Whirl Wind Tour of the Golden Triangle

We just spent the last three days on a whirl wind tour of the Golden Triangle area of India.  How to even begin describing all that we did the past three days?  We arrived in Delhi at about 5:00 AM so we were all tired to even start out.  Our guide met us outside the airport and we loaded up in a van for the five hour drive to Jaipur, also known as the Pink City because the buildings are pink.   I was so tired on the ride and at first I wanted to stay awake to see everything, but I finally started dozing off.  I'd wake up and see a monkey, camel, cow, pig, elephant, water buffalo, or some other unique sight on the road.

Highlights of the first day include riding elephants to Amber Fort (a palace), riding camels, taking a photo with a snake charmer, visiting a Hindu Temple, and visiting an astronomical sight.

The second day we drove from Jaipur to Agra making a stop part way to see a step well.  I had never heard of a step well before, but found it fascinating.  It is just what it sounds like, a well with steps that was built to store water.  We also toured the Agra Fort, which once again is a palace.  The workmanship is absolutely amazing.  And we were able to get a glimpse of the Taj Mahal from the fort through the fog.   Apparently this time of year it is foggy a lot, October and February are the supposedly the best months to visit

The third day we were able to tour the Taj Mahal.  I don't even have words to describe it. Amazing, beautiful, magnificent don't even seem to come close.  It is built with such perfect symmetry and is just beautiful to see.  The flower and decorative words look like paintings, but they are really precious stone laid into the marble.  We didn't get a clear blue day to see it, but it was still one of my favorite places we have visited.

The driving here is insane.  For awhile I was watching out the front window, but then decided that was a bad idea.  There are so many obstacles, such as animals, vehicles of all types, bikes, motorcycles, pedestrians, carts, and almost anything else you can even imagine all on a narrow road.  I am glad we had a driver and we didn't have to deal with driving.  It was nice to start off our India experience with a guide and driver.

We are now at the airport getting ready to fly to southern India.  We will spend the next few weeks volunteering at Rising Star Outreach.  I am sure we are in for more interesting experiences.

If you look really close you can see the Taj Mahal

This is some of the decorative stones that look like paint.

Later, the fog wasn't quite as bad

Seth and me on an elephant

The Stepwell

Joe and me on a Camel

This is the ultimate in brave for me.  I really don't like snakes!

Watching a snake charmer

And yes, there really are cows on the streets.