Mari and I Take the Taj

AAAHHHH!!! Mari came to visit me! That is right, she took a week out of her busy REAL world life and flew to India.

After some confusion (my fault of course) I successfully picked her up from the airport and we made our way back to my flat. After a shower, a snack and a quick pep talk from me about kicking jet lag in the teeth, Mari and I went out that night to a YPO/WPO event. It was their year end event where they give out awards and have a party. It was a lot of fun, they had some famous Bollywood guy come in and sing. This of course caused all the girls to rush to the stage and fawn over him as he serenaded them. They had cuisines from four or five different nations (Mari sprinted for the Indian while I wavered around Italian and Chinese) that was absolutely superb. And to top it off, they had a top shelf open bar.

The following day, we set off to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. It was a fairly simple three hour drive that was handled by a hired driver. Upon arriving we were talked into taking a tour of the Taj that day because apparently there was some holiday the next day and it would be impossible to see it. The tour was good, it was hotter than Hades... like I should have thrown my shirt away hot. But it was nice to see it up close and hear about the history and all that nonsense. And of course we got plenty of pictures.

The next morning we were set to take another tour of the Taj. This time a sunrise tour. Everyone I spoke to told me that it was a must, so I got that set up through the hotel and we were off. It really was worth it. If you ever get a chance to visit the Taj, please take the tour at sunrise. Even though we had to get up at 4:30am, it is so pretty and brings a whole new view to the building... also it is much cooler.

The Princess Diana bench

After the Taj we took a tour of the Agra Fort. It was built by the same guy who built the Taj, which is where he was later imprisoned by his son. Two thirds of the fort is still being used by the military and therefore off limits to civilians, but the 1/3 we were able to see was pretty cool.

The view from the old kings room. At least his son was nice enough to let him view the Taj from his prison room.

So we were told that this was known as the pleasure garden. Apparently there were naked women wandering around here and the wine was endless

This was my favorite part. This is a double mote. The first mote was filled with water and had crocs and other terrifying water animals. The second mote was filled with wild animals like lions, panthers, and other ferocious beasts. I want to have a double mote one day. I think that is the definition of success.

We finished our trip to Agra and prepared to make our way to Jaipur. That post will follow in the coming days. We had a blast in Agra and I highly recommend going if you ever have the opportunity. Also, look at this UNREAL view we had from our hotel room.

And here is Mari looking like a model in the hotel pool. Seriously, look how beautiful she is.

Old Delhi Tour

This past weekend, Daniela and I finished the second half of the tour that was mentioned in this previous post. We did change it up a little bit by booking with a different company called "When In India". They were quite a bit more expensive, but as it turned out, worth every penny.

We began our tour meeting outside of the Red Fort at 5:30pm. Thankfully the rickshaws were easy to spot because this intersection was a nightmare.

We met our tour guide who thankfully spoke english very well. We then loaded up into the rickshaws and prepared for this three and a half hour adventure.

The tour began at a huge Muslim mosque called Jama Masjid. We were supposed to be able to go inside and have a look around, but as it turned out, the head master muslim priest of all muslims in India was in town, so they had to follow all the rules at the mosque. That meant that no non muslims were allowed inside. Oh well, I don't think I missed much, it seemed to just be a huge walled in area with a podium at the front.

After the disappointment at the mosque we made our way down some of the narrowest and most crowded passageways I have ever seen. Our first stop was at this corner restaurant shop.

And they served these miniature elephant ear looking things. They are very good and considered a desert here. They were super gooey and sticky but crazy delicious. As it turned out, they were also my first "street food" experience in India. Worry you not, even after many more street food vendors in Old Delhi, I can happily report that I have not experienced "Delhi Belly".

We continued down the streets to our next street food experience but were quickly slowed by a huge traffic jam... and by traffic jam, I mean no one was moving and everyone was honking. I feel as though their governing transportation body is run by children who all think they should be first in line. It is terribly aggravating and time consuming.

Once we made our way though the traffic jam we visited a jewelry market, spice market, and wedding market. Sadly, I did not get any pictures of these areas, but Daniela did, so once I get the pictures from her I will update this post. I got some great spice mixes at the spice market, found some nice bangles for Mari at the jewelry market, and thankfully bought nothing at the wedding market. 

Our second to last stop was at this chain restaurant that serves some delicious food. I have no idea what I ate, but I do know that it was all delicious.

And for desert we had something called stic kulfi. I believe it was frozen milk curd with saffron and other spices in it. Again, it was delicious regardless of what was in it.

To finish off the tour, we headed back to the Red Fort to watch the Light & Sound show. Which as it turned out, was more of a Sound & Story show. The lights were unimpressive, but the story associated with the show was extremely informative. It told the story of the throne located at the Red Fort. I will give you the short version with just the highlights.

The Red Fort was built by the same guy who built the Taj Mahal. He also built two other forts and a couple other places, he is known as the Architect of India. When he was older, he got super sick and his three sons started killing each other in an attempt to claim the throne. The son that won imprisoned his father and basically ran the kingdom into the ground. After he destroyed the kingdom, there were a couple uneventful leaders that came after him, until finally the British came in and dethroned a drunk leader and claimed India as their own.

Fun fact about the throne (known as the Peacock Throne), it once held the largest diamond on earth. Originally the diamond was 186 1/16th carats and valued at over $128 million in todays money, but it has since been cut to 105.6 carats to increase its brilliance. The throne was looted in 1739 and the diamond then ended up in the hands of the British and ultimately the Queen of England's crown, which is where it now resides. Below is a drawing of the throne in it heyday.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I hope the massive number of pictures makes up for it! Enjoy, I will update again soon.