Our trip to India
Fall 2005

[Start] [Delhi] [Agra] [Taj Mahal] [Fatehpur Sikri] [Jaipur] [Wrap Up]

Delhi

Delhi is the capital of India. We were spent the day we arrived, having woke up at 4:30am in Goa to get to the airport. We arrived at the Oberoi (Oberoi's only 4 star hotel) that is in a really old building that is quaint. We played tennis on their "clay" surface. It was fun & interesting to play on packed red dirt. The next day we started out our tour by taking driving by the Old Red Fort. When asked if we could go in & look around, our tour guide said Agra's was much better and there was no need. I would find out later that our tour guide was pretty lazy and didn't like walking.

The shot of the Red Fort below was taken from the Mosque. It is a HUGE fort. After seeing the Red Fort in Agra, I was really pissed I didn't go inside & walk around. I can't believe I tipped that tour guide 500 rupees.

 We next went to the largest Mosque in India called Jama Masjid.

I knew there was a woman's dress code & Michelle had dressed appropriately. I also knew you had to remove shoes at all active temples & mosques. What I did not know there is a men's dress code as well and as I was trying to enter, I was asked to cover my legs. Good thing, because I could have blinded them all with my shiny white legs from the Pacific NW.

The next stop was Old Delhi. This is a labrynth of shops with very narrow passageways. We went through it on a regular rickshaw - peddle power. It is more or less divided into sections - footwear, jewelry, food, etc. Here is a typical shot as we made our way down one of the "streets". No we didn't stop to shop. But I got hungry as we smelled all the food cooking.

You can just start to make out some of the spaghetti of electrical cables at the top of the picture. It was so scary, I decided to get a better shot. I kept wondering how safe these streets were when it rained.

Still wondering what a rickshaw is? Well here is a typical one on a typical street. It's hard to tell without seeing a lot of them - but they customize them. There is obviously a lot of pride even if these bikes are at least 50 years old. As we drove around during mid-day, you would see the guys lounging on the rickshaws napping. Had to be the most uncomfortable position to take a nap, with your ass on the bike seat, and your feet draped over the handlebars with your head resting on the padded seat. And yes, that is a cow in the background. You see a lot of cows on the streets in India.  That huge pile of burlap? Yes, it's on a cart. The streets are so narrow in Old Delhi that they have to cart things from the outer reaches to the stores on cycle rickshaws or carts.

It seems every capital city has some huge arch. This is the India Gate. Garrick & Micah - even though I don't have a yellow hat on, this pics for you. I'll leave it up to you to get it published. LOL

This picture is actually better. That's a huge gate. I haven't seen the one in France, but this is pretty big. It was dedicated for the unnamed soldier.

The next place we went was Qutb Minar - One of the original Delhi's (there are eight distinct Delhi's as various rulers created different "city centers"). This was a rather large area and this minar is the tallest stone structure in India at just over 72m. Pretty impressive. It was completed in 1368. And yes, it leans just a tad. It's in a rather large park-like area that was once the center of Islamic worship back in the days.

Next up was one of the precursors to the Taj, Humayun's Tomb.

I almost didn't include the picture, since it's so close to the Taj (but quite a bit smaller), but the red & white marble really set it off nicely. I, as many others have done in the past (as our tour guide stated), commented on what appears to be the Star of David inscribed on this Tomb. It was explained to me that unlike the Jewish emblem, this star shows the two triangles that make up the star (signifying a man & woman) with a center circle signifying life. Still, I wonder. It's just too coincidental and to me it signifies a split in two religions with the same roots at some point in the distant past.

Interesting Tidbit: When explaining the various gods of Hindu, our guide explained they see G.O.D. as "Generator", "Operator" and "Destructor" and that is why they have three main gods.

Amazing what a change in perspective can yield. Yup, same place, just different shot from a different angle.

Agra is next up.

[Start] [Delhi] [Agra] [Taj Mahal] [Fatehpur Sikri] [Jaipur] [Wrap Up]