April 17, 2003
Temple Tour
After several days in Delhi dealing with my Indian and Thai visas, I headed off to Agro..... I mean Agra ;) Mostly a horrid town, although I discovered on my second (last day) that the warrens around the Taj are pretty cool... Still major hastle from the Touts... Shesh... Anyway, I did a proper tour of Fateh Pur Sikri, The Taj Mahal and The Red Fort. Quite amazing... Esp. the Taj which did not fit my expectations at all, but felt so magical inside... Amazing... Hard to put into words. There are all these inlaid flowers that are made with semi-precious stones. The ones outside are nice. The ones inside are breath-taking. They use the grain of the stones to create wonderfull textures. Too bad there is no photography inside (although I have a big photo gallery, from this trip, that will include some shots of the outside in the works.) I stayed at the Red Fort so that I could see the view of the Taj and sunset. Alas they close half an hour BEFORE sunset :( On the positive side, the guard that gave me the bad news took me into one of the fenced off areas... Aparently the guy who comissioned the Taj was imprisoned in the Red Fort by his son. Since his eye sight was bad, one of his daugters put a huge diamond in one of the walls of this fenced off area. Apparently the diamond projected the Taj into the room so that papa could see his monument to love. Very cool! Too bad the diamond wasn't there anymore ;)
From Agro, I headed to Orchha (near Jhansi which is a travel hub for Khajuraho) for a couple days. Very nice small town with some great old palaces. Not anything like the fancy stuff at Agro, but you can climb around and find secret passages and there are some nice mosaics (pictures in the works.)
From Orchha I came to Khujaraho. The temples here are AMAZING... At least the sculptures. There are a lot of erotic sculptures, and many many more that are not erotic, gods, nymphs, etc. I went on a day trip today to see a Tiger Reservation (not very exciting really, no tigers today ):
Tomorrow I'm off to Varanasi, I hope to take a boat ride on the Ganges at sunrise. Chill for a couple days and then head back to Delhi. Not sure if I'll just hang in Delhi for the following couple weeks or make it up to Simla and Manali which should be cooler and mellower than Delhi... I really want to do that because it is DAMN HOT here (no I TOLD YOU SOs please ;) Just not sure I can handle the train ride up there.. Will see if there is a good express.
Posted by binduwavell at April 17, 2003 06:36 AMHey Bindu! to tell you the truth i have read few of your diaries because the internet here sucks so badly but they just did something to make it a little more bearable so i may do some back reading...anyhoo ;-) it is wonderful to read this bit and think of you. have you made friends on your travels? i will read more and find out. i hope i get to see you at some point. let me know when your plans arise;-)
i'll do the same. i have been having a VERY intense time of late. something about this place really brings up my stuff and even though it feels like i won't make it through the sadness at times, on some deeper level i feel i am loving every minute of it because i just don't want to live in hiding from my true self and i guess sometimes i have to wade through muck to uncover me! well that is all for now. oh yes-i met Eckhart Tolle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yes that's right folks i actually talked to him (or not-him?;-). he is as beautiful and shining and peaceful as one could imagine. that's it,
oh yes amd i had a private meeting w/ the Baba (the Saint who lives here) which was crazy intense and i am still understanding it.
how are you? write if you can. i am glad you are going to all these amazing places, it's like you are doin it all!
also: jess if you are reading this i love you SO much and we have to talk soon.
love,
Your Friend Jenna (YFJ)
Posted by: Jenna on April 27, 2003 10:00 PMBindu,
Browsed your reading and seen beautiful pictures.
It is amazing. It courages and push me to see new places. You have passion to explore world. Good luck to you. Have safe trip across globe.
Bye
--Shyam
