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Current status: 93/100 goals - 100/100 weeks
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| Taj Mahal |
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| 5 - Completed |
 Agra India - No specific date |
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I had an uncle who spent many years of his life in the British Army. He once told me he was stationed in India for a couple of years, and lived only a few miles from the Taj Mahal. "Never once went to see it," he told me proudly.
"What? How could you be that close to it and not bother to go and see it?" I was staggered.
"Wasn't interested at all."
I could not understand it then, and still don't now, but I guess we are all different, with different interests.
Related Blogs |
7 Wonders of the World
Friday, July 11, 2008 |
On the 7th July last year (07.07.07) the The New7Wonders Foundation announced the list of The New 7 Wonders of the World. The list was the result of over 100 million votes from all over the world. The announcement took place in Lisbon in Portugal, at the Benfica Stadium.
Of the original list of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, only one now remains, the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt. The original 7 Wonders were:
* Great Pyramid of Giza
* Hanging Gardens of Babylon
* Statue of Zeus at Olympia
* Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
* Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
* Colossus of Rhodes
* Lighthouse of Alexandria
The new list, from New7Wonders, announced in Lisbon is as follows:
* Pyramid at Chichén Itzá, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
* Christ The Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
* Roman Colosseum, Rome, Italy
* Great Wall of China, China
* Machu Picchu, Peru
* Petra, Jordan
* Taj Mahal, Agra, India
On my travels so far I have see the Great Pyramids in Egypt, The Colosseum in Rome, and Petra in Jordan. On my list of 100 goals, I have Christ The Redeemer, The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, and The Taj Mahal.
This means that there is one glaring omission from my list, being the Pyramid at Chichén Itzá. If I add this to my list, when complete it will mean that I have seen all Seven Wonders of the World.
So, as "Fly-By-Wire" in New Zealand has now closed down, as mentioned in the blog a couple of days ago here, I have now removed that from the 100 list, and replaced it with "Chichén Itzá, Mexico"
The other Finalists for the New7Wonders were as follows:
* Acropolis of Athens, Athens, Greece
* Alhambra, Granada, Spain
* Angkor, Cambodia
* Statues of Easter Island, Easter Island, Chile
* Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
* Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey
* Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan
* Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow, Russia
* Neuschwanstein Castle, Schwangau, Germany
* Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
* Statue of Liberty, New York City, U.S.A.
* Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom
* Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia
* Timbuktu, Mali
I have seen 4 of these, and have 3 more of them on my list, so there is still plenty of scope for something to add to my list after 100goals is finished!
Further information:
Wikipedia - Seven Wonders of the World
High peaks and low troughs.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
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After the literal and emotional high peaks reached in the past week, I discovered once again that when when the low points come, they are very low. I have often thought about how when travelling, life's emotions seem amplified, and have sometimes described it to people, suggesying that it is "like living life with the volume turned up to eleven!" The highs are wonderfully high, but the lows are pretty tough to take sometimes.
And once again today I found out how quickly things can go from being well planned, running smoothly on coutse, to all going horribly and disastrously wrong.
I have been in Kathmandu for over four days now, and while I have enjoyed relaxing with little to do, other than work on upcoming plans, I can think of much nicer places to be stuck with little to do. With a permanent supply of electricity I could have managed to do so much more, and would have welcomed the time to get on with writing some of the book, or even watching a few movies, but long periods without electric mean either sleeping, or wandering the noisy, chaotic streets. I do enjoy this, but have been in Kathmandu long enough, and feel ready to move on now.
I have been pretty tight with my money for these days, as I spent a little more on the trek that I originally budgeted for, and wanted to get through these final days, changing the least amount of extra money as possible.
So it was with a feeling of relief that I finally headed for the airport, just four more days of third-world chaos in India, before looking foward to the calm oasis of a couple of weeks in England.
I joined the line to check in at the Jet counter, and after half an hour, got to the front, only to be told, "No, you are booked on Jet Airways, that line over there. This line is for Jet flights."
I looked up at the board above me. "Right, so Jet and Jet Airways are two different companies?"
"Oh yes sir," I was happily told, and had to join the end of the most enormous check-in line I have ever seen. An hour later I made it to the front, and was asked "Where is your visa?" I pointed out my Nepal entry visa confidently, knowing I was leaving well inside the alloted 30 days. "No, your Indian visa, sir?"
"I'll just get that at the border," I answered hopefully, my heart beginning to sink. Apparently that wasn't possible. I suggested I would simply use my UK passport rather than my Austalian one - after all, India used to be part of the Empire - surely a British passport still has some advantages there?
Not at all, India, it would appear, requires that all visitors have a visa in advance. I was not going to be allowed on the plane at all. I tried expalining that I had an onward ticket from Delhi to London, and would simply transit through instead, hoping to resolve the issue on arrival there. But because my London ticket is booked for over four days away, I would be sent back to Kathmandu, as a transit departure has to be within 24 hours of arrival.
What could I do, I asked, and was told my only option was to go to the Indian Embassy here in Kathmandu and get a visa first. What about my flight leaving in a couple of hours? All I got was the address of the Jet Airways (not Jet!) office in Kathmandu, and an uncaring "Good luck!" All very reminiscent of the LAN airlines fiasco in South America.
Now I do appreciate that I have no one to blame but myself, and what is particularly frustrating is that I have had four empty days when I could so easily have resolved this. But in almost two years of travelling, only one other country has been awkward enough to require a visa sorted out at an embassy in advance - China. I have travelled through Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Africa, and in every place I have been, have either not needed a visa, or have paid the requisite amount of dollars, and simply got a visa at the border. Why would I expect India to be any different, especially with a British passport in my pocket?
With the last dregs of Nepali rupees in my pocket I negotiated with the owner of the dodgiest looking taxi outside the airport. At the Jet Airways (not Jet!) counter, I had been informed that the embassy would be open until 5pm today, and from 9 'til 12 tomorrow. In the taxi, as we sped through dirty back streets I still harboured visions of a quick visa issue, and a dash back to the airport just in time to catch my flight
At the embassy it was obvious that this was not how it was going to be. It doesn't open at all on Saturday or Sunday, so it will be almost two days until I can even get in there on Monday morning! This is going to make it extremely tight to get from Delhi to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, then back to Delhi to get my flight to London on Wednesday.
Despondently, I got the taxi to take me to the Jet Airways (not Jet!) offices. Ah, but of course, it was Saturday afternoon and they had just closed at 2pm. Completely at a loss, and with no Nepali cash at all on me, I got the taxi driver to take me back to Thamel, where I changed one of my last US$10 notes and paid him his 100 Rupees. With my bags I wandered back to my cheapie hotel, and booked back in for the night, unsure of what to do next.
I had a chat with the owner, who offered some helpful advice, but basically there is nothing at all I can do about a visa until Monday, and the process of issuing the visa can take some time. I have to sort out a new flight, but daren't do this until I have the visa in hand. Time is against me, and a goal as simple as seeing the Taj Mahal looks like it may now be slipping out of my reach.
I went out for a cup off coffee, and then back at the hotel, found the electricity off again, considered brushing my teeth and decided against it, and simply crawled into bed, my mind shying away from trying to resolve the problems, and closed my eyes, just wishing for the world to go away for a while!
  
Last day in Kathmandu - I hope!!
Monday, April 26, 2010
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I have been feeling a bit like I imagine Martin Sheen's character, Captain Willard, may have felt in one of the scenes from classic Vietnam war movie "Apocalypse Now". For a while he is stuck for days in a hotel room in Saigon, "getting weaker, while Charlie crouches in the jungle, getting stronger". Well, I have been suffering the Kathmandu version of the same scene, watching my goals slip slowly out of sight, but without even the bottle of whiskey to help pass the time, only the occasional cup of coffee at the cafe round the corner!
   
But finally, things are starting to come together a little bit now. Shailu, manager here at Hotel Nana, has been wonderfully helpful, and introduced me on Sunday to an agent who could help expedite my Indian visa application. We filled in the forms, and first thing this morning I met the agent at the Indian Embassy. The crowds there were huge, and as is often the case at these places, chaos and confusion reigned!
My agent was also processing an application for a German guy, and we got chatting. Another travelling regular, he said, "I got a numbered ticket from the machine when I arrived, just in case!" He showed me his ticket, number 40! I laughed. "Me too," I said, and showed him my ticket, number 41. A little insurance is often wise in these situations. It might have only been about two hours until they got to our ticket numbers! Alot of people were going to have to wait longer than that!
However, our agent was as good as his word, and had ticket number 1, and only ten minutes after the scheduled opening time, the first ticket was called forward - that counts as being on time here in Nepal!
So, hopefully by 6pm this evening my visa will be delivered to the hotel. Back at the hotel before lunchtime, Shailu took me to confirm and pay for the flight he had reserved for me yesterday afternoon, and I now have my second ticket from Kathmandu to Delhi, having paid another $131 - my first ticket was non-refundable, of course!
So this is cutting things very fine, and only gives me 24 hours in India, but I spoke to the wonderfully helpful Avhi back at my trekking company Himalayan Encounters, and he rang a contact in Delhi, who is going to try to organise a car to take me from Delhi to Agra, visit the Taj Mahal, and then back to Delhi again before my flight to London.
It's going to be cutting it very fine to actually arrive at the Taj Mahal in time to get in, but hopefully I will have no issues getting back for my London flight - can't afford to miss that one, as there is still a large degree of travel chaos here after the Icelandic volcano issues earlier this month!
The whole journey is not going to be cheap, I don't imagine, but once again, I really have nobody to blame but myself. I just hope it is worth it!
For the fact that it may still even be possible for me to see the Taj Mahal on this trip, I owe a hugh debt of thanks to both Shailu and Avhi. Despite my issues here in Kathmandu, I still think it is a great place, and there are some wonderfully friendly and helpful people here.
But I still hope that I can escape finally tomorrow morning!!
Goal 84 - Taj Mahal.
Monday, April 28, 2010
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Well, where do I start with this goal? What an unusual, and incredibly full day and a half. This has been one of the most trying and difficult goals to arrange, and I have had many problems to overcome, and ultimately the achievement was a long way from being satisfactory. But the experience of trying to make it happen was quite extraordinary.
Yesterday morning I caught a taxi at 6am to Kathmandu airport, arriving just before 7. My flight wasn't until 9.30, and I was hoping that by being early I might avoid the chaos that I had seen a couple of days earlier. There was already a huge line just to get into the airport, and at the door a few surly security officers were checking passports and tickets. Fortunately I had a paper print out of my ticket, otherwise you are required to get the laptop out and show them your confirmation email!
Inside I was one of the first in line for the Jet Airways check-in. I met one guy there who was on his third visit to the airport to try to get out, as every flight is so overbooked with passengers who have been delayed by the Icelandic volcano problems. Being early was looking like a good idea. I was eventually issued a seat number and a boarding pass.
The waiting room was packed, and incredibly unorganised, and at 9.30 there was still no sign of being able to board. Eventually we got on the plane, but were still on the tarmac at 11am, finally away over an hour and a half late, which meant I landed more than an hour late in Delhi.
Time in India was going to be incredibly tight! With only 24 hours available, public transport was never going to get me to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, and back to Delhi in time for my London flight, and I had no intention of missing that, as another flight would be hard to organise, and a further financial disaster. So, Avhi at Himalayan Encounters in Nepal had arranged for a car and driver to meet me at the airport, and whisk me straight to Agra. It certainly wasn't a cheap option, but was about the only way I was going to get to achieve my goal. My alternative was simply to sit around at the airport for a day and a night, and give up on the goal.
So as I emerged into the sweltering Delhi heat, I was met by Johari, who had a sign with my name on it, and we were on our way. Unfortunately the trip by car takes about five hours, and with the late arrival we only had about a 50:50 chance of getting to the Taj before closing time, depending upon the traffic.
The journey was quite an eye-opener! I had thought Kathmandu seemed chaotic, dirty and disorganised, but India has it beaten hands down! The roads are packed with cars, buses and trucks, and weaving through them are thousands of motorbikes, scooters and bicycles. Thrown into the mixture are hundreds of tuk-tuks coughing black fumes, rickshaws, tractors, and carts being pulled by horses, bulls, or camels. People walk through this speeding chaos to cross the road, and bus passengers climb up and down off bus roofs in the middle of busy intersections. Every second vehicle has a huge reminder painted on the back to use your horn, and every driver does so at every possible opportunity. It is so non-stop noisy!
Johari did his best in the crazy Indian traffic, and for a while we thought we might just make it, but we hit Agra pretty much at rush hour, and the sun was only about half an hour from setting. Eventually we had to admit that we weren't going to get in, and Johari suggested we to another point across the river, where we would have a wonderful view just as the sun was setting. I suggested that if we weren't going in, maybe a couple of beers might be in order, and we bought six monster bottles on the way.
  
The Taj Mahal was very impressive, even from a distance. It is huge, and the people visible across the river, outside the building gave the place some scale - it really is quite breath-taking. The view was only slightly marred by the razor-wire fence in front of us, barring us from getting any nearer.
  
As the sky darkened and an almost full moon rose, Johari pointed out a temple across the river, where bodies were being cremated, their ashes due to go into the holy river in front of us. There were three fires burning, and it was very atmospheric.
  
But we only had about 20 minutes before darkness fell, and I felt a little disappointed that I was achieving this goal in such a poor fashion. For possibly the first time on my travels, it felt a little as if I was simply coming to look at something, so I can tick it off as seen on a list. The feeling was strengthened by the fact that afterwards we simply turned around to head back to Delhi, another five-hour drive through chaotic traffic, this time seeming even more dangerous in the dark.
But it was on the journey back that I really began to appreciate the uniqueness of the whole experience. It had cooled a little, and we drove with the windows wide open. Everywhere was packed with people, and on the outskirts of Agra the poverty was very apparent, some people ovbiously just living under tarps by the roadside, or in tiny mud huts.
But everywhere there were street carts cooking food, and selling all sorts of everything. The smells were wonderful, and basking in the warm glow of a couple of big Indian beers, I hung my head out of the window, and tried to absorb the whole atmosphere. I laughed with Johari, telling him I felt like a dog must feel, head out of the window sniffing at all the unusual smells. I'm imagine my tongue maybe lolled out a bit too. I had only had two bags of crisps since the tiny breakfast on the plane from Nepal.
I had nowhere planned to stay for the night, and asked if Johari had any cheap hotel suggestions, somewhere that would still be open after midnight when we got back to Delhi. Otherwise it was back to the airport for a night on the floor there, I told him. No need, he replied. We had got on really well on the journey, and he had already spoken to his wife, and told her he was bringing a guest home for the night. We wouldn't be stopping for food either, dinner would be ready when we got to his house. I was very flattered.
Johari lives with his wife Indra, and two sons Pritesh and Nilesh, in a tiny one room house, which serves as bedroom, living room, dining room and kitchen all in one. There is a little bathroom too. Also visiting and staying the night was Johari's brother and his son too. Indra made us a fantastic meal of several different curries and sauces, along with hot chapattis, and we finished the remaining beers. My bed for the night was on a small sofa at the end of the bed, and seven of us slept scattered around the small room.
Indra made us omlette for breakfast, and I tried to find the words to express my thanks to her and Johari for their wonderful hospitality. I truly felt so honoured to be taken in by them, a complete stranger breezing through, and to be so well looked after.
Johari came with me first by rickshaw to the metro, and from there to the bus station, where he put me on the right bus for the airport. Once again I tried to express my gratitude, and we said our goodbyes.
Gazing out the window of the bus I thought long and hard about the previous 24 hours, and was so grateful that I had decided to make the journey. As it turned out, the day had little to do with visiting the last remaining seventh wonder that I hadn't yet seen. It was about meeting a new friend, and learning something of the true meaning of hospitality.
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Latest comment about this goal from the Forum
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Love your Courage Ian
by shantanusood1989
Hey I might just be on the wrong place writing this.. I m just a big fan of yours Ian.. And if its possible for me to meet you when you are here in India to visit Taj Mahal. I have some relatives there in agra though i live in a city named chandigarh 160 miles north of Delhi. I love to help you in this particular goal of yours. My e-mail shantanusood.1989@gmail.com. Feel free to ask. I love to do arrangements for you. Thanks. Have a rocking journey and do keep the updates on schedule cause i m following your journey and taking big time inspiration. Good Luck. Enjoy
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"Sweet is a grief well ended.."
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Aeschylus
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