Around the World: India-Cochin, Agra and Mumbai

We had to be up and ready to go for our overland tour fairly early in the morning as we had to go through customs and immigration. There were about 150 people doing the overland tour with us and we were split up into 6 different groups. We began our overland tour with a bus tour of Cochin where we saw a few churches and a lot of new buildings. The city is slowly re-building things like bridges and main buildings. For the most part we just had a scenic drive through town. The streets are fairly narrow and just barely fit two cars passing each other. We passed a few school yards where people were playing cricket and saw these Chinese fishing nets that the fisherman use. There are huge nets that use a weight system to go in the water and the nets are only used once the water reaches a certain level. Across the street from the nets there was a snake charmer which was surreal. He had three cobras each having its own basket that it sat in and they would come out of their basket and sit straight up...it was really interesting to see. We left for the Cochin Airport to catch our flight to New Delhi where we arrived in the early evening. We had a quick tour of New Delhi and saw the Parliament buildings and then went to our hotel for the night. One thing we quickly noticed in India was that the security is very tight. Ever since the Mumbai bombings a few years ago the airports have raised their security measures where everyone gets patted down after they go through the metal detectors (the lines are split as women have to go one way and men the other) and all carry on baggage has to be checked and stamped by security. Even the hotels have raised their security. Both hotels we stayed in on our overland adventure had metal detectors that you had to go through every time you went into the hotel and all baggage had to go through the scanner as well.

The next morning we had a 4am wake-up call to catch a train to the city of Agra. The train ride was only 2 hours and we were warned numerous times to watch our belongings and that people would hassle us to buy things or give money. When we got off the train and out to the area where our bus was there was a swarm of people trying to get us to buy postcards and jewellery and asking to donate money. Children are often used to beg for money and often you will see 2 or 3 children by themselves asking for money. If you look around you can usually see the adult (usually a man) who is telling them what to do next to try and get you to give them something. At some points during our trip it got so bad that our tour guide Manish would stand at the bus tour and try to block them from hassling us as we got on the bus.

After getting on the bus we went for breakfast at our hotel and then we left to see the Agra Fort. The fort was where royalty had once lived and was high up on a hill that overlooked the Taj Mahal. The fort was huge and had two rooms for each of the king’s daughter. The detail of the walls was very intricate and a lot of semi-precious stones were used in the decoration in the walls. It is still in very good condition today except for a hole in one wall that was from a cannon ball. At one point the British had surrounded it and shot the cannon ball which hit this slate sitting area. The cannon ball ricocheted off the slate and hit an upper wall leaving a large hole.

After the fort we went back to our hotel for lunch and then back out to see the Taj Mahal. Security is very tight around the Taj Mahal so we had to take our tour bus to this tour centre where we got on these battery operated buses which took us about 500 metres down the road and then we had to walk the rest of the way to the entrance. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum and was built by Emperor Shah Jahan for his favourite wife Queen Mumtaz Mahal. The grounds were so busy at some points you could barely move. We had a quick overview of the history and then we were free to walk around ourselves. We really felt out of place especially when people started pointing at us. We were asked three times if people could take their picture with us and we felt kind of weird about that. Someone in our group said that it was because they were envious of us but it definitely didn’t come across that way. All shoes have to be taken off to go inside the Taj Mahal so we had to put these shoe covers on and walk up this very steep stairway to the main level. Once we got the main doors and entered it was chaos. We felt like cattle being herded with a hundred people yelling and pushing. The military that were guarding it were yelling and blowing their whistles and everyone was trying to push their way through a door that was about 5 feet wide. It was crazy! Once inside it was a little calmer. You are able to see the grave (which isn’t the real grave because according to tradition you are not supposed to see it). The inside is a lot smaller then you would think from looking at the monument from the outside. Once you go around the inside circle its back through the narrow doorway this time pushing our way through and then through the outer chambers of the building and out onto the back walkway overlooking the river. Emperor Shah Jahan was trying to create symmetry with the mausoleum so as well as their being 2 minarets on either side of the main building there are two mosques one on either side of the building. Once we were done our tour we met our group and headed towards the exit gates. Our tour guide Manish stopped us and told us if we saw anything that people were selling to let him know and he will get the best price for us and to not negotiate ourselves. Earlier in the day he said he had seen someone buy these peacock feathers for $5 when he said they are worth about 10 cents. All the ladies wanted these bracelets that we had seen on our way in so we did as he said and ignored everyone that came up to us on the way back to the bus. We were swarmed with people and they do not take no for an answer. We got on our battery powered bus which only seats about 15 and people started trying to sell us stuff through the window. They had their hands in the bus with key chains, books and anything else you could think of. They were yelling out prices and everyone else on the bus was yelling prices back and by the time Manish got to our bus to help us there were 2 guys actually on the bus selling stuff and about 6 or 7 selling things through the windows. Just as everyone was almost done the bus driver got annoyed with waiting so he started driving away. Jeff was in the middle of buying something from the guy out our window and the 2 guys were still on the bus. The guy who we were buying from starting running alongside the bus to get our money and to give us change and because the driver wouldn’t slow down the 2 guys on the bus had to jump out the door. Out of all the travelling we have both done I don’t think either of us has experienced something like that. Everyone on the bus just stared at each other for a minute because it was so surreal. As our bus weaved down the street we dodged camels and cows and the occasional dog. We had been warned before arriving in Agra that the driving is a lot different than anywhere else we’ve been. There are no street lights or signs or lanes for that matter. Our guide Manish said to drive in India you need 3 things-good brakes, a good horn and good luck. Numerous times our bus would make a 3 point turn on a very busy road comparable to Hunt Club Rd during rush hour. The honking that we heard in Asia continued and instead of trying to count how many people could fit on mopeds it was how many people can fit in a tuk-tuk- (I think we counted about 7). So at anytime on a road in Agra you may see a camel, dogs and cats, cows or buffalo, horses, chicken, people using the road like we would a sidewalk, tuk tuks, cars and mopeds. There is so much construction going on in this area that their seemed to be more dump trucks then cars. The dump trucks are not like ones we have back home. These trucks are multi coloured usually pink and green and almost always have a name written across the top for example Love, Jimmy or Jesus.

The next morning we were up early again for a 4 hour drive to Delhi to catch out flight to Mumbai to meet the ship. We had an interesting drive to Delhi among many things we saw were a lot of bonfires on the side of the road and people on their roofs praying to the Sun God as the sun came up. People in the small villages that we passed through would just stop what they are doing as the buses went by and of course take out their cell phones to take a pic! Once we landed in Mumbai we had a quick city tour. The first thing we saw was the slums which were unbelievable to see. We learned that people who live in the slums often have good jobs but are just saving up their money to buy a house. On the way through the slums in a traffic jam this moped pulled up beside us with what we thought were dead chickens...until they started to move! He was carrying at least 7 chickens on his mopeds holding them down while he drove. Two of them tried to get away but he put his foot on them to hold them down. CRAZY! On our tour through Mumbai we got pulled over by the police. Because of the terrorist attacks they now do random vehicle checks to see if you have any weapons or bombs...once this was done we headed to the port to get back on the ship. It took us at least a few days to process India with so much going on and seeing so many things but overall we were happy that we went on the overland and got to experience a little but of the culture.