantastic.

Agra

After New Delhi, we took the train to Agra. The train ride wasn't as bad as the car rentals would have us believe. (Of course, they wanted us to hire their car and their guide for our Agra leg).

We rode on the first class air-conditioned train. It was roomy with nice comfortable seats. And breakfast.:) We also saw a bit of a the countryside, though I admit, I mostly slept. We'd also arranged for the hotel car to pick us up (there was a rather scary scuffle among the Indian drivers while we were looking for our car, and a cheerful Japanese tourist taking pictures all the while) but we finally arrived at our hotel. Our rooms were already available so we got in to freshen up a bit and then started our tour.

Pictures up next.

New Delhi - Hotel Bright

In New Delhi, we stayed Hotel Bright at M-85, Connaught Place | opp. Super Bazar, New Delhi 110001, India (Minto Road).

It was not love at first sight. But don’t let first impressions fool you. When I first saw the hotel from the outside I was disappointed. Getting to its entrance was also a turn off, through a road construction, a narrow staircase, then a mezzanine with abandoned furniture. But when we pushed the door to the hotel, we were transported to a peaceful place.

Our room had everything we needed – it was clean with comfortable beds, free wifi, cable tv, plenty of hot water in the shower, ayurvedic soaps and lotions, choice of breakfast. The hotel is also a few meters from Pizza Hut (for those who crave for familiar food), Haldirams's (great for Indian food and sweets) and diagonally across the hotel is a bazaar where we got khurdas and pashminas at very good (cheap, as in cheap) prices.

But the best part is the excellent service. The staff catered to our every whim like breakfast at 4 AM so that we could leave the hotel at 5 AM to get on the 6 AM train to Agra and getting our old room back when we got back from Jaipur. They even let us leave some of our luggage with them free of charge for the period we went to Agra and Jaipur.

They got us good car hires with English speaking and knowledgeable drivers. They even got us the menu from a nearby restaurant so we didn’t have to go out and just order from our room when we’re too exhausted from all the sightseeing. 

There’s only one more thing I could ask for - I hope they would change their soft fluffy towels to more absorbent ones.

Angry Birds

Here are cute Angry Birds decorations made by my sister. It's made from rolled paper.

Here are the piggies with the eggs:

And the Angry Birds with their slingshot

The paper rolling thing is called paper quilling, if you're interested to make it.

We're Under Maintenance

This site is still undergoing maintenance. We expect to be slowly but surely recovering previous posts. Gah.

Thank you for your patience.

New Delhi - Qutb Minar

Last stop for New Delhi before flying back to Manila.

This was a victory tower but around it were also other stone ruins. One of them contained this hallway filled with decorated columns

Qutb Minar carved columns

Qutb Minar carved columns

These are once again stone that has been intricately carved

Close-up of carved segment

And the ceiling was made with different-colored stones

Central Ceiling surrounded by the columns

Across the courtyard is a magnificent arch/gate

Caught against the glaring sun

Qutb Minar Gate/Arch

Me is cute

Gate is also multi-colored stone and carved beautifully

Portion of the Arch

Close-up of the top parts

Top portion of the arch

Close-up of the arch

Hey, this superzoom thingy really works!

Super close-up of the top portion of the arch

And finally, the tower itself!

Qutb Minar description

Qutb Minar description

With me

Without me

Qutb Minar Tower

Details details details

Qutb Minar stone details

Qutb Minar marble details

Time for shopping!  Our drivers brought us to several "tourist shopping" (read: suki nila). But we also ventured out on our own and shopped at the marketplace near our hotel. :)

New Delhi - Ganhdi Museum

When we got back to New Delhi, we visited the Gandhi Smitri. This is the place where Gandhi spent his last days. It contains a cool (with gadgets and exhibits you can interact with) museum with Gandhi's ideas for tolerance and unity and peace.

Outside you can see this sculpture

Gandhi Sculpture

And the World Peace Gong

World Peace Gong

Inside, you can find various posters and dioramas (diorami?) about Gandhi's life and the Salt March.

"I know the path,

It is straight and narrow.

It is like the edge of a sword,

I rejoice to walk on it."

Gandhi's words on the straight and narrow path

Life size scuplture of Gandhi and his wife

Creepy sculptures of Gandhi and his wife

"Experience has taught me that silence is a part of the spiritual discipline of a votary of truth. Proneness to exaggerate, to suppress or modify the truth, wittingly or unwittingly, is a natural weakness of man, and silence is necessary in order to surmount it. A man of few words will rarely be thoughtless in his speech, he will measure every word."

Gandhi's thoughts on silence

Gandhi's last steps were also traced from the time he left his room up to the place where he was shot.

Where Gandhi exited his room 

Gandhi's last steps

Place of martyrdom -- where he was shot

Up to the present day, a lot of people still visit to pay their respects.

People pay their respects