India + Chandigarh + Taj Mahal
If you were to ask me, "Where is one place in the world you've always dreamed of going, but just never thought it would be a reality?" My answer would be the Taj Mahal. It's the one place in all of the world that I have always known about, but just never thought I would actually see with my own two eyes. Well, this November we crossed that destination off of our bucket list.
Husband and I were invited to teach at a conference for pastors and church leaders for the first half of our trip. The second half would be sight-seeing and taking in the culture. Have you ever taken a moment to figure out how far away India is? It's literally, LITERALLY on the other side of the world from where we are. Being on not only one, but TWO 8 hour flights is very taxing. I thought one 8-hour flight was a big deal. Not anymore. After having TWO 8-hour flights, I can handle anything! It took 26 hours of travel to get to Chandigarh and that was a beating. In driving around the city my jaw was on the ground. All I kept saying was “I was never seen ANYTHING like this before, ever in my entire life.” I mean soooo many people, the driving is crazy, the food is spicy, the streets are dirty, and the culture is like nothing you’ve ever experienced. I was in a constant state of awe, and really shock in taking in the sights and sounds of the culture. It's definitely an assault on your senses.
Tuk-Tuk
Hotel room in Chandigarh
Explored a famous rock garden in the city.
Oh yeah..and we rode a camel. Ha!
These sculptures are made from broken/recycled bangle bracelets.
Went to the market and caught a henna artist in action.
Fresh Pomegranate juice after our camel ride.
We had originally planned to attend and teach at the conference we were there for, and then head out to see the Taj Mahal in Agra on Friday. However, should you ever make the trip to India you need to know that the Taj is closed on Friday’s for prayer. Even if you must change your entire schedule at that point just to see the Taj on another day...do it. We ended up having to leave the conference early to take a train into Delhi so that we could see the Taj on Thursday.
We had originally booked a flight from Chandigarh into Delhi on Thursday night, but now with our rearrangement, we booked a train ticket to get into Agra on Wednesday night. Through our connections we had a young guy and his dad take us to the train station. I think Gravarh was his name. He was so cute. The first Christian in his immediate family to come to Christ, and he led the rest of his family to the Lord too. He is studying to be a nurse so that he can give his family a better life, and unfortunately after much persistence he was denied a student VISA to come to the US. He told us how he knew he was supposed to be in India to take care of his family. Their house had been robbed 4 times, but again he said, “God has a purpose.” He was such a sweet guy. No girlfriend and focused on the Lord, his family, and his studies. God bless him.
The train station was probably the most intense and scary place I've ever experienced in our travels. Everyone was looking at me. Now I'm not just saying "looking" at me...I mean aggressively staring at me. After feeling immensely insecure I finally asked Gravarh why people were so intently fixed on me. He said that people either thought that Jonathan and him were brothers and I was one of their wife. Or, that Jonathan was a Bollywood celebrity, and I was his white-American wife he was bringing to India for the first time to show around. Ha, what a laugh. I swear, no matter where in the world we go Husband always seems to be a chameleon when it comes to looking and blending in with the people. When we went on our honeymoon to Greece- people thought he was Greek. When we stopped off in Milan-people thought he was Italian. And now in India...he blends in yet again. Really it's a gift, and has helped us not stick out like tourists. Me on the other hand...token White-Texas-Girl-Tourist. Oh well.
Most people might not think a train station is that intense of a venue...not in India. When the first train came that we saw, it was like a cattle car of people crammed on top of one another. People were screaming and shouting, pushing and pulling each other to get on and off the train. My jaw was on the ground and I was so nervous I was shaking. How were we going to get on this train with luggage and each other? Then we noticed that we were waiting near the "coach" section of where the train boards. We were in the “executive” class.
Now one thing that you must realize is that our definitions of things in America certainly do NOT parallel with the Indian definition of such circumstances. When I say "executive class," I'm sure there's a mental image of a very beautiful train car with plush seats and tea being serve. Neck pillows and blankets for everyone, and the lights are all on dimmers with the hum of the train to send you to sleep....Not so much. The executive class reminded me of a 1991 Greyhound bus that was still serving food from that era, and the smell was like nothing your nose has ever encountered. Clean- no. Smooth- no. Gravarh stayed with us until we got on our train and I think I was sadder to leave him than I was anyone else. He was so thoughtful, and SOOO mindful of me, even giving Husband suggestions for my protection and guard. Ugh, my heart! The train ride was 4 hours and I cried the first hour. What amazing people we had just encountered with the conference we had served at. We may never see them again, but we know that because of Jesus we will meet again one day. We now have friends on the other side of the world. I have realized how small I am…how big this world is, and how huge God is.
We had originally booked a flight from Chandigarh into Delhi on Thursday night, but now with our rearrangement, we booked a train ticket to get into Agra on Wednesday night. Through our connections we had a young guy and his dad take us to the train station. I think Gravarh was his name. He was so cute. The first Christian in his immediate family to come to Christ, and he led the rest of his family to the Lord too. He is studying to be a nurse so that he can give his family a better life, and unfortunately after much persistence he was denied a student VISA to come to the US. He told us how he knew he was supposed to be in India to take care of his family. Their house had been robbed 4 times, but again he said, “God has a purpose.” He was such a sweet guy. No girlfriend and focused on the Lord, his family, and his studies. God bless him.
The train station was probably the most intense and scary place I've ever experienced in our travels. Everyone was looking at me. Now I'm not just saying "looking" at me...I mean aggressively staring at me. After feeling immensely insecure I finally asked Gravarh why people were so intently fixed on me. He said that people either thought that Jonathan and him were brothers and I was one of their wife. Or, that Jonathan was a Bollywood celebrity, and I was his white-American wife he was bringing to India for the first time to show around. Ha, what a laugh. I swear, no matter where in the world we go Husband always seems to be a chameleon when it comes to looking and blending in with the people. When we went on our honeymoon to Greece- people thought he was Greek. When we stopped off in Milan-people thought he was Italian. And now in India...he blends in yet again. Really it's a gift, and has helped us not stick out like tourists. Me on the other hand...token White-Texas-Girl-Tourist. Oh well.
Most people might not think a train station is that intense of a venue...not in India. When the first train came that we saw, it was like a cattle car of people crammed on top of one another. People were screaming and shouting, pushing and pulling each other to get on and off the train. My jaw was on the ground and I was so nervous I was shaking. How were we going to get on this train with luggage and each other? Then we noticed that we were waiting near the "coach" section of where the train boards. We were in the “executive” class.
Now one thing that you must realize is that our definitions of things in America certainly do NOT parallel with the Indian definition of such circumstances. When I say "executive class," I'm sure there's a mental image of a very beautiful train car with plush seats and tea being serve. Neck pillows and blankets for everyone, and the lights are all on dimmers with the hum of the train to send you to sleep....Not so much. The executive class reminded me of a 1991 Greyhound bus that was still serving food from that era, and the smell was like nothing your nose has ever encountered. Clean- no. Smooth- no. Gravarh stayed with us until we got on our train and I think I was sadder to leave him than I was anyone else. He was so thoughtful, and SOOO mindful of me, even giving Husband suggestions for my protection and guard. Ugh, my heart! The train ride was 4 hours and I cried the first hour. What amazing people we had just encountered with the conference we had served at. We may never see them again, but we know that because of Jesus we will meet again one day. We now have friends on the other side of the world. I have realized how small I am…how big this world is, and how huge God is.
The night that we arrived in Delhi, a man named Thomas (a connection through one of our contacts) picked us up from the train station and took us to our hotel in Delhi (The Shanti Palace.) We crashed and prepared the next day to visit the Taj. Before Thomas departed from us that evening he said that he would pick us up at 6am. (A little too early for me) So I asked him if we could do 7am.....big mistake Laura. The taxi and Thomas and one of his new drivers picked us up at 7am. The drive is SUPPOSED to be about 3 hours…we got there at noon! (5 hours) Apparently India traffic gets a little crazy just like ours does. Although it was a long car ride, along the way we had some interesting stops.
Thomas hooked us up with a great tour guide at the Taj who was so knowledgable and was all about taking some AWESOME pictures for us. Which I was SOO grateful, because I mean c’mon, that’s the REAL reason you go to the Taj, so you can show off your pictures!
I will say that it was NOT easy getting to the Taj, the roads, the traffic, the masses and masses of people. I was a bit tense for a large majority of the ride there. I had to go through a complete separate entrance than Husband, our guide, and Thomas. And even that was scary until I met a girl from AUSTIN! Crazy story. There is a billionaire in Delhi that has started a service that helps the deaf learn American Sign Language so she is living in India for an entire year (all expenses paid by this billionaire guy) just to teach American Sign Language. Wow. She was so brave. I gave her a hug. She was a little angel of relief for me because again, I was just being stared at constantly, and it makes you feel pretty weird.
We spent a few hours at the Taj, got a lot of amazing pictures, and then we went to the Tomb of Akbar. We left Agra at about 5 or 5:30 and got back to the hotel around 10pm. The rest of our team got in that night and we visited with them for just a quick moment before bed.
The next day we slept in and a taxi came and picked us up at 11am. I had not done any shopping on this trip and it was KILLING me! So we got to kill 2 birds with one stone, we went to the Red Fort and there was GREAT shopping there! I stocked UP!! I did more shopping in India than I have any other country we have been to. I am huge fan of World Market. India is like shopping at a World Market everywhere you look and for a fraction of the price. Amazing!
We were loaded down with bags and then went to lunch at Pizza Hut. I was DONE with Indian food. After lunch we went to see the India gate and then went to the famous Swaminarayan Akshardham Hindu Temple. It was BEAUTIFUL! But no cameras, cell phones, purses…anything allowed! It killed me not being able to take any photos. The photo below is the only picture I could take from the parking lot. Along with the Taj, this was one of the most beautiful experiences we had in India. Even past the frustration of not being able to take pictures, you begin to appreciate your surroundings and value your experience even more because you are forced to take it all in with your your heart and eyes. We went at the perfect time, and watched the sun set and the lights come up over the city. It was the perfect way to wrap up our final day in Dehi.
Monkeys!
Thomas hooked us up with a great tour guide at the Taj who was so knowledgable and was all about taking some AWESOME pictures for us. Which I was SOO grateful, because I mean c’mon, that’s the REAL reason you go to the Taj, so you can show off your pictures!
Sitting on the Diana bench and at the entrance of the Taj Mahal.
Wow!
I will say that it was NOT easy getting to the Taj, the roads, the traffic, the masses and masses of people. I was a bit tense for a large majority of the ride there. I had to go through a complete separate entrance than Husband, our guide, and Thomas. And even that was scary until I met a girl from AUSTIN! Crazy story. There is a billionaire in Delhi that has started a service that helps the deaf learn American Sign Language so she is living in India for an entire year (all expenses paid by this billionaire guy) just to teach American Sign Language. Wow. She was so brave. I gave her a hug. She was a little angel of relief for me because again, I was just being stared at constantly, and it makes you feel pretty weird.
It's SO big!
Money Shot #1
Money Shot #2
Tomb of Akbar.
The next day we slept in and a taxi came and picked us up at 11am. I had not done any shopping on this trip and it was KILLING me! So we got to kill 2 birds with one stone, we went to the Red Fort and there was GREAT shopping there! I stocked UP!! I did more shopping in India than I have any other country we have been to. I am huge fan of World Market. India is like shopping at a World Market everywhere you look and for a fraction of the price. Amazing!
We were loaded down with bags and then went to lunch at Pizza Hut. I was DONE with Indian food. After lunch we went to see the India gate and then went to the famous Swaminarayan Akshardham Hindu Temple. It was BEAUTIFUL! But no cameras, cell phones, purses…anything allowed! It killed me not being able to take any photos. The photo below is the only picture I could take from the parking lot. Along with the Taj, this was one of the most beautiful experiences we had in India. Even past the frustration of not being able to take pictures, you begin to appreciate your surroundings and value your experience even more because you are forced to take it all in with your your heart and eyes. We went at the perfect time, and watched the sun set and the lights come up over the city. It was the perfect way to wrap up our final day in Dehi.
That night we came back to the hotel late and had dinner. We had to stay awake since we left for the airport that night. Our flight’s left at around 3am and we didn’t get back to Dallas until 3:30pm Saturday. It's always weird when the flights home seems a lot shorter than the one going there.
Usually after our trips I look back and reflect on what a wonderful time we had, and how much fun everything was, and how I'm glad we got to experience everything that we did, but for the first time after our travels were over and we were home again from India, my first question was..."So when can we go back?" To say I fell in love with this country and these people is an understatement. And after traveling for 26 hours non-stop, my perspective has definitely changed regarding international travel. Who knows where we'll go next in the world. One thing's for sure, this isn't the last time we encounter the Jewel of the East.
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