Seat of Our Pants » Uttar Pradesh http://www.seatsofourpants.com An around the world travel blog Sat, 01 Jan 2011 01:08:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 Tying the Knot http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/tying-the-knot/ http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/tying-the-knot/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:36:24 +0000 Jaime http://www.seatsofourpants.com/?p=1879 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Inside Fatehpur Sikri’s mosque lies the stunning white marble tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti. Akbar, the infamous Moghul responsible for the construction of Fatehpur Sikri, consulted this saint four centuries ago hoping for a son. Shaikh prophesied the birth of a son, which came true with the birth of his heir (who imprisoned him in his later years, but that’s another story) in the late 1500′s.

 

And why does all this matter to me, you ask? Well, you might say that I’m investing in my future. Women who hope to have children come to Shaikh Salim Chrishti’s tomb and tie a string to its intricately carved marble screens.

 

So, this is what I did – telling the string that it needed hold off for another year and change.

 

Martin shuffled around, pretending to inspect the tomb. Typical.

 

Mosque courtyard
Mosque courtyard

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]]> http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/tying-the-knot/feed/ 2 Who Let You Out Looking Like That? http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/who-let-you-out-looking-like-that/ http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/who-let-you-out-looking-like-that/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:28:44 +0000 Jaime http://www.seatsofourpants.com/?p=1876
  • You’ve Been on the Road Too Long When… You know you’ve been on the road too long when...
  • Introducing: SOOPics! I’ve spent the last three days elbow-deep in fellow travel...
    • Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]>     Beautiful setting, check.

     

    Sincere, happy smiles, check.

     

    Forgetting to take off your embarrassing hat for the photo, check.

     

    Oh Martin. I love you, but that hat’s gotta go.

     

    What do you all think? Are you with me on this?

     

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    ]]>     http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/who-let-you-out-looking-like-that/feed/ 4     Fatehpur Sikri http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/fatehpur-sikri/ http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/fatehpur-sikri/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:12:44 +0000 Martin http://www.seatsofourpants.com/?p=1871 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Once upon a time, there was an Emperor called Akbar. He went to see a Sufi saint called Shaikh Salim Chisti, who foretold that Akbar would have a male child. When this came true, Akbar was so impressed that he decided to move his capital to the Saint’s obscure hometown – Fatehpur Sikri. Note that Akbar had three wives and five thousand girlfriends, so this story isn’t exactly trustworthy.

     

    When Akbar died, there was no longer any reason to keep the capital here, and the city was abandoned in 1585 after only fourteen years of habitation.

    view from fatehpur sikri 

     

    Today, the well-preserved ruins are nice excuse to go on a day trip from Agra. The only drawback is the swarms of postcard-selling touts, guides and various con-artists that swarm the area. You can avoid these guys by hiring one. We paid a guy two USD to accompany us, and people miraculously stopped approaching us. Believe me, it was far more pleasant this way.

     

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    ]]>     http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/fatehpur-sikri/feed/ 0     The Tunnel http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/the-tunnel/ http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/the-tunnel/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:10:08 +0000 Martin http://www.seatsofourpants.com/?p=1869 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Back in the day, the Mughal Emperor wanted an exclusive way of commuting between his new capital and Agra. He thought it would be handy to be able to show up in either place without having to travel there with his whole entourage. His solution was to have a secret forty kilometer long tunnel built to connect the two.

     

    These doors guard the entrance to that tunnel. I’ve got a hunch that an adventure worthy of Indiana Jones await behind them. Too bad I couldn’t convince my wife that it would be a great idea to bribe the local Imam to let us in. I did talk to a local youngster who said he’d gone five kilometers into it but had to turn around because of cobras and cave-ins.

     

    I’m sure I could have managed in there with a bull-whip and a fedora, but since wifey’s mocking everything I wear these days, I’ve opted to not go tunneling tonight.

     

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    ]]>     http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/the-tunnel/feed/ 0     Agra Fort http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/agra-fort/ http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/agra-fort/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:07:32 +0000 Martin http://www.seatsofourpants.com/?p=1863 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> If you’re the Mughal Emperor and you’ve got a Taj Mahal standing around on your property, you probably want to have a strong fort next to it to scare away your rivals. That is my (completely untrue) theory behind the existence of the Agra Fort.

    Yesterday, we did a hurried tour through the fort – sunset was fast approaching and we needed the sun in order to take good pictures.

    agra fort interior

    I guess that if the Taj Mahal wasn’t in the same town, people would flock here to see the fort on its own – it is that impressive. In the end, the sunset light made for some pretty cool pictures.

    shadows

     

    If you’re interested in the real story behind the fort, I recommend that you check this out.

     

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    ]]>     http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/14/agra-fort/feed/ 0     Taj Mahal! http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/13/taj-mahal/ http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/13/taj-mahal/#comments Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:54:09 +0000 Martin http://www.seatsofourpants.com/?p=1853 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Even if you want to be a super independent traveler, boldly going places where no one else dares (or cares) to go, I say it is still wise to mix in a few super high profile tourist things into your daily sightseeing. Today the turn came to Taj Mahal, a place I first heard about when I was five years old. Back then, I was told that it was one of the absolute wonders of the world, a ultra fantastical creation that symbolizes eternal love, grief and devotion. Talk about a setting myself up for a let-down.

     

    Turns out it isn’t much of a let-down. It IS an ultra fantastical creation that symbolizes eternal love, grief and devotion. It looks absolutely surreal where it stands, surrounded by the polluted industrial city of Agra – a pocket of sublime beauty in the middle of poverty-ridden chaos. This is a trait it shares with the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Actually, if I was more experienced as an India traveler I would be tempted to generalize and say that this is the way things work around here.

     

    On another note, I’m not sure if the trick of ‘holding’ Taj Mahal with your fingertips is something that every visitor does, but it sure looked that way when we were there. Maybe it is a fad that changes from day to day?

     

    holding the taj mahal by the fingertips

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    ]]>     http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/13/taj-mahal/feed/ 0     In All Fairness http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/13/in-all-fairness/ http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/13/in-all-fairness/#comments Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:21:12 +0000 Jaime http://www.seatsofourpants.com/?p=1844 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> I’ve been making fun of myself on this site a lot lately, so I figure it’s only fair to point the finger at my favorite travel buddy, my hussie.

     

    Not only does he now have a huge Mexican-style mustache, for reasons he hasn’t been able to explain to me, he’s also started dressing like an airline check-in attendant.

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    ]]>     http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/13/in-all-fairness/feed/ 4     Living Up to the Motto http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/11/living-up-to-the-motto/ http://www.seatsofourpants.com/2009/10/11/living-up-to-the-motto/#comments Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:06:32 +0000 Martin http://www.seatsofourpants.com/?p=1824 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> So, our original plan was to stay here in Risikesh for a week at least. Jaime wanted to do some yoga, and I was interested in the trekking scene. So far so good, but once we got here we both realized that we don’t really fancy the place much. It’s dirty and gritty, full of Hindu pilgrims and it is bothersome to move around in. The yoga was nice and I’m sure the trekking is righteous – we just don’t want to spend a whole week here.

    We knew that we wanted to go to Nepal next, but also that there’s a lot to see and do between here and there. First, we explored going to Varanasi – a chaotic but significant city that happens to be on the overland route to Kathmandu, Nepal. We started plotting how to get there only to be abruptly informed that we’re in the middle of a major Indian holiday, and that all trains are full until the 23rd. Yikies.

    So we did a seatsofourpants.com, aka a 180, a total turn-around or what I like to call a quick, informed decision. We’re going to Agra tomorrow.

    For those of you who don’t know what that means, I’ve got two words. Taj and Mahal. Expect pictures.

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