Agra and Jaipur

Quick update- This week has gone by FAR too fast! I can't believe that tomorrow is our last day already. We've just been go, go, go. But, it's been wonderful! We fly back to Bombay at 5 pm tomorrow from Jaipur and then we have a flight to London at 2:30 am. It's up in the air whether or not we go back into the city or just chill at the airport.

On Tuesday, we saw Akbar's tomb en route to Agra. It was beautiful. We also really enjoyed watching the deer, monkeys, and peacocks frolicking in the gardens.

Because of the intense fog/smog, it was decided that it would be better to go and see the Taj Mahal on Tuesday afternoon instead of Wednesday morning as originally planned. We walked through the eastern gate and the experience was similar to when I first saw the Grand Canyon. It really is strikingly beautiful. A magical place.

Our hotel in Agra was a beautiful five-star hotel (http://www.jaypeehotels.com/jp-page.php?id=jpWelcome). Sarah, Nick, and I spied on an Indian wedding on the grounds, but we couldn't see much because of the fog!
Our Wednesday, we saw the Agra Fort in the morning and then drove to Jaipur in the evening.
This morning we saw the Amber Fort. We got to ride an elephant up the mountain to the fort. I have to admit that I was a little nervous so high up and we were close to the edge of the wall of the switchbacks. Our elephant was also feisty, much faster than the rest and it seemed like our driver had to correct her a lot!
This has truly been an incredible trip. And, even better, it was shared with wonderful people. :) I am very grateful this Thanksgiving, I am blessed. What a wonderful life :)
I do miss my family though! I am looking forward to Christmas with everyone! More photos to come...

Dehli in a day :)

Sorry to still not have photos! This computer is just so slow that I may have to fill this blog with photos upon my return. I know that doesn't make for as exciting reading!
I know you'd like to know what I eat for breakfast in India, right? So far, every morning, I've had- scrambled eggs, delicious toast with jam and butter, corn flakes, LOTS of tea (plain, no milk or sugar-it's my favorite thing at the moment), and this morning we had a treat- very tasty banana bread! I know, not very indian, right? But, believe me we've had a lot of wonderful, out of this world Indian food. I've been a very happy camper :) After breakfast this morning, we started our tour of the city. We drove through the section of town where all the government buildings are, Parliament, Ministries, the President's house (which we unfortunately couldn't see bc of the smog :( ), etc.. We then visited a World War I monument, India Gate (there were several snake charmers with cobras out front!), then on to Humayan's tomb, also known as the "poor man's Taj." It was very beautiful. We then went to an old, very large mosque where we had to remove our shoes and the women needed to wear robes. After that, we then took a bicycle rickshaw tour of a Hindu marketplace. Absolutely one of the highlights of the trip so far! From there we went to lunch, then shopping, then to the Qutb Minar (the world's tallest stone minar (Arabic for tower)).
If I were to be asked to describe Dehli in one word, it would be "walled." This city is just filled with walls. Every building or house or apartment building or market place or shanty town or whatever has a wall around it! I think it started that way because it's all these ancient cities built up on top of each other and it was for fortification/protection.
We have to be up at 5:30 am tomorrow for our drive to Agra, so that's all I can do for today! What an amazing trip. Life is good :)

Wedding Celebration and Advetures to Dehli!

Last night was awesome. We went to the aunts' home and were dressed in the saris that the let us borrow. SUPER comfortable! I could totally get into wearing saris on occasion! My only problem would be needing to shuffle, no long strides. But, otherwise, super comfy :) Here's Cate getting her sari on, and then me all dressed :):

The reception was beautiful and, thank goodness, the groom made it. It was questionable for a while because he was stricken with a stomach bug during the day, but then the the antibiotics worked and he was able to be there! Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos at the reception! There was a professional photographer. But I did take two before I knew the rules!:
This morning was a little bit of an adventure getting to Dehli. We were divided into three cars and, this is the short version because I'm pretty tired right now...one person was temporarily lost, one person had her money stolen, and one car (the one that I was in) was dropped at the wrong airport so the three of us took a rickshaw to the correct one! Wow. But, everyone is ok and we all made it safely.
I read the in-flighmagazine on the plane and it gave a top ten list of adventurous activities and where to do them. They suggested storm chasing in the U.S. Has anyone ever heard of thist as a tourist activity? Just interesting.
We just had a great dinner out in Dehli with one of Sonali's friends and we have to be up early for a full day tour of the city!

My 30th Birthday!! :)

Sorry I missed a day! This netbook really is not the easiest thing to use unfortunately! I now remember from the New Zealand trip that while I'm grateful to have it, it's not my mac!
Yesterday, as mentioned, we went to Elephanta Island. It was a beautiful day, and we had a great boat ride out there. The caves were spectacular. We were also impressed with the many monkeys, goats, and a puppy who lived on the island :)

We then went to the aunts' house where we had henna drawn onto our hands. It's quite the process! The women who did it were super talented and it was really neat to watch them work. Then you have to sit for 2 hours while it dries and then scrape off the excess. It's a pale orange when you first scrape it off, but it's a dark brown by the time you wake up the next morning. After henna, we had a traditional south indian meal. Also very delicious!!! :) A few people warned me that true Indian food isn't like Indian food that I've had elsewhere in the world and that I may not like it. Nope, not the case, I love it! After dinner, we learned a traditional stick dance that made for an interesting site of the bunch of us dancing around the living room trying to spin and hit sticks in time. :) Then, we went out to a club called "Tote" where we had a few drinks to bring in my birthday! :) The DJ even gave me a shout-out at midnight :)This morning we took a tour of the city with these four college-aged tour guides. They were great! We got to ride on a bus and a train and in a taxi. All three of these significant experiences in themselves. The train is interesting bc the doors always remain open, so people just hang out the sides as it speeds along. The taxi was great because for some reason I love witnessing how they drive here. Sonali's dad said that they are the best drivers bc of the chaos. I have to admit, I'm impressed. There are so many close calls, it's crazy. S's dad said that there are only signs so that sign-makers have a job and get paid, not to really direct any traffic (I believe him). Traffic lights are negotiable after 8 pm. The toughest job that the tour guides had today was getting our group to cross the street! They would walk so close to the cars, scooters, and bicycles! We had a great lunch at a place called Soam and walked quite a bit of the city as well. This is a photo inside the bus and another photo of a huge laundry facility:

After the tour, Cate and I picked up a few souvenirs before getting ready for tonight's reception. I'm pretty tired now, so I will leave it at that and continue the report, and try to make it more interesting, tomorrow! :)
I also wanted to say thank you so much for the birthday love! I love how not only did I get to celebrate my birthday in India, I also get an extra 21 hours of birthday because of that, it's wonderful!! :)

Dinner last night and today's plans

Dinner last night was amazing. We had a private room at Joss Restaurant. And there was a suprise aspect to it, Sonali's mum also has a birthday in a few days, so they surprised her by inviting her friends to come and celebrate her birthday as well as Sonali's. It was great! There was a lengthy cocktail/appetizer period. We all got so full on the appetizers, they were amazing! Spinach, basil paneer, samosa-like items, "potato beds" which were little puffed pastries filled with yumminess, and more! :) Dinner was equally amazing and delicious :)

This morning we'll be off to the Elephanta caves:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephanta_Caves (sorry for the wikipedia link!) I hope to have some photos to share this evening after our tour of the caves, then dinner and henna at the aunts', and then going out to celebrate bringing in my birthday tonight! :)

Sonali's Birthday!

Today is Sonali's birthday! We went to her aunts' home and picked out saris for the reception. I have a beautiful purple and pink sari with gold trim, a gold top and a pick skirt. I hope it looks ok! Her aunts also lent us jewelry. The reception is Saturday night. And tomorrow night (Friday) we will get henna :)
We spent the afternoon at this absolutely beautiful, pristine salt water pool, it had multi-level diving boards, lap lanes, and even a cool water slide (I went down the water slide :) ) We had a delicious lunch of veggie burgers, french fries, king fisher beer, cheese naan, and for desert, iced coffee with ice cream. It was all wonderful. I brought a small collection of People, US Weekly, and OK to read while lounging by the pool. The pool was also right next to the ocean! Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures there, so I can not share the beautiful scene with you!

We've arrived!

After about 19 hours of travel (!), we've arrived!! It's 3:30 am and we have to be up at 7:30 am, so another quick post.

S's dad picked us up from the airport and told us that Bombay, or Mumbai, is "chaos at it's best." We saw lots of stray dogs and a few cows in the street en route to our hotel. But, traffic was easy and there was a beautiful view of the water and cool architecture to see on the way.

I am thrilled to be here! :)

London!

First leg of the trip went by quickly! Chattedwith CL, watched the last Harry Potter movie (I can't believe that I hadn't seen it yet!), read a magazine, and that was it!
I can report that Heathrow already has Xmas decorations up.
I am looking forward to sleep on this next leg!

London