India Day 9

Today we drove by bus from Agra to Gwalior.  Gwalior is a city in the state of Madhya Pradesh.  We checked into a palace hotel called, "Usha Karan Palace".  That is exactly what it is.  Elegant plus!!!  The hotel is part of the prime minister's palace complex.  Tourists don't come here because this place is so far away from everything.  This province is the agricultural hub of northern India.   The very rich Indian people stay in this hotel when they wish to hob nob with the prime minister of this state.  We visited his giant palace today high up on a cliff overlooking Gwalior.  We went there to see  a)  the biggest chandelier in India that weighs almost 4 tons.  They had 6 elephants stand on the roof of the palace to see if the ceiling could hold the chandelier...  b)  We went to the palace to check out the prime minister's silver train that traveled around his 100 foot long dining table carrying wine and cigars for his guests ...  c)  We went to see the carving in the cliff walls along the roadway up to the palace.  These naked carvings depicted the tirthankaras.  Look that one up on the Net.  I have included a giant penis and a picture of some of us downtown Gwalior at a pharmacy on Main St. where we purchased malaria cream for $1.25.  You can buy any drug you wish in India without a prescription.  Today we are going to crash a wedding at the Palace Hotel after diner.  We are looking through our thrift clothes for something to wear.

Tomorrow we are off on a train somewhere.

India Day 7

Our destination today is to travel to the ancient city of Agra which will take us about 7 hours.  Before leaving Jaipur, we stopped at a Fast Food Sweet Shop.  It is the equivalent of a Tim Horton's except it is just sweets.  They specialize in "jalepies" and they wrap some sweets in silver and gold leaf which is eaten along with the cakes.  Many Indians eat sweets like this for breakfast on their way to work.
As we traveled along the highway to Agra, our guide talked with us about marriages, beggars, and the Indian economy.  We learned much but here are 3 highlights ... 1.  They are pre arranged favouring men.  2.  Beggars are mainly illegal immigrants from Bangledesh  3.  Indians are a "saved" economy and they believe that they should be buying gold and property to get rich.
The main attraction on our way to Agra is "Fatchpur Sikri", the deserted city, built by Mughal emperor Akbar the Great in 1569.  He married three times in order to father a male child.  He was very liberal in his outlook on life but not too educated.  His three wives were Hindu, Muslim, and Christian.  Each wife had her own special apartment palace within his fort complex.  The entire deserted city was made from stone and marble.  Fatchpur Sikri included many palaces, temples, treasury, a mosque, and open courtyards.  The Hindu/ Mughal architecture was predominant but there was even a 5 level building constructed in Pagoda architecture style.  The place was grand and awe inspiring.  Akbar the Great also had 500 concubines.
We finally arrived in Agra, home of the world famous Taj Mahal, are 8 p.m. just in time for dinner.

This building was at Fatchpur Sikri and was used by the emperor to discuss religion.  It was special because those who were inside with Akbar the Great sat off the ground.  Ask us about that sometime.  It was amazing!

India Day 6

Today we begin our adventures in the pink (lucky) city of Jaipur.  We traveled up the access road to the gates of the Amber Fort, once the ancient capital of the State.  This fort was purely magnificient situated on top of a very large hill glowing in all its amber colours.  We sat aboard the back of an elephant and road for about 30 minutes following a caravan of many elephants to the top of the hill.  Inside the fort, we learned about the Maharaja and his secret passageways to his 12 Queens.  The Hall of Mirrors inside this lavish palace with its frescoes and marble glows, was a photo from any angle.  The geometry of the place and the artificial lake blended nicely with the Mughal gardens to impress us at every turn.
We traveled through the city to the Royal Observatory to learn the meaning of time and how astrology rules the lives of Hindus.
Sometime in the late afternoon, we were entertained in a carpet factory and jewellery establishment.  Both offered their skills to us and much opportunity to purchase things.
This city is a conglomeration of beggars, elephants, cows, scooters, buses, cars and people all doing their own things at the same time.  The Hindu people of India are friendly and free.  There is no crime to speak of and even though it is very crowded and very dirty place, everyone seemed to have a mission with lots of determination.
We dodged the busy streets in the late evening filled with many wedding parties and parades, to get to a restaurant featuring a puppet show and some ballywood dancers.

We finished the day around 11 p.m. after purchasing a new house in Kitchener!  The internet is very helpful sometimes.

India Day 5

We left our Fort accommodations around 8 a.m. to tour the city of Jodhpur.  Our first stop was at Fort Mehrangarh atop a sandstone hill overlooking the indigo coloured city below.  This fort is the largest in India.  It is made of of many palaces and apartments because it was built in 1458 for the Brahmins who were the important scholars and priests of the time.  The Mehrangarh Maharaja would sit and discuss life with these important people in his pearl palace room.  This room had walls made from shells, gold filigree ceilings, oil lamps glittering, and stained glass windows.  His queens would hide behind lattice screens high above the floor and eavesdrop on the conversations.  My favourite place in the Fort was the Palace of Flowers.  This was a very exotic room with candles, poets, musicians, dancers, paintings, and mirrors.  The maharaja would take all his lady friends there for much pleasure.  (use your imagination).  After lunch at the Rockhut restaurant in the city, we began our long journey across country for 8 hours passing many decorated trucks, tons of families all riding without helmets on one scooter, and hundreds of cows meandering down the middle of the roadway.  We arrived at our new destination of Jaipur, the pink city.  Tomorrow we ride the elephant so stay tuned.

Day 4 India

We stopped at a famous garden in Udaipur which is dedicated to a great warrior, Maharana Pratap and his horse, Chetak.  The story of a famous battle between the Hindus/Muslims and Mugals is told throughout the garden on many monuments.  After a brief garden history lesson, we began a long journey north and west through the mountains toward the desert on the other side.
Around lunchtime, we stopped at a Unesco World Heritage Site called the Jain Temple.  This is located in the Aravali valley.  This temple is a marble monumental masterpiece intricately carved and assembled without the help of any substance.  There were over 1000 columns in a perfect balancing act.  Tons of spires, columns, and levels were built by many architectural laborers.  It took 60 years to build beginning in 1439.
From this spectacular Buddhist meditative creation, we began a 4 hour drive on a truck route from hell watching many trucks, buses, cows, people on scooters, wild boars, dogs, and monkeys dodge each other on a very narrow muddy piece of old bumpy tarmack.  We did arrive in a place called Luni at our accommodation for one night, Fort Chanwa. We dined by candlelight and watch an Indian puppet show before bed.

Day 3 India

We woke today to rain and fog.  The temperature is around 18 degrees C.  We are in a town in the lake country call Udaipur.  Our first stop was the CITY PALACE.  It was built by the Maharana Singh in 1559 on the east bank of Lake Pichola.  There are several palaces within its complex.  This flamboyant combination of Rajasthani and Mughaland architecture is considered the largest palace in the province of Rajasthan.  It was like a maze of rooms and tunnels set high on a hill filled with marble, mirrors, and mosaics.  The women could peer through lattice windows without anyone noticing them.  We next stopped at the GARDENS OF THE MAIDS OF HONOUR.  This garden was a peaceful retreat just outside of Udaipur built for 48 girls given to Maharana Singh in 1710 as part of his dowry.  This ancient water park had a white marble chhatris fountain in the centre and black fountains at the corners.   After a boat ride around lake Pichola with a stop at the PLEASURE PALACE, which was built in the centre of the lake on an island for special parties, we walked down through the streets of Udaipur dodging taxis, sacred cows and beggars to visit the JAGDISH MANDIR TEMPLE.  The bell ringer was calling everyone to prayer.  We climbed many marble stairs to reach this ancient stone temple atop a hill in the middle of a very congested neighbourhood.  We removed our footwear and entered the sanctuary to sniff the incense and witness the local people in prayer.  WOW!  You wouldn't believe it.

India Day 2

We were up early today to tour Delhi....both Old and New!  The new part of the city is the part build under  British influence since 1947.
This city of 13 million, was the site of the Commonwealth Games recently, and is still undergoing construction at every turn in the road.  Delhi is a city of many cities.  They say that to be able to handle the chaos of this place, you have to let your self go.  Just be part of it, otherwise, you would go stir-crazy.  The people, being mainly Hindu and then lots of Muslims, have some strange beliefs.  It is ok to "piss" in public but not ok to "kiss".  The crime rate is very low, not because of the laws, but because of religion.  The populace believe in reincarnation.  Your behaviour in this life determines what you will come back as in the next life.  If you are bad, you might come back as a fly or maybe a mosquito.  Yikes!

The highlights of the day were Qutub Minar which is a victory tower and as a minorette to the adjacent mosque.  It is 72.5 meters high as is the highest stone tower in India.  It is adorned with elaborate carvings and inscriptions from the Koran.  The wild green parrots love it as much as the people.

We removed our schools and dressed in flowered nightgowns and entered the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India.  It hosts 85000 people for Friday prayer in temperatures of 45 degrees C.  It took 60 years to complete by 1650 A.D. and the smell of marble and royalty is everywhere.  A Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan had it built.  People pray quotes from the Koran.  Young boys, hand in hand as friends, pray on tourists.

As the bus jockied through the streets, competing with all forms of transportation, the division between the rich and poor was so evident.  People will do anything for a rupee.  Thanks to the roundabouts otherwise we would still be in the traffic.

We ended the day by flying from Delhi to Udaipur.

India Day 1

Today is Sunday Nov. 21, 2010, and we are at Pearson airport waiting for Jet Airways to sweep us off our feet and whisk us away to India.  We were first in line at the checkin so that we could get the best seats possible for this 16 hour journey.  We managed to park our car at Sky Park close to the airport for 3 weeks at a total cost (taxes included) of $89.  Our first stop is Brussels and then on to Delhi.  India has a population of 1.6 billion people.