Wednesday, July 05, 2006
July 5: Leh, Delhi, Agra, and Taj Mahal
This was definitely a day of travel. Up at 5-ish, off to the airport 6-ish, flight to Delhi at 7:30. Then, jump into a car and drive to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Lots of travel.
First things first: flying to Delhi. Whoever said that Tibet is over-militarized should visit Kashmir and specifically Leh's airport. I have never seen an airport with this much security. I'm not talking about rent-a-cops, either; the guards were soldiers with machine guns and rifles. In the middle of an airport terminal! Yikes.
Indian people seem to take airport security very seriously, with a strange exception. Despite the fact that they checked my carry-on twice, x-rayed my checked baggage, asked me to identify my bags before the luggage was loaded on the plane, took away the spare batteries from my camera (a security risk I think), and frisked me three times..... no one looked at my passport. I don't understand.
Anyway, the flight left on time, no problems. I enjoyed the views of Stok Kangri as we were taking off, knowing that it'll be a while before I see the peak first-hand again. Time to say goodbye to Ladakh, the magical Kingdom in the Sky.
I arrived in Delhi with not much fanfare. I was expect an airport pickup, which materialized in the form of..... Darmindar, the driver who took Katie & I to Manali in that infamous jeep ride from hell, complete with two punctured tires. He seemed happy to see me. I don't quite know why. We popped by his "office" (which is an apartment where he lives with his fellow drivers at Dhruv Travels) and the fine people there served me an Indian lunch. How nice. We then took off for Agra in Darmindar's car, accompanied by his Punjabi music .
You know you're in India when you see carts being pulled by camels. You know you're in India when you're approached by someone dragging a bear by a nose ring, offering to have the bear pose for pictures. You know you're in India when stepping outside the air-conditioned car feels a lot like stepping into an oven.
We got to Agra at around 4:30, and at 5-ish we (Darmindar driving, and a guide named Sanjay) headed to the Taj Mahal. Again, the treatment of tourists in India seems a little bit bizzare: they took away the head torch and braeth mints I had in my pack and had me pay 750 rupees admission (just shy of $20) when a local would pay 20 rupees. I don't mind paying a small premium, but 750 vs 20 is a bit excessive, I think. Whoever sets these prices clearly thinks that every foreigner is Mr. Western Moneybags. Grrrr....
Anyway, the Taj is breathtakingly beautiful. If you're not impressed by the architecture alone, then consider that the main buildings are built entirely of white marble, and decorated with inlaid stones from around the world. The entire Qur'an is represented as inlaid black opal on white marble on the various buildings. Nearly every visible bit of whtie marble is decorated with very intricate designs, all of which have a wonderful symmetry....
The Taj really must be seen to be believed, and I think deserves being called a Wonder of the World.
Tomorrow I'm heading back to Delhi for one night. Then, I'm going to suffer nearly 24 hrs of travel time on my way back to Canada. Waaaaaah!
First things first: flying to Delhi. Whoever said that Tibet is over-militarized should visit Kashmir and specifically Leh's airport. I have never seen an airport with this much security. I'm not talking about rent-a-cops, either; the guards were soldiers with machine guns and rifles. In the middle of an airport terminal! Yikes.
Indian people seem to take airport security very seriously, with a strange exception. Despite the fact that they checked my carry-on twice, x-rayed my checked baggage, asked me to identify my bags before the luggage was loaded on the plane, took away the spare batteries from my camera (a security risk I think), and frisked me three times..... no one looked at my passport. I don't understand.
Anyway, the flight left on time, no problems. I enjoyed the views of Stok Kangri as we were taking off, knowing that it'll be a while before I see the peak first-hand again. Time to say goodbye to Ladakh, the magical Kingdom in the Sky.
I arrived in Delhi with not much fanfare. I was expect an airport pickup, which materialized in the form of..... Darmindar, the driver who took Katie & I to Manali in that infamous jeep ride from hell, complete with two punctured tires. He seemed happy to see me. I don't quite know why. We popped by his "office" (which is an apartment where he lives with his fellow drivers at Dhruv Travels) and the fine people there served me an Indian lunch. How nice. We then took off for Agra in Darmindar's car, accompanied by his Punjabi music .
You know you're in India when you see carts being pulled by camels. You know you're in India when you're approached by someone dragging a bear by a nose ring, offering to have the bear pose for pictures. You know you're in India when stepping outside the air-conditioned car feels a lot like stepping into an oven.
We got to Agra at around 4:30, and at 5-ish we (Darmindar driving, and a guide named Sanjay) headed to the Taj Mahal. Again, the treatment of tourists in India seems a little bit bizzare: they took away the head torch and braeth mints I had in my pack and had me pay 750 rupees admission (just shy of $20) when a local would pay 20 rupees. I don't mind paying a small premium, but 750 vs 20 is a bit excessive, I think. Whoever sets these prices clearly thinks that every foreigner is Mr. Western Moneybags. Grrrr....
Anyway, the Taj is breathtakingly beautiful. If you're not impressed by the architecture alone, then consider that the main buildings are built entirely of white marble, and decorated with inlaid stones from around the world. The entire Qur'an is represented as inlaid black opal on white marble on the various buildings. Nearly every visible bit of whtie marble is decorated with very intricate designs, all of which have a wonderful symmetry....
The Taj really must be seen to be believed, and I think deserves being called a Wonder of the World.
Tomorrow I'm heading back to Delhi for one night. Then, I'm going to suffer nearly 24 hrs of travel time on my way back to Canada. Waaaaaah!
# posted by Alex Perel @ 11:35 AM 
Comments:
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The 720:20 ratio doesn't seem that bad. From a business stand point, they get the locals to visit the Taj and thereby encourage tourists to go see it. And $20 isn't so bad. Perspective: the CN tower is ~$40, and Canada's Wonderland is now +$80. It means they recognize tourists, likely coming from non-third world countries can afford the above.
From an historical/cultural point of view, it encourages locals to take pride and visit their own buildings, while trying to tell tourists to be respectful of things that aren't theirs.
I think I've seen in other places (Costa Rica?) museums, etc. which were either free or lower priced to locals than to tourists.
In anycase, sounds like it's been a fabulous trip so far :) Hope the flight back goes by quickly,
Erika :)
From an historical/cultural point of view, it encourages locals to take pride and visit their own buildings, while trying to tell tourists to be respectful of things that aren't theirs.
I think I've seen in other places (Costa Rica?) museums, etc. which were either free or lower priced to locals than to tourists.
In anycase, sounds like it's been a fabulous trip so far :) Hope the flight back goes by quickly,
Erika :)
# posted by 
: 5:26 PM
: 5:26 PM
Yeah yeah, Erika, you think about this way too much. For a cheap country like India, paying 750 rupees to see a building (even if it is the Taj) is nuts. Furthermore, 500 rupees of that is a tax from some conservation authority. I call it extortion, not good business.
I don't see how this price structure encourages locals to do anything. They don't care that Mr. Westerner is shelling out big bucks. Also, the same Mr. Westerner might get offended at this and not come back, thereby hurting the cause in the long run.
But yes, it was a great trip!
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I don't see how this price structure encourages locals to do anything. They don't care that Mr. Westerner is shelling out big bucks. Also, the same Mr. Westerner might get offended at this and not come back, thereby hurting the cause in the long run.
But yes, it was a great trip!
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