The train from Delhi to Agra - what a mass of humanity swirling by - some in elegant saris, some a bit odorous. We took the“Shatabdi (almost) Express” - it said non-stop but we stopped twice along the way. I wouldn’t have minded taking the local as every town and village we passed was more interesting than the last. In the country side we saw people harvesting wheat in the fields by hand. They were swinging hand scythes and stacking the wheat on carts pulled by water buffalo. It was as if you had stepped back in time a thousand years. One of the common fuels for cooking and heating here is cow and buffalo patties. That isn’t so strange but what was interesting was how they store it. They make these little dung houses then decorate the exterior with handprint designs, while it is still moist. You see some amazingly ornate designs. Naturally I noticed the picture I posted didn’t have any designs, but you get the idea. We saw hundreds of these pretty poop palaces. I have seen a multitude of men peeing against a wall and children squatting beside the road. We saw people bathing and doing laundry in ponds so filthy that you couldn’t believe you would get your clothes or you, anything but dirtier. Kids of all ages walk to the ponds with laundry on their heads. And the animals. Given the number of creatures roaming loose, I never saw them threaten anyone. I continued to take pictures but I haven’t captured anything to its fullest from the grandeur of the Taj to the squalor of the slums. You need the sounds and smells to complete the picture. After the Taj we visited Agra Fort. It was huge. Shahjahan, who built the Taj, was held captive at the fort the last 8 years of his life. One of his sons had him imprisoned there so he could usurp his position. Dad still had a couple hundred of his concubines living there with him. (No wonder he could pledge not to remarry). His favorite concubine had a hot tub in her “apt” that we would envy today. His daughters also lived with him and they all had a lovely view of the Taj. I don’t know if that made it better or worse for ole dad. The Fort has a long, and at the time it seemed an interesting history - which I have already forgotten. We then visited a marble inlay center where master craftsmen create wonderfully intricate designs. I saw an attractive little inlaid marble elephant that would fit in the palm of my hand. I was going to get it for Hannah but I couldn’t divide a number that big (in rupees). The clerk got out his calculator; it was more than $4,200.00. Okay, so no elephant maybe something from the next stop. Then back to the Jaypee Palace in Agra, very nice accommodations. The next morning it was on to Delhi, this time by motor coach. I had been dreading the drive but it past quickly as the view from the window was better than watching the history channel. There was a city tour in Delhi by government buildings and the President’s house. The two most interesting stops were to see the memorial park where Gandhi ashes were interred. It was beautiful and peaceful - that seemed appropriate. We also saw the home and garden where he was killed. They have cement footsteps showing you the path of his last walk and where he was killed. We stopped by the Red Fort, because you are supposed to - huge and similar to Fort Agra, on the outside at least. Then back to the Le Meridien Hotel for the night. Now here is an interesting side note. When we stayed there night before last I accidently left my Kindle in the room. I was upset with myself as reading on the balcony is one of my favorite pastimes aboard ship – and it had been a gift from the kids. Anyway, without much hope, I inquired if anyone had turned in a Kindle. He asked my room number, and lo and behold, there it was all sacked up in a nice little bag awaiting me. Somehow, I don’t think I would have gotten it back if I had left it at the Holiday Inn in the states. As I thought about it I wondered if these jobs, in an air conditioned plush hotels, were such plums that you wouldn’t risk losing your job over keeping something you found in the room. Or maybe I should just have a higher degree of faith in humanity. Anyway, that was a pleasant end to the day. Our last day of this journey we took a tour of Old Delhi complete with a Rickshaw ride down the crowded narrow lanes of old city. It just seemed like something you should do before leaving India. Not that I think anyone is interested in every stop along the way but this is just so I remember where we went when I get home. We had lunch at the Taj Palace. Nice digs! Then it was off to the airport for a flight on Jet Lite to Mumbai (Bombay). Jim and I didn’t have seats together; he was up front and I was way in the back. He ended up on the first shuttle bus to the terminal and I was on the second one. When my bus pulled up I saw a man wildly waving and running back to the bus – Jim. What the heck? He had left his passport and all his declaration and entry papers in the pocket on the seat back in the plane. You can’t take him anywhere. They told me I needed to go on to the bus and they would bring him when it was resolved. Because it was a passport, security had to get involved along with half the airport staff. I wasn’t overly worried as the ship didn’t sail until 11 pm that night. I did feel kind of bad leaving without him but they had my paperwork. They couldn’t release it except to the port authorities and I was told to stay with my paperwork. So, off to see the big city – there are 20 million people in the city and suburbs of Bombay. This takes traffic jams to a new height. We were there on a weekend night; I cannot imagine how the traffic even moves on a work day. Again, I was not expecting such a modern city. There are over one billion with a “B”, living in India. It is amazing to me that this area we have just toured, China, Japan, India etc. comprises over half of the world’s total population. That territory is what, probably less than a quarter of the world’s land mass? Seeing the people stacked on top of each other in high rises in the more developed countries and the crowded tenements elsewhere, I believe it. In Bombay, I wanted to see the famous laundry on the Ganges River. I had seen pictures of it – they wash the majority of the clothes of Bombay. They code all laundry in sort of Braille and they say they never lose anything. I find that a little difficult to believe with the millions of pieces of laundry they handle. My corner dry cleaners lost my favorite blouse and it just handles about a tenth of the dry cleaning in Atascocita. Anyway, we got into Bombay too late to see that. We took a city tour and saw the “queen’s necklace” - lights along the water and finished up at the Gate of India. I thought of Hannah as they had all these brightly lit horse carriages there that she would have loved. As I was snapping pictures of the “gate”, up comes Jim in a cab, complete with passport and papers. I thought they would probably go directly to the ship but they needed to meet the bus as our guide had his entry papers to get him back into the port area. The security at these stops has been unbelievable. I guess with the terrorist attack here a while back, they bumped security up a level. We boarded safely and in good health. This was the most interesting stop so far. What a country of contrasts – between huge modern cities versus the villages and country sides reminiscent of almost biblical times. You saw modern apartments with tent and stick housing propped up against the apt wall. The Taj to the slums. We boarded our mother ship – and I did feel like it was the mother ship - as I felt I had been to a whole other world. Lovely people, horrid living conditions and a journey I will remember the rest of my life.
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