INDIA

17th January - 27th February 2004

Jamesy, Andrew and I spent six weeks travelling around the subcontinent, speeding around in rickshaws, lounging on beaches and eating more curry than you'd care to imagine.

 

We flew into Delhi, and attempted to get to grips with India, in one of its dirtiest, smelliest, busiest cities - talk about jumping into the deep end! From our base in backpackers' heartland Paharganj, we made to both Old Delhi (to see the Jama Masjid, reportedly India's biggest mosque) and New (resplendent in the mighty edifices of Lutyens and others, the stamp of the British). Beginning the great journey proper, we moved off to Agra. The Taj Mahal did not disappoint, living up to its wonder-of-the-world tag - it is the most astoundingly beautiful building and setting, made all the more regal when we were there by the presence of the King of Nepal.

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Delhi (and the journey there ...): Colonial pomp and smog galore

In Istanbul Airport's Millennium Lounge, blagging our way to free booze with Posy, our Buckinghamshire belle On arrival in Delhi: Jamesy grooves on down to BBC World Service The vegetable-wallah, loitering outside Hotel Namaskar Zooming auto-rickshaws in New Delhi

India Gate, a triumphal arch at one end of the Rajpath, Imperial Delhi's equivalent of The Mall. It was all closed off when we visited in preparation for the Republic Day Parade - when India shows off its big guns to the world, or, more pertinently, to Pakistan.

A roadside shrine to some deity or other You get all kinds of traffic on the streets of the capital - it brings new meaning to the term "trunk road". Lutyens' Secretariat building, amidst the smog and the traffic.
The Secretariat again; you can just about see a military band in front, about to limber up for Republic Day Peeking through the imposing gates, you can see the Rashtrapati Bhavan, or Presidential Palace Presidential Palace again: quite a pad, really This guy was sweeping up, keeping the lawns pristine, around the antique cannon
All quite tiring, this colonisation; I'm sure Lutyens would have been proud to provide us with somewhere for a bit of a sit down Beautiful blooms at the heart of British India. Inside our first rickshaw, speeding terrifyingly through the city In the distance, the Jama Masjid - India's largest mosque
This rickshaw-wallah was having a well-deserved kip outside Delhi's Red Fort A bit closer to the Jama Masjid. You can see the impromptu bazaars that spring up all around it, plus the legions of beggars appealing to worshippers - and tourists. Inside the mosque, one of its fantastically decorated gates The mosque is so huge that it can accommodate 25,000 worshippers - not that many there when we visited
It's that arch again The view outside the mosque. This bazaar area is the place to go if you want car parts - big springs, grubby tyres and any number of other oily components. The streets in the immediate vicinity were positively seething with people Back across the courtyard of the mosque, towards the far gate
Grain is left for the pigeons, I think as an act of benevolence towards our feathered friends. You can buy just about anything in the crowded streets of Paharganj, which seemingly never sleep. The legendary Mr Budhraja. All the guidebook writers lavish praise upon him - in fact, I think he practically wrote most of them - which he proudly points out when you arrive at Hotel Namaskar in his pile of well-thumbed volumes. Sonu Chat House, a Paharganj restaurant where you can eat Masala Dosa for next to no money. Andrew and James are definitely not wearing lipstick.

Agra, where Shah Jehan built a little thing called the Taj Mahal

Hotel Sheela - an oasis in the mad, mad world of hassly Agra. The old bloke crouching on the right is the gardener, who spends his days tending the lovely hotel garden. It was a really pleasant place to chill out after an early start out from Delhi. Agra has some electric rickshaws, to try and combat the pollution problem that has begun to corrode the precious Taj Agra's Red Fort - and a monkey
The fort was originally built by Moghul Emperor Akbar, and added to by successors Shah Jehan and Aurangzeb Another monkey - but the locals are more bemused by me than interested in its antics Jamesy consults The Good Book to find out exactly which Moghul Emperor built which bit The Diwan-i-Khas, or Hall of Public Audience, where the Emperor would sit and grant audiences to grovelling subjects
Along the battlements of the Red Fort The beautiful white marble is inlaid with precious stones Jamesy does his best impression of a disdainful Moghul Emperor, tyrant of all he surveys A touching moment; what a gorgeous place for a photo
The elegant architecture is offset by neat gardens A tomb, in front of the Diwan-i-Am The lawn-wallahs, having a well-deserved break; Agra's equivalent of Cambridge college gardeners See that group over there? Somewhere, at the centre of the crush, is the King of Nepal and family, on a flying visit-cum-photo-opportunity to the Taj
At the Taj Mahal, even the gates are spectacular Ooo, yep, there it is. It is such a ubiquitous, celebrated image - but nothing can prepare you for its breathtaking presence! One of the most photogenic sights in the world. And, behind me, the Taj Mahal again. And, look ... the Taj Mahal! Peeking through the trees, its symmetry makes it as fascinating and awe-inspiring from any angle.
In front of the Taj museum, a stonemason-wallah chips away, presumably at some restoration work on the red stone from which the walls to the complex are constructed. There's our mate the King of Nepal again. Security was tight around him: unsurprising, considering the Marxist rebels that crawl around his country and the fact that practically his whole family was assassinated a couple of years ago by a close relative. It's ... the Taj Mahal! Shah Jehan must have been fairly cut up when Mumtaz Mahal died, inspiring him to build this as a mausoleum. There's a mosque on the left - and, on the right, an exact copy. Can't be used as a mosque itself, because it faces the wrong way - all built in the interests of aesthetics! The visit of the King of Nepal meant that the fountains in the char bagh (Moghul water garden) were switched on. As soon as His Highness walked out of the gate, the water was immediately switched off. The fountain-wallah appeared to wade through all of the pools to disable the fountain heads.
The vivid colours of Indian dress are a contrast to the pastelly UK! More of that beautiful inlay work, known as pietra dura, as seen earlier in Agra Fort. Hotel Amar Vilas in Agra. We didn't stay there - didn't have a spare $300 - but did go to the restaurant, which is rather cheaper. It was like visiting a fantasy India theme-park, a little discomfiting in its ostentation, considering the raw poverty just down the road. The "real India" - if you're a rich business-person, staying in the only hotel that boasts a view of the Taj from every window. Shah Jehan would have approved.
Classic Indian advertising: great slogans, in quirky subcontinental English. A cycle-rickshaw ride. It was a fine experience ... ... apart from the fact that the drivers had no intention of taking us to our destination, preferring instead to pedal us towards their mate's handicrafts emporium. Well, they picked the wrong ditsy backpackers to mess with: no sandalwood elephants or carved trinket boxes were even considered.
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© Ben James 2004