GARGANTUAN steps

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

I'll never do it again

सत्यमेव जयते
Truth alone triumphs

 It's been more than a month since I've returned from India and I think 'incredulous' is a more apt word to describe this most overwhelming of countries, as opposed to their chosen slogan - 'Incredible India'. India assaults your senses from all fronts - visually stunning, breath-taking, awe-inspiring; auditorily unrelenting, merciless, insanity-inducing; gustatorily literally a curry of flavours; tactily it leaves you with a permanent coat of dust; and olfactorily - definitely breath-taking.

Many people asked me where I was going for my next trip, and India was my chosen destination. They then asked if I was there for a conference, and I replied that it was a holiday. And they asked me what kind of a holiday could India provide? Literally everyone who found out that I was going to India thought I must have been out of my mind. After coming back from the madness that was India, I fully understood what they meant. I came back in need of another week of annual leave to recover from the chaos - the merciless car-horns and street noise; the impenetrable stench of the public latrines; every tuk-tuk (auto-rickshaw) ride or road crossing a death wish; the endless touts and cheats and bargaining that one has to contend with; a six-hour train ride filled with chanting Sikhs; and to top it off, to come home with an unwanted souvenir - Delhi belly. Just when you thought that you had taken everything that India could throw at you and still stand tall, it sends you another crushing blow to obliterate your spirit, on top of everything that you already had to contend with. There's never been a country that I've been to, (and I would think that Alex, my travel buddy, would agree with me on this), that two days into my trip, it felt like I had been there for a week already; and after ten days, it felt like a month had gone by. Yet it offered sights that only a heart of rock will remain unmoved - one cannot help but gasp, or perhaps even shed a tear, at your first glimpse of the Taj Mahal at dawn. It is, if I may be so bias, the most beautiful building in the world. Meanwhile, this trip would definitely not have been possible if there wasn't someone as crazy as I was to contemplate taking on India on our own two feet - no thanks to Alex, who made this trip so smooth, and definitely making the unbearable bearable.

 Day 1 - New Delhi: Qutb Minar and the first of many tuk-tuk rides

 Since our last holiday in Italy, Alex and myself decided that we were going to conquer all the countries beginning with the letter 'I'. After Iceland, then Italy - next up on our list was India, which was more or less halfway between the UK and Singapore. We caught up at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi (the capital of India) and immediately got started on our travels. The airport was surprisingly clean and easily manoeuvrable, and the train ride into the city centre proved rather tame as well. Stepping out of the train station into the (not so) fresh air, we were not so much greeted but barraged with a cacophony of car and tuk-tuk horns. In India, a horn can mean just about anything - get out of the way, drive faster, don't you dare step into my path etc. Basically, after three days in India, we didn't really care too much about the incessant horns and just went about like the Indians - they don't give two hoots about anything.



Me along our hotel (Bloom Hotel) corridor


Metal detectors at every underground station

Every underground train station required you to first queue up to get your train token, followed by another queue to be screened by metal detectors and personnel doing additional body checks. It was all a farce as people literally just rushed through with barely any resistance, and it made travelling by the underground an unnecessary hassle. It could take literally twenty minutes from stepping into the train station to getting to the platform and waiting for your train. There were some train stations even equipped with army personnel standing behind a wall of sandbags with an automatic rifle lying atop. That's how seriously they take their security.




Women-only carriages

Our first stop of the day was to the Qutb Minar complex, an enclosed area of religious buildings towered over by the magnificent 73 metre high tower of its namesake - the Qutb Minar. Construction of the tower begun in 1192 and completed only in 1368, and it was built to celebrate the victory of the then sultan, Mohammed Ghori, over the Rajput king, Prithviraj Chauhan, by the sultan's viceroy - Qutb-ud-din Aibak. This beautiful minar is constructed from red sandstone and marble, with intricate Arabic inscriptions carved onto the external walls which made it equally appreciated both up close and afar. Unfortunately we were not able to climb the tower, or else I'm sure the views from above would have been equally spectacular - after all, it was once used as a watch tower for the entire complex.



Me sitting within the Alai Darwaza (Alai Gate), surrounded by delicate carvings


Alex, myself and the Qutb Minar

The intricate Arabic carvings on the base of the Qutb Minar

Me at the Tomb of Iltutmish - the architecture was just astounding

Following a splendid but jet-lagged afternoon roaming the Qutb Complex, we encountered the first of our many such experiences in India - both of bargaining and of sitting a tuk-tuk. I must be the first to admit that I'm not one to drive a hard bargain, and with everything in India almost bordering on the ridiculously cheap, I found every price quoted to me almost too reasonable. In fact, I felt like I was cheating them. Alex, however, holds a different world-view, and thankfully for his bargaining skills as well, or else I would probably have spent twice as much buying stuff and paying for private transport. Alex though wasn't too comfortable in our first tuk-tuk ride, which was a particularly harrowing experience for him. Thankfully it didn't put him off it entirely. I can't imagine not getting around India on a tuk-tuk for the rest of my trip.



Me with our first ever tuk-tuk driver

An Indian wedding celebration along the streets of New Delhi
On our way to dinner, we met a bridegroom on his steed plodding behind a mini-brass band and he himself was followed by a hundred metre long entourage - it was ridiculously loud, celebratory, and filled with a lot of people who knew how to enjoy themselves



Doctor in the house 
Definitely a lack of privacy and confidentiality there

Days 2 to 4 - Jaipur: City Palace, Hawal Mawal, Amber and Jaigurh Fort, Gaitore and Galta, Ishwar Lat and Jantar Mantar

 The following day, we got up early to catch our train ride to Jaipur. Unlike how most holidays are, Alex and myself don't mind an early start to the day, as could be seen by the number of days we had to get up before 5 in the morning (four out of nine mornings to be specific). This was either to catch an early morning train, or to visit the Taj Mahal, but more on the latter later on.

 We planned our trip along the classic Golden Triangle route in India, comprising of New Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. Our triangle had a slight off-tangent route to Amritsar as well, but the former three are the places that people generally visit when they first come to India. Jaipur, which is also known as the City of Victory, is more fondly known as the 'Pink City', due to the buildings in the old city encapsulated by the city walls being decked in an orangey-pinkish hue. Jaipur is the capital city of the Indian state of Rajasthan, and the reason as to why it is painted in the colour pink? Apparently, the Maharaja, Ram Singh, had the entire old city painted in pink, the colour traditionally associated with hospitality, to welcome the Prince of Wales to Jaipur in the year 1876. The old city would have made for a delightful exploratory walk if not for the incessant eardrum-splitting car horns, ridiculously impossible traffic to cross, and endless stalking tuk-tuk riders that make it so unpleasant. I think I needed the hospital more than whatever hospitality Jaipur could offer at the end of my trip there.


The first of many early-morning train rides

Our delicately decorated hotel in Jaipur - the Umaid Bhawan
A really beautiful hotel and a highly recommended place to get a good night's rest

The most persistent of all tuk-tuk riders we encountered
He found it particularly hilarious to come across two Chinese roaming the streets of Jaipur, considering the sign straddled across the back of his tuk-tuk

Ajmeri Gate - one of the entrances into the Old City of Jaipur


An Indian snake charmer - I was particularly charmed myself

 Our first stop in Old City in Jaipur was the City Palace, which in truth, wasn't particularly fascinating nor memorable other than a beautiful doorway shrouded by peacock bas reliefs. Our next stop though was the iconic landmark of Jaipur, the Hawa Mahal, which was a maze of corridors worth getting lost within. Built in 1799, the Hawa Mahal, also known as the Palace of the Winds, is the most recognizable building in Jaipur. It was constructed by the Maharaja to enable the ladies of his household to watch the life and processions of the city, and in this day and age, it is indeed an ideal place to watch the madness and absurdity that is the Indian traffic in relative peace and comfort. Observing the Indian traffic brings about mixed emotions - one can literally laugh and cry and shake your head and roll your eyes at the same time. Indian traffic is really absurdly hilarious and painful at the same time.



Jaipur City Palace


Peacocks adorning the Peacock Gate
There were four doors with bas reliefs on them supposedly representing the seasons, and this one with peacocks is suppose to represent Autumn

A random cow
I had to put this picture in because I was chasing after this cow to get a picture of it, and ended up stepping on its dung. Guess it had the final laugh, and now I preserve it forever on my blog.

Hawa Mahal
The Palace of the Winds

Peeking out at the Indian traffic

View from the inside of the Hawa Mahal

Our tuk-tuk ride back to our hotel was the most epic of all our rides in India. We actually got into two (minor) accidents, and in-between, the rider managed to get into an argument with a fellow Indian plodding along the streets of India with his donkey. We survived the ride relatively unscathed, and so did his tuk-tuk as well. We were actually hit from the side by a car when he was trying to squeeze through traffic, and another when he rear-ended a car in front, though the driver of the car was kind enough to just let it pass without as much as a blink of the eye. We were grateful to have survived the trip, and wondered what was in store for our next tuk-tuk ride.



Me with our most epic tuk-tuk rider

Another random cow in the middle of the road
This time round, I steered clear the path it had trodden

On our second day in Jaipur, we hired a car and a driver to give us a whirlwind tour of the sights in Jaipur. Our first stop, and the first fort of many forts we were to visit during this trip, was the Amber Fort (pronounced Amer Fort). This fort, built in the year 1592, used to be the ancient capital of Jaipur and where its walls once used to thwart invaders, they now warmly welcome throngs of tourists, especially from their not-so-friendly neighbour, the Chinese. Meanwhile, the fort is situated atop a hill and it is either a ten minute climb up a winding pathway, having to avoid a herd of elephants as well as side-stepping their excrement along the way, or you can pay for a ride up on one of these magnificently coloured beasts. Apparently in India, any animal belonging to humans get painted in the most ridiculous and gaudy of colours, and though I only saw painted elephants during my trip, my brother claims they even paint their monkeys in a shade of rainbow. The only animals they don't touch - pigs, dogs and cows.


Amber Fort

Made-up elephants

The treacherous path up

 Amber Fort is more an agglomeration of courtyards and palaces than a fort, and every building within is sculpted and crafted with so much detail, with the level of intricacy just astounding. To appreciate it though, you have to contend with the massive crowds surrounding you, and worse still when they are from mainland China. No offense to them, but the group of people I met had the audacity to lie on the floor under an archway to pose for a photo (as if they were at a beach), and they even shoved me away whilst I was taking a picture so that they could get me out of their picture. They even had the cheek to comment that there were so many Chinese people around when they spotted me and Alex. They can really be quite an obnoxious bunch at times.


Ganesh Pol
(Ganesh Gate)



Jai Mandir
(The Hall of Victory)
This place is also known as the Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace), as the ceilings and the walls were decorated with shimmering glasses and mirrors. Apparently, a single lit candle can illuminate the entire hall at night

Ladies in bright yellow taking a break

Sitting further up the hill above Amber Fort is Jaigarh Fort, and they are linked together by another winding pathway, this time a good twenty to thirty minutes climb. No elephants were afforded to us, but in return, we were graced with a spectacular view of Amber Fort and the city of Amber below. Jaigarh Fort is more like a proper fort, with cannons and an armoury on show, though beyond the views it provided, it was pretty much forgettable. After spending a good half a day exploring these two sights, it was off to catch up with the rest of what Jaipur had to offer, and it was both weird and wonderful.



View of Amber Fort and its surroundings

Jal Mahal

The Jal Mahal (Water Palace) sits right smack in the middle of the Man Sagar lake and provides little but a photo-stop along the way back from Amber Fort to central Jaipur and on to the rest of our sites. No one gets access to it, though I wonder why the locals haven't turned it into yet another money-making machine.

Our next stop, the religious site of Galta Kund, was supposed to be our final stop for the day, but as a result of a minor misunderstanding with our driver, we ended up the delightful site of Gaitore, which is an enclosure containing multiple impressive marble cenotaphs of the Kachhawaha kings. The complex itself was unsuspectingly devoid of tourists and we were left to explore it at peace, and it was definitely a beautiful and unexpected find on our trip. We then pressed on to our final destination, the Galta Kund, which was possibly one of the weirdest places I have ever been to. 

Galta is an 18th-century religious complex made up of two main temples and a number of smaller shrines. When we first stepped into the complex, we were greeted by one half of its inhabitants - they were merely young boys with the hair on their forehead cropped off but with pony tails hanging from the back (not unlike our ancient forefathers in China). We were kindly shown around the complex, and there was just something rather eerie about the entire place that made our hair stand. They had a life-size statue of Ganesh draped and painted in a coat of rainbow, and they had people adamantly trying to tie religious strings around our wrists and necks. We had to politely decline their offer, though they were possibly a little slighted by our refusal. After we had visited the pavilions, we then ventured deeper and higher into the complex and came to the main attraction of the place - the Temple of Galtaji. This was a temple built in the middle of a valley and fronted by a sacred pool, which made for many picturesque shots. Not many tourists come all the way out here from the main city of Jaipur, though in their replacement, we had to content with the true inhabitants of Galta - a horde of screeching monkeys. We concluded our day by going on a mini-shopping spree for the renown jewels that Jaipur had to offer. No thanks to Alex once again for his bargaining tactics, though I suppose I could have done much better on my part and actually listen to him!



Me at Gaitore

The co-inhabitants of Galta 


Rainbow-coloured Ganesh 
Ganesh is one of the Hindu deities, and his portfolio - he is the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom, as well as the god of beginnings

The true inhabitants of Galta



Temple of Galtaji 

Our final day in Jaipur was a relaxing one, though you can't call heading into the city centre 'relaxing'. Our first stop was the Iswari Minar Swarga Sal (Heaven-Piercing Minaret) or also known as the Isarlaat, which at 35 metres high, is the tallest building in Jaipur. This offered spectacular views of Jaipur, and also a breath of fresh air and peace, away from the Indian traffic (a recurring theme in my trip to India). This minaret was erected by the son of Jai Singh, Iswari, who chose to commit suicide by a snake bite rather than face his enemy's army. He left behind twenty-one wives and concubines who apparently then did the noble thing by committing jauhar (ritual mass suicide by immolation) on his funeral pyre. One wonders how many of them actually did it willingly.


Jaipur from atop the Iswari Minar Swarga Sal

Our next stop was the Jantar Mantar, which is an observatory of astronomical objects. Within it lies the largest sundials and celestial-tracking sculptures that counted time precisely to the seconds or tracked the path of stars in the night sky. The place would have made for better appreciation if I had a PhD in astronomy, but it was still pretty interesting stop nonetheless.



One of the largest sundials on the planet - the Samrat Yantra (giant sundial)



A guide explaining how the time was derived from a smaller sundial 
The time at this point in time being 1215 hr (if you click on the picture itself to get a larger view, each small marking denotes a minute, and 0 hour marks the point of the midday sun)

Enjoying a nice cup of lassi wala
One of the few things I miss about India. One also gets to toss these clay-cups away once you have consumed your drink - and it was pretty satisfying to do so, and then order another cup of lassi right away. It was like an act of appreciation

Albert Hall Museum

Tandoori for dinner

We made a photo-stop outside the Albert Hall Museum (and the flock of pigeons it brought along with it from Britain) and then decided that we had had enough of Jaipur and headed back to our hotel for a relaxing afternoon. Alex had a swim, and I had a nice time catching up on my reading - all away from the Indian traffic. 

Days 5 and 6 - Agra: Fatehpur Sikri, Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Itimad-ud-Daulah

The next morning, it was off to the highlight of our trip, Agra, and the Taj Mahal. Before Delhi, Agra used to be a capital in its own right from the 16th to 17th century, during which, many of its forts as well as the most magnificent of buildings, the Taj Mahal, was built. 

After another early morning train ride, our first stop in Agra, after depositing our luggage, was to immediately get out of it again, to another fort, Fatehpur Sikri. This fort stood 40 km west of the main city of Agra. Of all the forts we visited in India, and we visited many, this was the most impressive of the lot. This fort was built during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar, as a form of gratitude to the Sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chishti (who lived in the village of Sikri), who predicted the birth of an heir to the Mughal throne. The emperor then shifted his entire capital there, though to an area devoid of water, and his new capital was quickly abandoned after his death. What remains though is an architectural masterpiece, with every red-sandstone building within it a photogenic Islamic work of art.


Entertainment on the train-ride

Our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal from our hotel roof-top

The Buland Darwaza (Victory Gate) - the entrance to the Jama Masjid

The open-air Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque) with the white-marble tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti

Within the open-air compound of the mosque, we were immediately picked-up by touts looking to sell their wares in hidden pockets of the mosque. In fact, the cheating began way before that, with our driver trying to arrange a tour package, including a tuk-tuk ride and a tour-guide for the compounds (the car-park and the entrance were a good twenty-minute walk). Alex and I were having none of it though, and we brushed the persistent touts away, even resorting to some (very bad) acting of getting angry with one another for wasting each others' time looking at pointless goods. Such a pity that even a religious compound could be turned into a market-place - it's almost like having people selling models of the basilica or postcards within St Peter's Basilica itself. In some ways, it is almost akin to how, during Jesus' time, the Temple in Jerusalem was filled with money-changers. If not for having to fend these touts off, the attraction would have been even more splendid. And they were truly beautiful, shining radiantly in their red-hue under the coat of sunset.



The Hiran Minar
A 21 metre-tall tower decorated with hundreds of stone representations of elephant tusks. This is apparently the place where Akbar's favourite execution elephant died. The elephants carried out executions by trampling on criminals to death.



The moon and the elephant tusks

The Jama Masjid is a complex separate from the palaces and pavilions of Fatehpur Sikri, and the main complex itself consists of three palaces built by Akbar for each of this favourite wives - one a Hindu (Jodh Bai), another a Muslim (Rumi Sultana), and the last, a Christian (Mariam).



The Birbal Bhavan
This was the living quarters of one of Akbar's most senior ministers

Panch Mahal

Reflections of Fatehpur Sikri in the Ornamental Pool

Alex and myself with the Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audiences) in the background

The magnificently carved stone central column within the Diwan-i-Khas

The fortress of Fatehpur Sikri was definitely one of the highlights of our trip, but nothing could top off what was to come the next day in the main city of Agra. If I may borrow and rephrase a quote often used by a certain esteemed lecturer/gastroenterologist in Imperial College, the Taj Mahal is the jewel of India's crown, and many would consider that to be a major understatement already. 

There was a slight debate between myself and Alex about queuing up to enter the Taj Mahal. I was all for queuing up at least half an hour before the opening time at 7 a.m. (the kiasu Singaporean in me kicking in), and Alex wanted to have a slightly later start (just only slightly), to rest and recuperate from our many early mornings. We had already bought our tickets the day before, but still went ahead with our plan to start queuing at 6.30 a.m. in the morning, and by then, we were already fifth in the queue. I had a hilariously embarrassing moment when a Dutch gentleman asked me where I was from and I replied China. Immediately, a lady behind me with a Beijing accent spoke to me in Mandarin, asking where I hailed from. Let's just say the conversation didn't turn out too well. The next time people ask me, I'm going to say I'm from Taiwan. Anyway, queuing up at 630 a.m. has its merits, as by the time the attraction had opened, there were already 200 people in the queue behind us, and that's not an exaggeration.

Before I digress, here's a brief story behind the wonder of the Taj Mahal. The Taj (as it is more fondly known) was built by the Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child. In his grief, he had this mausoleum built for her, where she was laid to rest in peace (though the irony of it is that there is barely any peace for her now with the throngs of people coming to visit this work of art). Funnily enough, the Shah himself was overthrown by his son and imprisoned in Agra Fort, where he could only gaze forlornly at the Taj from a distance. Following his demise in the year 1666, he was finally laid to rest and entombed beside his wife in the Taj - and even more ironically, his tomb within it is the only structure within that destroys the perfect symmetry of the mausoleum. His wife's tomb lies directly in the middle of the mausoleum, and his lies just beside it.

Anyway, back to my story - the moment the gates opened, we literally made a dash for the picture of a lifetime. This was the archetypal shot of the Taj with its reflections in the calm waters of the gardens. My first glimpse of the Taj was truly unforgettable, especially with it bathed in the softness of dawn. The Taj Mahal has been described as 'a teardrop on the cheek of eternity' - I didn't understand what that meant at first, but now I couldn't have said it any better. 'Perfection' is probably how I would describe it. Pardon the many photos that are to come - they barely do it any justice.


Alex (in the bottom left-hand corner) making a dash to the gateway to the Taj

The very first view of the Taj Mahal at dawn
An interesting fact of the day is that the gardens and water bodies surrounding the Taj were a British construct (one of the few things the Indians can be grateful for), though apparently they were also planning to dismantle the Taj during their reign in India

Picture perfect
It was well worth queuing so early as you are able to take pictures of the Taj with not another person in view (though this lasts for a good ten minutes from opening time only)



The Eastern facade

Sitting at the Taj
The beautiful floral-patterned work behind me is also known as pietra dura, where pieces of jewels are laid into the walls, making it a smooth surface. The work is particularly intricate, and you can only truly appreciate the handicraft close-up

The mosque on the western side of the Taj Mahal

Alex and myself with the Taj Mahal

There are no bad shots
The Arabic calligraphy on the facades of the Taj are Quranic verses inlaid with jasper (black marble)

My favourite shot of the Taj


The Taj monyets



And the crowds arrive

After our blockbuster morning, we spent the rest of the day catching up on other sights that Agra had to offer, plus take in different views of the Taj. According to our travel guide, Lonely Planet, there are five places within Agra for which to appreciate and take in the view of the Taj - inside the Taj grounds (where we had been that morning), from Mehtab Bagh (a Mughal park on the opposite side of the Taj Mahal across the the Yamuna River), on a rooftop cafe in Taj Ganj, from Agra Fort, and on a boat ride along the Yamuna River. Besides visiting Agra Fort and the Itimad-ud-Daulah, we spent the rest of our day taking in views of the Taj from three out of the remaining four recommendations, only missing out on a boat ride. At the end of the day, it might have been a tad of a Taj over-kill, but in truth, one can never get enough of it.



Entrance into Agra Fort via the Amar Singh Gate

The Taj from Agra Fort

The colonnaded Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audiences)

Agra Fort was constructed by the Emperor Akbar (of Fatehpur Sikri fame) in 1565 and was initially used as a military structure, and subsequently converted into a palace, and ended up as a prison for the Shah Jahan (of Taj Mahal fame). This fort was less spectacular than what we had seen at Fatehpur Sikri, though still well worth a visit if you happen to be in the vicinity visiting the Taj. You get to marvel once again at the views of the Taj, though it is but a mere shadow of what we had seen in the morning.

The Taj from atop the Saniya Palace Hotel rooftop



Itimad-ud-Daulah (also known as the Baby Taj)

This is another mausoleum standing along the banks of the Yamuna river, this time belonging to that of Mizra Ghiyas Beg, a Persian nobleman who was the grandfather of Mumtaz Mahal (of Taj Mahal fame), and he was also the Emperor Jehangir's wazir (chief minister). Constructed entirely out of white marble, this mausoleum, though in no way as spectacular as the Taj Mahal, is still an exquisite work of art in its own right, and definitely worth a visit, away from the maddening crowds at its bigger cousin. 

Our final stop of the day was at the Mehtab Bagh, the park opposite the Taj Mahal, across the Yamuna river. The gardens in the Taj are perfectly aligned with the ones here, and rumour has it that the Emperor Shah wanted to built a black version of the Taj Mahal here as his mausoleum, though it never materialised. That would have been pretty spectacular. We were aiming for nice sunset views of the Taj, but unfortunately, the clouds decided otherwise.



The Taj from Mehtab Bagh

Parting shot

Days 7 and 8 - Amritsar: The most epic train journey, 'Boh-Raht-Yeh', the Harmandir Sahib and the Jallianwala Bagh

Leaving Agra behind, we took a train ride back to Delhi, and after a short afternoon ambling along Connaught Place, one of the largest financial, commercial and business centers in Delhi, we began our epic 7-hour train journey to Amritsar. After nearly a week in India (which felt like we had been there for over a month already), we felt relatively comfortable at handling whatever India could throw at us, but little did we know we were in for a rude shock. From Delhi, we boarded an entire train filled with Sikhs, on a journey to their religious epicentre - Amritsar. On the train ride, we were treated to a mini religious spectacle - the Sikhs on board decided to chant and sing and pray their way to Amritsar. For the first hour, it was pretty interesting watching them go about their chants, but as the journey progressed, it got a bit overwhelming. All I wanted was some peace and quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of Indian traffic, and here I was, being subjected to even more noise 'pollution', if I may be so unkind. They even brought their own food on board, and were kind enough to share some of it with us (though we politely declined - who knows how hygienic they were when they made their curries and dahls). I was quite annoyed too when they started tossing their eaten packets of yoghurt on the floor, covering the floor with a white mess. I pity the people cleaning up after them. Meanwhile, they left an indelible mark on me - the tune of 'Boh-Raht-Yeh', a chant of epic proportions with clapping of hands and beating of tables. Unfortunately, I didn't capture that one, though I did get another video of one of their chants.


In India, anywhere is a toilet - mind the gap

Alex's favourite Indian throughout this whole trip, who lounged about like a seal for the entire journey from Agra to Delhi

A trainful of Sikhs

A call to prayer
We had this for almost 6 hours of our train journey

We finally reached Amritsar close to midnight and after checking into the hotel, we decided to visit the Harmandir Sahib (Temple of God), also known as the Golden Sikh Temple. The interior of the temple is opened only from dawn till about 10 p.m. (the hours of which the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, is kept within the temple itself), but the complex itself is opened all the time and free for all to enter. Before entering the complex, you have to remove your shoes and socks and wash your feet, and ensure that your head is covered. I would suggest though, instead of borrowing one of their unwashed, luminous orange bandanas should you decide to visit this temple, bringing your own beanie would suffice.

The Golden Sikh Temple is Sikhism's holiest shrine, the Mecca of their religion, and Sikhs around the world yearn for a pilgrimage to dip in the holy waters surrounding the temple, even if they have to do so at 2 a.m. in the morning, which we were to witness that night. The sacred pool of water surrounding the temple itself is known as Amrit Sarova (Pool of the Nectar of Immortality), from which the city derived its name. The walk around the temple at night was one of peace and tranquility, and it made for a pleasant break from our train ride. This belied the violent past of the temple itself, when in 1984, the temple and its surrounding complex was taken over by the Indian army in a bid by the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, to gain control against the Sikh separatist. The temple and its complex suffered much damage during this assault, also known as Operation Blue Star, and as a result of this perceived sacrilege by Indira Gandhi, she was assassinated within 6 months of this event by her Sikh bodyguards. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.

Alex and myself with the Harmandir Sahib

The Golden Sikh Temple

Cleansing in the holy waters of the Amrit Sarovar
Temperatures had dropped to a low of 4 degrees Celsius, yet there were countless of Sikhs (probably those from the train journey), having a dip in the sacred waters. We had a similar experience as well when we had to shower in cold water back in our hotel - let's just say the mood was less than tranquil.


The Golden Sikh Temple in the morning, with pilgrims lining the causeway (also known as Guru's bridge) to get to the temple

The Harmandir Sahib

The turbanated unconvert

The difference in the morning was stark - there were loudspeakers blaring out prayer chants from all four corners of the complex, and there were tonnes more tourists as well. Still, the Sikhs were a more peace-loving bunch, and they even bothered to queue patiently to enter the Temple, which is quite a surprise, considering what the rest India had shown us in the past week. The Temple even provides a free meal for one and all, and apparently, they feed between 60,000 to 80,000 pilgrims and tourists a day! We decided to join in for breakfast that day (since our hotel didn't provide us with any), and though it was just a simple meal consisting of rice, potatoes, bread and various forms of vegetarian curries and dahl, it was still quite an experience.



Serving and eating at the Guru-Ka-Langar (community dining room)

A mountain of cabbage

A dip in the holy waters

Our short afternoon was spent visiting the Jallianwala Bagh, a park commemorating the massacre of Sikhs by the British authorities in 1919. On that fateful day, a British general, Reginald Dyer, ordered his troops to fire on a Sikh peaceful demonstration, protesting against British colonial rule. Within six minutes, 400 people were killed and a further 1500 were wounded. This sparked off Indian nationalism, led by the iconic Mahatma Gandhi.



A painting remembering the massacred

Bullets of memory

With that, our short stopover in Amritsar was over and it was back to Delhi for the final leg of our trip. Thankfully, the train journey back was anything but gregarious. Guess it was all doom and gloom after they had met their spiritual high in Amritsar. For us too, it was pretty much doom and gloom heading back to New Delhi - it signaled a return to the sprawling mess that was Delhi, as well as the end of our vacation (if you could sincerely call it one).

Days 9 and 10 - New Delhi: Humayun's Tomb, the Red Fort, Jama Masjid, the Parliament House and the India Gate

We were into the final leg of our trip and frankly, after what the rest of our tour of the Golden Triangle had to offer, we weren't too sure whether the capital could throw up anymore surprises. We had been run ragged by the rest of India and being back in Delhi was like being thrown right into its largest maelstrom. Here, everything was twice as bad - the noise pollution, the traffic, the stenches, the crowds, the touts. The attractions were a bit of a hit-and-miss as well, with the magnificent Humayun's Tomb contrasted with the dour Red Fort. Meanwhile, we were slowly but surely trudging towards the finishing line. 

Our first stop back in Delhi was to visit Humayun's Tomb, a mausoleum built in 1569 entombing its namesake Mughal emperor, Humayun. This tomb was a precursor to its more famous cousin in Agra, the Taj Mahal, and it maintains a certain splendor and majesty in its own rights, and definitely holds its own grounds when compared to the Taj. Other beautiful tombs dot the complex as well, and the surrounding gardens made for a pleasant walkabout.


Public latrine - don't/do hold your breath

Me at the tomb of Isa Khan

A little Indian girl with Humayun's Tomb in the background
We met a lady and her two young children whilst walking around the mausoleum, and they insisted on having their photos captured on my camera, despite not having access to the pictures subsequently. In fact, these weren't the only people who requested such a thing during our time in India as well! How absolutely fascinating.



Humayun's Tomb

Our next stop was the massively disappointing Red Fort (Lal Qila), whose splendid history was not matched by its impoverished contents. This fort was constructed by Shah Jahan (of Taj Mahal fame) before he moved his capital to Agra, and the Red Fort slowly succumbed to disrepair. It was further eviscerated when the British used it as an army base in the First War of Independence in 1857, leaving all but the most important buildings standing within it. The Red Fort now stands as a pale shadow of its former self, with many of the sights within it closed off from public viewing. It made for a pitiful attraction, made even worse by the fact that we had visited enough forts during our time in India.



Lal Qila with the flag planted atop the Lahore Gate, a symbol of Indian pride and independence

Intricate carvings

Our final stop for our penultimate day in India was the Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque (mostly open air), capable of holding up to 25,000 people. At this attraction, one gains free entry into its compounds, though the camera fee is even more than what you have to pay for other attractions in India. The scoundrels at the door will search every nook and cranny of your bag and pockets to find a camera, and ensure that you pay the fee, even if you aren't using your camera. And when you step out of the mosque, they are on you again like a pack of hounds, demanding to see the receipt for the camera fee, or else, they'd charge you a fee again. It definitely wasn't one of our more memorable sights.



Jama Masjid

Our penultimate dinner consisting of naan, aubergine, chicken tandoori and butter curry chicken

Our final day was spent walking about the Parliament Houses of India, with the main parliament building being flanked on either side by a secretariat complex. This was the first day in India where we had encountered rain, and quite frankly, the weather had been brilliant for us throughout the entire trip. I can't imagine having to visit the Taj Mahal or many other attractions on a cloudy or rainy day - blue skies are the best background. We then adjourned to our final stop of our trip, the India Gate, a 42 metre high memorial which commemorates the 70,000 Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the British Army during World War I. We then spent the afternoon doing some scarf-shopping at the state emporiums (which is a story in its own right, but I'll leave it out of my tale), before it was time to head back home.


The Parliament Houses in New Delhi 


Me at India Gate

Meanwhile, it was the end of a grueling 10-day trip, where it seemed like we had spent more than a month in India. I definitely couldn't wait to get back home, yet this has been the most memorable of trips for me. I was even given an unwanted souvenir by India when I got home - the infamous Delhi-belly. I was wrecked with delirium, fever, and a nasty diarrhoea the moment I touched down in Singapore. Guess it was good that I only got it after my trip and not during the holiday itself. Once again, I have to be grateful to Alex who planned most of the administrative side of the trip and provided excellent companionship to make the unbearable just slightly bearable. Whether I'll come back to India again - I'll have to give it a hard and long think. After all, one of my friends told me, before the trip, that India is an acronym for 'I'll never do it again'. I can totally understand it. 

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posted by Gabriel Yan at 4:20 PM

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