A Passage to India

"!ncredible !ndia " is the  tagline of India's tourist campaign...and I think it is more than appropriate.

I love India.  I love the colors, the smells, the food, the traffic. I'm lucky enough to say this was my third trip to the subcontinent- and my first trip to Delhi and Jaipur.  And I had my favorite fella with me- so it was PERFECT!

Once we cleared customs in Cochin, we headed to the airport to fly to Delhi.  It was a LONG day, and after a beautiful flower greeting.....

and a good night's sleep, we saw Delhi.

 Oh, India.  Facetiming in tuktuk.

A pedicab rickshaw is really the way to experience Old Delhi.  I will never complain about Shreveport traffic again.

Monkeys amongst the wires.

Cows rule the roads. Lends new meaning to "free range beef".

The afternoon saw a visit to Humayun's Tomb.  Exquisite.  

You know how I love a photo of doors upon doors upon doors.

The view from our room at the Taj Hotel was pretty sweet.  Never realized how GREEN India could be.

Next morning, we were off on the three hour drive to Agra.  Nothing like seeing a herd of camels alongside the highway.

First stop in Agra was the Agra Fort.

Shah Jihan, the builder of the Taj Mahal, was imprisoned by his son in the Agra Fort for the final years of his life.  This was his view of his beloved wife Mumtaz' tomb.
(ah...family dynamics)....

We had a PERFECT view of the Taj from our hotel room.

The Oberoil Amarvilas Hotel.  Oh wow.

So lovely.

We took electric carts for the kilometer trek to the Taj at sunset.  It was Thursday, and as the Taj is closed on Fridays, tourists were chock-a-block.  There had been severe storms (130kilometer-per-hour winds) the night before, and one of the main gate minarets had fallen to the ground.

Yep.  The Taj.  Not exactly quiet and serene.

But the light was fantastic as it started to drop toward the horizon.

We wandered off on our own, away from our little group.

But oh, the masses of people.  The masses of people.  People.  PEOPLE.

We found our tour guide, told him we were heading back and had a nice walk back to the hotel.  

(Have I mentioned that Laird is about the most fabulous guy on the planet? Who else, given the chance to see one of the wonders of the modern world at sunset, would think it could be even better from a distance, sitting on a quiet patio, having vodka tonics...away from the masses??)

Next morning, it was off to Jaipur.

Checked into the Rambagh Palace hotel.

Yep..a real palace.

One of our rooms.  One.  We also had a patio, dressing room. bathroom and sitting area.

A stop at the Royal Observatory (circa 1734)

These sundials are STILL accurate to 2 seconds.  TWO. SECONDS.

Shadow Selfie.

Off to the Maharaja of Jaipur's palace.  He still lives there with his parents.  He's 19.

Peacocks just lollygagging around the soccer pitch.

See the Royal Observatory in the background?

I opted for a little retail therapy (always looking for Christmas presents...) and Laird went back to the hotel.  Bless that boy, when I got back- waaayy later than I had envisioned-- he had a lovely vodka tonic waiting for me(purely medicinal, mind you--it's all about mosquito prevention).

Such a lovely place, our  palace home.

Next morning, the flight back to Mumbai had us hook up with the ship.  We drove past the the skyscrapers and slums that make Mumbai...well, Mumbai.

We  crammed a lot into our four days in Northern India.  I can't wait to get back!