Monsoon!

Monsoon is here! This week it has been raining cats and dogs, well, at least it is how we have all felt. I am currently taking a gemmology course in Deccan. On the way back from school today, this is what the road looked like as the Mula-Mutha River began to flow into the actual road.

You can see the concrete barrier that usually holds the water away from the street, but the river rose too high and began to cover the street along with many temples. It's really odd, because Paul and I are actually cold now as well.

Mamallapuram

As it was Election Day in Maharashtra, Paul and I decided to have a mini-holiday weekend to the seaside town of Pondicherry. Along the way, we stopped in Mamallapuram about 50 km South of Chennai. Mamallapuram is known for its monolithic shrines and rock-cut cave temples that are scattered over a seaside landscape also dotted with boulders. Since I had just visited Hampi a few months ago, Mamallapuram was not as impressive to me, however Paul and I still enjoyed our brief 60 minute detour en route to Pondi.

Here we at the Arjuna's Penance relief-carving stop looking at, well, one of the enormous boulders balancing on this slippery rock surface. As you can see, some local school children are using it as a slide.
Below is Arjuna's Penance known to be the largest relief carving on Earth.

We then went onto the Five Rathas, a cluster or temples named for the five Pandava brothers of Mahabharata.

Of course, Paul wanted to pose with the elephant . . .

Next, we drove over to Shore Temple. The Shore Temple overlooks the Bay of Bengal. It has endured centuries of salt water battering its lovely exterior along with strong ocean winds. However, it is still beautiful to see. It dates back to early 8th century and is believed to be the oldest temple in Southern India.

Bay of Bengal . . .

. . . and the Shore Temple
Here I am posing with Nandi bulls that guard the surrounding area of the temple.

Now, off to Pondicherry!

Fatehpur Sikri and the Taj Mahal

We left Jaipur this morning and travelled east to Fatehpur Sikri. Fatehpur Sikri was the political capital of India's Mughal Empire under Akbar's reign, from 1571 until 1585, when it was abandoned, due to lack of water. By far, this was Paul and my favorite stop on the trip.

Here we are outside the gates . . .

Inside the walls, the same red sandstone is used to build the structures. A garden remains inside the courtyard.

Paul and I sit on the "royal seat" in the courtyard that was once used to entertain the Akbar and his queens where ladies from the harem played as live pieces on Parcheesi boards drawn on the actual courtyard floor. . .

A photo from inside Jama Masjid, or Friday Mosque, looking out to the walls of the Palace of the Hindu Wife.


Outside the complex, we see the tallest arch that exists in Asia.

We leave Fatehpur Sikri, and drive to Agra. We stay the night at the Trident hotel. We get up for breakfast at 6 am, and go to the Taj Mahal at 6:30 am.

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was grief stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their fourteenth child. From this grief, he constructed this massive mausoleum, which incorporates Persian and Mughal architectural styles, out of love for his wife, Mumtaz.

It is a foggy morning, so the Taj Mahal appears covered in the mist this morning. It is very mystical to see.

After seeing the Taj Mahal, we hop back in the car and drive to the Delhi Domestic Airport. Now, back to Pune!

Jaipur, The Pink City

We flew into Jaipur late last night. Jaipur is the largest city in Rajasthan, and one can instantly feel this as you drive from the airport to your lodgings. We had a nice dinner at the Golden Tulip, where we are staying, and then woke the next morning to see the Amber Fort.

On the way, to the Amber Fort we stopped at Hawa Mahal, or the Palace of Winds. The intention of the Palace of Winds was to allow the ladies to view street life in Jaipur without being seen. We were not allowed within the building, however can see the facade below.

We continue on our drive and arrive at the Amber Fort to take our elephant ride. Paul promised me a year ago when I agreed to come to India that he would take me for an elephant ride. Here we all are below on our elephants riding up to the gates of the Amber Fort.

Mom and Dad . . .

Paul and I are on Laxmi, a 40 year old female elephant who was quite entertaining on our ride.

At the end of our ride, we decide to pet Laxmi and thank her for the pleasant journey up the hill. Surprisingly, elephants have rather rough and prickly skin with all their bristles.

Inside the fort, we are shown the queen's chamber. Here is a photo of the mirror inlay work done in the interior of her room.

Paul enjoys the king's spacious chamber that overlooks the court.

Later that day, Paul and I go to the City Palace. Not as impressive as the City Palace in Udaipur, but still interesting. There was a nice collection of the royal court's clothing worn throughout the years as well as a weapons gallery.

The guest house at the City Palace . . .

Tomorrow, we depart early for our drive to Fatehpur Sikri and the Taj Mahal.

Jodhpur, The Blue City

Jodhpur, The Blue City. We arrive here and can instantly feel the presence of the maharaja. The city itself is the second largest city in Rajasthan next to Jaipur. We arrive at the Ajit Bhawan, opposite the Umaid Bhawan where the royal family still resides. The Ajit Bhawan was a cute hotel, and we stayed in the little huts outside the hotel which offered us a cottage-like feel to our stay.

The following morning we visited Mehrangarh Fort. This fort is remarkably maintained and still quite impressive. Note the sheer size and we walk through the gates.

Inside the fort, we are able to view some treasures inside the museum. Below is a palanquin, used by as a mode of transportation before rickshaws and cars were in use.

A door at the fort . . .

A view from the fort of the "blue" city. These buildings are painted in indigo. Traditionally, indigo was used in the paint as a natural deterrent to pesky mosquitoes.

From Mehrangarh Fort, you can see the Umaid Bhawan Palace where the current royal family lives in one wing, and the other is used for a posh hotel.
We leave the fort and venture out shopping. As we are lost, Paul attempts to get directions from the tourist assistance booth! Ha! However, the directions actually work and we get our bearings inside this crazy bazaar.

A bread stand . . .

Paul is on the hunt in search of textiles . . .

We end our day with a rickshaw ride back to the Ajit Bhawan for some cocktails.

Here we are enjoying some stout and peanut samosas before dinner outside our "hut."

The Road to Ranakpur

We left Udaipur around 10 am today to begin our drive to Jodhpur. The road we are taking will lead us to Ranakpur Temple, a Jain temple. The ride to Ranakpur Temple is breathtaking through the mountains. Along the way, we stop to really see India. Ranakpur Temple itself is also situated in a very beautiful, green, and mountainous region. The stop at Ranakpur is one of our favorite stops in Rajasthan.

We stop in this little farming community to watch these men pump water from a well using their ox.

The children quickly spot me. The pose for me as the rest of the group is at the well.

After about 1 hour more in the car, we reach Ranakpur Temple as you will see below.

Elephant carved in marble located near the rear of the temple.

Note the intricacy of the carving on the ceiling of the main chamber.

A father and son pose for a photo outside the temple. The mother looks in the opposite direction.

A Jain priest gives Paul and I tikka before we exit to wish us "good luck" in the coming year.

We leave Ranakpur and spot these women carrying their bundles of kindling on the way to Jodhpur. They work so hard carrying these heavy loads of wood.

The Magnificent Taj

Today, we awoke early to a power breakfast of croissant and mosambi (sweet lime) juice. We then climbed into our rented Toyota Innova and drove to Agra, home to the Taj Mahal.

The ride was about 3 hours long, but it went by fairly quickly as we saw rice paddy fields and "toy" monkeys along the way.

As we got close to the Taj, our driver asked if we would want a tour guide for the Taj. Naturally, we are all pretty skeptical when it comes to tour guides. Paul and I had an awful tour guide at Mayan ruins once, so we like to fly solo. However, it was "free" (of course, the tip was not included), so we caved and thought we would try a guide, and "Raj at the Taj" showed us around the Taj. He actually was able to point out a lot of architectural details on the building that we would have taken for granted, so it was ok that he was there. He was also our appointed photographer for the day.

Here is the Taj . . .

Now here are some silly photos, that Raj insisted on taking . . .

Molly and I are trying to stay dry as it begins to gently rain . . .

This photo gives you a true sense of the size of the building . . .

Another lovely perspective of the Taj . . .

We then went to grab lunch at Indiana. We all decided to try thali style food. Basically, our food arrived on a metal tray. The food included dal (lentils), naan (unleavened white bread), rice, cucumber and tomato salad, raita (yogurt), and some curries. It was surprisingly quite good. I also discovered this is the same exact lunch Paul eats at the plant every day.

Here you will see the pickle and mint chutney commonly served with Indian meals. The pickle adds heat and can be made from mango, lime, or carrot--to name a few. The mint chutney cools the meal and is a nice side with spicy food.

After lunch, we head over to the Red Fort of Agra. Also, built by Shah Jahan, this building is a smaller version of the Red Fort of Delhi. Once inside the Fort you can see the Taj from a distance.

As we learned amongst our travels in India, we are quite the attraction. We cannot even begin to count the number of photos that we were asked to pose in with random families, small children, women and men. Here are some funny photos of me below. . .

Note, the posture--it was suggested by the young man that I shake his hand and then look into the camera as we were two presidential candidates meeting in front of constituents.

And, yes, in this photo two men asked me and a random fellow Westerner to pose with them. Of course, Paul felt a little left out.

Next on our list was Akbar's Tomb. This was one of our favorite monuments during our trip. It was the sheer simplicity of the monument that made it very moving.

This photo was taken inside the tomb. The room was completely dark except for this light that hung above him, and the light streaming in from a tiny window 20 feet above the ground level.

We left Akbar's tomb to drive back to Delhi. On our drive we passed by a statue of Lord Shiva.

Of course, Paul was able to catch a few zzz's on the trip home . . .

We arrived home late and got ready for our trip to Amritsar the next day.