What an strange, unforgettable experience to be sleeping on a crowded three tiered overnighter train to Jaipur and be woken up early in the morning to the sound of a man walking by chanting "chaaaiiiieeee", not to mention several other men letting out some bellowing farts and horking up their morning phlegm....Oh what a joy!
We'd planned the first three weeks of our trip in India so that we'd be able to fit in the Elephant festival in the capital city of Rajasthan, Jaipur. Unfortunately when the time arrived, we were quite disappointed as the event catered mostly to tourists and was badly organized. People crowded around the field taking pictures of the elephants and festivities, not allowing for many others to see what was going on from the stands. Sitting on the side lines was not an option. Imagine that! An Indian festival filled with chaos! No matter though. It was still nice to get up close to the beautifully decorated elephants. It was also interesting to see piles of wood about the size of a person at many of the street intersections which were lit on fire just before sundown for worshipping purposes, in connection with India's Holi Festival.
Jaipur was a typical, hectic Indian city where tourists were constantly hassled for rickshaw rides or by shop vendors trying to lour you into stores for "just looking!" or "looking is free" purposes. Nevertheless one always has to appreciate the different sites and experiences.
The next day was Holi Festival, a holiday throughout India, where people smear eachothers faces and heads with every possible colour of food colouring powder while saying "Happy Holi"! We were a bit shy at first to leave the comforts of our hotel when we could hear all the commotions on the street but realized we couldn't miss out on such a unique festival. The experience of being cheerfully approached and doused by locals while walking along the street was fun except when some of the young men took advantage of the situation and got in some cheap grabs, nothing too serious but annoying to say the least. A few hours of getting holied was enough for us and we headed back to the hotel for a good soaking.
From Jaipur we made our way to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. The Taj was an amazingly beautiful mausoleum. It was built in memory of to the Muslim Shah Jahan deceased wife and queen Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth. Set right next to the Yamuna river it was an impressive piece of architecture, made entirely out of white marble, it looked almost surreal. Such a great feeling to be standing next to and seeing in real life a monument that you feel like you know so well and have seen in so many pictures. It was well worth the visit.
We also took a day trip from Agra to a place called Fatehpur Sikri. The fort and palace were constructed between 1571 and 1585 as a new headquarters for the Mughal Emperor Akhbar. The fort and palace were abandoned due to a lack of water after his death and have therefore, been very well preserved over the years. The palace buildings and area were very nice to visit, and the impressive Fatehpur Sikri Gate, which is 54m high, was incredible. We left before the sun got too high in the sky back for Agra and some room fan action.
After a few nights in Agra relaxing and shopping we made our way by train to Varanasi, on a three tiered AC car this time. We figured that we would give ourselves a step up in classes as compared to our overnight Rajastan train.
