11th to 17th Nov 2006 - Trip to India

On the night of the 11th Nov, Clint and I, together with 2 other colleagues of mine, arrived at Indira Gandhi Airport in Delhi. After much bargaining with a taxi driver, we finally settled on a taxi fare which we find reasonable (cheap to be exact), and he took us to Crowne Plaza Hotel.

We had hotel breakfast (yummy!) pretty late the next morning, and went to visit a few places near the hotel. Clint and I took a tuk-tuk (also known as auto-rickshaw) which was an "exciting" start to our adventure. In short, there were times we went against traffic, there were times the vehicles in front or beside us were away from us by the length of hair at the back of my neck. The tuk-tuk drivers were very competent though....considering how chaotic the traffic conditions. No accidents whatsoever.

The highlights for Clint and I during our first day were: a 800 year-old tomb of a king, and the National museum of India.



Family "car"



The tomb, housed by a grand building



National Museum of India




13th (Mon) to 15th (Wed) Nov, I attended the conference with my colleagues....the real reason why we're in India. I had a poster presentation, but I mostly attended seminars by other scientists.





The day after my conference ended, Clint and I, together with my 12 other colleagues, went on a tour to Agra.....where Taj Mahal is. It took the tour bus about 7 hours to get there and we managed to complete our Taj Mahal tour before sunset. The building is astonishing! I felt a sense of serene just looking at it. Something about the white marble....and perhaps due to the fact that it was built with love at heart.

"In December 1631, the fifth Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan, commenced the construction of one of the greatest monuments of all time, the Taj Mahal. It is a mausoleum built in the memory of his beloved and favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, fulfilling one of the promises that he made to her as she lay on her deathbed:
To erect a monument to match her beauty."







On the 17th (Fri), we toured Fatehpur Sikri, situated 26 miles west of Agra, and Agra Fort on our way back to Delhi to catch our return flight. Fatehpur Sikri is built at the orders of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. While Akbar himself was illiterate, he took a keen interest in literature, architecture, and the arts. He is also reputed to be a very tolerant ruler, and the buildings at Fatehpur Sikri blended both Islamic and Hindu elements in their architectural style. One of the buildings even reflects the new sycretistic faith founded by Akbar, Din-e-ilahi, which though very short-lived remains a matter of controversy.

Popular legend has it that since Akbar was without an heir for a long time, he made a pilgrimage to the renowned Sufi saint, Sheik Salim Chisti, to seek his blessings. When a son -- later to be known as Jahangir -- was born to him, Akbar named him after the saint as a mark of his gratitude and built the new capital to mark his birth. Construction of the new ceremonial capital, with its elaborate palaces, formal courtyards, reflecting pools, harems, tombs and a great mosque, commenced in 1571. A large number of masons and stone carvers worked hard on an area that was over two miles long and a mile wide; they used a brilliant red sandstone available locally, which provides the buildings with much of their lustre. Shortly after the work was completed fifteen years later, it was realized that there was a lack of an adequate water supply and the pristine complex was abandoned.




Clint standing beside the emperor's bed


This is how Agra Fort looks like. There's too much about the building for me to write in my blog, but here's a great place to know more. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agra_Fort




In short, we had fun in India and really enjoyed the indian food there, although I suffered bad stomachache (stomach flu and indigestion) on my last day and was even feverish. Please go to my photo album: http://joannelyh.myphotoalbum.com/ to look at the complete set of photos I took. A few of them, mostly the ones with me inside, are from my colleagues.