Taj Castle to Taj Mahal to Talabgaon Castle
After a pretty decent sleep and a lovely, and more importantly, static, bed, we arose to our 06:00 alarm,grabbed some snacks and set off for the West Gate of the Taj Mahal. This was just a 15 minute walk from our handy accommodation, and the snacks may have disappeared by the time we got to the queue.
I joined the tourist women's queue, and bought our tickets soon after the office opened at 6:45. I was then given two bottles of water and some shoe covers (you can't take big bags into the Taj Mahal so perhaps if it had been warmer I would have been grateful for the water) and joined the tourist women's entrance queue. I had expected this (from others' accounts) to be shorter and faster moving than the local's queue, but it wasn't. In fact, when the gates opened at 07:00 (an odd time as the sun had already risen despite this being advertised as "Taj at sunrise") it was the slowest moving queue. However, this did provide opportunities to chat with those in the adjacent queue - a young family had been playing "guess where she is from" behind my back (no one seems to know here, weird!) so I chatted to them for a bit to give them their answer.
The final barrier was a metal detector archway - a bit like they have at airports. Unlike airport versions however, this seemed to have been shrunk to fit the local population, and when I stepped in I banged my head very hard off the top of it! I felt a bit of an idiot, but I had assumed they were person sized....
We met the other side of the queue and headed towards the entrance where we were immediately treated to a hazy but spectacular view of the Taj Mahal. The still water leading towards the main building absolutely makes the view, and I found it had a pleasing symmetry (as did everyone else, barging each other out of the way for the most central photo spot). At this point there were people around but it wasn't too hectic, and we wandered in a leisurely way towards the mausoleum, admiring the surrounding red stone buildings looming very atmospherically from the clouds.
Once up on to the Taj Mahal, we donned our shoe covers (I very nearly slipped over, oops) and walked the guided route through the mausoleum itself. This had quite spectacularly intricate marble work and carvings, and was lovely and warm too. However, the best views were to be had outside, so we were soo back in the rather fresh air, enjoying the scenery and taking photos before the crowds.
Back at the hotel, I had a rather odd and not tasty breakfast involving pot noodle, weird pakora and some toast (eurgh) before our driver picked us up very promptly at 10am. Gulfan Khan was his name, and he owned a nice little Hyundai with seat belts front and back (wow) and an unusual reticence to overtake in small gaps or use his horn, all of which was very welcome. Also welcome was the good quality of roads in Rajasthan we were to travel on, many many times better than most of Nepal's, although littered with toll booths, presumably to pay for the upkeep. I also saw the first speed limit sign (90 km/h on a dual carriageway) I've seen since the trip began.
Our first stopping point was Fatehpuri Sikri, a fortified ancient city with a selection of beautiful old buildings and couryltyards. These included a palace, ornamental pool, pavilions, gates and mosque. There was also a white marble tomb of Shaikh Salim Chisti which had a sea-shell decorated canopy inside, to which people tied red and yellow threads in order to ask for a blessing for their family.
Further along the road, and after a very touristy lunch spot selected for us by our driver, we arrived at Chand Bori in Abhaneri, a small village with an interesting temple that seemed to be made from ruins. Chand Bori was described as a set of zigzagging steps around a well, which I was only medium enthusiastic about seeing. But, it was much more impressive than I thought, as the steps went down about 13 storeys from ground level in a geometrically-pleasing and almost optically-illuding (is that a word?) fashion. There was also a slightly crumbling palace on one side, and some vivid green parrots.
Final destination for today - the Talabgaon Castle Hotel. This was one I'd been looking forward to, as it was off the beaten track and occupied the quarters of an old palace. Once we had found the entrance (a bit of an experience of the type where you are very thankful for Google maps being accurate) after a lovely sunset drive, I was not disappointed. The arches and columns of the building were floodlit and inviting, and the heritage room extensive and luxurious, a big change from our trip standard. Dinner was served outside next to the pool, with some very (almost too) attentive service and a log fire to keep us cosy.
After a pretty decent sleep and a lovely, and more importantly, static, bed, we arose to our 06:00 alarm,grabbed some snacks and set off for the West Gate of the Taj Mahal. This was just a 15 minute walk from our handy accommodation, and the snacks may have disappeared by the time we got to the queue.
I joined the tourist women's queue, and bought our tickets soon after the office opened at 6:45. I was then given two bottles of water and some shoe covers (you can't take big bags into the Taj Mahal so perhaps if it had been warmer I would have been grateful for the water) and joined the tourist women's entrance queue. I had expected this (from others' accounts) to be shorter and faster moving than the local's queue, but it wasn't. In fact, when the gates opened at 07:00 (an odd time as the sun had already risen despite this being advertised as "Taj at sunrise") it was the slowest moving queue. However, this did provide opportunities to chat with those in the adjacent queue - a young family had been playing "guess where she is from" behind my back (no one seems to know here, weird!) so I chatted to them for a bit to give them their answer.
The final barrier was a metal detector archway - a bit like they have at airports. Unlike airport versions however, this seemed to have been shrunk to fit the local population, and when I stepped in I banged my head very hard off the top of it! I felt a bit of an idiot, but I had assumed they were person sized....
We met the other side of the queue and headed towards the entrance where we were immediately treated to a hazy but spectacular view of the Taj Mahal. The still water leading towards the main building absolutely makes the view, and I found it had a pleasing symmetry (as did everyone else, barging each other out of the way for the most central photo spot). At this point there were people around but it wasn't too hectic, and we wandered in a leisurely way towards the mausoleum, admiring the surrounding red stone buildings looming very atmospherically from the clouds.
Once up on to the Taj Mahal, we donned our shoe covers (I very nearly slipped over, oops) and walked the guided route through the mausoleum itself. This had quite spectacularly intricate marble work and carvings, and was lovely and warm too. However, the best views were to be had outside, so we were soo back in the rather fresh air, enjoying the scenery and taking photos before the crowds.
Back at the hotel, I had a rather odd and not tasty breakfast involving pot noodle, weird pakora and some toast (eurgh) before our driver picked us up very promptly at 10am. Gulfan Khan was his name, and he owned a nice little Hyundai with seat belts front and back (wow) and an unusual reticence to overtake in small gaps or use his horn, all of which was very welcome. Also welcome was the good quality of roads in Rajasthan we were to travel on, many many times better than most of Nepal's, although littered with toll booths, presumably to pay for the upkeep. I also saw the first speed limit sign (90 km/h on a dual carriageway) I've seen since the trip began.
Our first stopping point was Fatehpuri Sikri, a fortified ancient city with a selection of beautiful old buildings and couryltyards. These included a palace, ornamental pool, pavilions, gates and mosque. There was also a white marble tomb of Shaikh Salim Chisti which had a sea-shell decorated canopy inside, to which people tied red and yellow threads in order to ask for a blessing for their family.
Further along the road, and after a very touristy lunch spot selected for us by our driver, we arrived at Chand Bori in Abhaneri, a small village with an interesting temple that seemed to be made from ruins. Chand Bori was described as a set of zigzagging steps around a well, which I was only medium enthusiastic about seeing. But, it was much more impressive than I thought, as the steps went down about 13 storeys from ground level in a geometrically-pleasing and almost optically-illuding (is that a word?) fashion. There was also a slightly crumbling palace on one side, and some vivid green parrots.
Final destination for today - the Talabgaon Castle Hotel. This was one I'd been looking forward to, as it was off the beaten track and occupied the quarters of an old palace. Once we had found the entrance (a bit of an experience of the type where you are very thankful for Google maps being accurate) after a lovely sunset drive, I was not disappointed. The arches and columns of the building were floodlit and inviting, and the heritage room extensive and luxurious, a big change from our trip standard. Dinner was served outside next to the pool, with some very (almost too) attentive service and a log fire to keep us cosy.
No comments:
Post a Comment