India Part 2

March 2nd, 2013

It really is amazing how fast time flies when you are busy with life and work and play....i was swamped the past two weeks trying to grade 109 labs....and unfortunately they weren't that great....which leads me to believe i need to teach a bit better for this crew to truly understand what a lab is and what needs to be in it....and because i have been so busy, two months have almost passed since my trip to india and i have already been back two weeks from sri lanka....which i have to say was fantastic....if this country is not on your bucket list, you need to put it there.....but more on that place in the next update....today i need to finish the indian story.....

i posted these pictures about a month ago, but have not had time to write about what i saw during the second half of my trip with my friend lisa to india....last update ended with the taj mahal in the city of agra....this update picks up still in rajasthan, but now in the pink city of jaipur, then to the very small town of bikaner, to the stop-over in puskar & ajmer, to the backpacker/tourist city of udaipur and finally ending on the beaches of goa....on with the pictures......and there are quite a few....

Jaipur is known as the pink city, and as you can see from the shot above, of the facade of the Palace of the Winds, much of it is made from red sandstone....interestingly though, much of this city is just that, a facade....this palace actually has nothing behind this grand front....so i guess you could really call it "a front"....much of the city was put up for a visit from the biggest maharaja in the area and they wanted to to have the air of being grand....but many times when you looked behind the grand opening of a building, there was nothing behind it....it was rather crazy.... but jaipur is also know for its city palace, and three large forts just outside of town, owned by more maharajas of the mughal rulers....never-the-less, the facade is still quite beautiful, even if there is nothing behind it....
 

as we were exploring the many aspects of the city palace, we came across another guy setting up for "the puppet show"....the reason i say "the puppet show", is because every puppeteer in india does the same show....and i have to say, lisa and i thought it was rather freaky and scary....but when we asked kids about them, they thought they were funny....it seems like a version of punch and judy, with a lot of hitting, yelling, fighting and craziness, but no talking....just this strange mouth whistle thing and a set of drums, which you can see the guy on the left holding....definitely a bizarre method of entertainment, but i guess reality shows are too....
 

 

we did go to the amber fort in jaipur....another amazing show of wealth and beauty, and for this one you could take an elephant ride up to the front gate....unfortunately the rides were coming to an end just as we got there, so none for us....we did walk up next to the elephants as they did their last runs for the morning....these elephants are very well cared for and the riders will not make them work when the temperature is too high....they go rest and eat and drink lots of water....i did really like how many of them had colorful chalk designs on them like this one....i hope it doesn't effect their health....

once in the amber fort, my favorite part was the mirror room....as you can see above....this was extremely ornate and beautifully crafted...they were also refurbishing it, so parts of it were not viewable...but what we could see was stunning....this fort was huge....and you can see a full picture of it below....it actually took us about 30 minutes to even find a way out when we were trying to leave....the nice thing was, we didn't run into too many crowds due to it being so freakin' huge....
 

here you can see the amber fort from down below where you park the cars and buy the crazy souvenirs....many people are selling the mahajara turbans....and the funny thing is to see all the tourists wearing them as they ride up on the elephants....we decided against this, especially when we realized we were walking up and not riding....the size of these forts and palaces are mind-boggling....and what is crazy is that they are still owned by maharajas and their families....and some of them have been converted into hotels...we stayed in one in ajmer.....these maharajas don't run the country any more, but they still have political and monetary power wherever they live.....the richer get richer and the poorer get nothing....and i have never seen this so much in my face like india....
 

jaipur is where we spent new years and our hotel had a "new years extravaganza"....it was with dancers, musicians, puppeteers, alcohol and a buffet dinner....it was truly bizarre...this one woman was the amazing dancer, but there was a second one who had no idea what she was doing....we think she was just trying to get a paycheck or a meal...the musicians were okay and the puppeteers were funny....they let lisa play with the puppets and explained that one of them was "michael jackson"...the one that could remove his head and was black....we didn't really get it and thought it was quite funny....later on the trip we learned that particular puppet was really called the "magician" and could remove his head as a magic trick....ah the nuances of language...you just never know if you are talking about michael jackson or the magician  :)   the other really weird thing about this new years party was that you were not allowed to bring alcohol into the room where you ate....so at the beginning, the only people in the drinking room literally were lisa and i....it was a bizarre, yet indian way to spend new years....i don't think we actually stayed awake for midnight....hahahahaha

from jaipur we hit the road to bikaner....for the one thing i really wanted to do...see the rat temple...i will warn you now, later on down there are rats in a picture....and if you get grossed out by lots of rats, i am giving you this fair warning now....along the road to bikaner, through rajasthan, we saw tons of trucks....and most of them were like this one....loaded down with stuff and the cabs of the trucks, if they were older, were always colorful and decorated to honor the hindu gods for protection on the highways...you can see the one above is loaded with bags of wheat or rice or corn or something....
 

i was quite surprised by the landscape as we drove to and from bikaner...it was desert...i have no idea why i thought there was no desert in india....but i did....i loved this picture because the trees in this particular landscape, as few as there were, reminded me of the trees in the book The Lorax, by dr, seuss...there were also tumbleweeds and tons of bushes of sage....it was a very long and tiring drive....but the payoff came two days later....woot!!!!
 

when we got to bikaner, a small military town of about 2 million, we realized there was nothing to do, so we went for a walk in the neighborhood surrounding the hotel....i took one of my favorite shots while there of this woman reading to herself....i love the colors and her intense concentration on what she is reading....
 

bikaner is still in rajasthan, so of course there are more palaces and forts and buildings owned by maharajas...this is the jungargarh fort....which is of course beautiful inside...as you can see from the picture below....it is also huge and you get a guided tour with your entrance ticket so you can know what you are looking at....
 

once inside the fort we were on a tour with only indians....so the guide spoke to them in one language and us in english....he had a hard time pronouncing my name, so he called me "jani"....and everywhere we went, he kept saying this is "jani's throne room" or this is "jani's bedroom" or this is "jani's set of weapons"...it really was bizarre...and quite a few people on the tour needed to have their family picture taken with me or lisa or both of us....maybe they had never seen westerners before...that actually happened quite a bit on this trip....at times it was funny, but other times it became annoying...it all kind of depends on who asked for the picture and what they really wanted....unfortunately, many times when guys asked, it just felt creepy....it was one of the things that bothered me about india....many of the men were creepy....and it was interesting how many women were traveling alone there....i know this is one place i would not do that....

the other thing bikaner is famous for is the one and only camel breeding farm in india...we got there just as it opened and therefore missed all of the tourists....and were able to have some camel milk too....lisa had tea, i had milk, but the only flavor they had was "rose"....kind of gross....but i had some anyway....we walked around a visited the different camels and really enjoyed the "chill" atmosphere here....bikaner was actually quite cold and the nights we were there it got down to zero degrees celsius....32 degrees F....and the thing to remember is that no where, and i mean no where, in india do they have heat....so really, it was cold!!!!!    THE RAT TEMPLE IS NEXT!!!!

so one of the most important things i wanted to see in india was the rat temple - karni mata - and it was located outside of bikaner....this was why we drove so far....and let me tell you, it did not disappoint...i was kind of sad we did not see a white rat, there are only four of them at the temple, and if you see them, they are supposed to bring you a year of good luck and help you reach enlightenment....oh well...the picture above is the entrance to this temple....and just like every temple in india, you have to go in bare or sock feet....and let me tell you, it was cold marble we were walking on...with all of those rats....
 

inside of this temple they worship rats and there are approximately 20,000 of them and they are everywhere....i thought this was cool, lisa had a much harder time with it....our driver moti, a hindu, said it was just a normal temple....ahhhhh, the different views of one place....the rats here are sacred and given protection, as well as food and milk....which they drink as you can see above....this temple was erected to honor a hindu sage named karni mata, which means "miraculous mother"....this temple protects rats because one of the sons of this sage died and she implored a god to revive him....he would not do that, but he stated that her son would be reincarnated as a rat....so this temple is protecting karni mata's sons...what i also learned is that if one of the rats is killed, it must be replaced by a solid gold rat by the killer....crazy that...i have to say, i didn't see any solid gold rats while there....but we did see people place some of this milk in their hair as a blessing and even one guy drank it....i loved this temple....but drew the line at the milk....but this stop definitely was a highlight for me for the whole trip....

from bikaner we drove south to pushkar....a very famous town in rajasthan....for a camel market....we were about a month and a half late....but the camels were still dressed up and giving tourists a ride....as you can see from the one above....in this town there is also the only temple for the hindu lord brahma....god of the holy men in india and the highest caste....the brahmin....it was a pretty amazing temple and there were students inside who gave tourists free guided tours just so we could understand what was going on....it was really cool....
 

we stayed just south of pushkar, in ajmer, in a maharaja's fort converted into a hotel....it was fun being a princess for the night, but i had enough of people, so really i never left the building....lisa went for a walk however, and got this great picture of a kingfisher....this bird is everywhere in india and they have named the country's main beer after it, as well as a local airline in the country....i love the blue, wing feathers of this bird....and the beer isn't so bad either....

from ajmer we went to udaipur....and this was a slice of heaven....this was about two weeks into the trip and we were getting tired of the driving and the staring and the crowds of people and the closeness of everyone....so this was the perfect place to come....udaipur is a backpackers/tourist haven...and has been set up to make the tourists feel safe and comfortable, i think....this picture is of the place we stopped by the river to have a beer....which they had to go buy from the local store...no alcohol??? but one of the main reasons i love this picture is for the two groups of men in the middle and to the right side of the picture....these men were playing a card game....and when we asked the guys at the restaurant about them, they told us they came every afternoon to play that game, in those spots, for the past 40 years....the restaurant can't set up tables there because of this....it was great!
 

we stayed in a great botique hotel here in udaipur and the first night we had an amazing dinner of indian food (of course) on the roof overlooking the river and the city palace....as you can see, i decided to have a blue dink to celebrate....it was warmer her, there were more people here and it was an easy place to come....india is definitely full on and in your face constantly....and in udaipur we just didn't feel like that was happening as frequently....it was a good respite....and we loved it....
 

this is a view of the city palace from our hotel's roof....it was a stunning view and the city palace itself was quite amazing...it was the first one we had been too that used a lot of stained glass....i haven't included a picture here because i was not allowed to bring my camera in....and it was CRAZY CROWDED with school kids on a field trip....we are talking hundreds of them....
 

but i did like the artwork above the elephant gate of this palace...as you can see above...i also loved that they had an "ohm" symbol above the entrance as well....these palaces were amazing architecturally speaking and so ornate....most of them were overwhelming in size and stunning to look at, and this one was no exception.....
 

we had lunch down by the river in udaipur, and it was a saturday....which meant bathing and laundry day....you can see the guy on the far left is getting all soaped up before plunging in....the men were on one side and the women were in a different place.....kind of reminded lisa and i of the ganges all over again....
 

udaipur is known as a place to study art and take art lessons and as an artists haven....as we were walking along the first night in the town....i saw this guy making this painting....i asked him what it was called and he pointed to small, pencil writing on the piece that said "There are no words"....i loved it....the next morning though, i was just tired of traveling and in a bad mood, so i didn't really want to try and find him and see if he finished the piece....BUT lisa did...and worked out this plan, that as we walked past his store front we would go in and he would present me with the finished piece....how awesome is that???? so here i am with the artist and my new painting that lisa bought for me to remember india and our travels.....a perfect gift, from my great travel partner...
 

the picture above is one of my favorites....this is moti....he was our driver, guide and protector for 8 days of our trip...he was an excellent driver, spoke very good english and protected us when we needed it, from some creepy guys at one of the hotels we stayed at....he was like having your dad along for the trip....moti has four kids of his own and is trying to make sure all of them go to college....if you go to rajasthan and are looking for a driver....let me know....moti is a rockstar....and you would be helping make sure his kids go to school....this was the three of us, the only ones at this restaurant outside, freezing, on our last night toghether, before moti took us to the airport in udaipur, so we could go to goa and he could drive two days back to agra....he was incredible....and one of the main reasons we had such an amazing trip....
 

and then we went to the beach in goa.....and no, it was not this empty, i just positioned the camera correctly....the beach and the water where we were....as well as the om shack we hung by, were clean and comfortable....the water was incredible....the indian ocean by the way, and i loved being in the ocean again....it had been too long....we had tasty lunches at the beach and relaxed as much as we could....just like many beaches around the world...there were hawkers selling things...and yes, they could become annoying, because even if you pretended to be asleep, they wouldn't leave you alone....but the water and the sand and the woman who ran the shack we hung at, were all great....

i decided i needed to include one last "store" picture from india....look at the fun things you can buy...but one of the funniest things is the sign to the right....if you look at the bottom, you can *xerox*std*isd*fax things....what the heck does it mean to "std" things????  hmmmmmmm...but you can buy anything in india....you just have to know how to bargain :)
 

the picture above is from the last night in mumbai (bombay)....we were there for less than 12 hours....but had some of the most tasty food....and the biggest roti we had seen....unfortunately i can't remember what this roti is called....but it was bigger than lisa's head, as you can see from the picture....and man, was it tasty....it was perfect way to say goodbye to india with one more incredible meal....and our luck held throughout the entire trip....neither of us got sick or experienced the very famous "delhi belly" from food in india...most people were amazed by that....we think it had lots to do with having moti as our protector....but overall, the food in india....magnificent!!!!!!

i decided the last picture from india needed to be me at the rat temple....i know, no rats or a beer in the picture, but i do think you can tell how happy i am to be there from this shot...really, it was a mind-blowing place....actually all of india was...and yes, it was stressful, and crowded and dirty and gross and trying and annoying, but at the same time it was amazing, stunning, beautiful, outstanding, mind-blowing and simply fantastic.....the commercial really is correct...it's incredible india....would i go there again????  yes....but i really want to experience the south of india....it is supposedly more laid back and chill....so i will go back someday....i just don't know when....

i hope you enjoyed this update, as well as part 1 from india....i sure had a great time having the experiences on this trip....i also just traveled to sri lanka for february break....and i have to say it was quite possibly was one of the top ten of my travels ever....what a place....the next update will be about there....sorry you have to wait :)  i hope all of you are well and feel free to drop a line and say hi when you can....ask questions if you have them as well....wishing you all a good start to march...and for those in the northern hemisphere, this means spring is just around the corner...woot!!!!

peace out and have a fab day :)
dani 

India Part 1

January 29th, 2013 - 
Happy New Year to all and i hope you had a great holiday season.....i was in india for my holiday break, so this particular update and the next one (india part 2) will be a bit longer than normal, because it was really hard to choose which pictures i would show and which i wouldn't...it probably has something to do with my friend lisa and i taking over 1800 pictures combined.....what a trip....

Part one will be the first half of our trip; Delhi (or New Delhi), Varanasi, where the Ganges River is located, Khajuraho and Agra, where the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort are located.....the second part will contain pictures from Jaipur, Bikaner, Pushkar, Udaipur, Goa and Mumbai.....

Overall it really was an incredible trip....but india is definitely a place of the most amazing and the most awful things in the world....if you think of every adjective and adverb you have ever used in your life, i think at some point they all applied to what was happening on our trip....it was incredible, overwhelming, dirty, obnoxious, crowded, spectacular, spiritual, crazy, ridiculous, intense, powerful, etc....i don't think i blinked as much as normal, because i really wanted to take it all in....its definitely a place i would recommend, but only for those who are seasoned travelers or want to experience the most intense time of their life.....it really is an incredible place, both positive and negative....some folks have asked if i would go back...and the answer is yes, but probably to the southern part of india where supposedly it is not as intense as the northern section.....while we were there we experienced protests due to a gang-rape that occurred right before we arrived, and we experienced the coldest winter in forty years...and we were not really prepared for that.....but it truly was an amazing trip and luckily neither lisa, nor myself got delhi belly at any point of the trip....which i attest to the awesome travel operator and crew we had for this trip...and if you are planning a trip to india, you really should ask this crew for help....simply amazing!   On with the pictures......

our first stop on this trip was to delhi (also known as new delhi - as they are one and the same, although the city is divided into different sections - new and old)....we stayed in a very interesting hotel....and while we were out wandering around the hotel we got to see some interesting things that became quite normal concerning india....the first thing i learned is that you can have a store anywhere....even in a tree as you can see from the picture above....yes, it was a normal street, with normal stores....but this business person felt a tree would help them sell their product better...it certainly got our attention.....
 

the hotel we stayed at, as i stated above was interesting....weird noises from the bathroom door as it opened in closed, making it feel like you were in a haunted house, very loud patrons who seemed to be coming into your room to have a conversation with you, towels and sheets that were not the cleanest we had ever seen....but my personal favorite thing that happened here was "yoga on the kitchen floor"....yep....the kitchen floor....so here i am with some hot sauce in a pose of some sort....it was crazy....there was no where else to do yoga at the place...bedroom - too small...terrace - too cold....so where did we end up...the kitchen floor....chalk one up for india....simply perfect!

while in old delhi we took a rickshaw pedaled by the guy on the right....the guy on the left pedaled our guide through old delhi....now old delhi is crowded, dirty, crazy busy, not paved very well, and very tight quarters....this guy was great....and so was his english....we turned a few heads with all of our laughing.....and it was amazing how well we got through....
 

one of the places we stopped along the tour through old delhi was this building that has been converted into a whole sale spice market....as you can see - four layers of people living and selling and cooking and working in one huge space...on the left you can see folks sleeping on a balcony....yep, on the concrete floor with just a blanket....and it was about 4 degrees C (35 F) out while they were sleeping....down in the center you can see bags of the spices and over to the right someone's laundry....people are packed in everywhere....and i mean everywhere...people are living on the street under tarps....families....people are living in battered buildings....people are living in their stores that are super tiny....they are everywhere....
 

we also made it a point to stop at the resting place for Gandhi (rajghat)....this is where some of his ashes are kept in delhi....most of them were sent to the ganges river....the holiest of rivers for hindus and where all of them want their ashes to end up at....this spot in delhi where some of his are, is a solemn place that is peaceful and respected...and heads of state from all over the world have visited it.....i am sure based on many things that were happening in the country while we were there, if Gandhi was still alive, he would be disappointed with many things about his country and would be protesting....while we were in delhi there were huge protests concerning a gang-rape that occurred on a bus, where the woman died....unfortunately different political and religious leaders came out and said it was the woman's fault it had happened at all....both lisa and i had a hard time with this opinion....and it was just one thing that showed us that there is still work to be done concerning women's rights in india....there has been much progress....but there still needs to be more....

i am having problems again with the uploading of pictures.....so this picture below is of lisa and i on the rickshaw again....it was a cute one and had to be shared....also, the guy on the left side is our guide rumi....he was cool and knew a lot about his town and shared it quite well....
 

the pictures both above and below this writing are from one of the different religious sites we visited while in delhi....this was a sikh temple that we visited....sikhs believe in one god for all people and that in order to be faithful you live the life of a householder and earn an honest living and avoid worldly temptations and sins...the symbol you see over the huge cooking pot is called a khandra and stands for divine knowledge....one of the coolest aspects of sikhs in my opinion is that they are required to do altruistic work.....so if you go to a sikh temple anywhere in the world, you should be able to get a meal...no matter who you are or what you believe in....we actually went to the kitchen associated with this temple....and you can see the size of the pots they use to cook up food in the picture above....to give you an idea of size, the diameter of the pot was about as big as my arm span....pretty cool....and in the picture below you can see them setting up for the next meal they will be serving in this temple....the members of the temple prep the food, cook the food and serve the food...and really you can come from anywhere to get a hot meal....and this kitchen runs 24 hours a day...this is truly some altruistic service....and what an operation....definitely a cool religion to check out, if only for the volunteerism they ask their members to do.....if only all religions did this....we were really impressed with the sikhs....

 

from delhi we flew to varanasi....a very important place for hindus and buddhists....the picture above is related to the buddhists...it was taken at sarnath....sarnath is the spot where buddha preached his first semron....he also founded his monk order here for his followers....the stone "building" you see above is the dhamekh stupa...and this stupa marks the spot where buddha gave his sermon....its huge....close to 44 meters high (15 feet)...usually a stupa holds a relic of buddha or the ashes of some important buddhist monk....and this one has writing from the 6th-7th century saying that buddha spoke here....sarnath is a very sacred and peaceful spot and we were lucky enough to be here for christmas day :)
 

the picture above was also taken at sarnath, which was crazy to me....here in this very religious spot for buddhism i could find a current version of the periodic table....a perfect combination of science and religion in my eyes...i know, i know...always the science geek!  the man holding the poster with me was a crazy driver....his name was bablu...and boy did he piss people off....in india, many drive with their hand continually on their horns....and in this case he never let go....at one point we needed to tell him we were very angry with his driving just so he would lay off the horn and quit making the other drivers and pedestrians angry....

for the picture above we are still in varanasi...but this time visiting the mother india temple....also known as the bharat mata temple....it is the only temple in india to hold a relief map of india and not gods and goddesses....it was created to honor the "mother" india, is made from marble and is an exact replica of the country to scale.....the to scale part the aspect that most impressed me....from this angle you are standing below the southern most point of india...and if you look to its right, you can see the country i am headed to on my next break....sri lanka....woot!
 

the most amazing thing about varanasi and the reason most people and pilgrims go there is for the ganges river...the holiest river in india for people of the hindu religion....it was an amazing place to people watch and see just how much this spot means to people.....every night there is a ceremony called the Aarti, where brahmin (priests) bless the people and the waters for the evening....the picture above is the ceremony we got to watch...there is much in the way of burning candles and turning to face the four cardinal directions....they also use conch shells to make horn noises and marigolds (which you see throughout india)....also this is a ceremony to praise shiva the destroyer....he is the one god all hindus pray to, so he will not destroy them, their way of life and their families....its amazing how much he truly is honored throughout the country as a whole that we visited....the ceremony was awesome, once we figured out what we were doing there....our driver spoke very little english and there was a lot of confusioin for this stop....but it was incredible....
 

the next morning at sunrise we were on the ganges river in a small boat....one of the reasons hindus make a pilgrimage here is to be cremated and have their ashes put into the holy waters....they also come for ablutions, daily bathing, washing of clothes, washing of hair, brushing their teeth....its holy water and gets used for everything to help clean the soul and be holy.....in the shot above, we are floating by one the main ghats where they burn bodies....the two fires in the middle and to the left, are actual burning bodies...the fire on the right, is the burning of the stretchers used to carry the bodies....if you look to the far right, you can see a body being prepped to be burned covered by a red cloth.....this entire process is amazing to me....men of a family can only come to this spot with the body, as women might cry and that cannot happen as it will stop the soul from leaving, but women can be burned here too....these ghats work 24 hours a day....and the building in the back left with the balconies is actually a hospice run by the brahmin (priests) of this ghat...they go out into varanasi, the town, everyday and find people who have come there to die, so they have some comfort before they pass....a brahmin comes onto your boat and explains the entire process and asks if you want to donate to the burning of people who come without money to pay for the necessary wood....they also let you know that anyone is welcome to burn their body at the ghat...no matter what race or religion or gender....i never knew that....maybe this needs to be my final resting place....who knows....i LOVED the ganges and the experience i had there....its overwhelming and crowded...but there is no smell, due to the wood these use to burn the bodies....the ganges has a definite spirituality about the place you can just feel....i can understand why this is such a holy place....
 

the picture above is my last from the ganges....these three women were lighting candles and placing them and flowers into the ganges or just along the edge of the river....everyone located here along the river and on the river does this....so at night you can see points of light floating down the river....its just stunning.....one of the things i love about this shot is that the women are dressed in saris (sar-ees).....and this is the everyday dress in india....so colorful and elegant....it was amazing to see women working everywhere....households, in construction, cooking, doing laundry....always wearing these colorful outfits.....i think it helps keep spirits up when they fall for the women of india....as they are such beautiful pieces of clothing.....

my last shot from varanasi is the one above....this is a picture of street side vendor of food....he cooks and lives here and was preparing for the days sales....in this small space he lives his life....amazing what one can do when that is all one has....and this is a step up from the vendors who only have the street to work on....
 

from varanasi we flew to khajuraho.....this is a very small town of only 5000, where you can find the temples dedicated to the god shiva and his wife parvati....i have not included any close-up shots here....but its is amazing all of the stonework they covered on these temples....as you can see from the people on the steps, the temples are rather large, and being restored....plus, every inch of them is covered in sculpture....its amazing.....the sculptures on the temples are quite erotic....and were created to celebrate love, marriage and procreation of the two gods that united and married....
 

this was the first day on the trip where we could actually remove some of our many layers of clothing....as until we got here we were in some pretty cold weather...but as you can see from the blue sky, we had a pretty spectacular day to be out wandering through temples....even though the temples were amazing, i wouldn't suggest the sound and light show....definitely a laughable affair :) it was great to be in such a small, and uncrowded town....but i do think khajuraho is getting ready for tourists...and is kind of like siem reap seven years ago....just about to be discovered by the hordes of tourists...i think we timed it just perfectly!

from khajuraho we drove to catch a train four hours away to take us to agra...where the taj mahal was waiting for us....along the way we some amazing sights...one of them being this portable temple....being pulled by a bull.... i loved the colors and the turbans of the hindu men....and the loud speaker was probably saying something about coming out a praying for the day....it was cool thing to see along the road....

one of the first things we asked to do when we got to agra was to go to a local market.....we saw some amazing things...but i think my most favorite thing was the local street-side dentist (Dr. Koup this is for YOU!)....many indians cannot afford to go to "real" practicing dentists and pay their fees....so there are many who have set up shop (sometimes after they retire), to do work for the poor at a considerably lower price....one of the dentists we saw had these bridges available for sale....just sitting on the side of the road.....crazy i tell you!
 

Agra is not only famous for the taj mahal....but also for the agra fort....in the shot above i am standing at the front entrance of the agra fort, made red from red sandstone....this building and the taj mahal and many of the forts you will see in the next update, were built by the mughal emperors....the agra fort was built as a place for the mughals to rule india while the capital was in agra....the capital did not stay here though and was moved back to delhi after being in agra for a short time....this fort is HUGE and intricately carved and has a lovely view of the taj mahal.....it was amazing to see how modern the facilities were inside with running water, fountains and heating/cooling methods using the walls...the fort is also extraordinarily beautiful.....
 

which is a perfect lead up to the most perfectly symmetrical and stunning building...the taj mahal....for those who do not know...this building is really a tomb to honor an emperors wife who died....this was a wife he married for love and she died giving birth to their 14th child....yep....14!!!! the emperor's workmen took 22 years to build this perfect structure to honor his dead wife, and in the time it was being built the emperor almost bankrupted the country and his family....it really is an incredible and amazing and beautiful building and it leaves you speechless....the craftsmen who built it were extremely dedicated to this building and many spent their entire working lives making sure it really was perfectly symmetrical in all aspects....in this particular picture, the fountains are not on....and what's really cool about the fountains is that they work using gravity....and are only on at specific times of each day, with none of those times repeating daily....we got lucky and saw them working when we first arrived....but i love this shot for the reflection alone....

one of the amazing things about this building is all of the optical illusions it creates....from the appearance of it getting smaller as you get closer - hence why you can take this type of shot....to the writing on the outer walls looking like it is the same size the whole way up, no matter where you stand looking at it....it really is an stupendous work of art....
 

this last shot is one where the fountains were working and just needed to be included....really, this is a wonder of the world...and if you can, you really should get here....simple incredible!!!!!
 

this second to last shot from part 1 in india was from our xmas fiesta in varanasi...we actually had some fire swingers at our hotel do a show for us....the last part of their act was something i had not seen before, where they were just using cinders of charcoal that started glowing and shooting off sparks as they swung them due to the addition of oxygen....it gave this really cool image of the circles and sparks...that i loved...we ended up talking to the guy who ran the show and found out he was an international teacher in varanasi and had learned fire swinging from his grandfather....it was cool addition to an interesting christmas dinner....
 

this last shot is another interesting thing from our xmas dinner....a very creepy santa...it was a little indian man, with a scary plastic mask on who played the role of santa....a bit freaky if you ask me, but the perfect way to wish you all a belated happy holidays and all the best in 2013!!!!

so there it finally is....india part 1....again, i am sorry it took some time to get this out, but we are having real internet issues in china....and they are trying to block all outside sites and influence again....so trying to get information out is as difficult as trying to get information in....very frustrating....anyway...i hope you enjoyed india part 1...i had an amazing trip and hope to have part 2 out soon.....if you have any questions or want the tour operator's name and email...let me know...he rocked and made our trip unforgettable.....more coming soon and i hope everyone is well :)

have a fab day :)

dani  

China #11 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

December 17th, 2012 -
hi there folks...i know, i know, i know...its been way too long....but i fell in the black hole of work here in shanghai....plus for the past month and a half i have had a problem with my vpn....what's a vpn you ask....its the way i get on blogger and facebook from china, where they are not allowed....what a vpn does is scramble my ip address and make it look like i am really in seattle or seoul or somewhere other than china....so then i don't get blocked....but china is cracking down on vpns....so you never really know when yours will work....

no excuse i know for not updating....so i apologize and i decided i better get this one out before the end of the world in a few days and before my trip to india, a few days later.....things here in china are finally getting to vacation...life has been crazy busy with school and fun stuff...even had two ice friends come and visit since i last wrote....and we went a visited somewhere new for me in china....more on that later....

but the pictures below are from two months ago now....and my trip to kuala lumpur (KL) to visit anka and family, who have moved there this year from croatia....so some of you will know the other folks in the pictures and some of you will not....i have to say i enjoyed KL quite a bit....much more colorful and diverse compared to china...also, not as perfect as shanghai....it had interesting sites, smells, spices and people...plus the food was quite tasty....i made it to china town and little india while i was there and it was interesting to visit both....but i get ahead of myself...on to the pictures...

 

for those of you who don't know, KL is in malaysia...and it is well known for its pewter....its royal selangor pewter at that....this is the place that makes all of the pewter glasses, dishes, tea pots and such for the royals of malaysia...and of course they have a version of the famous petronas twin towers....made from pewter....way coooooooooool.....

while in the pewter factory, we were allowed to have a cool beverage in a pewter drinking glass, just to show how cold they keep the drink you have....this is me and nikola cheers - ing each other with the pewter...they came to visit the factory with me and we even got to make our own pewter bowls at the "school of hard knocks"....lets just say no one would want to buy the one I made, except maybe my parents...because parents always want the things their kids make ;)

one of the days while i was exploring the city i was at the cultural craft center...the center itself was okay, but while i was waiting for my bus this guy from india pulled up with this motorcycle filled with snacks...yes, everything hanging form the bike is edible...from chips to candy to baguettes....it was a crazy ride....

one of the stops on the bus route was the royal family's mansion/palace....its on the outskirts of the city....yet looks at the twin towers....this is the main gate with the palace in the middle section...this was a close as we got, and i never did meet any of the royals....

for those of you who don't know, KL is a mecca for shoppers...it has been called a shoppers paradise...but then again, so have most of the SE asian cities i have been to in the last year and half...who knows which one is the best...not my specialty...but i did like all of the t-shirts at one of the markets i stopped by...this was at the central market...one of the biggest...and the food court on the top floor here is amazing....tons of different types of food....

this shot above was my favorite store....yep...its the engine of a train and they have refurbished it to be a clock store...hence the grandfather clocks at the front....you actually went inside the full sized engine and could look at clocks and watches from all over the world...this was a very creative store..i loved it!

the building above is one of the arts centers in KL...specifically for music and theater....the roof is really interesting and its light blue...this is made in the same style as a traditional malay house with the peaked styled roof....this is on the outskirts of a great park with two lakes and boats and such....the parks in KL are really impressive....

this next shot is of the KL tower...i was very sad...i missed the free base jumpers my first night in town....that means they jump off the this building with a parachute in hand and it deploys when they throw it to the side...i guess this happens twice a year in KL and i missed it....i didn't go up into the KL tower, because i decided to go into the petronas towers instead....they are much more shiny and new...however....this tower is located directly in the center of town, in a rainforest....very cool parks as i said before...they really like their green space in this very polluted, traffic filled town...

as i wrote above, KL is a shoppers paradise....this is the street sign announcing you have made it to mecca for shopping....the malls are HUGE and sparkling and new looking and they have every chain you can think of for clothes, jewelry and food...its just insane...

i really liked this building because it kind of gives you the idea that not everything in KL is shiny and new...this is located just outside of china town and is an apartment building that is well lived in...it just looks so different from buildings here in shanghai....it definitely adds to the flavor of KL....

this beautiful building is the train station....it is a mix of eastern and western designs....as islam is the most prominent religion in malaysia...many of the buildings have an islamic feel/design....this one is stunning with the white domes and staircases...and it was a busy place too...

one of the main parts of the city is little india.....this is the main drag of that part of the city....the city of KL is really made up of three types of people....the malay, the chinese and the indian....i am not sure if this is what india looks like, but i enjoyed the colors and smells of indian food in this part of town...i actually found this incredible veggie only buffet....yummy!!!!  i should know more after my winter holiday if this is what india looks like....

as i mentioned above, i decided to go up in the petronas twin towers while visiting KL....and these were way cool....this first shot is from the center portion of the bridge between the towers....what's really cool about this bridge is that it is flexible and movable and not really connected to the towers...it is snug fit, but has the ability to expand and contract with the wind hitting the towers....we were not there on a windy day, so unfortunately i can't say what its like from personal experience....but really it is a flexible pedestrian bridge....these towers are 452 m (1483 ft) tall and are amazing to look at in the sun or lit up at night....so elegant....

as you look down onto the central city park from the bridge, you can see that the mall below you is powered by all solar cells....that's what the dark geometric designs are on the building are... the park as you can see, has fountains that get lit up and dance at night...its a really nice central portion of town....

this was the view from the towers looking out in the direction where anka and family live....as you can see, some cool buildings, with some green spaces sprinkled here and there....the school where anka works is in this directions as well...and even though she wasn't that far from downtown, the traffic made getting around quite crazy....

this is one of my favorite shots of the trip....the one tower taken from the other....i love the look and feel of these buildings and am really happy i got to go up in them....uber modern and cool :)

this next street shot is one the main eating streets in KL...just on the edge of chinatown....most of the people selling food from these stalls spoke chinese and malay....so i got to practice my chinese a bit...i think i did okay, but you would have to ask anka to be sure....we had a tasty meal one night here....

another night we went out for dinner we came across all of these different shake flavors...the first one on the left is a durian milkshake....GROSS!!!!  if you have never had or smelled durian fruit...you aren't missing anything....but this is the king's favorite flavor in malaysia....so you can find places that will serve you durian-anything....personally i think they smell like stinky feet and the slimy texture makes it really hard for me to enjoy....definitely not one of my favorites...you can find durian here in china too...the last milkshake...the purple one...is a taro milkshake...which does not even sound appealing....needless to say, we did not get those flavors....

one night anka and i went out on the town....we stopped at the dancing fountains just outside of the petronas twin towers...there was no music, but the lights and dancing were quite nice....we actually went to a rooftop bar across the way, that had a pool inside of it....it was quite swank...

 

from that above mentioned bar, i was able to get this beauty of a shot of these super cool towers...they do not leave them lit all night by the way....they turn them off around midnight every night....so although this was a stunning picture...they did lessen the light pollution a bit later in the evening...which is something i can support....obviously they left the lights on for planes, but not the big spots and such...i love these buildings...

 

my last picture from the trip is of me and anka from the balcony of my swanky hotel i stayed in for my last night in town...i needed some down time and a spa day, so i sprung for the view, the lounge with the night caps and the amazing hydrotherapy pool....it was totally relaxing and great way to end my visit to this fun and culturally diverse and varied city....it was a blast seeing anka and family and catching up...plus, it was great to see another part of southeast asia....

so again...here you have it...another trip of mine....i am hoping to post pictures from my visit to guillin, china with wendy and shandra....because we stayed in a great guesthouse and had an awesome visit....but i am not sure that will happen before i head to india this weekend....i am heading there for a few weeks with a good friend from here and AM SOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!  my first time...woot!!!!

i will post pictures from there....don't you worry....okay...off i go...hope you enjoyed this adventure...more coming i promise...i hope everyone has a happy and healthy holiday season and i wish you all the best in 2013!!!!

have a fab day :)
dani