I start my breakfast once again with strips of fresh papaya and masala (chai) tea. What is steaky bacon? I almost took a lovely looking chicken sausage, but I will hold to my vow to remain vegetarian while I'm in India. Most Indians area vegetarian anyway. There are eggs, anyway that you want them. The omelettes are divine. There is toast and lots of different sweet buns, but why would I choose them with all this lovely fresh fruit and Indian fare? There are fresh fruit juices that are wonderful. During the tour we saw lots of different animals, many roaming free on the roadways, we never did see a chicken though! They must all be in cages...
Then I use my half hour free internet in the business centre.
Last night was a party before Ramnamay, which is a 9 day fast. This is for the goddess Duria. That explains the noisy neighbour last night.
We take photos of the doormen with the peaks caps. The bus departs at 9:45 am.
I love to watch the Indian head bobble. It is especially delightful on the ladies, as it is so subtle.
We took photos of tombs. The vegetable dyes last 300 years. The tops of tombs are painted for kings and monarchs. There are tombs all over Delhi.
We stop at Humayun's tomb. The snake charmer puts the cobra around my neck for a donation. Huymayun's tomb is made of red sand stone and white marble. This was built by the wife for the husband, 100 years before the Taj Mahal. It has 4 gardens, unfortunately, the British took out the trees. The 38th and 39th chapter of the Koran is written on the Taj Mahal. There are 100 tombs inside this tomb.
 |
| Humayans tomb |
The British ruled from 1857-1957. They not only united India with railways, but with the English language. Prior to the British rule, if you travelled a hundred miles, the different tribes could not speak to each other. Now they can, with English.
At 11:45 am we are back to the bus.
The minimum wage is 100 euro per month. Teachers make $800 - $1,000 per month. The call centres are the most highly paid jobs, as they are night jobs at $1,500 to $2,000 per month. A sales girl will get $400 to $500 per month. Doctors make $8,000 to 10,000, maids are cheap. The richest 100 people in India own 25% of the national wealth. Interest rates - Car loans are 16%, mortgages are 102%.
The painted stripes to some men's foreheads are Mack Tilik. This is from the south. Three horizontal stripes to the forehead indicate a worshipper of Shiva. Three vertical stripes indicate a worshipper of Vishnu.
We drive by the India Gate, built from 1921-1939. The flame inside is for the unknown soldier. There are three flags, for the army, navy and air force.
Connaught place is in Central Delhi. Everyone in Delhi has a cellphone.
We see men sleeping on the street. A pair of men are sitting on the street cooking, and one of them is on a cell phone.
We are at the carpet factory. Kashmir means heaven on earth. Old movies were shot there. Now there are 3 industries, handicrafts, houseboats and the export of fruit. In 1989 they had their first university. 5000 Kashmir families contribute to the carpet factories. One cup of kashmir tea is said to make you younger by 2 years. Kashmir has 30 million people. They speak 5 languages. Each family has it's own patterns. They are like a tartan to them. Only 5 people work on a single carpet, in order to maintain the tension. Kashmir is the only state that grows saffron. You clean a carpet by placing it face down and beating it, if you do not have snow, then drag it across the lawn and allow to dry on the side of the lawn. The medallion in the carpet is their family crest. The patterns always have meanings. Curry stains are harder to remove than red wine, as they contain turmeric. The patina becomes better with walking on it. Stepping on it compresses the fabric and makes it tighter. Use 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water to clean curry. For red wine, apply salt for 10 minutes. You don't need a pad underneath these carpets, they will not slip. The shorter the carpet is, the better the quality. All threads are cut so there are no loops to get caught by dog or cat toenails.
We are served the fabled Kashmir tea, a samosa, a baked cheese item and a sandwich.
Columns are typical British architecture. It is 2 PM and school is out. The children in uniform are delightful. What we call private school is public here and what we call public is private here. The public school curriculum is not dictated by the government. School is compulsory until age 14.
We see the Yaminah river, this runs behind the Taj Mahal. There are 1.2 billion people in India.
We see elephants and camels on the road. We drove by the world's largest Hindu temple. We are leaving Delhi and entering NOIDA - New Oakina Industrial Development Area. They are constructing towers up to 80 stories high. We stop for photos of carved elephants in the park. There are wheat fields everywhere. The best highways in India are tolled. We are now on a highway that cuts 2 hours off our journey to Agra. This is all flat terrain the whole way. We pass the Formula 1 race track. Gambling is banned in India.
The best masala tea is at the toll stops. They do actually boil the milk down. It is fabulous, 40 Rp.
We see fields of growing marigolds, and dung piles drying in the sun, then stacked neatly into piles. Not until the 3rd day of seeing them did it occur to me that all the dung pies are exactly the same size, shape and diameter. The pies have all been neatly formed by hand. We saw threshing grain, stands of stalks and mounds of grain. I glimpse the Taj Mahal from a distance.
 |
| Roses and cake for Miss Helen |
Ramona and I quickly run upstairs to the lookout tower, to get photos of the Taj Mahal before it gets dark. It is overcast (smog I think). We can make out the Taj Mahal, but it doesn't really show up in our photos.
We go back down to the lobby to hand out birthday cake and the bookmarks that I've made for every one. The group sings happy birthday to me, it is delightful. Luckily, I've brought napkins from home, as the cake is very juicy, with honey in the centre. Most of the group is now going out for dinner. Most from the group have signed another hand made card from Ramona.
 |
| in the lobby of Agra Mughal hotel |
Ramona and I go to the pool, in the dark for our second swim today, we do 20 lengths together. There is a lovely silver sliver of a moon over head. This morning we opened the pool in Delhi and tonight we close the pool in Agra. We then visited the hotel shopping arcade in front of the hotel, and watched a presentation by the band, also in front of the hotel. We had wine and chocolates for dinner. Next I went to the business centre for the free half hour of internet.
I was back at 10:30 PM and we slept from 11-2 am. There was fireworks at midnight. The party outside the hotel finally ended at midnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment