India’s Golden Triangle Tour

It’s been a whirlwind four days, and now is a good time to say that from now until April 6, we will be on planned, hectic schedules, just like the last four days.

It is not our favorite way to travel, as we like to go to a place and stay for a while, but in this case, guided tours with drivers are the best way to see countries like India, Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, and China. I’ll have a few opportunities to post new stories to the blog during this time, so don’t think we are lost or in trouble. We will, however, add photos and brief comments via Facebook as we can.

We covered New Delhi, Jaipur, Ranthambore, and Agra in the last four days, and while it was exhausting, it was an incredibly good tour! We will remember this for a long time.

India is India. There are new and modern sections in many cities, but the large cities of the Golden Triangle are old, and unbelievably people-packed. In fact, one of its 28 states has 240 million people. The streets are narrow, traffic is horrendous, and the air is polluted. Still, it’s an amazing place to visit. Our hotels have been gorgeous, even though we barely had time to eat, shower, and sleep. One surprised Stan, though, with a pretty birthday cake on his big day! Any one of our hotels would be a wonderful destination for a luxurious spa vacation.

The monuments and sites we visited were well preserved, and pre-1947, when India became a democratic republic, Muslim and Hindu kings built fabulous, elaborately decorated palaces and temples that are in remarkable condition today.

There are four main religions in deeply spiritual India: Hinduism, the most prevalent, Islam, Christianity, and Sikhism. While people of different faiths live peacefully together, their cultures and practices are vastly different. Today, 80% of all marriages are still arranged by the parents. The marrying age is typically late twenties to 30, which gives young people a chance to sow their oats. When they’re finally ready to settle down and raise a family, they marry people best suited to them, selected through a set of given criteria. For example, the couple must be born under compatible astrological signs, must be of the same caste, have similar dietary needs: vegetarian or non-vegetarian, and share the same religious beliefs. This criterion helps to ensure a low divorce rate. The proof is in India’s divorce rate of only 1%. Even though the parents choose the partners, the man and the woman can refuse their choice.

Let’s talk about food. Anyone who knows me understands that I enjoy spicy food, at least I thought I did until I tried authentic Indian food. It tastes wonderful, but often it is extremely spicy . . . fiery all the way to the tummy! And many dishes are extremely sweet. Indian people love spice and sugar, and they eat a lot of it, carbs, and fat, too. India has some of the greatest occurrences of diabetes and heart disease cases in the world. But they do love their food! I do too, but I had to tone the spice down a bit.

Street food is widely available. Its smells are tantalizing, but foreigners cannot eat it, nor drink tap water. Our Driver, Anil, jokingly told us that the word hygiene is not in the Indian dictionary. I don’t want to jinx us, but so far, so good, we have avoided the dreaded Delhi belly.

We were in the Ranthambore Nature Reserve for a tiger safari. Many open-air safari vehicles, each carrying 18 people, queued up to enter the reserve at 6 am, each going to assigned zones in the reserve. The morning was surprisingly cold. Shivering, we searched for a tiger for three hours. We saw deer, monkeys, a family of wild boars, antelope, mongoose, and plentiful pretty birds, but no tiger. We did hear their roars in the distance. Later in the day, we met people from Texas, who saw three tigers on their safari. Lucky for them to be in the right zone. Stan and I will try it again in Nepal.

The grand highlight of this trip and the reason why we made India a destination is the Taj Mahal in Agra. Just seeing the Taj alone is worth a trip to India. It is quite likely the most beautiful monument/mausoleum in the world. Built in 1653 after 22 years of construction by over 22,000 people, it remains a glimmering, shimmering piece of architecture and symmetry. The king spent the equivalent of $32 million in those days’ money. That would be about $53 billion today. The Taj nearly bankrupted the country. At the time of its completion, the King wanted to build another memorial on the opposite side of the river facing the Taj Mahal. It was to be called the Black Mahal, but his son took over the reign and said no to the Black Mahal. He then put the king, his aging father, under house arrest to keep him from spending any more of the state’s money. The Taj Mahal was built to memorialize the King‘s favorite wife, who bore him 14 children, six of whom reached adulthood. On her deathbed, she requested a memorial; he built it. The building is pure ivory Makrana marble transported by elephant carts from the mines in Rajasthan, 25 miles away. This special marble is known for its durability and ability to reflect light, which enables the Taj to glisten and change colors with the sun as its angles change. The huge structure is hand-decorated with embedded semi-precious jewels, inlaid stones of onyx, marble, carnelian, lapis, and jasper/ there are intricately hand-carved panels and lace-like chicken-work screens of honeycomb and floral designs. There are no paintings or painted surfaces.

I learned about the Taj Mahal in elementary school. At that time, it was considered one of the 7 Wonders of the World. I remember being stunned by its photos then and dreaming of seeing it someday. Today, I was not disappointed. The Taj is even more stunning than my imagination could ever conceive.

We are very lucky to visit India at this time, so the people tell us. March 3 marks the beginning of Holi, the biggest celebration in Hindu communities. It is the Festival of Colors, Love, and Spring. Everyone participates! It celebrates the victory of good over evil, it marks the end of winter and the coming of spring, and is joined in by everyone! They carry waterguns, water balloons, and colored powder. Everyone drinks a lot, everyone gets wet, and everyone gets doused with neon pink, neon orange, and neon blue powder. The party begins in the evening and continues through the next day. People tell us it’s great fun, the best time of the year, and anyone on the street is fair game. Stan and I have not bought our water guns, but we might have to look into it.

In closing, with the launch of the recent Iran-US war, several have asked us where we are and if we are safe. We are safe and far away from the Middle East. That said, we are indeed concerned about the security of our world now and without a doubt are unsure of what the short- and long-term impacts will be. I am bothered by the thought that it takes a war to keep us safe.

God bless everyone.