Weapons Galore

A Katar.

One of Jaipur's highlights for me, was the Weaponry Museum. The largest in all India, it had weapons of  all types, Katars, Khandas, daggers, crossbows, wickedly curved swords, straight swords, pistols, rifles, and all types of other neat weapons. About half of the weapons were ornately decorated with precious gems, or coated in gold or silver. I felt like a little boy in a toy store- I wanted to pick everything up and "play" with it.

More weapons at the art museum.

A collection of swords at the museum, the one in the middle is a Khanda.

Our Indian Car Experience

From Agra, we rented a car to Jaipur, and had some stops along the way. Our first stop was a old, deserted citadel. It had been built by a ruler of the Mughal empire, and was positioned in the middle of a barren, waterless wasteland. Ironically, as soon as the ruler died, the city was deserted because of the lack of water. Apparently the ruler of the empire had envisioned this city in the desert, and once it was completed he forced everyone to live there. Thus, when he died, everyone just left the city, which had only been occupied for seven years. One of the interesting myths surrounding the city, was that a tunnel connected it with Agra fortress. Our guide showed us the entrance to the tunnel, and had us put our hands near a hole in the stone and feel the cool air coming from underground. Of course, who knows whether or not the tunnel led to Agra fortress. The palace was amazing, however, since my memory is somewhat fuzzy (plus the fact that architecture doesn't interest me quite as much as military does) I can't remember much about it. Mainly I just remember how artistic everything was. One part of the palace that I do remember though, is a large courtyard where the emperor killed his prisoners by having wild elephants stomp them to death. Another memorable part, was a large floor for playing a Indian game. It was like a life-sized chessboard, except a hundred times larger. The king apparently used concubines from his harem as playing pieces. He would just sit on his throne and play against a official or someone else who was important, calling out to the players where to move. After we had viewed the ghost-town, we all piled into the car again, thankful that it had AC.

Part of the palace in the deserted city.

One of the buildings in the palace, Sarah, my little sister, is sitting on it's porch.

Our second stop was a ancient step-well that was built over a thousand years ago, so that the people had a source of water. It was a square shape, with staircases running down all the sides. Evening was approaching as we got back in the taxi again. It was amazing how many old strongholds we saw as we drove through Rajasthan (we had started out in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where Agra is located, but at the end of our drive we were in the state of Rajasthan, where Jaipur is located). Ancient fortresses dotted the landscape of Rajasthan, and I developed an itch to explore them. Another new thing we saw during our drive was wild peacocks. Overall our car ride was enjoyable, and it gave us a chance to see the rural side of India.

Me and my siblings in front of the step-well.

Agra Fortress

An ornately decorated fountain in the palace of Agra fortress.

Sarah feeding a chipmunk.

This deserted temple (I'm assuming that's what it is) was on the banks of the river that flows past the Taj Mahal and Agra fortress.

Agra fortress- home of Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal- seems impregnable when viewed from the outside. Once you have passed through the two outer gates, you enter the fortress... almost. After passing underneath the arch of the second gate, you find yourself standing on a ramp, or dug-in road. It slopes sharply upwards, leveling out with the ground at the top of a hill. The purpose of this ramp is that, even after a invading army has taken the second gate, rocks and tree trunks can be rolled down onto them as they enter the fort. Standing at the bottom of the intrenched ramp and imagining that rocks are being rolled down at you is not a very pleasant feeling. Once at the top of the ramp, you find yourself in a garden, with the palace in front of you. Sarah was given some seeds from a kind, old Indian man to feed the chipmunks that live in the garden. Once they got used to her, one of them actually ate out of her hand. Our Indian guide, whom my dad hired to show us around the fort, showed us the palace now. Just the grandeur and immensity of the place was amazing. The .Taj Mahal was visible from the emperor's chamber, so that he could view his wife's resting place from his balcony. Many cannons are visible on the wall of the fortress. Beyond the walls, two moats are visible. The guide told us that these were supposedly filled with wild animals. One was a dry moat, and inhabited by tigers, the other was once upon a time filled with water, and home to crocodiles. I enjoyed seeing Agra fortress, and I think it gave me a good introduction to Indian fortresses.

The gate of Agra fortress, notice how even the walls and towers are ornately decorated.

Me and my siblings in Agra fortress, the Taj Mahal is visible behind us.

Seeing The Taj Mahal

I look through the shimmering heat at the colossal building before me. It took 20,000 workers laboring over a period of twenty years to complete the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan, ruler of the Mughal empire, built the Taj Mahal as a burial place for his wife in the 1600's.  The entire building is made out of expensive, white marble. The semi-precious and precious gems that decorate the Taj Mahal come from all over the world: China, different parts of Asia, even Austria! The gardens surrounding the tomb are almost as amazing as the building itself. I look longingly at the fountains and pools of water in the garden, wishing I could saturate myself and get rid of some of the heat that surrounds me. It's so hot that I feel dizzy, I have only felt this kind of heat maybe once or twice or twice before, and I feel a few degrees away from a heat stroke. An hour or so ago, we had stopped at a cafe and ordered the strawberry lemonade from the menu. We were all disgusted with it, it was salty! My dad told the staff, but told they him it was supposed to be like that. I am starting to think Indians who live in this clime might need the extra salt, I know that I am sweating A LOT right now. After showing us around the garden, our Indian guide leads us to the building itself. Since the Indians consider the Taj a holy place (it has a Mosque next to it, plus it is a tomb) we have to either put something like a bag over our shoes, or go barefoot before we can enter it, because Indians consider shoes unclean. Honestly, they have a good reason for it too: feces from human and animals litter the streets, along with dead dogs, rotten food, and a bunch of other nasty stuff I won't mention. The Taj sits on what you might call a tall platform, and we have to climb a staircase to get to the top of this.  On top of the platform, we walk underneath the immense arch of the Taj Mahal, and enter the building. We walk across a grate with a staircase underneath, which the guide informs us is the stairs to the actual resting place of Shah Jahan and his bride. A replication of the couples resting place is on the floor open to tourists, so we get to see what the ornately decorated caskets look like. As we leave the the glorious building, I pitty the peasants who had to build something so colossal, but I am glad I got to see their work of art.

The Taj Mahal viewed from across the river.

Me and my siblings in Agra fort, the Taj Mahal is visible behind us.

Food In India, The Good The Bad And The Spicy

The first thing you have to understand about Indian food is that, whatever non-sweetened dish you order, it will be at least somewhat spicy. India is home to several fast food chains from the West, including McDonalds, KFC, Subways, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, and even Chile's, however even these chains we all know so well use Indian spices in all or most of their menu items. Even the Fanta tastes different! Another difference is that you can not get beef in India! Many Indians are Hindus who do not believe in eating beef, so a restaurant that wants to sell beef in India must get a special license from the government. Most people don't realize how hot Indian cuisine really is, the stuff they serve at Indian restaurants in North America is far from the real thing. However, if we asked a restaurant owner with a lot of tourist experience to not make the food too hot, he or she usually understood and downsized on the spices a lot. I found that what the Indians call "curd"(we would call it unsweetened yogurt) can really battle the heat of an Indian meal with it's sourness. Indian cuisine can really be quite enjoyable, just so long as it is not served as hot as the Indians like it (unless you really like it that way of course). We enjoyed the food for the most part during the first three weeks, but after that we mostly felt the need for food closer to what we were used to and ate at some fast food chains. The worst restaurant we ate at was in Shimla , the atmosphere was nice, but the food was horrible, I ordered a lasagne, but what I got was far from that. The cook basically just cooked the lasagne noodles, and then put them in a dish and poured (what seemed like) uncooked meat sauce with ginger over it. He then sprinkled cheese over it and served it. It wasn't even warm. The best Indian restaurant we went to was in Jaipur, and run by a lady who understood tourists and that they do not like their food burning hot. We all ordered an Indian dish, and it was very good. So over all the Indian food was good, just long as the owner of the restaurant knew tourists

Travel In India

Whether riding a swaying camel, trying to get a breath of fresh air while being crammed along with seven other people in a rickshaw, trying not to look at the ground as you sit on a elephant, or riding a train, travel is very different in India than in the West. Most of the travel me and my family did was in trains. Our longest train trip spanned three days! I did a LOT of reading. I also played chess on the computer with my Dad and carried on a few conversations with Indians. Rectangular back cushions on the trains in India can be folded up and attached to another bunk above it  by chains with hooks on the end. Forming three layers of beds, the seats (more like a padded bench really, you do don't get your own seat) the backrest which has been folded up, and a stationary bunk at the top. Before we went to bed, a steward came down the isle handing out blankets, sheets, and small pillows. The problem with sleeping on a train is that while you are asleep, vendors come through the aisle every time the train stops at a station announcing their wares, and often waking you up. The most annoying vendors were the ones who sold coffee from a big container, they would walk down the isle calling out "chai, chai, chai coffee"in a high, nasal voice. We also rode on camels and elephants while we were in India! But I will discuss that more in depth later on.

The toy train ascending to Shimla.

Fuel Crisis

I’m sorry I haven’t  been posting much, but that will change soon, because Dad let’s me use his
computer now during his language lessons - when we have power and the internet works. Ever
since we moved here there has been a fuel crisis. (I had better continue later because the power
just went off! So I don’t want to waste the computer battery).

Oh good the power is back. It’s been off for a while. So, the fuel crisis is getting worse, and some
fuel lines are several kilometres long. Some people say Malawi is  the poorest country in the
world. We are also experiencing more power outages. Some people tried to protest but the
government isn’t very democratic and doesn’t let them. A fuel crisis means the city does not
have fuel for days, or weeks. A fuel crisis means waiting in line for 5-14 hours when fuel comes
just to get a few litres because people are rationing. Dad has been saving fuel so we have enough
for three more weekends of travel. I had better stop now, third power outage today.
One of our problems is jerry cans (big cans for holding fuel). People just carry them up to the
pump, instead of waiting in line while all the cars wait. This causes huge chaos, and it is illegal
but the police does nothing. They use the fuel in jerry cans to sell at the black market. Another
problem is corruption and bribes, “I’ll fill up your tank if you’ll give me money so I can have a
drink” , a fuel attendant once told my dad. Dad didn’t give him money, but basically the man was
asking for a bribe.