SPG – Toad's Wild Ride

India, a Self-Drive Adventure-Jaipur

This isn’t that long of a trip in terms of distance, only 255 km (158 miles), but even Google which is always a bit optimistic on drive times, indicates it’s more than four hours. In my case it was five and a half. About every 30 minutes or so, there’s a toll booth to pay, it’s a bit crazy to be honest, the road is mostly not existent most of the time, in fact after the toll booths you are rerouted back to a dirt road the runs parallel to where the “highway” will run if it is ever finished. The way it works now, is they route traffic onto a paved road just before a toll booth, then back off the road and onto the old road right after the toll. More annoying is the frequency of the tolls, since they are around eight cents each time! But, hey I guess it’s putting people to work to collect tolls, so it’s not all bad.

The condition of these roads though is shockingly horrible in places, and I found myself being awed by the durability of the Hyundai, and with the tires especially. As recently as ten years ago, something like this trip I am certain would have resulted in at least one flat tire and it was something I fretted about the entire trip, but in the end I never experienced a flat tire.

After five plus hours of driving though you will feel like you have driven 14 hours in any western country with efficient motorways. After getting turned around in Jaipur a couple of times, finding the road to the Le Meridien Jaipur came more naturally, I was beginning to understand the logic here, already, I’ve gone the wrong way a couple of times myself, because it’s easier than going the long way around.

The Le Meridien Jaipur, isn’t really in Jaipur at all, in fact I’m not sure it should even have Jaipur in the name. But, this is something of a pattern for Le Meridien Hotels, in Paris the call use “Etoile” in the name of the Le Meridien, even though it’s not near the Etoile at all and is in fact more than a kilometer or three metro stops away.

I focus on this dear reader, for good reason: I screwed up, and hope someone benefits from my mistake. I should never have booked this hotel, as my primary intent was to stay in Jaipur for the Holi Festivities, and the Le Meridien’s location was far enough away to make it inconvenient. I’d either have to drive my car there hoping to find parking, or I’d have to hire a hotel car take me. I opted for the latter, but that wasn’t so easy either as the hotel resisted taking me, saying once again “it would not be safe”. When I asked if they were refusing a car and driver because concerned about my safety, they said yes. So, I asked what would be safer for their driver to take me, or for me to drive myself, because I was going to Holi, of that there was no question…they conceded it’d be safer to have their driver take me. The moral of the story, if you’re going to Jaipur for the Holi Festival, book one of the hotels right in town.

Your's truly in Holi Color, the white T-Shirt is still a souvenir, and the Lufthansa first class pajama bottoms were very convenient. — Your’s truly in Holi Color, the white T-Shirt is still a souvenir, and the Lufthansa first class pajama bottoms were very convenient.

Since Jaipur was likely only to be toured now for the brief Holi visit (the hotel had limited me to 2 hours) there isn’t much in the report about the buildings or sites within the town, and rather the focus is on the Amer (Amber) Fort, and the Jaigarh Fort as well as scenes from the village of Amer.

The Amer Palace and Fort is by far the most impressive of all the Forts I visited on this trip to India. A good many tourists will ride an elephant up the narrow road and through the Sun Gate to enter the Fort complex. I did not. It was warm, and I felt bad for the elephants, and also getting into and out of the parking area was worse than trying to leave the Hollywood Bowl after the Fourth of July concert (trust me that’s bad).

Rather I parked on a street in the village of Amer, and walked up the hill to the Fort entrance, and was glad I’d gone that route, when I saw the slow moving conga line of cars trying to leave later on. Amer Fort was begun in 967 by the Meenas, and was taken over by Kachwaha Raijput’s in a cowardly act of shameful conspiracy that left the Meenas massacred “filling the reservoirs in which the Meenas bathed with their dead bodies.” The shame was that this was done when the Meenas were performing rituals of Pitra Trapan on the Diwali, the most important festival in Hinduism, which the Meenas traditionally honored by shedding their weapons.

The Ganesh Pol Entrance is grand and ornate, above which are three screened windows that upon closer examination appear to be carved from thin slabs of marble.

Lattice screen window above Ganesh Gate-Amer Fort

Detail of the Lattice Window screen detail shows they are carved from a thin slab of marble.

Ganesh Pol entrance of the Amer Palace. I gave up trying to get a good picture without crowds of people posing for their own pictures. Photo credit: By Firoze Edassery (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Amer Palace and Jaigarh Fort are basically part of the same complex. Jaigarh Fort, is on the hill top above Amer Palace, and there is an underground connector between the two, that could be used by the royal family to escape should they come under attack. Of interest is that Jaigarh Fort was also home to a cannon foundry. The foundry had a massive wind tunnel that pushed air from the high mountains into its allowing temperatures to reach 2400 °F (1315 °C). The foundry routinely made 16 ft (5 meter) cannons, but 1720 it made the Jaivana Cannon, at the time the world’s largest cannon on wheels. At 20.9 feet (6.15 meters) it fired a 110 lb (50 kg) ball a distance of 22 miles (35 km) using 220 lbs (100 kg) of gun powder! It was only fired that one time, and was never used in battle.

Arrival of tourists by elephant Amer Fort

Courtyard with Palace of Man Singh1, and seen on the hilltop is the Jaigarh Fort.

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Mirrored Ceiling in the Mirror Palace Amer Fort

Overlooking Amer Fort from Jaigarh Fort.

Rooftop perspective showing layout of Amer Fort Complex

As I walked back to my car in the Village of Amer, I came across one of the stepped wells that I’d seen so often in films set in India. I was always fascinated by the symmetrical architecture of them, and they’d be used for every from gathering water, to getting relief from the heat.

And I also came across two young boys bathing at a street well pipe. I was trying very hard to be discreet in taking a picture, but when I got back to the hotel that evening and looked closely at the photo, I notice the one boy was looking at me and smiling.

Other sites in the village included a Hindu temple, and ruins of building that clearly must have been most relevant at one time, as well as animals in the street. I don’t think these are things I’d see if I was using a typical tourist service, which I could always find, as they were clearly marked white vehicles that said “TOURIST” over the back window.

Galta Ji Monkey Temple with Jaipur City Gate in background. Sadly, the complex was closed beyond this point in honor of the Holi Festival.

My evenings I’d spend at the outdoor café of the Le Meridien for a cold beer, and some very amazing food. I’d have naan bread a few dozen times in my life, but until now I had no idea how it is supposed to taste, the slathering fresh butter, I’m sure had no small part of that. But, the bread is soft, chewy, with crispy bits where there’s a bubble in the dough as it bakes, it is not the dry, stuff we get that honestly tastes more like cardboard than bread. Sadly, now naan bread falls into one of those foods, that I most likely will usually be disappointed with, when I have it somewhere else…it has become the food equivalent in India that Crème Brulee is for me in France, disappointing most of the time when compared to what you get there. But, isn’t this exactly why we travel? To discover and experience a place, it’s feeling, air, culture, food, and people! India I found to be intense and extreme in every sense imaginable.

At the end of my journey, I had arrived at the Four Points by Sheraton Delhi Airport Hotel, and once again sat in the car, waiting for the valet to notice me, and approach, which never happens. It seems they are simply too shocked to see a single white guy driving a car himself in India, they don’t know what you are doing there. I took my bags out of the trunk, and checked in, handing them the key at the desk with instructions of who would be coming to pick up the car from Hyundai Motor, and they still seemed very perplexed.

The hotel was basic and nice enough, I’d not be there long, my flight was a midnight, but I hoped to catch a short nap and a meal before taking the complementary hotel shuttle to the airport, and for this purpose it was perfectly suited, and prepared me for the long journey ahead flying from Delhi, to Frankfurt in first class on Lufthansa, and then on to San Francisco and finally to Los Angeles, on what United calls business class, which I know will be a huge fall from the Lufthansa experience.

After dropping the car off, I had this feeling of “whew, am I glad that’s over!” India is a cacophony of noise and frenetic energy, with brief moments of harmony. In those moments and for the next couple of weeks, I was relieved to leave India behind. It’s not a common feeling with a place, but it happens, I had the same feeling with Egypt. But, with India, two-weeks later, I was looking at pictures with friends, and had this overwhelming desire to go back, which I know I will someday return to India. That is where the experience with India is so different from Egypt, which is a place I have no desire at all to return.

India, a Self-Drive Adventure–Agra

So here is the part of the story I haven’t told you about yet; I will be traveling the golden triangle, like a good many tourists do. But, here’s the difference; I will be driving myself from Delhi to Agra, and then to Jaipur before finally driving back to Delhi again.

The car; a Silver 2014 Hyundai Sonata, fully loaded exception being manual transmission (tricky with right hand drive, but I’ve done it before) was provided by Hyundai and left for me at the hotel. Keeping in mind, I’d been witnessing the driving and traffic in Delhi the past couple of days, and I did have to sit in the driveway of the hotel for a moment to steal my nerves to head out!

Getting out of Delhi was indeed horrific. I ended up in a traffic jam in some part of town, I’m not even certain of the name, all I know as that it took me nearly three hours to move 15 kilometers (9.3 miles). This mind you was with bus tires inches from my fenders at any given time, and scooters attempting to get through anyway.

p1040299 Finally escaping the city, the rest of the drive wasn’t too bad, but for learning HOW to drive in India. Rule number one: your horn is the ONLY thing that matters, the thing must operate! Rule number two: People do not EVER look in their mirrors; see rule number one. After my mirrors were hit for the 4^th time, I stopped and folded them in like everyone else had done, and understood, why people don’t use their mirrors. Rule number three: when you approach a car or truck or bus or goat from behind, honk your horn to let them know you are there. Rule number four: expect anyone or anything to be on the road, and to do anything and everything. Going the wrong way for a couple of miles, expect it, goats, pigs, dogs, chickens, cows, elephants, camels, people, can and will be on the road at anytime. Rule number five: Chill, you’ll get there eventually, so long as you don’t ignore rules 1-4.

Agra, is a short 210 kilometers (130 miles) from Delhi, a distance here in the states that would take you no more than 2 hours to cover. It took 5 hours to make the same trip in India. I finally arrived around 3:00 in the afternoon, and found my hotel for the next 2 nights, the 5-star ITC Mughal Agra. An absolutely beautiful property, with stunning pools, polished marble floors, tasteful décor, it was like the last five hours had evaporated.

I was greeted by a beautiful woman, who guided me to a desk, where we sat down, and refreshments were served as she checked me in. While I didn’t get a suite this time, I did get a very nice large room, with a fantastic sunken marble tub, I had every intention of soaking in that night!

But, first since I had a few hours, I decided to go explore, and find out how to get to the Taj Mahal the next morning before daybreak. The lovely lady who checked me in, was so kind to inform me that I shouldn’t walk, or take a tuk-tuk as it wouldn’t be safe, that the hotel would arrange a car with a driver for me. I explained I’d just driven myself from Delhi and asked her, what could happen? Once she recovered from the shock that I was driving in India, she said, we don’t want our guests exposed to the local conditions so intimately. Well, since the Taj Mahal was only 1.2 miles from the hotel according to google maps, I decided I could walk it.

As I walked out the gate, the guard there gave me a look like he couldn’t figure out what I was doing. I turned right, and came to a bridge crossing over a street, that led directly to the Taj Mahal. Looking down, I saw some “stairs” that were leading from the level I was on, down to the street. Simple enough, I headed down, and noticed some stairs are missing, but managed, and then at the end, there was a board crossing a ditch, which I am quite certain was the sewer. Not trusting the board, I jumped over the ditch, and headed down the street.

Street I walked to the Taj Mahal, from the hotel, as viewed from the bridge above.

I very quickly I came a across some small children on both sides of the street, and a couple of the braver ones came out to find out who I was. I smiled, and gave them the candies, I’d pocketed from the large bowl on the reception desk at the hotel, specifically for this occasion. Then they swarmed me, lol when I held up my hands to indicate it was all gone, they smiled and scampered off.

Kids walking down the street, after I'd exhausted my candy supplies. — Kids walking down the street, after I’d exhausted my candy supplies.

I kept walking and the street began to take on a market feel, vendors selling stuff for the upcoming Holi Festival, as well as food, deep fried breads, soup and tea. It all smelled quite good, once you got past the fact that all the heat for cooking was coming from fires fueled by cow dung patties. It works.

Farther on, and saw a police station, and walked by, they looked at me like I didn’t belong, and I just kept walking. I found the south entrance to the Taj Mahal, and noticed workers installing new stainless steel corrals (I don’t think there’s a better word) to handle the throngs of visitors every day.

I continued around the walls of the Taj Mahal, and eventually came to a river, turns out the same river that’s in Delhi running along the edge of the Red Fort. The sun was setting, and there was a boat, the scene was beautiful, despite the trash on the banks and in the water.

Seeing the Taj from this perspective of the river was pretty amazing, and at sunset, I decided to wait around for the sun to set more completely, for some photos.

I’ve run into this problem before when I want to enjoy a sunset, I forget I have to get back and now it’s dark. I did this once in the mountains around Cappadocia, Turkey and had to hike down with the light from my phone’s flash. This time it wasn’t as much the darkness, but suddenly there were a few hundred monkeys all around the road, on the east side wall of the Taj Mahal. Big monkeys and I’m not familiar enough with monkey behavior to know what they might do. For the most part they left me alone, but would run up and then suddenly around me, seeming to like to see me get nervous.

I got back to the hotel and told them of my walk, and they were amazed I’d done such a thing, I showed them the pictures, and they appreciated, that I captured and focused on the beauty, and not the poverty. I told them about the monkeys, and they said I was right to be cautious with them, they will attack apparently.

After a light meal, and a couple of beers, I relaxed in my tub, and recalled the day, and felt very content.

At 5:30 the next morning I headed out of the front gate, and decided, I’d walk across the street where I saw a bunch of auto rickshaws. One of the nice drivers there took me to the west entrance in about 5 minutes, I wanted to get in the queue as early as possible, so this worked out great.

Sunrise at West Gate entrance to the Taj Mahal

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It was pretty chilly, people were there with heavy coats, and blankets, and I just had a t-shirt on, but I’m pretty warm running, so didn’t have much trouble. At the first glimmer of sunshine the gates opened, and people began to crush their way in to put their bags through x-ray machines and walk through metal detectors, understandably so.

I got my ticket, and was accosted by several people offering to be my guide, one guy seemed pretty laid back, and I asked him how much, he said 300 Rupees, and I agreed. He was very informative, and even helped me sneak a couple photos inside the Taj. He explained we want to get to the Taj right away, to get pics before the crowds come in. He also regaled me with the story of the “Black Taj” which it is told was intended to be the resting place for Shah Jahan. While modern scholars have claimed to debunk the story as a myth, there is strong historical evidence that it can’t be entirely dismissed. Iftakhar Nadime Khan writes a blog about the evidence (most notably the asymmetrical position of Jahan’s cenotaph within the funerary chamber of the Taj) this he believes, supports the notion that the Taj Mahal is but half of the monument originally intended by Shah Jahan.

First view of the Taj Mahal, still a little dark, and foggy.

I call this one my "post card" shot of the Taj Mahal. — I call this one my “post card” shot of the Taj Mahal.

Once inside, he explained a lot of what was going on at the time the Taj Mahal was built, and the beginning of the end of the Mughal power in the region. I very much appreciated his knowledge, and also, his knowing of where at what time to be to get the best shots.

East side of the Taj at sunrise. The minarets appear to tilt inward, but it is an optical illusion, exaggerated by the lens of the camera. The towers actually, lean slight outward, as was designed by the builders to protect the monument from a falling minaret in the even of an earthquake. It is known, though that the SW minaret has increased it's tilt in the past sixty years, which is of concern. — East side of the Taj at sunrise. The minarets appear to tilt inward, but it is an optical illusion, exaggerated by the lens of the camera. The towers actually, lean slight outward, as was designed by the builders to protect the monument from a falling minaret in the even of an earthquake. It is known, though that the SW minaret has increased it’s tilt in the past sixty years, which is of concern.

Observe the size and intricate detail of the inlay work.

Snuck Shot of the Inside of the Shrine

Of course, there was a reason he was a bit cheaper than the other guys, he took me to his brother’s shop after leaving the Taj, where I don’t think I bought anything, but was very familiar with this customer acquisition tactic from other places around the world. You can get a very cheap tuk-tuk ride in Bangkok for example, but you’ll stop at three shops on the way, as they pay him to bring you there, and that’s why the ride is so cheap. It wasn’t a big deal, I actually enjoy it sometimes, as you learn something you might not have about rug weaving, or silk making, or whatever, they are selling.

I got back to the hotel by 9:30 am still in time for breakfast, which I enjoyed immensely, and fueled me up to go visit the Agra Fort. As I came out of the gate of the hotel this time, the rickshaw driver from this morning saw me, and zoomed over to get me, dropping me off at the Fort a quick 5 minutes later, he wanted to know how long I’d be, and I explained, I have no idea, I’ll probably just walk back it’s not that far. He smiled, and said “you’re a strange white guy man,” which I took as a compliment.

Compared to the Red Fort in Delhi, the Agra Fort is much smaller, easier to take in within a couple of hours. In fact, I found much of to be all too familiar and little wonder as they were both built by the same man.

Diwan-i-Aam, "hall of public audience"-Agra Fort — Diwan-i-Aam, “hall of public audience”-Agra Fort

Agra Fort courtyard with Moti Masjid (mosque) in background, and Diwan-i-Aam on the right.

Lookign out of Diwan-i-Khas "hall of private audience"-Agra Fort. — Lookign out of Diwan-i-Khas “hall of private audience”-Agra Fort.

As I left, my rickshaw driver wasn’t there, and I headed down the road for my 3.4 KM (2 miles) walk back to the hotel, I noticed something called the Wildlife SOS Elephant Conservation and Care Center, and thought I’d check it out. Sadly, it was closed, but out front I saw something that kind of shocked me, a woman in a massive pile of dung, shaping it into patties, and laying them in the sun to dry. I didn’t take a picture, mostly because I didn’t want to take any chance she’d see me taking a picture, and also, I asked myself why?

When I approached the gate to the hotel, my rickshaw driver from across the street zoomed up, and gave me a bag of fried bread balls, coated in sugar. I figured, they can’t be too dangerous to eat, they’re fried after all…and thanked him, and was again rewarded with a warm smile.

Returning to the lobby, I found I had a bit of a fan club comprised of the hotel staff, waiting to hear about where I’d gone and what I’d seen today. I shared some pictures, told them of my rickshaw rides, and the driver, the treat he gave me, and walking back from Agra Fort. One of them I guess had called the bar, and they brought me a beer, and some appetizers. I asked if they do this for many guests, and one of them told me, there aren’t many who are will to do what I had done, and see the “real” India. I was, truly, humbled.

The next morning during my long leisurely breakfast I began steal up my resolve to drive again. Upon checking out, I thought my new friend was taking a while, but as she finished up and gave me the receipts, she walked beside me to the front lobby, where there were several of the staff had lined up, and presented me a gift, wrapped and everything. It was a beautiful marble with inlay of flowers, pen and note paper holder. I was so very touched, one of the ladies asked if she could apply a bindi (the red dot worn on the forehead by Hindus) I said sure, and she did, then she held her hands together, and bowed and said Namaste.

Gift from the staff of the ITC Moghul Agra hotel.

I wheeled my bags out to my waiting car, and loaded up, and got the Garmin fired up, and was on my way to Jaipur.

India-Getting There

India. Just the name conjures many images that are often in conflict with one another. Bright/Despair, Colorful/Somber, Rich/Poor, Cheerful/Bitter, Delicious Food/Hunger, Calmly Peaceful/Chaotic Noise–it is a land of contradiction.

From the west coast of the USA, it’s a long trip no matter how you do it, so I decided I’d go when I was already in Europe for other business. I flew from Munich to New Delhi on Lufthansa, using United miles on an award ticket in first class (before United began charging a King’s ransom for these awards). The Lufthansa service in first class it as you’d expect it, superb! But, even more impressive is the first class lounge at the airport. Full service dining, passport control service inside the lounge, escort to your plane when it’s time to board, not just showers to refresh, but even soaking tubs…the place exudes luxury. If you ever have the opportunity, cash in those miles and do it!

Upon arrival in Delhi, the service continued, but was somewhat hampered by the logistics or lack thereof surrounding the immigration process. Once through you are on your own, and I would have thought there would be ground transportation provided, as even Virgin Atlantic does this, with just business class service. Oh…the tortures of luxury travel.

I used a pre-booked car service for transport from the airport to the hotel, as at the time I didn’t want to mess with the unknowns of taxis. After hearing the horror story of couple of Ukrainian travelers I met later in my trip, I was very glad I spent the extra $30. Viator.com is an excellent choice. The driver was great; he even stopped at a Citibank office so I could withdraw cash on the way to the Le Meridien Hotel.

Upon check-in at the hotel front desk, I was informed that as a SPG Platinum member my room had been upgraded to a suite…which is always a nice thing to hear, though even better when you are with someone special and not traveling solo. The suite was beautiful, with soaking tub, huge separate rain shower, large bedroom, and good sized living room.

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Business-Suite---Living-room — Suite living room, comfortable and relaxing.

There was also, a great lounge that I was given access to, complete with evening hors d’oeuvres and beverages, and I got some tastes my first true Indian food…and King Fisher beer (which I quite liked). I found this lounge to be the perfect respite each evening, to bring my computer and send emails, go though the pictures I took that day, and catch up with people on Skype, all, while having some nice snacks and that very tasty beer.