Under- and overwhelmed
Would you think me a philistine if I confessed that I was rather unmoved by the Taj Mahal?
Yes, it's big. Yes, it's beautiful. Yes, it's mobbed with tourists. The Rough Guide notes the admission price (750 rupees, or about USD 17.50, for foreign tourists; 20 rupees for Indians), and notes that it's worth the money because everyone is blown away. Well, I wasn't. Don't get me wrong: I'm not sorry that I went, exactly: I've just been places that I liked much more.
Like this morning, for instance. I started out my day in Agra at the Itmud-al-Doulah, a small mausoleum on the other side of the river. It was one of the most surpassingly lovely and peaceful places I've ever been. Much, much smaller than the Taj, which I think actually made it more approachable. I mean, I adore St. Paul's Cathedral, but my favourite churches tend to be little abandoned wayside ones. I don't think I like the shock and awe approach so much. I have (I hope) lovely pictures of the inlay, which I'll try to add later: at the moment, I'm working in a small internet cafe, with the computer sealed behind a partition that doesn't allow me to connect my camera to it. Not meaning to keep harping on this, by my appreciation of the Itmud-al-doulah was enhanced by the fact that I was one of only about 2 dozen people in the entire park-like enclosure. There were 4 other tourists, a couple of families resting in the grass, a few courting couples, and some groundskeepers. I climbed a crumbling staircase along one wall and sat in a tower overlooking the courtyard of what was obviously a girls' school next door for a while. The Indian school system -- or at least this representative of it -- seems to depend in part on group recitation.
I've heard bad things about the consistency of Agra's internet connections (to say nothing of the electricity that powers it), so I'm going to post this now, and then add more sections.
Yes, it's big. Yes, it's beautiful. Yes, it's mobbed with tourists. The Rough Guide notes the admission price (750 rupees, or about USD 17.50, for foreign tourists; 20 rupees for Indians), and notes that it's worth the money because everyone is blown away. Well, I wasn't. Don't get me wrong: I'm not sorry that I went, exactly: I've just been places that I liked much more.
Like this morning, for instance. I started out my day in Agra at the Itmud-al-Doulah, a small mausoleum on the other side of the river. It was one of the most surpassingly lovely and peaceful places I've ever been. Much, much smaller than the Taj, which I think actually made it more approachable. I mean, I adore St. Paul's Cathedral, but my favourite churches tend to be little abandoned wayside ones. I don't think I like the shock and awe approach so much. I have (I hope) lovely pictures of the inlay, which I'll try to add later: at the moment, I'm working in a small internet cafe, with the computer sealed behind a partition that doesn't allow me to connect my camera to it. Not meaning to keep harping on this, by my appreciation of the Itmud-al-doulah was enhanced by the fact that I was one of only about 2 dozen people in the entire park-like enclosure. There were 4 other tourists, a couple of families resting in the grass, a few courting couples, and some groundskeepers. I climbed a crumbling staircase along one wall and sat in a tower overlooking the courtyard of what was obviously a girls' school next door for a while. The Indian school system -- or at least this representative of it -- seems to depend in part on group recitation.
I've heard bad things about the consistency of Agra's internet connections (to say nothing of the electricity that powers it), so I'm going to post this now, and then add more sections.
posted by Ruth | 8:00 AM
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