A Scorching Fairytale - Agra

This weekend was the time head to Agra before the weather gets too uncomfortable with the onset of summer. A couple people from work, Nemo and Henna, helped Louise and I plan a day trip out of Gurgaon to see the infamous Taj Mahal and some other sights in the Uttar Pradesh state (neighbors Haryana where I live). Of course I was really anxious to finally see in person what I had always thought of as a fairytale. The forecast was looking warm and those rays were hot - highs above 105° F.

We set out early for our four hour trip to Agra bright and early. About an hour into the trip, everyone's stomach started to rumble and we decided to stop along the way for a much needed Vada Coconut Masala Dosa (highly recommended). We scarfed down a dosa each, plus another one to share between the four of us. Content as little kids in a candy store, we continued on our journey and stopped first in Sikandra to see Akbar's Tomb. This is the resting place of the father of the ruler who created the Taj Mahal, or so I'm told. Beautiful red stone and gardens make way to Akbar's tomb. There weren't too many foreign tourists here in Sikandra, more of the Indian tourists coming to see a great ruler's tomb. The significance of this place is much more than I would ever be able to understand, but it is very important to Indians throughout the entire country.


Through the nightmarish traffic of Agra (read: driving on the wrong side of the road and just slipping by oncoming semis), we eventually made our way to the Taj Mahal. You cannot be dropped off at the entrance to the Taj, but instead at a parking lot about 1.5 kilometers from the main gate. That being said, it's a circus of cycle rickshaws, autoricksaws, horse drawn carriages, and camel drawn carts competing to bring you to the main gate. We opted for the camel and were brought through crowds of other tourists and people trying to sell trinkets of every sort (mostly leather whips actually). We made our way into the the grounds and all the hassle was definitely worth the wait. Walking through the arched entry, you see the white, glistening Taj Mahal in all its beauty. It's surreal. Whenever I had seen the Taj in photos, I always wondered how it could look so "fake" and why the weather was literally always perfect.

In any case, we took in the Taj for awhile in the main entry before we decided to put on a little show for Indian tourists (aka taking silly, crazy photos). People seemed pretty amused, but we continued on for the main reason we were here. You are able to get up close and personal with the mammoth white marble structure and go inside to see the tomb for the lady this Taj Mahal was built (along with her husband, the one who commissioned the work). It's actually a really interesting story, as he was imprisoned by his own son for running up unnecessary finances (essentially) and watched the completion of his majestic Taj Mahal from his prison cell. Every aspect of the Taj Mahal, architecturally-speaking, is really so magnificent. Apparently they also thought this in the 17th century, having brought in only the best craftsmen to work on the Taj, but later cutting off all of their thumbs/hands so as to prevent any replication of the beauty. Also because the air pollution is so bad, researchers and scientists are saying the marble, originally stark white, is becoming yellow. They are considering "encasing" the entire Taj Mahal with some sort of glass case. I hope they will be able to find some sort of alternative to encasing the beauty.

After moseying around the grounds for some time, we decided that it was time to head out. Fatehpur Sikri is another site fairly close the the Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh, which was once the capital to the Mughal Empire. The site is kind of a tourist trap full of aggressive touts, but we were able to get some peace and explore this fort/mosque. There is a nice view looking out onto the plains from the front gate. As the call to prayer started playing over the speakers at the mosque, we decided to was time to get on the road and head back to Gurgaon/Delhi.

I'm no history buff, but seeing these kinds of monuments beyond their architectural beauty and trying to understand them for historical significance is difficult sometimes, but just the sheer magnitude of these sites really puts things into perspective.

Here's a link to my photos of Agra and Uttar Pradesh in Google Photos/Picasa Web Albums (also links from below slide show).

One Week in India

It's been a week since I first arrived in India, and oddly I feel fairly settled both at work and at home. I had been hearing a lot about the "oppressive" heat in Delhi during the spring and summer months, but have found it to be very tolerable so far (check back in a month and I think I'll be singing a different song). My initial impression of Delhi/Gurgaon was that it is a bustling controlled chaos. There is always something going on and it's very much true that there you'll be lucky to find yourself in your own space with peace and quiet.

Coming into Gurgaon from Delhi's airport, I immediately noticed the stark contrast between the 

ultra-modern office buildings alongside squatter neighborhoods. On the highway, I pulled out my camera because this development surprised me and low and behold the photo I took from the highway was actually our office building! Here's a photo at left. Driving down the streets you see Mercedes, cows, scooters with entire families aboard, cycle rickshaws, walkers, and everything in between. Again, it's this kind of controlled chaos going on - Gurgaon is super crazy with construction everywhere, bad traffic, and just lots of people in general.

I'm staying at an apartment with some other co-workers and it's a lot of fun and really comfortable. It's about 10 minutes drive to the office in the morning and usually around 15 minutes on the way home. Luckily, Gurgaon is only 8km from Delhi...you'd think it would be a hop and skip away. Traffic usually won't allow that, but the longest it has taken me to get anywhere in Delhi has been 45 minutes (crossing my fingers it stays that way).

The first day I arrived, I met up with Megan and some of her friends at a market called Dillihat. There were tons of sarees, other textiles, jewelry, and supposedly really good food in the food court which looked like a concrete park. We opted to head to a pretty swanky Indian restaurant called Punjabi By Nature in Visant Vihar (a neighborhood in Delhi). We had a nice Indian feast complete with dhal, naan, spicey mushrooms, tikka masala, and more. This was definitely a nice culinary introduction to the country and made my taste buds super happy.

I spent the rest of the week becoming acclimated to the office and my new team here in Gurgaon. The office is very young (I'd put the average age well below 25), extremely kind, and generally easygoing. Trying to learn everyone's name is the most difficult part of it all. Not only is it difficult to pronounce a name when I see it on paper, I also have to match it to the person's face (pointing out the obvious here). I've been trying all kinds of new Indian food in the office cafe and again just trying to meet a lot of people. Each night after work we come home to a cooked Indian meal which is always great and something I very much look forward to.

It's only been a week, but again I feel very calm and settled in already. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I suppose that means I can better concentrate on work. I'm also getting really excited about exploring more of Delhi, and India in general. Delhi seems to be a great launching pad to reach many of India's great travel destinations by both rail and air.

First Thing's First - Taiwan

Chicken pie, hot springs, pearl tea, Mandarin, green, and bustling. These are some of the things that come to mind thinking about Taiwan. Before heading to India, I decided to take a small detour in Taiwan for about six days. I had never been there before, but had heard lots of great things and figured this was as good as time as any to make a quick stop in Taipei. Of course, many think of Taiwan as a mix between the urban centers of China and Hong Kong, but Taiwan is really different from any of those larger cities.

After bathing in my own sweat and getting a ride from a random person I met asking for directions, I made my way into a nice little hostel in Taipei. I spent quite some time in Taipei wandering around, and made the visit to our office in Taipei 101 (arguably the tallest inhabited building in the world to date). Other stops in the city included the Shilin night market, in all its splendor. We're talking lanes and alleys filled with different shops, from puppy and pet stalls to carnival-like games, ear candle stations, and everything in between. Thanks to a very modern (and super cheap) metro system, I was able to cover a lot of ground and get into some very interesting neighborhoods. Ximen, a modern commercial neighborhood similar to Mong Kok in Hong Kong, was one of my favorites. Just the sheer buzz and total commercialism in the place made for lots to do, and of course eat.

I knew that I wanted to relax and get some time to clear my mind before heading to India, so I set out on a little journey southward to Tainan, the oldest city in Taiwan. A great pedestrian city, but also a great jumping off point to some great places including the Southern Island Highway, and one of Taiwan's most scenic and quiet hot springs. It's a long story, but getting to that hot springs ended up being close to impossible so I took in the city and made my way back to Taipei the next evening.

I managed to be center stage at the Beitou hot springs, which are accessible by the metro system in Taipei, by being yelled at over a loud speaker in front of about 100 people. Apparently there are some very strict rules about using hot springs, such as no wading - it's either completely in down to your chest or completely out. After realizing that all eyes were on me, I put two and two together and got out of the pool. I also didn't realize that the seven or so pools were organized based on temperature (the highest one on the hill was closest to the source and as a result the hottest and least crowded, so foolishly I tried to enter this one first and cried like a little baby).

I was able to use this knowledge heading to Jiaosi the next day, which is a beautiful two-hour train ride from Taipei on the east side of the island. We're talking some great hot springs here, that supposedly had just been visited by Taiwan's highest and most important political figures. I spent several hours in the public hot springs, probably the best $2 I spent in Taiwan. It was great...so relaxing, and I even found a hotel for the night that pulled their water from the hot spring as well.

Taiwan is an amazing mix of urban jungle and lush green countryside with something always going on. Floating in for a few days and seeing a lot of the comforts I'm used to (aka the Patagonia store in downtown Taipei), is something that I'll hopefully be able to grow on in the near future. I also realized that I really need to sit down some day and learn some more Mandarin. Sometimes I feel like a chicken with my head chopped off.

Here's a link to my photos of Taiwan in Google Photos/Picasa Web Albums (also links from slide show below).

A Brief Blog Introduction - Gurgaon

Looks like cabin fever finally got the best of me in San Francisco. It's now just two days until I take off on my six-month journey to India. Yikes. My new home during this time will be in Gurgaon, located just outside of Delhi in the northern part of the India. I know this is going to be a great adventure, but I'll admit I'm little nervous. Ask me anything about India, Gurgaon, or my work, and I probably won't know where to start.

What I do know is that Gurgaon has boomed during the past decade thanks to its economic success and has a population of nearly 300,000, give or take a hundred thousand depending on your source. The quick economic growth has come with some headaches in that the city's infrastructure (new roads, public transportation, etc.) haven't kept up with the pace of growth. Gurgaon is, however, home to some glitzy commercial centers, aka malls, and I believe may even be home to India's largest mall (this is through the grapevine, yet to be confirmed). Let's just say that Gurgaon is really booming.

Want to know what the heck I'm talking about? Here's an article that was published recently in the New York Times about India's fast-paced growth and need for energy. There are some good photos of Gurgaon which give you at least some idea of what I mean. You can check out the article here (click the name): "Thirsting for Energy in India's Boomtowns and Beyond".

Check out Wikipedia for the complete article on Gurgaon.

I'm definitely excited to be in the thick of this part of India that is quickly growing, power outages and all.

I'm hoping to document as much as possible in this blog.
Stay tuned for more...