22-23 July 2018
India
Agra to Jaipur
After our early morning visit to the Taj Mahal, we return to the hotel for breakfast and then head out to see the “Baby Taj,” which is also known as the jewel box. It is thought to have been the draft of the Taj Mahal. The Baby Taj mausoleum was commissioned by Nūr Jahān for her father Mirzā Ghiyās Beg, or I'timād-ud-Daulah (pillar of the state). Mirzā Ghiyās Beg was also the grandfather of Mumtāz Mahāl, the wife for whom emperor Shāh Jahān constructed the Tāj Mahal (some details from wikipedia).
Here is a comparison of the Taj and the Baby Taj, put together by tech-savvy, Hayden:
The gatehouse of the Taj and Baby Taj. We were lucky to see the Taj Mahal before the rain began.
The interior of the building’s paint in still intact in many places. It was dark, but the camera flash caught the colors.
We did a photo shoot while waiting for the rain to slow down. Notice the shoe covers which were required here and at the Taj Mahal. Too bad they weren’t plastic! The kids shoes were soaked.
The Baby Taj is located along the Yamuna River, the second largest tributary river to the Ganges, the most polluted river in the world!
Notice the water buffalos seeking refuge from rain under the pipeline.
We spent more time at the Baby Taj than we might have if it had not been pouring! It was the first time in our entire trip that we were at all affected by a rainstorm. Usually it rained on our “travel days.” And the night before our Sapa trek it poured, which made the trials very muddy and slippery, but we didn’t actual get rained on! We brought ponchos/raincoats and 2 umbrellas and never used them (except the umbrellas for a shade a couple of times in Laos).
Brian finds a table he is excited about as a memory of our incredible trip.
Eliza is excited, too!
Our delicious and ample lunch buffet at a nearby hotel. It has been fun to try so many Indian dishes. Now we can venture out of our usual Tikka Masala and Naan habits when we go out to eat in Lexington at Royal Indian Bistro.
I (Katie) loved the yellow chairs in the hotel lobby! Brings me back to Thailand with the yellow shirts honoring Rama IX and X.
The kids and Brian enjoy a little pool time. Way out in the distance, to the left of the brick building under construction, you can see the dome of the Taj Mahal. The website actually states that there is a view of the Taj Majal from the pool deck!!
The hotel has a puppet show in the evenings.
Brian really got into it!
Dinner, the girls enjoy donuts and Hayden nourishes himself with two complimentary warm chocolate chip cookies! We have gotten into the routine of big, late lunches and a light (albeit not so nutritious) dinner.
The next day, after breakfast, we drive to Jaipur with a few stops along the way.
This breakfast buffet is voted, by us, as one of the best of our trip. The chocolate donuts helped bring it to the top of the list!
The fancy lobby of the Doubletree Hilton Agra.
Our van that has driven us all around the Golden Triangle (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur).
A few of the sandstone shops that we pass along the way.
The monsoon rains have encroached on this shop.
Our first stop is Fatahpur Sikri, which is an abandoned city, or “ghost city.”
The city itself was founded as the capital of Mughal Empire in 1571 by Emperor Akbar, serving this role from 1571 to 1585, when Akbar abandoned it due to a campaign in Punjab and was later completely abandoned in 1610. was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of northern India and Bangladesh from 1530–1540 and again from 1555–1556. At the time of his death in 1556, the Mughal Empire spanned almost one million square kilometres.
The Emperor had three wives, one from three different religions, Hindu, Muslim and Christian. He was known to be very interested in religion. The buildings had some representations of animals which is not typical of Islamic architecture.
Here we are entering the Hindu wife’s area of the palace. Her palace was the largest because she was the favorite wife, since she bore the most sons. She was a vegetarian, so she had a separate kitchen in her palace.
Some of the paint is still on the walls.
Lydia’s dress matches the algae in the water!
To the right is the Muslim wife’s residential area. It is the smallest of the three wives’ residences. We are standing in the Christian wife’s area.
This is the outside of the Christian wife’s area.
The Emperor played parcheesi on this platform with the men of cabinet, using the women of the court as game pieces.
This is the building where the Emperor would meet with is cabinet.
The Emperor would sit in the middle and his cabinet members would sit on the outer balconies.
Trash has taken over here. There is a campaign called “Keep India Green,” but even where we have seen signs for it, there are trash heaps in front of the signs.
This is the palace converted to a hotel where we ate lunch.
The usual traffic patterns with motorbikes, buses, cars, trucks and cows.
Lydia is keeping herself entertained on the long van ride.
This is the typical way for women to carry a heavy load.
Sheep herding.
After lunch, our driver tells us he needs to stop separately to get his lunch. This happened in Vietnam, on the way to Halong Bay, where to bus stopped at a gift shop, bathroom and restaurant so the driver had a break. I think the purpose is so the tourists will buy stuff at the shop. The kids found cool turbans, but we did not find anything to buy. It may have been because the shopkeeper was following one foot behind me as a browsed. It was too close for comfort.
Our final stop before reaching Jaipur is stepwell. The rainwater fills up the well and people would swim in the water. It is very deep and the air is cooler.
The men would change on one side and the women’s changing area was on the other side.
After a very long day of travel, we have arrived at the Samode Haveli in Jaipur. The hotel was a former mansion or city palace of a wealthy family. This kids, especially Hayden, are not happy about the plan of starting again at 8:30 AM tomorrow...
Another pool to enjoy! This one is super big and beautiful.