India, Days 6 and 7 - Back to Delhi we go!

With our shopping in Jaipur behind us, it was time to make our way back to Delhi, the city where the whole trip began. Now I have to admit, by day 6 the things that were shocking to me on the first day became nothing but "the norm" and my camera saw less and less use. In fact, I don't think I took a single picture during our long bus ride back!

For day 7 (our last full day in India) we decided to spend the first half of the day doing what any woman would do when they have some free time...shop! Now that we'd seen everything that India had to offer, it was our final chance to buy the things we'd passed on in the days before. In just one day, my previously light suitcase suddenly got a lot more heavy! :)

Our final site seeing stop of the entire trip was the Gandhi Museum...the very place that Gandhi was assassinated...

Gandhi spent the last days of his life in this room.

There were foot prints leading to the site of Gandhi's assassination with signs walking us through the last moments of his life.

The place that Gandhi was shot and killed.

And that was the trip! It was truly over in the blink of an eye. In fact, a few days after I returned to Singapore I caught myself thinking "Wait, was I in India last week?" I think my senses were so over loaded while I was there that I didn't have a chance to stop and think about it. Well, I've certainly thought of it since then and I will be forever thankful that I had the opportunity to go! If you ever have a chance to go, take it! It may be the most stressful trip of your life, but it will also be one of the best!

India Day 5...The People

This and the next one are Amanda's pictures and I truly love them!

Check out that angry snake...yikes!

India, Day 5 - A day in Jaipur

In keeping up with our previous days in India, we started day 5 early. Yes, we had sites to see, but more importantly, we had shopping to do! :) The buzz around the streets was that Jaipur was the place to be for carpets and jewelery...and I'm pretty sure everyone in the group had their mind on something to buy. Everyone except for me maybe. If there was an award for the least amount of shopping done, I think I would have won it. I'm not impulsive enough to buy something on a whim! Though I must admit, there were moments of temptation. Oh the carpets and their beauty! Be still my heart! More on that in a bit.

We started the morning off right...with a totally delicious breakfast outside in the courtyard :)  Then, since I had a few minutes to spare, I took a few pictures of the hotel and the grounds...

The pool out back

The lobby

The front of the hotel. I have to admit, I kind of felt like I was on a honeymoon...minus Matt and anything that resembled romance.

So anyway, breakfast ended and the day started...but before we went crazy on indulgent purchases, we decided to be proper tourists and check out a historical site first...

 The Amber Fort. Yes, another fort. It seems we hadn't had our fill of forts in the other cities so we decided it was absolutely necessary to check out a 5th fort ;)

Supposedly, part of the fun in visiting the Amber Fort is riding up there on elephant back...but in my opinion, standing in a line this long never equals fun. Plus, I had my kicks on an elephant in Thailand back in September so I opted for a walk up to the fort. An exhausting walk up many steps might I add.

Of course, when I rode an elephant in Thailand, it didn't look quite as pretty as this one did! Apparently there's a big celebration in Jaipur once a year that includes decorating the elephants...and we missed it by one day...darn the luck! :(

So as we waited for the other half of the group to arrive via elephant back, we hung out here inside the fort...

...and ya know, posed for a few pictures. Nothing out of the ordinary. I'm telling you, no matter where I go in the world, people want pictures with me. I guess that's just the price I pay for being super cool.

OK fine, maybe everyone in India wanted pictures with Amanda too. And everyone in our group. And anyone in the entire country that appeared to be an American. Maybe that's true. But honestly, I still think they wanted my picture b/c I'm super cool ;)

Sitting in front of the Ganesh Pol, a gateway built in 1640. (Notice my awesome henna tattoo on my leg from the night before!)

A view from the top!

On our way back down to the bottom, I spotted this little fellow. Obviously, I'm some sort of goat whisperer b/c he totally posed and smiled for me.

Have I mentioned the hagglers and how relentless they were? Ignoring them didn't work. Saying no didn't work. Yelling at them didn't work. Walking away didn't work. They find you...and follow you...and beg you to buy from them. Doesn't Chris look thrilled?

Just your average snake charmers...

A little stop outside the water palace before we started shopping!

After a full morning we arrived at our very first shopping stop of the day...a carpet and textile factory. I'm going to be completely honest here, my first thought upon arrival was "now this is going to be boring." For one thing, I wasn't in the market for a carpet and secondly, I didn't think I was all that interested in how carpets are made. Ummm...it turns out, I was wrong. Carpet weaving is down right interesting. Before they allowed us to shop, they forced us to learn. I guess a little learning never hurt anyone.

The carpets go through quite the process from start to finish. They're hand woven, trimmed, torched and washed among other things...and not in that order. I wasn't listening closely enough to memorize the pattern because...

I was totally fascinated by this. Carpet weaving...by hand. It can take months to finish one carpet, but dang this guy was fast! And because I took such an interest in it...and because he was just a genuinely nice man...

...he let me try it! Sure, it may have taken me, oh, a minute to weave one knot...but the point is I've woven part of a carpet that will end up in someone's home. That carpet should probably sell for at least double now that my hands were involved.

Working on the final details.

And then it was time to actually shop for carpets. So we were brought upstairs and they laid out a million beautiful carpets for us. And then the temptation rose up inside of me. Suddenly I just HAD to have a carpet.

Now if you look really hard, you can see me in the very back of the picture sitting on the couch with a phone to my ear. Why the phone call? I decided to be a good wife and run this major purchase by Matt. To which he said  "use your best judgement." I hate when he says that! I mean, what if my best judgement does not match his best judgement? Oh the pressure! In the end, I decided to walk away from the carpets. I think it was the best decision because an hour after leaving the place, I couldn't even remember what the carpet I wanted looked liked. I guess didn't love it quite as much as I thought I did.

So that was the day. We ended it with a final shopping trip to the heart of Jaipur. You want to know what it was like to cross the street in Jaipur? Have you ever stepped out into oncoming traffic and prayed that the cars would stop for you? If you have, then you know what it's like to cross the street in Jaipur! If you haven't done that, just check out this video that Chris managed to get! It should give you a good idea :)

India Day 4...The People

These are the kids we gave candy to at the water buffalo pond. How could we have said no to these sweet faces?!

There's a story behind this guy! He ran out from nowhere at the abandoned city, stripped down and prepared himself to jump in a pool of murky water...for tips. We all turned our attention away from him so he decided not to jump, ha!

India, Day 3 - The TAJ MAHAL!

Day 3! Day 3! Day 3! The day I'd been waiting for since I booked the trip! After our previous night's sneak peak of the Taj Mahal, it was finally time to really see it :) In fact, I was so excited I didn't even care that we had to wake up at 4:45 in order to get there in time for the sunrise...AND we were first in line, bonus!

Of course, being first in line didn't truly mean being first in line. See, India is a male dominant country...so although we arrived well before any other groups, the staff set up two lines for men and one for the women. They let twice as many men in as women!

...and here it is! My very first shot of the Taj Mahal...albeit, not a good one, but still, its the very first one I took! The haze was totally working against me...but I promise, there are much better shots to come, plus a little history lesson. Oh yeah, I know you're excited ;)

And of course, what fun is the Taj Mahal if you don't take a few dumb pictures in front of it?!

Alright, well I was going to write the history lesson a little further down the post, but I'm thinking before I post more Taj pictures, I may as well get it over with now...lucky you!

After being at the Taj Mahal, I can truly understand why its one of the seven wonders of the world. It really is amazing! I'm going to make this short and sweet :) Completed in 1653, the Taj Mahal was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died while giving birth to their 14th child. The thing that strikes most people about the Taj Mahal is it's perfect symmetry and fine details throughout. The focal point of the entire Taj Mahal complex is the white, marble structure in the center that houses the tombs of both Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. After the completion of the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan was put on house arrest at Agra Fort (more on that later!) by his own son. It is said that Shah Jahan planned to build a second Taj Mahal, this time in black, and his son imprisoned him to prevent him from doing that. And that's that...a history lesson from yours truly. I didn't even have to refer to Wikipedia or a book for that one! That's all from memory :)  ...so chances are, my facts could be a bit off, ha!

It's a good thing I didn't wear my nice clothes to our 6 a.m. Taj visit! :) When you see a good picture opportunity, you just have to take it! One both sides of the main tomb are identical buildings (one is a mosque and one is a guest house). Here I am inside the guesthouse taking a picture of the main tomb building.

Here's the picture!

Side shot of the main tomb building. By the way, we had the most PERFECT blue skies the entire time we were in India. I couldn't have imagined a better background!

So that was it for the morning visit. Don't worry...we went back...and I have more pictures to show for it ;) After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we all cleaned ourselves up and got ourselves ready to go back to the Taj for a full tour. Little did we know, our guides had something else planned for us first...

...a Holi celebration!

So what is Holi? Why have you been seeing pictures of people covered in colorful powders? Here's the deal: Holi, or the Festival of Colors, is a celebrated among Hindus to welcome Spring and to celebrate their triumph of good over evil. To celebrate they throw paint and powders all over each other and dance the day away (many of them with the help of alcohol to keep them going...but be assured, our celebration was a sober one)!

Here's Amanda getting "holi'd" by our tour guide, Vikram.

I adore this picture of Chris and one of the locals!

Mindy, Aileen, Wendy and Kay (the woman who put the whole trip together!)

When the celebration was over, we headed back to the Taj Mahal...decked out in holi powders! I'm pretty sure I'll have to explain why I had colors all over my face and clothes at the Taj Mahal for the rest of my life :)

So in India, cows are considered to be holy...they're all over the place! Our bus had to swerve many a time on the road to avoid hitting a cow!

...and we're back at the Taj! This is the main entrance...as soon as you enter through, you see the Taj Mahal. It really is an amazing view!

This is what you see as soon as you come through the entrance :)

Here we are on one of the famous benches in front of the Taj Mahal that everyone has their picture taken from :)

Looking back toward the entrance

After we left the Taj Mahal, we headed over to Agra Fort, the place that Shah Jahan stayed under house arrest.

A monkey inside the fort...actually, I think this is the room Shah Jahan stayed in under house arrest (thanks for sharing your picture, Chris!)

This is the view Shah Jahan had of his beloved Taj Mahal from inside Agra Fort.

And that, my friends, is a recap of day 3 in India! :)