Agra – no Taj Majal for you!

Well, my 12-hour night train was 4 hours late this morning, so I didn’t arrive in time for sunrise (one of the better, less crowded times to see the Taj Majal).

More importantly, as a group of Korean women on the train (who gave me some of their dinner last night, as they had too much food) pointed out, it’s “off” today. i.e. Closed. On a Friday! Oops, I missed that. In fact, I didn’t think to check it after my scare about Ellora and Ajanta caves being closed (the latter on Mon, the former on Tue – luckily I visited them the right way, or they would have both been closed on me!)

Oh well. I can’t say I was that incredibly keen to visit the Taj Majal (a World Heritage site) – it seemed like I “had” to. It does indeed look just like in the postcards (which is what a few travellers told me. Though to really appreciate it you have to see the intricate marble work up close.

Tip: Don’t expect the train to arrive on time. Very rare. Especially if you are counting on a pre-sunset arrival to view sunset somewhere special!
Tip: Double-check opening and closing times and days for major monuments or things you absolutely want to see, to avoid only being here when closed!

So I visited the Red Fort (also a World Heritage site), which was OK – two of the more interesting bits I wanted to see there were closed for renovations.
It’s one of the finest Mughal forts in India, from the 17th C. All red sandstone and white marble:

Red Fort

I did have a great view of the Taj Majal from the rooftop Shanti Lodge resto at lunchtime (in the Taj Ganj district immediately south of the Taj Mahal).
But I can’t get any closer to it, as I leave on a night train again tonight, for Jodhpur in Rajasthan.
In the photo with me in it, the structure on the left is the (main) south gate to the Taj Majal compound.

Taj Majal
Taj Mahal w/ Jan and south gate

 

Highlights of Goa – Old Goa

I did a brief 40 minute stop here on the way back to the train station. It’s about 10km east/inland of Panaji (Panjim) along the Mandavi River.
There are a half dozen large churches and cathedrals here (yet another World Heritage site!), with the main ones clustered on some treed parks.

Photos: the Basilica of Bom Jesus (which has the tomb and remains of St Francis Xavier); its richly gilded altar

Highlights of Goa – Arambol beach

I spent 4 nights in Arambol (Harmal) beach, which is the northernmost main beach in Goa, keeping in mind that Goa is about 100km long from north to south, as the crow flies. Plus, if you want to leave by long-distance train or plane, you have to back to/near Margao/Madgaon anyways (originally I wanted to go to northern beaches because I though it would be a little more “on my way” to Mumbai, but no).

Highlights of Goa – Benaulim beach

Each beach in Goa has its own character; the two I went to were very different, but neither one was picture postcard perfect (supposedly Agonda beach in south Goa comes closest, while still being quiet).

Highlights (or rather points of interest) of my 2 nights in Benaulim beach (technically I might have been in Serabatim beach, which is in between Benaulim and Colva beaches):

  • Conveniently close (6km) to Margao (Madgaon) where the train station is (recall that i was sick in the train while getting to Goa…)
  • Quiet beach
  • Few hawkers/touts
  • Mostly an older crowd
  • You could walk northwards to busier Colva beach (lots of watersports – parasailing was only Rs500/$12.50 with some haggling!!), which is popular with Indian families

Photos: my hotel and resto Coco Huts; barefoot on a shaded beach lounge chair (free); view north from my hotel resto; little crab that digs itself into the sand at edge of surf (even on my hand, it would dig into the little pile of sand and tickle my hand); fishing boat and family on the beach

Varanasi for a brief day

My (24 hour ride) train arrived at 1:30 (am), over 6 hours late (i.e. 30 hours long). They gave my room away, so I weaseled a cot with fresh sheets in the staff room (they sleep on mats in the lobby) for free (I tipped him this morning), and was able to use the common shower/toilet (for some of the rooms) this morning, since I had been in the same clothes for 48 hours! I got up at 5:30 for boat tour on river, but weather is poor (foggy) so it was a little disappointing. And cold. Well, 19°C with fog/haze and wind and no sun felt mighty cold without a real sweater on! I was told the weather was quite unusual and it had been nice in the morning all week (plus, it didn’t get sunny until mid-afternoon!) I’m leaving Varanasi for Agra in a few hours – a 12 hour night train! Unfortunately this means I will miss the Shiva festival tonight (and tomorrow night), but I didn’t know about that. Tip: don’t schedule just one day in a town if it is important, esp. if you want sunshine for good photos! Too much travel, will cut Jaisalmer out of that itinerary…

Update: I did watch some cremations at Manikarnika Ghat, the main one with continual cremations (24 hours a day, a good dozen at once). More on that when I do the highlights. Inhaling that smoke didn’t help my lungs any (I started coughing again on the long train ride coming here).

Ajanta Caves

The World Heritage listed Ajanta caves (Buddhist) were another tight squeeze on the way to a different train station (Jalgaon) for a 24 hour trip to Varanasi.
These cave temples weren’t as cool as the ones in Ellora, but still interesting. I found the cave paintings disappointing, but without a guide (nor a good flashlight – my headlamp isn’t working anymore!) they were rather faint and I couldn’t usually find the specific painting that the guidebook mentioned in a particular cave.
Tip: if you can only do one, see Ellora.

Mailing a package home

I sent a package home from Aurangabad, a process which took over an hour, between the auto-rickshaw rides, the boxing/wrapping/stitching/wax-sealing of my things, and going to the post office (which mercifully had a short line and an English speaking clerk).

Note the wax seals (14!) on the finished package.
Over 7kg/16lbs, it cost Rs300/$7.50 to wrap (overly expensive, but no competition here, unlike Mumbai where the general post office was open on Sunday, but not the foreign parcel desk), and Rs3005/$75 for air parcel service (within 2 weeks delivery – I didn’t want to pay half and wait 2 months for ship parcel service).