Five Minutes at the Taj

Our Spring Break had a rocky start. The plan was to arrive in Delhi, stay the night there, take an early train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, and then depart to Rajasthan. That was, basically, how it went, but much less fun.




I arrived in Delhi Friday evening. I was supposed to go check into our hotel and Crystal and Kelsey would meet me when they landed. I found a cab and eventually found my hotel, the Hotel Metro Tower. To all of you: NEVER STAY THERE!!!!! The Hotel Metro Tower was DISGUSTING!! I got into my room and it was swarming with mosquitoes. In the hour and a half that I was there, I killed about ten mosquitoes and there were still at least a dozen left. There were dead mosquitoes, flies, and some other small flying bugs in the bed. The carpets were stained and nasty. The walls were dirty, smudged, and even had dragged handprints on them. There was a maggot crawling up our curtain and a couple spiders in the corner. I was so creeped out and uncomfortable. I kept thinking of that movie with Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson, where they stay in a hotel where the owners murder the guests.



I wandered around the room for a little while, trying to calm down and killing any mosquitoes that landed. Then Kelsey called. She said that she and Crystal had decided just to stay at the airport instead of coming to the hotel. We only had about six hours until we had to be on the train to Agra, so they didn't want to pay for the hotel. I sure as hell didn't want to stay there by myself, so I checked out and went back to the airport to meet them. Unfortunately, because I had checked in, I had to pay for the hotel room, and then for a cab to take me back to the airport. I should have complained and argued, but I was so creeped out that I just wanted to get out of there. So I ended up paying $40 to stay in a nasty room for an hour and a half. Obviously, I was a little pissed.



I left the hotel and met Crystal and Kelsey at the airport. We ended up hanging out at this restaurant outside the Arrivals section of the airport. It was pretty nice actually. We sat on leather couches and ate pita bread and amazing hummus and yummy french fries. Finally, it hit 5:00. We took a taxi down to the train station and boarded our train to Agra. How was it? Well, there is a reason they call second class seating "the cattle car." There is a basic structure to the seats. Those who buy tickets early enough get seat numbers. However, once those seat numbers run out, they don't stop selling tickets. It becomes general seating. Meaning, at one point during the train ride I had three grown women and two children sitting with me on my three-person bench. It was a cramped and uncomfortable ride and unfortunately, it didn't get much better.



We finally arrived in Agra and, after storing our luggage, went out to find a cab to take us to the Taj Mahal. We realized, however, that because the rest of the group had to catch another train back to Delhi in order to catch a train to Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, our time at the Taj would be short. By the time we reached the Taj, we had 45 minutes to buy tickets, stand in line, run in, take pictures, and run out. We did it and we enjoyed it, but we all wondered whether it was worth it. The thing about the Taj Mahal is: it is truly amazing…and the government knows it. That is why it can get away with charging foreigners Rs. 750 (about $16) to see the Taj. That's right. If you want to see the Taj Mahal, even if you don't want to go inside, you still have to pay Rs. 750. We paid and never made it inside the Taj Mahal. We stood outside, took a bunch of pictures, and ran back to our car. That was the biggest bummer of the trip: We all would have liked to see more of the Taj. However, we have to remind ourselves that we did indeed see the Taj Mahal. Most people cannot say that. India is a crazy place. In order to stay sane, you have to look at the positive of every situation.

Mumbai: Day 3

Our third day in Mumbai was pretty quick and not very exciting. We checked out of our hotel and took a cab back down to Colaba, where we had lunch at this little bakery/restaurant called Indigo Delicatessen. I was very disappointed. I got an overpriced hamburger that was not worth it and ended up making one girl sick. Annoying, but hey, it happens. After lunch, the Kelseys and I decided to take a cab down Marine Drive and find some place to shop. Long story short, we never found that place. We ended up wandering around for a couple hours before I decided to just take a rickshaw to the airport early and hang out there. At least it was air conditioned and I knew there was shopping there.



That is when things started to get a little stressful. I found a rickshaw and the driver said he knew where my hotel was so I could go pick up my luggage. In reality, of course, he didn't. He also didn't speak more than 10 words in English. Obviously, we got lost. After about an hour or an hour and a half, we finally managed to find my hotel. I ran inside, grabbed my luggage, and redirected my driver to take me to the airport.



Fun fact for you all: Mumbai has two airports. One is international, the other is domestic. I never realized this. In the US, generally anyways, an international airport is just a normal airport that is big enough to have some international flight as well. So when my driver asked, "International Airport?" I thought we were both thinking the same place. I got to the airport, paid my driver, and walked to the door. At the departures door in Indian airports you have to show your passport and e-ticket to the guards first. I did that and the guard gave me a really weird look. He told me that I was at the wrong airport and sent me away. I, having no clue what was going on, stood there for a couple minutes trying to make sense of this information. I finally asked one of the guys who stand at departures and direct people. Luckily, he spoke very good English and was able to explain to me that I was indeed at the wrong airport. He flagged down another rickshaw for me and sent me on my way. Of course, the rickshaw driver waited until we were away from the curb before telling me his ridiculous price for taking me to the airport. He apparently thought I was new here. I was so stressed and confused at that point and I just said, "Fine, but drive as fast as you can." He did just that and I managed to get to the airport in plenty of time and with only a slightly embarrassing story to tell.

Mumbai: Day 2

After I spent the night praying to the porcelain god, I managed to drag myself out of bed the next morning. The Kelseys left early to check out Juhu beach, so Crystal, Jared, and I met up with them to have breakfast. Afterwards, we decided to head south. Now, to any of you who plan on traveling to Mumbai: just take a taxi across town. Yes, it is more expensive, but it is way more comfortable. We did not know that and wanted to be adventurous, so we decided to take the train across town. It is NOT WORTH IT! After taking about twenty minutes to figure out how to buy tickets, we managed to find our platform and get on the train. We spend 50 minutes standing up by the train door. It was so crowded that my nose was smooshed into Jared's back and the guy groping me got away with it for quite some time because I couldn't move enough to figure out who it was. I didn't want to smash the toes of some poor, innocent man. When I finally figured out who it was, I did manage to land a pretty good punch right in the center of his back. I really wish I could have crushed his toes though.

Anyways, we finally got off the train at the Central Station in an area called Fort. That is where the Town Hall, the University of Mumbai, and other major buildings are located. We didn't get to explore much of it, but it was a really neat area. The buildings are all very old and not at all Indian. You can really see the European influence. The architecture reminded me of Westminster Abbey or Notre Dame. Lots of stone, flying buttresses, gargoyles, and ivy. From Fort, we took a taxi to Colaba, which is the southern-most neighborhood in Mumbai. We wanted to see the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Hotel. The Gateway of India is a huge arch made of yellow basalt. It was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911. It is an impressive structure. It is not as intricate as some other styles of Indian architecture, but still beautiful. And, of course, because it is a touristy area, we had a whole bunch of people wanting to take our pictures. So we escaped into the Taj Mahal hotel.



The Taj Mahal is one of the most well-known (and most expensive!) hotels in Mumbai. It is where a lot of the rich Americans and Europeans stay. Despite the name, it looks nothing like the actual Taj Mahal in Agra. It has a dome, but that is about it. Instead of pristine white marble, the hotel is brown with white accents around the windows. But still, it was a very pretty building. The ground floor of the hotel is like an incredibly high-end shopping mall. They have a Louis Vuitton and a bunch of other amazing stores. We wandered around for a little while and did some window-shopping. It was a pleasant change from the heat.



From the Taj, we walked north. I'm not sure what we were looking for, but we ended up stumbling upon an outdoor market. It was kind of like a bazaar. The shops were set up on either side of a walkway. Some were just tables, but others were little alcoves that you couldn't even walk into, but they could close them and lock them instead of unpacking and packing everything every day. That was really fun. I bought some gifts (some for family, some for me) and just strolled around looking at all the cool things. The store owners work themselves up into a little frenzy at the sight of white skin. We walked down the sidewalk and all of them started calling, "Madame, pashmina? Pashmina? How 'bout some beautiful bangles?" They are all very pushy. Usually you just say no and keep walking, but if you do want to stop, they push their products hard. I ended up haggling with one owner over a statue of Nataraja that I didn't even want. I glanced at the statue and he caught the glance and tried to sell it to me. I said no, so he lowered the price. I said no again, so he lowered the price again. This went on until the statue was about half the starting price. It would have been a victory if I had actually wanted the statue. I wasn't playing hard to get, I just wasn't interested. I finally had to run into one of the actual stores in the market to get him to stop pestering me.



After we all spent way too much money, we went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner and then stopped at a couple of bars. Leopold's is a very old, apparently well-known bar in Mumbai. It is more of a restaurant downstairs, but a classic bar upstairs. You know: dark, loud, crowded, and pricey. Two of our group members spent 300 rupees each on a shot. They were easily the smallest shots any of us had ever seen. Ultimately, we weren't impressed with Leopold's. It might be old, but it is just like any other bar. So, from there we went to Dome, which is a rooftop lounge on top of the Intercontinental Hotel. Dome was very nice. I liked it a lot. We sat on couches next to a little swimming pool overlooking Marine Drive and the bay. It was pricey. Drink prices were pretty standard for India. My cosmopolitan was about 700 rupees ($12), which is a lot for me. I found that you can tell the atmosphere of a place just by looking at their water prices. Dome charged 150 rupees ($3) for a bottle of Himalayan water when we can get it at a grocery store for 20 rupees. Needless to say, I didn't order any bottled water there. But I digress. We hung out at Dome for a while and had a really good time. It was very relaxed and we had a great view and great techno remixes of '90's hits to keep us happy. Afterwards, I went back to the hotel while the others went to a club. They ended up having such a good time that they stayed out until 6 in the morning, but I still wasn't feeling great and I really didn't want to spend more money. So I went back to the hotel and went to sleep. Thus, my second day in Mumbai was over.