Agra

Our last stop before returning to Delhi was to see the Taj Mahal.  I felt like I couldn't go to India without seeing one of the wonders of the world - and I wasn't disappointed!

The entrance to the Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died while giving birth to their fourteenth child.  After Jahan built the Taj Mahal for her, he was imprisoned by his own son in Agra Fort for the remaining 8 years of his life.  Very sad.

It was incredibly difficult to take photos as there were thousands of people while we were there.  I don't know how many times we'd take a photo just as some oblivious person walked right in front of the camera.  It was a bit frustrating!

It was actually an interesting process I went through in deciding who I'd ask to take a photo of us.  I used my new Canon digital SLR camera that a wonderful friend gave to me (thanks again Andy!) so I couldn't ask just anyone - I wanted to make sure that the person knew how to operate this type of camera.  So I would ask someone who was also using a digital SLR; and it seemed like they were always Japanese.  They all had some seriously impressive equipment - HUGE lenses and various accessories attached. 

We saw dozens of tourists holding their hands up while a photo was taken to make it look like they were 'picking up' the Taj Mahal.  Either that or holding it in the palm of their hand.

The people watching was just as fun as seeing the Taj Mahal.  There were tourists from EVERYWHERE.  We begun playing a game of 'where are they from?'.  We even attempted to be covert and take photos of people while they weren't looking.  I'm pretty sure most of them caught on to what we were doing.  The guys below are definitely Indian or Bangladeshi - we see men walking around holding pinkies everywhere in Dhaka.  I still find myself giving double takes - I wonder if I'll ever get used to it.

  

Monkeys are everywhere in India!  We saw these as we were walking down the street after leaving the Taj Mahal.  They were just hanging out next to the sidewalk and jumping through the trees.  I think I took about 50 pictures of monkeys during our stay in India - I just couldn't get over how common they are.  I'm sure the locals were looking at me and thinking 'ugh look at that crazy tourist taking photos of monkeys' like we would say about taking pictures of squirrels.  Oh well, it's not like I was blending in anyway!

This was presented to us after some of our meals in India.  I later found out that it's called mukhwas.  It's an after-meal snack common in India and Pakistan, and is used as a digestive aid and breath freshener. I believe this one contained fennel seeds, sugar cubes, sugar coated anise seeds, and various essential oils (maybe peppermint?).  It was quite tasty and very freshening!

The last fort we visited in India was Agra Fort.  By this time, we were completely over sight-seeing, and unfortunately we didn't learn much about this fort.  I don't think we could have squeezed any more facts into our overstuffed brains.  Instead we laid in the grass and read for awhile before taking a short walkthrough of the fort.  The main thing we learned about this fort was that Shah Jahan, the mughal emperor who built the Taj Mahal was overthrown by his son and imprisoned here for the last 8 years of his life.

Agra Fort

Shah Jahan's prison quarters

Jahan's view of the Taj Mahal from his prison

More monkeys in the fort.  Near sunset they started chasing one another and playing - they put on quite a show for the tourists!  This one was doing somersaults in the grass.

Lots of baby monkeys!

Thirsty monkey

This was our gorgeous view from a rooftop restaurant.

The Capital of Rajasthan

After scrambling around in Jodhpur to ensure we'd make it to Agra on time, we boarded a Volvo AC bus destined for Jaipur.  The actual bus was nice, but the bus ride was completely agonizing.  Most of the roads were one lane in each direction, and everyone was passing each other at very high speeds.  There were multiple times when I thought we were going to hit another car head on.  But cars weren't the only thing we came close to hitting.  In India the roads contain another obstacle: the wandering cow.  So not only was the bus weaving through traffic constantly, but it was also slamming on the breaks for oblivious cows.  And oh yeah, there was also road construction. You could say the bus ride was not the highlight of our trip.

As soon as we turned into the bus station in Jaipur, swarms of Indian men sprinted alongside our bus until it came to a stop.  They all waited for us to get off the bus so they could try and convince us to take their auto rickshaw or persuade us to go to the hotel of their choosing.  Apparently they get a cut of the money if they direct us to a certain auto rickshaw driver or to a certain hotel.  You really have to be on your toes in India - I'm so thankful I wasn't traveling alone!

The next morning we woke up freezing (because none of the hotels we stayed in had heat and the rooms were actually colder than the outside temperature).  I made my way to the shower praying there was hot water, but no, nothing but freezing water came out  - this was a common occurrence on our trip.  So we neglected the shower and started our day of sightseeing. 

A man brewing delicious Indian chai on the street corner.  

Below is the entrance to the Old City, also known as the Pink City (all of the architecture is a salmon-y pink color).  This is where the City Palace, the Jantar Mantar (observatory), and the Hawa Mahal are located.  

The City Palace contains multiple courtyards, gardens, and buildings, all from different eras.  The Palace construction began in the 1730's, and the latest additions are from the 20th century.

These guys beckoned me over and offered to take a photo with me - I thought, 'how nice!'  Well immediately after the photo they asked for a tip.  Ugh, nevermind!

One of the courtyards in the City Palace contains 4 gates representing each season.  Below is a photo of the Peacock Gate (autumn).  The gates were incredibly intricate - this design was my favorite.

After the City Palace we visited Jantar Mantar, an observatory built in 1728.  There are multiple instruments measuring the position of the stars, altitude, eclipses, and many other things that were way over my head.  Below is a photo of the 27 meter high sundial.  It is still used today, and there is a gathering during the full moon in June or July that allegedly helps predict monsoon rains.

After visiting the City Palace and observatory, we drove to Amber Fort.  The fort construction began in 1592, and was modified over a period of 150 years by successive rulers.  The fort contains multiple buildings including a temple where a goat was sacrificed every single day, starting in the 16th century. The government eventually, and thankfully outlawed the practice in 1980.

After having a not so great audio tour experience at the City Palace and observatory (not very interesting), we decided to skip it this time.  Unfortunately that was a terrible decision as the fort had very few signs and tons of blind alleys.  We spent most of our time wandering around with no idea as to where we were.

An elephant with its howdah ready to take tourists up to Amber Fort

Amber Fort

A worker at the Amber Fort chewing paan amidst the garden

One of the palace halls, Hall of Victory was decorated completely in mirrors - an uncommon material to have at the time.  It was very impressive.

After leaving Amber Fort, we stopped to see Jal Mahal (Water Palace).  The palace was built in 1799 as a summer resort for the royal family and is currently deserted.  It has a total of 5 stories, although the first 4 stories remain underwater.  

Below is a photo of Hawa Mahal, constructed in 1799 for the ladies of the royal household.

Our day was jam packed with sightseeing as we had to board our next train to Agra that same day at 5pm.  Only 2 more cities to go!

The Blue City - Jodhpur

Jodhpur, which is also in the state of Rajasthan, was our favorite city we visited in India, but unfortunately it was cut short due to transportation issues.  Since India is such an enormous country, we really wanted to see as much of it as possible in the 11 days we were there, but that meant we were only able to stay in Jodhpur for two days.  And because we were traveling by train, that meant a number of things could go wrong, including being unable to get a ticket - which caused our two days to change to one.  Looking back, I would have been happy spending all 11 days in Jodhpur.  

We arrived by overnight 3rd class train at 5:30 in the morning and had to get an auto rickshaw to our hotel.  For background, India has a population of about 1.3 billion people, and the state of Rajasthan is estimated at about 56 million.  That means that people are EVERYWHERE - no matter what time of day it is.  And that also means that you will be aggressively confronted and hassled by dozens upon dozens of locals trying to get you to take their auto rickshaw, taxi, or to convince you to go to another hotel because yours is 'closed'.  By the end of our trip, we were completely worn down and had absolutely no patience.  After haggling a bit with some rickshaw drivers, we agreed on a price, and we were on our way to our hotel.  He admitted to me later that he was a bit nervous during our ride.  It was still dark as it wasn't even 6 in the morning, and we appeared to be going down one dark, filthy alley after another.  We made it safely to our hotel, and we realized when it was daylight that all of the roads in Jodhpur are actually small alleys.

After napping for a couple hours in the little reception room, we went up to the rooftop of our hotel for breakfast and this was our view: 

Mehrangarh Fort

Unfortunately it was foggy everywhere in India, so the pictures didn't come out the greatest.  Oh well!

At the center of Jodhpur is beautiful Mehrangarh Fort, which sits high above the 'Blue City'.  Traditionally, blue signified the home of a Brahmin (a member of the priestly caste), but that is no longer the case; many non-Brahmins have painted their homes blue as well.

Mehrangarh Fort was our favorite fort (between the Jaisalmer Fort, the Amber Fort in Jaipur, and the Agra Fort) for a few different reasons.  First of all, the fort had an incredibly interesting, well put-together audio guide that gave us a great mix of history, information, and stories.  We could actually picture ourselves walking around the fort centuries ago.  In addition, the fort has an impressive 7 gates that need to be crossed before reaching the fort.  The gates are purposely located after a sharp right turn which prevented elephants and soldiers from having a proper ramp to run and break the gate.

One story from the audio tour stated that in order to build the fort, the Rathore ruler, Rao Jodha evicted a hermit living on the land.  During the eviction, the hermit lay a curse on any future building constructed on the hill.  To avoid the consequences of this curse, Jodha had a man named Rajiya Bambi buried alive in the foundations of the fort (and Bambi actually did this willingly).  In return, the Rathores have looked after Bambi's family ever since.

Mehrangarh Fort

Below is a photo of a shrine encompassing small handprints left by the wives of Maharaja Man Singh before they immolated themselves on his funeral pyre.  This practice was known as sati, and it was outlawed by the British in the 1820's.

Below is a view of Jaswant Thada, a memorial to Maharaja Jaswant Singh II, from the fort.  Jaswant Singh II was Maharaja (King) of Jodhpur in the late 1800's.

A view of the Blue City from the Fort

Cannonball imprints on one of the gates from the attacking Jaipur army

An ornate elephant howdah (a carriage positioned on the back of the elephant)

The highlight of our time in Jodhpur (at least for me) was the zip-line tour around the fort.  It was my first time doing a zip-line, and I was definitely nervous.  But Oh. My. Gosh.  It was absolutely amazing!!  We did a total of 6 lines all around the fort and the surrounding canyon.  We timed it perfectly, as we were flying through the air during the sunset overlooking the Blue City.  It was absolutely breathtaking.

Below is a photo of the zip-line at Mehrangarh Fort taken by Tim Dellmann (I found it on Wikipedia).  I didn't carry my camera with me, so I was unable to get photos of us.