
Yesterday, we wrapped up our Trek. In summary, our team of 20 (11 camp staff, 9 trekkers, and 3 horsemen) hiked approximately 104 miles, the equivalent of four marathons with most days over an elevation of over 14,000'. Our high point was reached on the day prior to our final hike day on the pass of Marang La at 5,300 Meters or approximately 17,500'. The two toughest days physically included the preceding pass and one a few days earlier to Zalungkarpola at 17,000'. These two days required 8-9 hours of strenuous hiking.
Please check back in a few days for, "What did we see along the way" including Yak, Yak, Yaks, Mani Walls, Buddhas, Monasteries, Monks and much more. For now, here is our story of the Taj Mahal...
In 1631 Mumtaz, the emperor’s (Shah Jahan’s ) wife, died after giving birth to their 14th child. Out of despair, Shah Jahnan created her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal. It took 22 years to build.
If you don’t know our story, in 1994 Phil was planning to propose to me in front of the Taj Mahal, but we did not make it. As highlighted in our book, Together on Top of the World, here is what happened in Phil’s words…
By the summer of 1994 I had hatched the plan for our engagement. That fall I would be leading a Himalayan trek in Sikkim, a once independent kingdom that was now an autonomous region of India. On the way in I was planning a stop at the Taj Mahal, and I thought, the Taj is the epitome of a man’s love for his wife; what better place to get engaged? So I asked Phursumba, a Sherpa friend who had been living in the States for many years, if he could help me with the arrangements.
“No problem, Sah’b!” Phursumba assured me. “From airport in Delhi to Taj Mahal one hour-and-half, two hours most. We meet you at airport, we have bus take you right to Taj Mahal, you spend the night, we drive you back next morning, you catch flight to Bagdugura, from there you drive to Darjeeling for your trek. No problem!”
So the itinerary was set, Phursumba made the arrangements, and when we boarded the plane in Seattle, I had a diamond ring in my pocket.
The bus had been crawling through the congested streets of Delhi for close to an hour when it became obvious that there was no way we would make it to the Taj in two hours. An hour later, when we were still in the Delhi outskirts, I could see we wouldn’t make it there before dark. “God, I hope it’s open at night,” I thought, “because we have a plane to catch tomorrow morning.” At 7:00 pm we pulled into the parking lot. It was pitch black. No sign of the Taj anywhere. We piled off the bus, the driver went to investigate and I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. But a few minutes later the bus driver returned looking unconcerned. “Taj Mahal close at 6:30,” he said, “but no problem! You come with me!” We piled back in and he drove us a short distance to another building where two women in saris ushered us into a room filled with curios of the Taj. In the center of the room stood a four foot replica of the building. Delighted that the bus driver had wangled a special entrance for us, we sat down on the benches that lined the walls. The two women brought us cups of tea which, after the stifling heat of the bus, we drank gratefully. The two women smiled at us and pointed at the model, and smiled some more and pointed. Respectfully we all got up and admired the model for a third and fourth time. And gradually we understood: we Warren’t getting a special tour of the Taj; we had been brought to a curio shop to purchase souvenirs!
The next morning our flight left from Delhi at the crack of dawn. We were not on it. We had slept for four hours at our hotel near the Taj, then left at 3:30 a.m. for the drive to the airport. The return trip took even longer than the Taj-bound trip as we sat for hours without moving. Even in the middle of the night the temperature was 75 degrees. Hour-and-a-half no problem!...
We plan to visit the Taj tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed, we hope it is day light when we visit this time. It will be so exciting to see one of the “Wonders of the World”.