Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Heading deeper into South India
Brian and I are heading further south to the lands of the Matrimandir (Auroville), Sri Aurobindo (Pondicherry), temples (Thanjavur and Madurai), tea and spice plantations (Munnar/Cardamom Hills), and fish curry (Kerala). I'm looking forward to celebrating my birthday (March 25th) in Auroville where myself and 41 other Univ. of Wash. students designed and built a dormitory out of rammed earth and lots of sweat. Maybe we'll even get to eat at the restaurant that served authentic gnocchi with pesto sauce!! (We students went there often!) We'll be traveling from March 24th until April 14th and will try to post some pics along the way. Now to sleep for our 6am train to Chennai...zzzzzzzz.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
New posts below!
We continue to take it easy in Bangalore, writing more about our trip up north. Keep checking back and scrolling down, as the posts will appear in chronological order. See Lori's new post "Sands of Jaisalmer" from March 5th.
Hopefully we'll finish before our next journey, leaving next Wednesday for a three-week jaunt to the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala...
Hopefully we'll finish before our next journey, leaving next Wednesday for a three-week jaunt to the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala...
Monday, March 15, 2010
Back from the North
For the past ten days we have been on a proper adventure, complete with no access to the Internet. Deepak, Lori and I just completed an intense and action-packed trip to the northern part of India, which we scheduled in early March to beat the stifling heat that's just now hitting the region. Jaipur, Jaisalmer (high today: 104), Agra, Delhi, and Chandigarh - we did them all, by train, plane, bus, cab, auto-rickshaw and even a camel or two.
Sorry for not mentioning this in the first few posts - we assumed we'd be able to pick up web access here and there, but even if we could, we'd have been too wiped out to try to write about it. But now we're back in the apartment in Bangalore, so after catching up on sleep we will try to do some catching up!
Update: This blog is also a travel journal of sorts, with chronological posts. So scroll down from here for updates of our northern trip!
Update: This blog is also a travel journal of sorts, with chronological posts. So scroll down from here for updates of our northern trip!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Chandigarh: Archi-pilgrims
After taking it slow(er) in Delhi for a day, we were scheduled to make one last overnight stay in the Punjab captial city of Chandigarh, about five hours north of Delhi by train. Chandigarh is a name known to every architecture student, as the city was designed by Le Corbusier, one of the giants of 20th century architecture. “Corbu” as we called him in college, was invited to design a new capital for the Punjabi state, along with the primary government buildings. He made the most of having such a huge blank canvas, and the result is a town and architecture unlike any other in India. The biggest miracle is that it was all built!
We three architects had to go and make our pilgrimage. But travel fatigue had us changing our plan to stay overnight, and we made it a day trip instead. So yet another morning up at the crack of dawn, grabbing Delhi's great new Metro (where every passenger is patted down at security), to the massive train station, and five hours later we were outside the Chandigarh station surrounded by at least twenty cab and rickshaw drivers fighting for our fare. Business was slow, so two white faces coming off the platform was an opportunity not to be missed! They hounded Deepak once they realized he was with us and wouldn't back off. A cop even came over and starting pushing them away. It was a total spectacle, so hats off to Deepak for talking tough and putting up with such a fuss about foreigners again and again. We finally struck a deal and were on our way through Chandigarh's carefully planned grid of long avenues. The orderliness was quite the contrast with the other cities we'd seen, although it wasn't exactly pedestrian friendly either.
Visiting government buildings in India meant interacting with Indian government, which in a way I found even more interesting than the architecture. We registered at one place for passes to enter Corbu's High Court, Assembly, and Secretariat buildings and got some pieces of paper. As we made our way to each building, we handed those over, along with our passports, and many other pieces of paper were stamped, typed, and processed as we sat in cramped and worn out rooms inside Corbusier's masterworks. They weren't holding up so well, inside or out. Life goes on after design...
Some very real terrorist incidents in the state over the years led to physical and bureaucratic layers that made our visit somewhat disappointing, with both our time and the sights cluttered. I was taking my passport out as much as my camera. And so it goes on the architecture pilgrimage.
Before a thrilling last-minute run for our 5pm bus (the driver almost gave away our pre-paid seats), we crammed in one more stop at Nek Chand's Rock Garden. We practically ran through it but enjoyed the spontaneous creativity and persistence of its creator. We survived our night time bus ride back to Delhi and were in our beds by 12:30 am. Another long long day!
We three architects had to go and make our pilgrimage. But travel fatigue had us changing our plan to stay overnight, and we made it a day trip instead. So yet another morning up at the crack of dawn, grabbing Delhi's great new Metro (where every passenger is patted down at security), to the massive train station, and five hours later we were outside the Chandigarh station surrounded by at least twenty cab and rickshaw drivers fighting for our fare. Business was slow, so two white faces coming off the platform was an opportunity not to be missed! They hounded Deepak once they realized he was with us and wouldn't back off. A cop even came over and starting pushing them away. It was a total spectacle, so hats off to Deepak for talking tough and putting up with such a fuss about foreigners again and again. We finally struck a deal and were on our way through Chandigarh's carefully planned grid of long avenues. The orderliness was quite the contrast with the other cities we'd seen, although it wasn't exactly pedestrian friendly either.
Visiting government buildings in India meant interacting with Indian government, which in a way I found even more interesting than the architecture. We registered at one place for passes to enter Corbu's High Court, Assembly, and Secretariat buildings and got some pieces of paper. As we made our way to each building, we handed those over, along with our passports, and many other pieces of paper were stamped, typed, and processed as we sat in cramped and worn out rooms inside Corbusier's masterworks. They weren't holding up so well, inside or out. Life goes on after design...
Some very real terrorist incidents in the state over the years led to physical and bureaucratic layers that made our visit somewhat disappointing, with both our time and the sights cluttered. I was taking my passport out as much as my camera. And so it goes on the architecture pilgrimage.
Before a thrilling last-minute run for our 5pm bus (the driver almost gave away our pre-paid seats), we crammed in one more stop at Nek Chand's Rock Garden. We practically ran through it but enjoyed the spontaneous creativity and persistence of its creator. We survived our night time bus ride back to Delhi and were in our beds by 12:30 am. Another long long day!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Also in Agra...
After the Taj Mahal it was off to Agra Fort, also on the banks of the Yamuna River. The place is huge. Still fighting a cold, and with a cough keeping me up half the night, for me our visit was mostly about just putting one foot in front of the other under a hot sun. But looking back, such aspects of travel start to fade and you're left with the sights and impressions of a place unlike any other. Not that people don't try - the Amber Fort we visited in Jaipur was apparently modeled after Agra Fort.
Our last stop in Agra was Akbar's Tomb. Yet another spectacular architectural masterpiece.
We obeyed the posted signs and did not try to bring any paan masala onto the grounds. Actually, Paan chewers are actually a nuisance at monuments all over India, as they spit the stuff all over the place leaving ugly red stains - pretty gross!)
I also encountered a local teenager trying to charge me to use the bathroom (just trying to make a buck, I know, I know. But he was still a punk). Given that the tomb gets far fewer tourists than the other major sights, there were plenty of young couples spotted all over the complex. Must be a good place to avoid parents and other inquiring minds. Who know history and romance went together so well?
By the time we left, Lori was holding up well, but I was monumentally wiped out and just wanted to sit around like these guys.
I got my chance that evening as we caught the train to Delhi, capital of India.
Our last stop in Agra was Akbar's Tomb. Yet another spectacular architectural masterpiece.
We obeyed the posted signs and did not try to bring any paan masala onto the grounds. Actually, Paan chewers are actually a nuisance at monuments all over India, as they spit the stuff all over the place leaving ugly red stains - pretty gross!)
I also encountered a local teenager trying to charge me to use the bathroom (just trying to make a buck, I know, I know. But he was still a punk). Given that the tomb gets far fewer tourists than the other major sights, there were plenty of young couples spotted all over the complex. Must be a good place to avoid parents and other inquiring minds. Who know history and romance went together so well?
By the time we left, Lori was holding up well, but I was monumentally wiped out and just wanted to sit around like these guys.
I got my chance that evening as we caught the train to Delhi, capital of India.
Majestic
All the sights we have seen in our short time in India up to now have been great. Amazing. Beautiful. And so on. But we live in a time of unending novelty and short attention spans, and at least for me I find it easy for the New to quickly become the Normal. That's why I'm so happy to be reminded that there are still places where you can experience something that truly lifts you above, perhaps even out of, your earthly existence.
The Taj Mahal is such a place.
Of course it is the symbol of India. Who knows how many times we've all seen pictures of it? Here are a few more from our early morning visit, which I will claim expertise now as the best time to go, before the morning mist burns off and the light is soft. But a thousand photos (or words for that matter) still won't convey the experience of seeing it for the first time in person. Sometimes the hype is deserved, and expectations aren't enough. For this massive stone building...was simply floating, and so was I.
I still can't believe it. Only when we got right up to its walls did it seem to touch the ground.
Two hours was not enough, but maybe we'll come back here some day. Now, off to Agra Fort...
The Taj Mahal is such a place.
Of course it is the symbol of India. Who knows how many times we've all seen pictures of it? Here are a few more from our early morning visit, which I will claim expertise now as the best time to go, before the morning mist burns off and the light is soft. But a thousand photos (or words for that matter) still won't convey the experience of seeing it for the first time in person. Sometimes the hype is deserved, and expectations aren't enough. For this massive stone building...was simply floating, and so was I.
I still can't believe it. Only when we got right up to its walls did it seem to touch the ground.
Two hours was not enough, but maybe we'll come back here some day. Now, off to Agra Fort...
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Dedication...
I am not in love with auto-rickshaw rides in the dark of early morning, inhaling exhaust, blasting horns every two seconds, dodging trucks, cars, and an amazing number of people up at 5:30am. But we hire one back to the Jaipur train station yet again for one more rail station experience, lacking sleep and now fighting colds. Our 6:15 train will take us to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. At least this time it's a shorter ride, in an "AC chair car". Air-conditioned, decent seats, and a speedy trip. Farewell Jaipur!
The Agra hotel is so much nicer, and if the fact that it caters to tourists makes it so, fine with me. We'll see the Taj Mahal in the early light tomorrow, so today we drive out of town to the abandoned "town" of Fatehpur Sikri, our first UNESCO World Heritage Site. We are blown away at the intensity of the carvings, detail and quality of the red sandstone buildings and ornamentation. So many dedicated people are required to make such wonders, and there is so much to see! Is there commitment like that in our world today?
Perhaps. Turns out that our road to Fatehpur Sikri is also the route for a local pilgrimage. We passed thousands upon thousands of people walking for three days, on the highway. Rest stops, food and music greet them every couple hundred of meters. Despite the arduous walk before them, everyone seemed pretty happy and celebratory. I'll think of this the next time I think I'm parking "far" away from my destination in the U.S. and have to walk a few hundred feet.
(Click this image for a video from the car...)
The Jama Masjid mosque complex is part of the town. Deepak wisely takes out outside of the complex so we can re-enter properly, through the Buland Darwaza gate. Perched at the top of a huge staircase, it makes for quite an entrance!
Within the mosque grounds is the Tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti, carved entirely out of marble. Simply amazing.
Our dinner in Agra, home of the the Taj Mahal, the most famous symbol of India around the world - is at Pizza Hut, which has become quite popular with India's middle class for its "international dining experience". Time for a break from Indian food. Guess who in our group made the request?
The Agra hotel is so much nicer, and if the fact that it caters to tourists makes it so, fine with me. We'll see the Taj Mahal in the early light tomorrow, so today we drive out of town to the abandoned "town" of Fatehpur Sikri, our first UNESCO World Heritage Site. We are blown away at the intensity of the carvings, detail and quality of the red sandstone buildings and ornamentation. So many dedicated people are required to make such wonders, and there is so much to see! Is there commitment like that in our world today?
Perhaps. Turns out that our road to Fatehpur Sikri is also the route for a local pilgrimage. We passed thousands upon thousands of people walking for three days, on the highway. Rest stops, food and music greet them every couple hundred of meters. Despite the arduous walk before them, everyone seemed pretty happy and celebratory. I'll think of this the next time I think I'm parking "far" away from my destination in the U.S. and have to walk a few hundred feet.
(Click this image for a video from the car...)
The Jama Masjid mosque complex is part of the town. Deepak wisely takes out outside of the complex so we can re-enter properly, through the Buland Darwaza gate. Perched at the top of a huge staircase, it makes for quite an entrance!
Within the mosque grounds is the Tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti, carved entirely out of marble. Simply amazing.
Our dinner in Agra, home of the the Taj Mahal, the most famous symbol of India around the world - is at Pizza Hut, which has become quite popular with India's middle class for its "international dining experience". Time for a break from Indian food. Guess who in our group made the request?
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