Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Over the course of a month of traveling, you’ll end up using a lot of different types of transportation. Obviously, there’s a bunch of taxis and buses, but southern Asians use a variety of different transportation methods as part of their daily lives. Here’s a sampling of how we got around India, Nepal and Thailand.

Clockwise from left: Waiting for the metro train in Kawagoe; The Delhi Metro; Bangkok Metro (MRT)

We had five flights on our trip: Tokyo to Delhi, Kathmandu to Bangkok, Bangkok to Koh Samui, Nakhon Si Thammarat to Bangkok and Bangkok to Tokyo

We took a pink taxi in Bangkok similar to this one (Photo by Ilya Plekhanov, Wikipedia Commons)

Tuk-Tuks or auto-rickshaws are a common way to get around in southern Asia. We used them frequently in India and Thailand.

Business class seating in a passenger train from Agra to Jhansi in India. Pretty comfy and clean.

Only electric vehicles are allowed near Taj Mahal as the pollution was beginning to turn Taj’s marble yellow. We rode a cart similar to this one to the gates (Photo from jotarofootsteps.blogspot.com)

In India and Nepal, our tour group used private buses and vans to move shorter distances. Usually our luggage was tied to the top and usually someone climbed on top of the van to get it down.

Inside the horror show that was the sleeper train from Orchha to Allahabad in India. A group of men argued loudly all night in the bunk across from us. (Hey Farren!)

On the Ganges River in Allahabad, we drifted in sailboats to a remote beach where we camped and played cricket.

In Varanasi, India, we used motor boats to watch the sunrise opposite the city’s famous ghats.

Riding a bicycle rickshaw in the streets of Varanasi, India. We felt bad having another human being peddle us around, but it was better than having to walk back to our hotel.

We rode a bus to the India/Nepal border, then crossed the border on foot before boarding another bus to our hotel in Lumbini, Nepal

In the Narayani Zone in Nepal, we toured the local village on bicycles. We both got a “Hero Queen” bike.

Our group loaded into two canoes and paddled our way to Chitwan National Park in Nepal

In Chitwan National Park in Nepal, we saw one-horned rhinoceros and crocodiles from our safari jeep

In Koh Samui, we rented a scooter for the day and poked around the east side of the island. Later, in Nakhon Si Thammarat, we rode on the back of scooter-taxis to our songthaew to Kiriwong Village.

To reach Thailand’s Angthong National Marine Park, you have to catch a ride with a tour boat. We camped on Angthong’s main island for a couple nights and returned with another boat.

Both days we were on Angthong, we rented a kayak and paddled out into the Gulf of Thailand

Long-tail boats are widely used in Thailand by fishermen and tour companies

We finally pried ourselves off of Koh Samui and took a large ferry boat to the mainland. Dozens of cars sat below deck. Above deck, comfy seats, televisions, massage services and a convenience store were available for passengers.

Songthaew‘s are one of Thailand’s primary public transportation methods. The modified pickup trucks stop along fixed routes and have padded benches in the covered truck bed. People hop on and off along the route. 

Twice we rode in the back of a pickup truck. In Kiriwong Village, Thailand, a Thai from Krabi helped us set up our homestay lodging and gave us a ride to the house.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat, a woman named Joon helped us make change for our songthaew fare, then went out of her way to give us a ride to our hotel in the back of her pickup truck. Her mother was driving and stopped for a snack along the way while her two daughters enjoyed their 7-11 Slurpees.

In Kiriwong Village, we hired a local guide to take us hiking to the waterfalls in Khao Luang National Park. He picked us up on his motorcycle. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see my wife again when I snapped this picture! 🙂

In the old part of Bangkok, water taxis run up and down the Chao Phraya River, dropping passengers at the big tourist spots. They’re crowded and the boat attendants do a lot of yelling and pushing.

What’s the craziest method of transportation you’ve ever taken in your travels? Leave a comment below!

Behind the Walls of Agra Fort

The morning after our visit to Taj Mahal, the breathtaking experience still fresh in our minds, we woke up early wondering how you follow up something like that.

We started the day with a taste of an authentic Indian breakfast: brown bread and hard-boiled eggs, curry and fry bread. The British influence showed as well with the ubiquitous beans and toast. And coffee. Sweet nectar of life at the early hour.

The rest of our group joined us at breakfast; a fellow Cascadian from Washington, two Aussies and a Canadian (sounds like Cascadian!) from Toronto. After breakfast, our now-complete group hopped aboard a bus toward Agra Fort.

Agra Fort is one of India’s many UNESCO World Heritage Sites, added to the list in 1983. Our local tour guide was excellent—a man in his 80s with encyclopedic knowledge of the fort’s long history. While the original structure dates to the 11th century, the Mughal Empire rebuilt the Fort over several years in the 1500s, turning it into a palatial castle. The Indian military still uses a portion of the fort for training.

Openings in the outer wall provided protection for archers from outside invaders. Larger openings at the top of the wall were used to pour hot oil on those who dared make it that far.

I couldn’t help but have flashes of The Wall from Game of Thrones as we entered. The front of the castle, built from towering red sandstone, is fortified by layers of security. A drawbridge provides a crossing over the old moat, which was once full of hungry crocodiles. Once inside, the gate is protected by a “dry moat” of land between two walls. Openings along the top of the wall provided openings for crossbow fire or the pouring of hot oil or boiling water on enemies waiting at the gates.

Inside the Agra Fort palace grounds

But if you’re lucky enough to be invited inside, paradise awaits. Imperial palaces open into living spaces that were once adorned with silk curtains, ornate carpets and beautiful marble carvings. It’s easy to imagine people living a life of comfort in these places.

Left: Semi-precious stone inlay work appears as vibrant as the day it was set. Right: Paint and gold leaf has faded over the years, but is still visible in areas protected from the weather.

The gold leaf and paint has long since faded, but the inlay work remains as vibrant today as it was 400 years ago. Onyx, turquoise and other semi-precious stones are laid in intricate patterns in white Indian marble. Indian marble is more porous than Italian marble, so the light shines through,  creating a translucence that brightens the space.

The emperor had an excellent view of Taj Mahal from his throne, especially in the pre-pollution days

Atop the palace, the emperor’s throne platform sits in the middle of the public audience space. Taj Mahal fills the distant sky, although only a ethereal outline was visible in the morning haze.

Agra Fort and Religious Symbolism

In Muslim tradition, gardens complete every open space. Outside, the fort’s mosque shines a bright white, built with the leftover marble of Taj Mahal.

Agra Fort’s mosque was built using marble leftover from the construction of Taj Mahal

Religion plays a major role in the customs and behaviors of Indian society. India is the birthplace of Hinduism, the world’s oldest religion which helped spawn Buddhism and Jainism among others. But, while religion seems to create divisiveness in our modern world, it wasn’t always the case.

Symbols from Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity adorn one of the Agra Fort palaces. Can you spot them all?

The reign of Akbar the Great during the late 1500s was a time of religious unity. Disillusioned by Islam, he created Dīn-i Ilāhī, bringing the best elements of all the major religions of the time together. As such, many of the buildings of the era are adorned with the symbols of Hinduism (swastika), Buddhism (lotus flower), Islam (arches), Judaism (Star of David) and Christianity (cross).

The Hindu swastika vs. the Third Reich swastika

The swastika is prevalent throughout India, but not for the twisted meaning it holds in Western culture today. Originally, the swastika was the Hindu symbol of unity and peace. In artwork, it joins different symbols components together, creating an infinite flow. Unfortunately, it was given a different meaning in the 1930s when it was rotated 45 degrees and became a symbol of Germany’s Third Reich.

Agra Fort Fun Facts

• Agra Fort was originally built from bricks. The earliest recorded reference of the fort is from 1080 AD.
• Agra was the second capital of India (1556-1658) and Agra Fort served as the headquarters of Indian government.
• The walls of the fort are 70 feet tall or about seven stories.
• Agra Fort plays a key role in the Sherlock Holmes’ novel “The Sign of the Four.”
• More than 1.4 million workers participated in the “remodel” during the 1500s.

Taj Mahal

Photographs are a wonderful medium. They can be a passport to a world you’ve yet to see or a visual supplement to your memory. But they often fail to capture the magnitude of the real thing.

We’ve all seen pictures of the great Taj Mahal, but even the most realistic photo is no replacement for the firsthand experience.

Darwaza-i Rauza, the gateway to Taj Mahal

The road to Taj is lined with pedestrians, rickshaws, horse-drawn carts and electric buses making the pilgrimage to the world’s greatest memorial. Non-electric vehicles are no longer allowed in the area as the pollution was beginning to yellow the white marble. Once inside the complex, a path leads to Darwaza-i Rauza, the main gate. A wall separates you from the garden, but you catch a glimpse of the famous dome and minarets. “Neat,” you think to yourself.

The first glimpse of Taj Mahal through the Darwaza-i Rauza gateway

But then, as you approach the main gate, you see it for the first time. A noise emits from your insides; something like “Wow” but not quite forming any actual word.

Viktoria watching the sunset

The word “breathtaking” is used frequently to describe beautiful things, but Taj slugs you in the heart, steals the wind from your lungs and replaces it with a new understanding of beauty. It was intentionally built with nothing in the skyline behind it, meant to resemble heaven… Paradise. And it does. The glowing white marble of the perfectly-symmetrical monument to love sits in front of a blue blanket, beckoning us home.

Side view of Taj Mahal from the front of the guesthouse

Sunset view from the front-left minaret. The marble took on a yellow-pink hue.

Standing at the back corner of Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal Fun Facts

• Taj Mahal was commissioned by Emperor Shah Jahan in the 1630s in honor of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died while giving birth to the couple’s 14th child. Her tomb is in the exact center of Taj Mahal.
• While the origins of the name are sketchy, “Taj Mahal” is usually translated as “Crown of the Palace” which is a play on the translation of Mumtaz Mahal’s name (“Exalted One of the Palace”).
• Construction took 22 years. More than 22,000 workers and 1,000 elephants participated in the building process.
• The building is perfectly symmetrical with one exception. Upon his death, Shah Jahan’s tomb was constructed to the right of his wife’s tomb. It is the only non-symmetrical permanent structure in Taj Mahal.
• The minarets appear to be straight, but they actually tilt outward slightly. If they collapse, they’ll fall away from the main building into the open grass on the front side or into the Yamuna River on the back side.
• Identical red sandstone buildings appear on the east and west side of the main structure. A mosque is located on the west side, facing Mecca. A guesthouse was built later on the east side to provide symmetry to the grounds.
• Taj Mahal was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983.

Everybody, This is India… India, Meet Everybody

Americans routinely use words like “broke” or “poor” to describe why we can’t go out with friends, take a vacation or buy a new car. We’ve coined the hashtag of “#FirstWorldProblems” to describe many of our daily trials and tribulations. We are spoiled.

India—or more accurately, Taj Mahal—was on our short list of “must visit” places in Asia during our time in Japan. An easy 10-hour flight from Tokyo, it was more accessible than ever. But you can’t fly 10 hours to see just one thing, so we looked for help crafting the perfect itinerary. In the end, we chose Intrepid Travel‘s Delhi to Kathmandu, Nepal trip.

An alley in Central Delhi near our hotel

Our trip began in India’s capital city of Delhi. Before arriving in Delhi, phrases like “developing nation” and “extreme poverty” were buzzwords on Sunday morning political shows or keywords in a college thesis. But they weren’t real. They didn’t have faces.

Aside from well-known landmarks like Taj Mahal or the Ganges River, the reality of India is largely ambiguous in the minds of most Americans, myself included. India is an emerging power on the geopolitical landscape. It is a large landmass in the center of an unstable part of the world with an increasingly wealthy upperclass. As such, it’s an important national security ally of the United States in the fight against terrorism. It’s battling China for the title of world’s most populous country with more than 1.2 billion inhabitants.

A main street in Central Delhi. Shopkeepers clean up the sidewalks as best they can, but the trash will pile up again throughout the day.

But it’s also a country with considerable poverty. Poverty unlike anything that exists in the U.S. and certainly unlike anything I’ve seen firsthand until now. According to World Bank, India has the largest concentration of impoverished people in the world. Delhi alone is home to 22 million people in an urban area the size of Jacksonville, FL. New construction dots the city, but not fast enough to replace crumbling residential buildings and spotty infrastructure.

Looking down at a typical Delhi street scene from Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, Delhi’s largest Sikh temple

As tourists, we’re discouraged from giving handouts of food or money. There’s a larger strategy at play to quell the national poverty problem. But try ignoring a toothless grin from an elderly lady at the train station or the children, undernourished and dressed in dirty rags, wading through traffic begging for change from passersby who drive a new Audi or Mercedes-Benz. These aren’t the guys in a Columbia jacket standing on the freeway ramp with a “Why lie, I need a beer” sign. This is real, life-and-death stuff and it’s heartbreaking.

Government propaganda encourages a “green” Delhi, yet trash piles up in the streets. An editorial in The Times of India newspaper claimed (with tongue firmly planted in cheek) that throwing trash in the street is part of the national identity. The government is also encouraging the use of toilets instead of doing business in the open. Since October 2014, a government program has provided more than 500,000 toilets in homes across the country, but is fighting a perception that indoor toilets are unhygienic.

Yet, in a situation that seems unresolvable, India is trying to move forward. The country was still buzzing from President Obama’s visit the week before we arrived. When we told people we were from America, they’d reply with a big grin and say “Obama!” More importantly, they see that the U.S. finally understands the seriousness of India’s successful development.

Today’s India is a country breaking free of an imperial past. Despite its ancient history, it’s only been independent from the British since 1947. It’s a country resetting the expectations imposed by a caste system that determines a person’s lot in life simply by the family they’re born into. There’s unprecedented access to education, yet many are still not participating, young women in particular.

My goal is that this is the last of the “book report” posts about India… our travels through the country were amazing, inspiring and enlightening. But, to present India only through the lens of its natural beauty is to do a disservice to the realities facing its people and the efforts of those who have literally given their lives in the development of the nation (Mahatma Gandhi and his daughter-in-law Indira Gandhi to name a few).