A Tale of Two Cities – Part I
In reality, it was more like three cities that I
went to this week. Delhi, Agra, and New Delhi. As you should know, New Delhi is
the capital of India, the area of New Delhi is situated in the greater
metropolitan area of Delhi. The two places are vastly different and diverse.
I got my first eye-opening impression of Delhi
Thursday of last week, I was stumbling around the internet, and I found this
blog post (warning, mature audiences only) –> India - Dirt, Diarrhea, and Death.
I was shocked to read that, and even more shocked to imagine some of the stuff
he said. But, like everything else I read on the internet, I know it has to be
read carefully and it was only one person’s opinion. I would not let him
determine my trip. I came to India five weeks ago with my own pre-conceived
notions and thoughts; but I have been constantly shocked and surprised how
different and similar things are here. Our cultural trainer told us “India is
everything you think it is, and everything you think it isn’t.” I cannot agree
more with what she said, and it is truer and truer every day. Bangalore has
proven to me to be a bustling metropolis and rapidly changing city that still
holds on to its strong cultural morals and family values.
We left work Friday at 6 to get the airport for an
8:40 PM flight. It took us almost 1 hour and 45 minutes to get there, but I was
very happy to not repeat last week’s speed run though the airport. After a
relaxing flight and relatively easy taxi booking, we were our way to our hotel.
This was too easy I thought to myself. The hotel was a little over 20km from
the airport, so we had a bit of a taxi ride though Delhi. Initially, I wasn’t
even fazed by the trash on the sidewalks, until I noticed the people sleeping
in it! The streets were lined with people sleeping on the sidewalks. If they
had an auto rickshaw they slept in that, if they had a bike-shaw (I think we
made up that word, it is pretty self explanatory. Think of an auto rickshaw,
now strip everything off of it but the wheels and a frame, add peddles, and you
have a bike-shaw) they slept on that. They were sleeping with whatever they
had. It was a sad to see so many people living in complete poverty. After a 45
minute taxi ride to the hotel, we arrived at our hotel palace. This place was nothing like the
city we drove though 5 minutes prior. It was a beautiful place that happens to
be on the World Heritage list of hotels. That is enough of how pampered we are
when we travel.
We checked into the hotel, and fell asleep
quickly. We were going to the Taj Mahal the next day! After an
American/European style breakfast, we left the hotel to go to Agra. We asked
the front desk to call us cab so we could be on our way. Well, when the cab came,
we all got in and left the hotel. We were all very excited to be going to one
of Seven Wonders of the World. Well, that would have to wait for a bit, the
driver stopped to get petrol and as we were about to leave, he told us that his
friend just called him and that he was at the airport and needed to be picked
up. So, the driver called his friend who would be taking us to Agra. Well, the
second guy got there, and his car was way too small for us, so the driver
called a third friend who had an Innova. We were finally on our way, and
already knee deep in a tourist trap.
The drive to Agra took over 3 hours to get there,
and that included a stop at the biggest tourist trap I have ever seen. It was a
“castle” on the side of the road that sold just about everything. Another
memorable experience from the trip there was the monkey that jumped on Steve’s
window. Somewhere in our journey, the driver stopped and had to run into a
building, as he did, we sat in the car and talked. But then, a monkey jumped
up, and latched onto Steve’s window, the monkey’s handler slave keeper, a few
feet back watched us enjoying the monkey on the car. As soon as Steve took a
picture, the scene turned ugly. The man started demanding money for us
entertaining us. He started banging on the window and yelling at us. Luckily,
Steve’s door was locked so when the guy tried to open the door to yell at us,
nothing. He proceeded to yell at us for about 2 minutes until our driver came
back and we left. It was a bit frightening to have him go from such a joyful
monkey man to an angry beggar. If I had that monkey, I would just be happy all
the time. I mean, who doesn’t want their own monkey?? Anyways, it was good to
get out of there when we did.
The Lonely Planet Guide warned us of over friendly
tour guides and their friends. We didn’t even see it coming until we arrived in
Agra and our driver told us that he was picking up his friend, a tour guide for
us. The tour guide hopped right in the car with us and started talking and
telling us facts about the Taj Mahal. It was nice, but it sounded like he had
Wikipedia memorized.
With or without the tour guides, the facts were
still remained. I WAS AT THE TAJ MAHAL. It really is a wonder of the world. The
whole complex is amazing. The sheer size of it is awe inspiring, and the
attention to detail is incredible. I still cannot comprehend how long it took
to build it, and how much intricacy is actually present in the design. The Taj
Mahal is a testament to the power and wealth that the rulers of India had.
Like I was saying before, we had a tour guide who
wanted to take us to all the sites. He tried to rush us through the monument
and on to the next place. Specifically, his favorite place - a store where he
would get a nice fat commission payment on us buying items at the store. You
see, that is how the tourist trap works. The taxi drivers, the tour guides, and
the store owners are all in agreements with each other. The drivers and tour
guides bring you to the overpriced stores where the dumb tourist buys some stuff
at a premium and then everyone makes money off you. It’s a good system for
them, and not much that we can do about it.
Due to the long car ride, we had to leave Agra
sooner than I would have liked. It was nice to get rid of the tour guide
though. On the way home, the driver went out of his way to stop at the “castle”
again. We passed it and then backtracked a few kilometers to go eat an
expensive dinner. We got four grilled cheese, two orders of fries, and water.
Yeah, it cost over 1000 rupees! It was ridiculous. We left there as soon as we
could. The ride home from was pretty smooth until we got close to the city.
That’s when the traffic really started to increase. It took us 3 hours to get
from Agra to 20km outside of the Delhi, and then another 2 hours to get in the
city and to our hotel.
One more time, just in case you didn’t get it
before, I WENT TO THE TAJ MAHAL. I have to say it even to myself. I remember
seeing it in my history books in high school, but, I never thought I would
actually go there.
