India 2007 - Days 10 to 14 - Bharatpur, Agra and Delhi by Liz Canham

My husband has recently developed an interest in bird watching, so Bharatpur was a must on our itinerary.

The road from Ranthambhore to Bharatpur was 185 kilometres of continuous road works, which took some four and a half hours to negotiate. The original road was in a terrible state and could only accommodate one late of traffic, while the other lane had to use the newly bulldozed, but unsurfaced track!

The hotel was once the residence of Raja Raghunath Singh and was suitably grand in a slightly faded way, but our room was conveniently placed, leading right off the bar/lounge and was extremely spacious. Lunch and a cold beer revitalised us sufficiently to head for the pool where a gloriously coloured kingfisher performed for our enjoyment. When the day was cooling slightly, we set off for the bird sanctuary, where our driver negotiated with two cycle rickshaws to transport us around. No motorised vehicles are permitted in the park, which is also home to herds of nilghai antelope, blackbuck and spotted deer, so the choices are on foot or by rickshaw.

There are more than three hundred species of birds here and we saw about 30 of them, including owls, herons, storks and egrets of various types as well as some more exotic varieties. In the cool of the evening, soundless apart from bird song and the swish of bicycle tyres, it was a very pleasant interlude.

Back at the hotel, we were treated to a traditional Indian puppet show over drinks and dinner. For dinner, we were back on the egg curry again - quite irresistible with dal, rice, naan and dum aloo. Dum aloo is potato, par-boiled then gently stewed in a rich curry sauce of turmeric, garlic, ginger, *****in seeds, ground cloves, cinnamon stick and diced onion all fried up together and mixed with chilli powder and chopped tomatoes.
The next morning we set off for Agra, only 42 kilometres away, where we admired the distant view of the Taj Mahal from our hotel room window and looked forward to seeing the real thing again (third time for me). Meanwhile, samosas called as a lunch time snack, served with a sweet and spicy chilli jam and to follow a browse around the shops admiring the beautiful marble pieces inlaid with semi-precious stones, which follow the designs on the Taj Mahal itself.

Because the pollution was beginning to taint the white marble of the mausoleum, factories and diesel or petrol fuelled vehicles have been banned from the vicinity so the choices of transportation include horse-drawn carriages, rickshaws and electric tuk tuks.

The sun was beginning to set as we reached the Taj by tuk tuk and fought our way through the usual throng of vendors importuning us to buy replica Taj Mahals and postcards galore. The first sight of the building was breathtaking as usual, despite the crowds of visitors, as was its reflection in the facing water channels. Around the side of the setting sun, its rays made the inlay sparkle and flash. Along the Yamuna river is Agra Fort, where Shahjahan, who built the Taj in honour of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, was imprisoned by his son and later died. Across the river is the site where Shahjahan wanted to build a contrasting black marble mausoleum for himself with a silver bridge joining the two.

We walked all around the huge domed building, admiring the four exactly replicated minarets, one at each corner of the platform and went inside to marvel at the inlay work in the inner sanctum where the original marble sarcophagi lie. Here is the only part of the Taj which is not symmetrical. Originally, there was to be only one sarcophagus, which was built in the centre of an area surrounded by an inlaid carved marble screen, but ultimately, Shahjahan was interred here too so a second tomb had to be built to one side.

In spite of the hundreds of people, the Taj Mahal has a peacefulness about it which makes one want to just stay there and look, but finally the sun set and we took our leave.

Having newly discovered the delights of egg masala, we had to try it once again for dinner, with seek kebab and dal.
In the morning, we travelled the four hours by car to Delhi where we discovered our hotel swarming with security personnel as a South Asian conference was taking place in the city and the Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers of several participating nations were staying there. We were no less welcome, however, and the charming staff soon had us settled in. Chinese spring rolls and spicy satay took care of lunch and we lazed away the rest of the day until a dinner at which we ate far too much!

A visit to Humayan's Tomb took up the next morning. Built for Emperor Humayan by his wife Haji Begum, the monument is the inspiration for the Taj Mahal. As at the Taj, the domed mausoleum is set on a raised platform surrounded by shady lawns, water channels and shallow pools, but unlike the Taj, this tomb is built of buff and red sandstone. It too is a peaceful place with stunning views and though lacking the "wow" factor of its Agra counterpart, it has a certain charm.

This evening we have been invited to dinner with the family of the gentleman whose travel agency has organised our tour and they provided a spread to which we could hardly do justice. Our host is the only meat-eater in his family so take-away starters of tandoori chicken and seek kebab were delivered by a small boy. To follow came vegetable soup, made by the teenage daughter of the household, then chickpea dal, vegetable curry and yoghurt and best of all, chapattis hand-made by our host's mother which she delivered to the table in piping hot, soft and melting batches. The background music was the slap slap as she changed the rolled chapatti from one hand to the other before briefly cooking it in a pan then charring it slightly in the flames of the gas stove.

As well as serving wonderful food, the company of this charming family made our final evening in India on this trip a very memorable one.

Liz Canham

As well as a love of Asian Food and Cookery, Liz seeks to help newcomers to the world of internet marketing with tools, tips and training from her Liz-e-Biz.com website.

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