Welcome to mainland India. The ship arrived in Cochin, India on March 20, 2011 at 8:00am. Our plan for India called for a 3-day overland tour to the Taj Mahal that involved extensive air, rail, and bus travel covering almost the entire length of this country from south to north. And what a country it is with a population in excess of 1.2 billion people as of July 2007, but who really knows since there is a new population census currently underway.
After a lengthy and extensive immigration clearance, we were off the ship at 9:30am and onboard our bus for a tour of Cochin. One is immediately surprised by the air pollution which is very heavy. During our tour we went by Fort Cochin, St. Francis Church (where Vasco de Gama was originally buried), and past the area where Vypeen Island fisherman use their cantilevered contraptions known as Chinese Fishing Nets. By 11:45am we were at a hotel near the airport for a brief lunch for our first taste of delicious Indian food. At 12:45pm we arrived at Cochin airport and checked in for our Jet Lite 3 ½ hour flight to New Delhi, the capital of India. It was interesting that the security checkpoints in India have separate men and women lines. The area for women is enclosed with curtains. After arriving in New Delhi, we took a brief evening orientation tour of the city. During the tour we drove by Diplomatic enclave, many government buildings, the President House and India Gate ultimately arriving at the Le Meridien Hotel for dinner and bed.
Its day 2 of our trip and the day started at 4:00am. Coffee and rolls were served in the hotel lobby at 4:15am and at 5:00am we were back on buses en route to the New Delhi Rail Station. What a surprise to see people sleeping all over the floor inside and outside the station. We made our way to the rail platform and waited for our train to arrive. At 6:15am we boarded the Shatabdi Express train for our 2 hour trip to Agra, India. The train trip was a great way to really see the countryside and small towns and villages. Between the towns, the train traveled at 125 kilometer per hour. Most of the area outside the large cities is farmland mainly used for growing wheat and mustard. All the wheat harvesting we saw was being done by hand without the aid of any mechanical equipment. We passed through many villages along the way. It quickly became evident that there wasn’t any sanitation that most of us are used to seeing. There didn’t appear to be any toilets. Instead we saw people outside of their houses in the fields squatting with their clothes off. Cows were living inside and around the small houses and there seemed to be trash everywhere. In fact our tour guide told us that his countrymen did not understand the need for trash cans. Most of the cooking was being done in front of the homes. We learned from our tour guide that the people use cow dung that has been shaped into a circular form and dried for the fuel for their fires and heat. They stacked them and even build small buildings with the dung. We passed other trains and were able to see that they were not as nice as our train coach. Most of the other trains had no doors and were not air conditioned with people hanging out of them. We were told that it is not unusual for the Indian people to ride on top of the trains. Our train was on time and we arrived in Agra at 8:15am.
Agra, India is a small city of 2 million people. It is famous for Agra Fort which was constructed in 1565 by Mughal Emperor Akbar. It is also very famous for the Taj Mahal built by Emperor Shah Jahan as the white marble mausoleum for Empress Mamtaz Mahal. The construction work began in 1631 and came to completion in 1648. It took some 20,000 laborers to build the Taj Mahal. Our tour guide took us to the ITC Mughal Hotel for a great Indian and Western breakfast. After breakfast and a brief refreshment period, it was off for a day of touring. First stop was Agra Fort. We spent 1 ½ hours walking through the fort and some of its grounds. Only 1/6 of the fort is accessible to the public. The remainder is still used by the Indian Army. The fort is built of red sandstone and surrounds a palace, gardens, mosque, temple, bazaar, and other buildings to house the Harem. Once we climbed to the upper level of the fort we got our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal several miles away.
We returned to the hotel at noon for check in and lunch. Everyone was a little tired from the traveling so a short free time period was a real relief. But by 2:30pm we were again on the bus headed for the Taj Mahal tour. We arrived at Kalakriti and were taken by non-polluting battery operated minivans up to the Taj Khema for a security check then entry into the grounds. There aren’t words that can describe how immense and beautiful the Taj Mahal is. It is aptly called “A Dream In Marble” and is definitely one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and is one of the New 7 Wonders Of The World. We were able to walk throughout the grounds and up to the Taj Mahal. There is a pretty good climb to enter the tomb of the Shah Jahan and Empress Mamtaz Mahal. Thousands of people were there to visit. On any given day, some 20,000 people visit this UNESCO World Heritage Site. We stayed at the Taj Mahal until 5:30pm and then back to the hotel for a Kathak Dance performance and dinner. Each evening we enjoyed a buffet selection choice of American or Indian entrees. We chose to indulge in the Indian dishes, most of which we had no idea how to pronounce! Indian fare is considered one of the three distinctive cuisines of the world with regional influences lending much diversity. Main dishes often include chicken or lamb with various spices, such as turmeric, chili pepper, saffron and cardamom used to enhance flavors and aromas. As beef is not eaten by Hindus, many vegetarian options were offered. The term “curry” is usually understood to mean “gravy” in India, rather than “spices”. We loved the naan and kulcha, their breads baked in the tandoor, a large, cylindrical coal-fired oven. After three days of Indian food for breakfast, lunch and dinner we had Pizza the night we returned to the ship!
0400 – Wake up call, yes, another morning departure scheduled to be on the bus at 5am sharp. This began our five hour bus trip to return to the Delhi Domestic airport. Along the way we got a close look at farm life and life in the small villages. One interesting thing is when one passenger asked what the tall smoke stacks in the middle of a field were. Our tour guide explained that when the soil becomes depleted, some farmers sell the top two feet of soil to the brick makers. We saw brick smoke stacks everywhere. Most small farms use brick to fence in their land. Brick making is a very large industry in India. We arrived at the airport in New Delhi at 11:00am for our Jet Airways flight to Mumbai. The flight was a little delayed but uneventful. However, after we walked down the stairs off the plane we were able to see that the left engine of the Boeing 737 was covered in engine oil. This might explain why the pilot made such a high speed landing. In any event, we made it back on the ground without any problem. From the airport we proceeded on a 1 ½ hour tour of the city arriving back at the ship by 5:20pm.
Mumbai, formerly called Bombay, is the most populous city in India, and the second most populous city in the world, with approximately 14 million. It is an unbelievable sight of extremes from skyscrapers and malls to slums and grinding poverty.
Although we were away from the ship for three days on this overland trip, it was truly a Grand Adventure. We can say we saw sights we never imagined truly existed and are blessed to be able to have experienced.
Next stop Muscat, Oman.
