Taj Mahal

From Jaipur, we set out for Agra, home of the Taj Mahal.



On the way, we stopped at a beautiful bird sanctuary where we saw many forms of wild life including spotted deer, antelope, owls, lizards and most importantly the fantastic kingfisher bird. Indians have named a beer and an airplane company after it and now I know why. It is bright blue on the wings with a red beak. What a great looking bird!

Most of us traveled in this huge sanctuary via bicycle rickshaw, but not Amit, Helen and Dana. They rented their own bicycles and as fate would have it, they got lost, very lost. We patiently awaited their return to the group while sitting on the bus. Some of us were less patient than others.

Anyway, after a whole additional hour passed, I started to get worried. Also Amit had left his mobile phone on the bus so there was no way to call to see what was happening to them. Finally they arrived back and told us how lost they had been. Helen said they had begun to make plans for their survival in the wilderness.

At last we set out on our journey again so happy to have them back with us. Unfortunately we arrived at one of my favorite places, Fatehpur Sikri quite late in the day. It was difficult to see the beauty of this once rich palace of Akbar the Great. We were able to make wishes in the famous burial place of the Sufi mystic who advised this great ruler, but we could not see much of the splendid architecture. What's more, there were so many hawkers, maybe 5 to each one of us, we were swamped by what they perceived to be there last big sale of the day.

Helen, growing impatient with the hawkers, turned to one of them and said, "Look you are annoying me, I will sell these necklaces for you if you get out of my face." So all of a sudden we could ear our very own Helen yelling, "Four for three, five for four!" I had to laugh out loud. She actually sold four necklaces to one of our own tour members and the hawkers and children following along were amazed! What a hoot!

We certainly blazed a trail wherever we went, but Helen in particular. She related to all the children we saw, no matter how tattered or poor, as if she were their friend. And they followed her everywhere with admiration and joy.

We stopped a for possibly our worst meal in some tourist trap restaurant before checking into a 5 star hotel in Agra. We seriously needed the sleep and prepared ourselves to arise early so we could see the Taj at dawn.

My guide from my last trip to India, Manish, met us in the wee hours and off we went to visit the 7th wonder of the world. We planned with the film crew to try to sneak the video cameras into the Taj grounds. Of course, to get into the Taj these days, you have to pass through metal detectors so this was no easy feat. We even brought bribe money in case we should get stopped.

After everyone posed for their picture on the Lady Di bench, we made our way to the most fantastic monument to love ever constructed. I found out more about the story on this trip due to Andrea's knowledge of the subject. It seems that Shah Jahan loved this wife of his, Mumtas, more than life itself. She too loved him with a passion. During the course of her 14th pregnancy, she rode off into battle along side him, she adored him so. When she went into labor, it proved to be fatal. In her last request to him, she asked that he build her a memorial to end all memorials and thus, the idea for the Taj was planted firmly with her beloved. Wow, wow!

After winding our way through the building and the grounds, we made our way to one of the gardens. There we filmed a piece on female-male energy balancing. And yes, we did have to bribe one of the guards.

We then visited the Agra Fort and saw the jail where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his sons for squandering the family fortune on the proposed building of the Black Taj for his own burial place.

We had lots of fun with whole Indian families who had come as tourists to this fort. We posed for photos with many many children and a Sikh family and God knows who else. Our group was so unruly in terms of staying together, buy this point, that we seemed to always be waiting.

My solution was for us to do some Emotional Release on the bus. Once we were clear, we could set out again as a cohesive group.

Namaste for now,
Laurie