(Article published in the weekly independent Accès Laurentides October 26)
I try to sleep, but vain. Vendors of tea, pakoras - vegetables fried in chickpea flour and bottled-water crowd into the aisle of the sleeper train that starts 12 hours of endless journey. Transport in India have no parallel for measuring our degree of patience. Obviously we would need a life for us to do.
"Ugo we play a game of chess? "
Silence. Or rather, heavy breathing in the bed from above telling me that I am only one not to sleep. Comfortable like a sardine in a box, I grab my travel guide, dog-eared as the Bible at the bedside of my grandmother, then browse the description of the Mughal city of Agra. This city is home to one of the seven wonders of the modern world and the most popular attraction of India: the Taj Mahal. We are going with the reluctance of tourists seeking to leave the beaten track.
The story behind the majestic palace, however, arouses my interest. The Taj Mahal was built in the seventeenth century, at the request of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's tomb to receive his second wife died giving birth to her 14th child. No other monument built for love is so great.
Five years after construction - which will need 22 years of work and 20 000 workers in total - a son of the emperor who was not heir to the throne, murdered his brothers and imprisoned his father and seize the kingdom. But he has had the kindness (or cruelty) to leave his father views Taj on the back of his dark dungeon where he mouru eight years later. What a dramatic story!
Also in the travel guide, I read a avertisssement reinforces my concerns about this visit: the popularity of the mausoleum has transformed the streets of neighborhoods festival touts of all kinds. They watch your every move. Looking for accommodation, taxi, currency exchange or a restaurant? Here, someone always answers to your needs ... in exchange for a good commission.
I dozed on and the bad news shakes me awake for lorsqu'Ugo announce our arrival
The circus begins as scheduled. We were harassed on all sides. Even the monkeys are part of me stealing the candy and milk that was my breakfast. No mercy!
"We must keep our composure and understand the information. Here is the law of survival. "Throws me Ugo wisely.
It loses some of his wisdom before the entry price to the famous Taj:
"20 bucks! Flight! "
You tell me that's the cost of a cheap restaurant in Quebec, I would say that it is four days of food and accommodation in India. Spend or not spend? Dilemma ... Good. Let's go! We do not often go in the corner after all.
We reject some false guides and a dozen homeless currency changers, and then literally earn our place in paradise. Meet before the Taj Mahal is magical and unreal. Even our photos look like watercolors. Tourists abound, perhaps, but nothing can dispel the feeling of grandeur that we invaded before the huge marble dome which reflected the first rays of sun. Canaries and convinced of being in the right place at the right time, we take a deep breath. An unforgettable moment!
I'd rather not tell you a little later, we get ripped off by a taxi driver. It is better to forget it!
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