Week 6, India: Agra and Amritsar

The experiences
Lucky for me that the ashram has a car and driver that could take me to Agra because I hadn't gotten that organized. I was too busy being relaxed :). So I arrived in Agra quickly and safely via car.

My hotel there was staffed with very nice sweet people who always remembered my name and told me that they specifically look out for those traveling alone. As their advertising says, it is "recommended by all guide books," which is why I was there. The Taj was just a walk down the street, they had a restaurant in the courtyard and although I didn't make it there, you can see the Taj from the roof. But of course, I got sick. Seemed like all the dust and color got to me and I was stuffed up with a bit of a fever. I had to lay low for a good day before I felt up to going out and eating.  I didn't have time or stamina to see the other two sites I hoped to in Agra but I did get to spend a few hours at the Taj.

Tiny Taj in my sunglasses

Something you see right away is that tickets for tourists are much more expensive than they are for Indians (750 Rupees vs. 20 Rupees). But the tourist ticket worked well for me because it came with water, shoe covers and most importantly a guide who is, as facebook shows, very good at taking pictures. My guide's name was Dev and I have his number if anyone wants some help around Agra. He's been doing this for 9 years now. He made it a nice afternoon for me and at the end offered to show me other things around the area but if I said no, he was cool with that. I said yes to one which got me a small marble elephant with etched malachite flowers that I'm pretty excited about.

The next day I headed for the train station, stocked up on cookies and water and waited. My train for Amritsar was already delayed. When I got on, instead of being greeted by the family in my car, they were confused because someone was already in my berth and not planning to leave. But I just settled in anyway and answered their questions before turning on Serial, the hit NPR podcast from last fall. I hadn't heard it yet but I had enough time to listen to all 12 episodes together so why not. I totally fell in love with it. Such an interesting story and position for the players and reporters to be in. But there wasn't really a conclusion so I'm still hanging on hoping something with finality will come. And that was partly the point is that there might not be any for the people, the story is just what it is.

Fourteen hours later I arrived in Amritsar. Why did I come here? To see the Golden Temple of course. But on top of that it was the home of the Bakshi family in the movie Bride and Prejudice and I just love that movie, although not many people here have seen it, which I find shocking. Through much searching I decided to stay in the only hostel in town and it turned out to be fabulous. The personality of Sanjay runs the place with the help of a small group and really makes a comfortable environment for backpackers. Delicious food, chai all the time and fantastic tours. I also met more Americans here than in all my travels thus far.

My first day I went on a tour to the Wagah border which is one of the stretches of border where Pakistan meets India. We started at a 100 year old restaurant which was absolutely delicious, then to a famous Lassi place (there was a thick layer of cream and a scoop of butter on the top--Punjab is like the Wisconsin of India), and we visited a very ornate Hindu temple (Lal Mata Mandir). When we reached the border, we watched them set up for the daily ceremony where the vanity and posturing of both countries is on full display complete with arenas on both sides of the gate and each side blasting their own music selection.

Indian side of the border

India Meets Pakistan

One of the gods at the Lal Mata Mandir

Later that night we took a tour of the Golden Temple, learning about and observing Sikh ceremonies. Beyond the beauty of the temple and surrounds, is the coolest kitchen and dinner hall I've ever been a party to. We got to wander around the enormous pots, make chapati, stir the vat of chai and of course enjoy a delicious meal. Incredible volunteers and efficiency feeds over a thousand people every day.

Me in front of the Golden Temple

Room #2 where dinner was served

How does one cook in such enormous pots?

Stir the Chai

I spent the next couple days relaxing in the hostel, hoping and praying that my train ticket to Mumbai would come through. This might be a good time to explain the Indian Railway system. Before you can even see the schedules you need an IRCTC account. You can book through their web site or on another like www.cleartrip.com which I preferred. Tickets are first available for a given train about 90 days out and it was roughly 20 days out when I knew where I was going well enough to book a ticket. So most of my tickets are purchased with a status of Waitlist. As time goes on you check back on the status and move up the waitlist as others cancel until you are confirmed and a few hours before the train leaves (when they make up the "chart") you get an assigned berth.

And if you don't end up getting confirmed on the train you can cancel for a refund. I was thinking this is how it was going to go for me since I had a 2AC class ticket which are in higher demand and was still number 2 on the waitlist hours before the train left. But there is magic in the station manager's office. Gopi (spelling of his nickname could be super wrong) took me to meet his dad who drives a rickshaw and gave us some great advice on what to do to get me fast-tracked to a confirmed seat. I had a nice chat with the managers of the station, filled out some paperwork, enjoyed a cup of chai with them and then Gopi and I were off back to the hostel. If you can't tell by this, the hostel staff are amazing and prepared for all things including getting me on my train without bribing anyone. I count this as one of my most interesting experiences so far.

Although the hostel folks hadn't seen Bride and Prejudice, they had all seen Three Idiots for which they affectionately call themselves. So I snapped a picture of the "4 idiots" before I ran off to catch the train.

With a heavy heart (again) I departed Amritsar on a 31 hour train to Mumbai. Thank goodness Sanjay talked me into getting food delivered to the train--much better than eating cookies for two days.

The lessons

• Packing EmergenC was a great idea
• Hope is never lost when it comes to the Indian Railway system.

Interesting

• I always wondered why the Taj Mahal was so much more grand than the crypts of Shah Jahan's other wives. As my guide said the other wives gave him no children but Mumtaz Mahal gave him 14 children and died in childbirth. Mystery explained.
• Many people on the train had swords, spears and daggers which can be a large part of the Sikh religion and isn't considered any kind of safety issue.