Day 28 & 29,
Sept. 7 & 8

Right on time at 5:15 am my driver was ready at the door to take me on my tour of Agra and Jaipur. I was told he spoke three languages and one of them was English. He must have spoken two languages because one of them was not English. I found that out right away. So, it became a kind of silent two days. He did understand the rules (?) of the road – that is, he knew how to maneuver in dense traffic - and made sure we got to our places of interest on time. Despite the language problem we enjoyed our breaks together and stops for lunch and dinner. This was my first time eating at (shall we say) non-four star restaurants. They were good and very cheap ($4.00 for two people coming out full) and I think healthy.
Without a doubt all the long driving for two days was worth it for one special stop – at the Taj Mahal. It is one of those rare works of art that stuns you even though you saw thousands of pictures of it. I knew what to expect and yet I just had to sit down and gawk at it for a while. I had tht feeling a few times. One was seeing the ‘David’ in Florence. The view from a distance was spectacular; then, close up, the detail work was exquisite as the guide showed us the translucence of the marble and the glow of some of the inlaid precious stones. All the guide did for us besides putting a flashlight out to show us the quality and property of the marble was show us all the angles that provided us excellent views I would have missed. I missed one important thing. Our car lost its A/C. I was also in need of an alignment. He directed us to a shop, drove us to the site, drove us back and took us to a good and relatively moderately priced restaurant
We paid for his dinner before we went to the Red Fort. He was being paid $10.00 to show us both places. He got a call and dumped us but not before giving us a rebate on his charge. The Red Fort was very interesting as it began to click in my head the relationships among Indian, Chinese, Egyptian, and other Ancient Near Eastern architecture, religion and culture. There does seem to be a thread that connects them all.
After those two sites we had to make a 4 hour drive to Jaipur. So, we hightailed it out to get to the Cathedral where they expected us to arrive far earlier than we could make it. And the traffic was horrible as cars, buses, heavy trucks, three wheel cabs, bicycles, ox carts, and the always present cows vied for position on the National Highway. They ought to make a video game with actual film from the road. It would frighten the most hip teenager into not wanting a driver license.
We got to the Cathedral late. They had a meal waiting for us and beds. I needed the bed more. The next morning, after a good sleep, I concelebrated Mass, had breakfast and started out to see the amazing features of Jaipur. There was the Hawa Mahal with its unique façade that you can see out of but not in. It was designed in 1778 for the Rationalist raja Sawai Singh who would have loved Jefferson. He also built the Jant Mantar, a park of oversized astronomical instruments that are still precise. Then there was the magnificent Palace with its museum.
Having done the city, there were the wonders of the countryside. Thee wee the two parts o the Amber Fort. It has religious, military, and cultural components that ae outstanding. There’s also the Jai Mahal which was built in the middle o the lake with three stories under water.
It was a good trip. Once again e hauled it back to Delhi through the traffic to make it back by 8 pm. We almost made it. Dinner with the staff o CBCI was scheduled at 8:30 and I made it early. The conversation s cordial as it built relationships. I had the chance to sound out a bishop who arrived for a meeting the next day about how Love & Care can and, perhaps, should work. He had no problem with India providing priests to the US. Nor did anyone else. To the contrary they welcomed the opportunity.