Bijapur
India 2017
We woke up when it was still completely dark outside, but by the time we got ready and went out, it had already gotten lighter. The city was just waking up, there were few cars on the street, and people along the road were sitting by campfires. We were walking to watch the sunrise at Gol Gumbaz.
We had already passed by this enormous mausoleum many times, because we live very close by. Its size is impressive, and especially impressive is the huge dome, the second largest in the world after the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican (by the way, we were in Rome and saw this basilica, only from the outside, because they were not letting anyone in that day. So it’s strange that in the Vatican we somehow didn’t even pay attention to the huge dome, and that was a mistake. Now I’d be interested in looking at it again. It’s just that here this dome really stands out from everything else and it’s impossible not to notice how big it is, because there’s a park and one-story buildings around it, while in the Vatican there’s somehow too much of everything around, so you don’t even notice the dome).
Gol Gumbaz (the photo was taken later, on the way back)
At Gol Gumbaz at 6:30 it was quiet, with no one around. We climbed the spiral staircase inside one of the towers to the very top, to the dome. Just in time, as dawn was beginning and the bright pink sun appeared over the horizon.
Walking around the dome and waiting for sunrise
Then, through a narrow passage, we ducked inside and found ourselves under the dome. From the outside, Gol Gumbaz impresses only with its size. But inside the mausoleum, two more amazing things are revealed.
First, there is the echo. I had never heard an echo like that before; it is so clear here, and the sound repeats exactly seven times. At first, we were completely alone in the mausoleum and played around with the echo, and then a group of Indians came in, they started shouting and dancing, it was so funny and so strange. There were only about 7 of us, but it felt like there was a whole hall full of people shouting.
But that’s not all. The most amazing discovery was still ahead of us. I had read about it, but it didn’t work right away. It turned out there is a little secret here. If you stand directly opposite each other on opposite sides of the dome and just talk, the person at the other end hears everything very clearly. We discovered this by accident, because we sat on benches on opposite sides of the dome and I said something to test it, and Volchyi heard it and told me, and I heard everything so clearly. This despite the fact that the distance between us is 38 meters (that’s the diameter of the dome). And then we sat there for a long, long time (and it was so dim that Volchyi was barely visible, but at the same time he could be heard perfectly) and talked nonsense to each other. It was very much like talking on the phone. From time to time, a new batch of noisy Indians would come in, they would shout and the echo would boom, but even that didn’t stop us from talking on our improvised phone, as if we had our own dedicated line for conversations. Such an amazing Gol Gumbaz.
Inside Gol Gumbaz
Then we got into a secret passage closed off by a grate (but with a small hole we were able to squeeze through), and it led through a dirty tunnel to another tower. We thought we would be able to get to the very top of the corner tower, but the way there was locked, so we went back.
While descending the little staircase, we saw green parrots on the roof; there are very many of them here in India, almost like sparrows at home. Only they are not as small as budgerigars, but larger, about the size of a skinny pigeon.
Parrots
After Golgumbaz we also stopped by the archaeological museum; admission there cost a symbolic 5 rupees. An archaeological museum probably sounds quite boring, but it was actually rather interesting. We saw ancient Chinese porcelain (and that greenish kind with copper, which was used to test food for poison), as well as Persian carpets and brassware. By that time, though, I was already feeling unwell, so we didn’t really get to look around properly, even though it was genuinely interesting.
I had been feeling strangely unwell since morning, but I thought it was because we had gotten up early, although we had slept for 6 hours, which is not really that little. But in the museum, while we were wandering among the display cases with Chinese porcelain, I suddenly became so sleepy I could barely keep my eyes open. We got back home and I passed out instantly. By then I was nauseous, but I wanted to sleep even more, so I didn’t really pay much attention to it. And when I woke up, it got even worse. My temperature started rising: first it was 37.2, then 38… I was very nauseous.
Volchy went to the pharmacy for potassium permanganate, but they had never even heard of it. So Volchy begged for some salt at a restaurant and, with great difficulty, got me to drink salt water. I managed to throw up. With blood. I got scared. I had to scare my mom… It’s very hard to write to your mom about bad things; you always don’t want to frighten the person closest to you until the very last moment. And I’m so far away, and it’s hard for her to help me…
Mom said the symptoms were very similar to a stomach ulcer. So Volchy had to go to the pharmacy again for medicine. Meanwhile, my temperature kept rising. The nausea passed, but my overall condition was still far from good. I couldn’t eat anything all day; just thinking about food immediately brought on another wave of nausea.
I couldn’t take any fever reducers. Volchy wrapped me in a cold towel. I lay there cooling down. And after half an hour it worked — my temperature dropped by a whole degree! I could sleep.
Tomorrow we were supposed to move to another city; the train leaves at 8 a.m. and we already have the ticket, and the hotel is booked, but apparently we’ll have to stay here for at least another night.
