A Trip to North India

Hey guys! It's been a while since I last posted. I've been touring the beautiful cities of Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi. These cities are currently in modernization and densely populated, but maintain their historical significance and charm.

Day 1 AGRA: City of Taj

We stepped out of the Delhi airport, and a flush of hot, humid air slapped me right in the face. This meant the start of a long, hot trip. I look around, scanning my surroundings, while my grandpa calls our tour driver. He finally arrives and directs us to our van. We sat in the van, dying from the heat, as he tied the last of our excessive luggage to the rack on the car hood. Vroom! And so our five-hour journey to Agra had begun. Along I noticed a lot of farmland, and not a lot of people, evidently. After a while, I got bored, so I laid my head on the siding of the window and took a nap. When I woke up, we had stopped at a highway restaurant. It was dingy and in the midst of needy renovation, but the food they served proved to be promising. After lunch, the long ride continued. The farmland continued to roll into view, but occasionally there was something interesting, like the Buddh International Circuit. Eventually, the farmland transitioned into city settlement, and I knew we were in Agra. Agra, like other cities in the area, was chaotic and compact. The difference was the increased amount of street vendors, considering this was a tourist spot. We rolled into the driveway of our hotel around 3. As soon as the hotel staff showed our room, I collapsed onto the bed, glad to be done with the car ride for once. After freshening up a bit, we decided to take a public tourist golf cart to the Taj Mahal.

My stomach was filled with excitement, as I had waited my whole life to see this attraction. To my surprise, what I foresaw as clean and pristine was polluted and in construction. However, when I went inside, I was struck by the elegance and the immense detail that went into making this wonder what it is. After being mesmerized out of our minds, we returned to our hotel, exhausted but content.

Day 2 JAIPUR: The Pink City

After a long night at the hotel and a quick breakfast, we headed on our way to the pink city of Jaipur. On the way, we made one stop at Fatehpur Sikri. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, this city is almost 500 years old and has a grand palace that has an amazing view of the area. At the Fatehpur Sikri palace, red sandstone hallways take up every side of the courtyard. These hallways are meant to be big and open to let natural ventilation do its magic, as modern air conditioning wasn't available at the time. Another big surprise was that the king of the palace had an escape tunnel built all the way to Agra! Now that's a long way! As we toured around some more, we walked towards the tomb of Salim Chisti. The intricate Jali stonework on the walls was perfectly repetitive. This surprised me, as the architects at the time didn't have the tools that we have today. After that, we skipped across the hot sandstone courtyard to admire the Buland Darwaza, the Gate of Magnificence. Throughout the gate, Muslim, Christian, and Hindu elements were incorporated. Satisfied with what we had seen, we hopped back into the tourist car and continued our journey to Jaipur.

When we reached Jaipur, we decided to visit the Birla Temple. The marble idols inside were larger in life, and sunlight beamed through the stained glass paintings of the Hindu gods. To be honest, this was one of the most beautiful temples that I've ever seen. After taking a casual stroll back to our car, we drove across town to see the Albert Hall Museum. According to our tour car driver, the artifacts in the museum were the treasures of Maharaja Ram Singh that he had found during his travels around the world. There were so many that we couldn't even find the exit!

When we did, we grabbed a cup of coffee, then hit the road. Our next stop was the Jaipur market. That's where I realized why they called this the pink city, for the entire stretch of the road, was lined with pink buildings with beautiful white Jaipuri designs. Since our footwear was wearing out, we were taken to the finest shoe store in town.

Next, we went to a textile shop, as Jaipur prints are unique to their location. When we came out, the sky was a shade of midnight blue. It was definitely dinner time. Our driver dropped us off at a place called Tipsy Family Restaurant. The food was surprisingly good for a place with the name Tipsy. Exhausted from our long, tiring journey, all I could think about was a comfy bed to sleep on. We reached our hotel around midnight. To my surprise, the travel company had actually booked a 5-star hotel. I was so relieved, (I didn't sleep too well at the first hotel) that I slept like a log.

Day 3 JAIPUR (cont'd)

Two days in this wondrous city meant that we couldn't get enough of its historical essence. I woke up as I had just gone to sleep. I got dressed as fast as I could, so my brother and I could explore the hotel as soon as possible But first, we stopped by the breakfast bar for a quick meal. The breakfast bar was loaded with more delicacies than an all-you-can-eat buffet. I stuffed my

plate with as much food as I could carry. After a stately breakfast, we decided to visit the rest of the hotel. Turns out, this place had a fitness center, a ballroom, two restaurants, a pool, and a lounge! Eventually, we checked out. I was sad to leave the hotel but tried to stay positive as we started towards the City Palace. This palace complex was built by Maharaja Sawai Singh around 1730, almost 300 years ago. The Pritam Niwas Chowk, a courtyard inside the palace was by far the most beautiful. The courtyard's four gates represent the four seasons and the Hindu gods. I loved the peacock gate the most ;-).

There were so many things to see, including multiple shops and museums, that we lost track of time. Next, we walked across the street to the Jantar Mantar. This is an apparently a huge sundial. There was a lot of other astronomical instruments with purposes I couldn't understand but were interesting to look at. After that, we drove towards the Jal Mahal, the palace on Man Sagar lake. We didn't have a boat, but we did take a lot of pictures.

A little bit further down the road was a camel keeper who kept about a dozen camels. We thought, why not mount one? The camel ride was definitely bumpy, but massaging as well. That's an experience I will never forget. We hopped back into the car and drove a little further down the road until we reached the Amber Fort. Situated on the top of a hill, this palace definitely had us at a loss for the exit! We took audio guides, that definitely transported us to a time when the palace was alive with people and activities. Finally finding our way out, we continued our journey to the next city. It took us hours, but we were able to reach Dehli just in time for dinner.

Day 4  KURUKSHETRA: Home to Kurukshetra War

We woke up early the next morning and had ourselves a decent breakfast. Then we were on our way to Kurukshetra, a historical district of the state of Haryana. It is said that the Kurukshetra War took place in that city, in the year 3000 B.C. What surprised me is that this was an actual location linked to the ancient epic, the Mahabharata. First, we visited a monument of the Pandavas describing the history of the war. The statue was larger than life, and the commanding look on the faces of the statues reminded me of the honor and chivalry that was present in war during that time. We casually strolled back to our car, ready to see the place where Lord Krishna gave the "sermon of Bhagavad Gita" to the warrior Arjuna. Legend has it that a banyan tree in the area is the same tree that listened to Krishna's sermon over 5000 years ago, meaning that this tree was immortal! It took me a while to wrap my head around this. Next to the banyan tree was a marble statue portraying the Krishna and Arjuna. After taking some time to take it all in, we continued our journey to the place where Bhisma breathed his last breath. There was not much to see there, except for a huge statue of Hanuman and the same temple. I tried to imagine the battlefield stretching across many many kilometers, and somewhere in the midst of the battle, Bhisma lying on the bed of arrows with Arjuna by his side. Even if people may say that the Mahabharata was a myth, this made me wonder if it was actually real. We were craving Rajasthani food, so we went to a nearby Rajasthani restaurant. After a hearty meal, we went to the hotel.

Day 5 DEHLI: City of the Rallies

On this last day, we decided to make the most of our day by visiting the Laxminarayan Temple. The idols were massive and inviting. After that, we tried visiting the Red Fort. However, minutes after we had tried to enter, heavy rain started to pour, and we were unable to tour the fort. Disappointed, we decided to stay in the car until the rain stopped. Because we were next to the parliament buildings, we went passed by the parliament buildings and were lucky enough to see the India Gate. After that, we made a stop at to the Lotus Temple, a Bah'í House of Worship constructed in 1986. This was a meditation center, so we were instructed not to talk. Inside, there were rows of benches to sit on, and a podium with a mic. The building was surrounded with windows, and the circular structure of the room made your voice echo. There were people that read selective readings from the Bible, Qur'an, and the Bhagavad Gita. As I leaned back on the bench, I looked up at the ceiling. I realized there was a symbol at the top; a symbol called the Greatest Name, an important symbol in Bah'í faith. The music and the silence created a truly calm and meditative environment. After ten minutes of sitting in meditative silence, we slowly made our way back to the car. Since it was around 2:00, we decided it was about time to get some lunch. Thankfully, we found an Indian restaurant we could trust. We ate as much as we could because we knew we couldn't eat anything until the flight. Since we still had about an hour before we had to leave for the airport, we decided to see the Qutb Minar. This place has historical value for my family, as my grandpa took my mom to this exact place 20 years ago, and my grandma and mom had apparently climbed it. Unfortunately, they erected a fence around it, closing it off to people who want to climb it. A flight of stairs away was the Iron Pillar. Legend says it that people have tried for over 400 years to wrap their arms around the entire pillar, but have failed. This pillar has failed to corrode ever since it was constructed. There was also an inscription on the pillar in Sanskrit. After a final look around, we returned back to the car, cheering the end of a great trip. We had met so many people along the way and took a deep dive into history. As we began our drive to the airport, I wondered about all the wonderful things we have seen over the last five days.