Let
me give you a brief time table of this past weekend:
10.5
hours of miscellaneous driving, eating and boating the Ganges River
16
hours of waiting at train stations
31
hours on trains
2.5
hours at the Taj Mahal
Was
it worth it? I think so.
Early
Saturday morning my team and our three German friends left in a van
for Varanasi, which is the birthplace of Hinduism. We took an hour
boat ride down the river. People from the surrounding area bathe, do
laundry and hang out at the river; and as part of their beliefs,
people from near and far come to see and touch the Ganges.
various
activities on the Ganges
There
is also a ritual of bringing dead bodies to burn, then place in the
river. We happened to see two wrapped, dead bodies and a burning
fire. The bodies are there for about a week so people can visit,
like a funeral.
bodies
and fire along the Ganges
After
the Ganges we ate lunch, ran a couple of errands in Varanasi, then
headed to the train station for our first train of the journey. We
waited in the Mughal Sarai station for at least eight hours Saturday
afternoon and evening.
Philip,
Silas, and Ryan passing time in the station
Once
we settled in on the train we slept through the night, thinking we
would be getting off the train in Agra at 7:30. Wrong. The train
was delayed a few times and we didn’t arrive until around 1:30 in the
afternoon. But we made it!
Silas,
Sandy and Chandler in the train
At
the Taj Mahal we decided to take a man up on his offer to give us a
tour. He told us a lot, but rushed us through everything. It’s
still hard to believe that we visited the Taj Mahal. It is a
beautiful building with so many intricate details you can’t see in
photos. Compared to other building and temples we have visited on
the trip, the Taj is more simple, yet more beautiful.
Ryan,
Ben, Philip, Silas, Phil, Chandler, me and Sandy at the Taj
Our
trip back home to GEMS was as eventful, if not more, than our trip
out to Agra. One thing we learned, sometimes it does pay to be
white, random people make sure you catch your train, you get rushed
through lines, and strangers help protect you from beggars. Even
though our time at the Taj Mahal was so short compared to the entire
trip, I think it was definitely worth it.
much
love!
