Driving in India - and the Taj Mahal - January 24

So, what do you do when feeling overwhelmed? Go see something overwhelmingly beautiful. I went to see one of the best things India has to offer – the Taj Mahal. The experience brought back visiting the Great Wall of China - I never thought I would actually see either the Great Wall or the Taj Mahal. Well, I have now done both – and both are remarkable.

But first the journey to Agra. As I should have expected – things looked much better this morning. Last evening we called a local agency and booked a tour (4 of us). A driver picked us up at our hotel at 6 am, drove us 4 hours to Agra, picked up a guide who gave the four of us our own tour of the Taj Mahal (the other 3 were 19 – 25 years old – they wandered about on their own talking to young people – so, in reality, I had my own private tour), took us to lunch at a local hotel, and then drove us 4 hours back to Delhi. And the drive back and forth was, in many ways, equal in interest to the Taj Mahal itself.

The drive took us through Delhi then through the countryside’s small towns. Driving in India is like nothing I have ever experienced – Beijing is the closest – but Beijing, believe it or not, is more orderly than Delhi. And if any of you have been in Beijing and think I am crazy – this really is much more chaotic. First, traffic lanes are viewed as a suggestion; cars frequently drive over the lane lines – this gives them more options - they can more quickly decide which lane to join. So what looks like 2 lanes is actually 3 – 5 lanes of traffic – but it is continuously fluid. Cars use their horns, lights and hand gestures (and I don’t mean obscene ones) to indicate they want to pass, are passing, have passed, want you to move aside, let you know you have interfered with their plans – all at a breakneck pace. Little jitneys that are supposed to hold no more than 2 passengers may hold up to 12 or 13. When overfilled you see arms and legs hanging out the doorways, passengers hanging on with one hand, or hanging from the side. Then add the carts being hauled by camels, horses and, yes, even elephants – and the rickshaw bicycle drivers – some hauling 4-5 people, and the men pushing carts loaded with shoe boxes or tires or plastic parts. These were all with us on the “highway” – our driver was going 60 – 75 miles per hour in his portion of the fast lane – and the camels, horses, elephants, hand-pulled carts were usually in the slow lane – but not always. Oh, and don’t forget the motorcycles, bicycles and tractors also using the same road – oh, and the cows. Simply incredible. I was riding shotgun in the van so had a front row seat to the parade in front of me. Our driver would pass with inches to spare. He would enter a space I didn’t think we could possibly fit – and we would slide through.

Favorite memories:
• Cows grazing on the food in dumpsters
• Women walking along the highway balancing stacks of bricks, sticks, grasses, dung patties, or water jugs on their heads
• A small bus FILLED with young girls (they were standing, not sitting, so more could fit in) on their way to school – waving at us
• Getting quick glimpses through open doorways of people sleeping on mud floors
• Men chatting while sitting on charpoys placed outside (I think that is what they are called – beds made of straps of rope or leather)
• The median strip flower? Not the roses of Beijing or the oleander of California – but bouganvillea
• Garbage piled everywhere – with goats, chickens and cows freely helping themselves.
• Boys playing cricket in the street with a tennis ball and a 2 x 4

Oh, and yes, I toured the Taj Mahal. It is as stunningly beautiful as every picture has ever shown it to be – but you have all seen the pictures so I won’t even bother oohing and aahing. It was wonderful.

Back to the hotel by 6:30 pm, wiped out. I WILL see more of Delhi on the return trip. And, by the way, I am getting used to the traffic – I hardly did a double take when I noticed 2 large boars nuzzling each other next to the fast lane on the outskirts on Delhi.

Tomorrow - the Ashram.