Sticks and Stones...

Looking back on my trip to India a few "funny" things happened.  At the time, I was a bit uncomfortable or one might even say worried, but now I can sit back in the comfort of my own home and chuckle.

Incident #1
In my last post, I talked briefly about the people who were blocking the main road from Agra to Jaipur.  As a result, we had to wind through villages to find our way to our destination.  At one point on these back roads, we were blocked by a group of young men.  There was one, in particular, who did not want to let us pass.  Mr. Khan got out of the car and tried talking with him, asking him to move his moped from the middle of the road.  The group of men refused to move, but many of them were laughing (which can either be reassuring or more frightening if the laugh is that crazy, sadistic kind...you know the one I mean.).  Beth and I sat in the back of the car trying to figure out what was going on.  It came down to this:  the man wanted us to pay him for the use of the road.  He figured since the main road was blocked, he might as well benefit as well. There was no budging him and we weren't going to pay--Mr. Khan was adamant about that.  Then out of nowhere, a little old lady approached the group of young men and began hitting the leader with the stick she was carrying.  She was yelling that she was going to march down to his house and tell his father what he was doing and that he better get a move on!

I wish so badly that I could have captured the old woman hitting the man with her stick, but I wasn't that brave at the time.  Instead, I got the leader driving away on his moped.

We drove down the road a short distance talking about what had just happened, when we came to the second plot to charge us money to travel on the road.  This one, however, was being executed by children and was not complete yet...we were lucky :)  I think they were planning on building a wall of rocks so no cars could pass.

Incident #2
Beth and I were trying to find the perfect stores in which to shop.  What we had seen so far had either been touristy with lots of really inexpensive items (aka cheap looking things that will break easily and are just plain ugly) or stores that carried massively expensive items (and what I considered to still be ugly).  So we had been hopping in and out of the car and running into stores for a while now.  At one of the last stores we visited, we got back into the car after checking out the store for a only a few minutes, when a man with a very large gun approached the car.  He and Mr. Khan began arguing and Beth and I didn't utter a word.  We could not figure out what they were fighting about...but it was clear they were fighting.  At one point, the man with the very large gun reached into the car and yanked the key from the ignition, breaking the key.  When his hands started grabbing the wheel, Beth and I froze.  Finally, the man with the very large gun seemed to back off a bit.  Mr. Khan took this opportunity and wrangled the key back from the gun man and was able to insert it into the ignition and off we drove.  Beth and I couldn't get the words out quickly enough, trying to figure out what had happened.  Mr. Khan, looking bored, explained that he wanted money since we parked in front of the store.  Mr. Khan told the man with the very large gun (did I mention that his gun was very large?) that he was not the parking police and he refused to pay.  I don't think I would last a minute alone in India!  I apologize for not taking a picture of the man with the very large gun, but felt it was better to return safely to my husband and children instead.

The People of India

This is a post with lots of pictures....I had such a hard time narrowing it down.  But considering there are approximately 1,155,347,678 people living in India, I don't think I did too bad posting only 28 pictures!

Part I
Seems appropriate that I start this post with a picture of Mr. Khan, our driver.   In case you are unsure, he is the one on the left.

The afternoon we left, Mr. Khan invited us to his
house for lunch with his family.  

 

While at Mr. Khan's we spent time on his roof.
Kids were getting ready for the upcoming kite flying festival.
There were also many families and kids on each roof of the surrounding buildings.
I felt like a character in The Kite Runner (if only it had taken place in India).

People selling goods outside of various monuments or just along the side of the road.

Some sights from the road

                        

This guy is sitting on top of a huge truck while driving down the road

                          

Why ride your bike when your friend will give you a lift on his moped?

All kinds of transportation were allowed in every lane:
walking, bikes, mopeds, cars...

Not sure if you can tell, but there is actually a van under all of these people.
There are only 10 seats available inside the van,
but hold on tight and you can catch a ride on this highway too!

Haircut and a shave on the side of the road

I am mesmerized by this man.  Don't know why, I just am.

Man, snake...it doesn't matter.  Beth can charm them all!

We were greeted by friendly faces

 at each hotel

Part II
We were set to depart on our 5 hour journey from Agra to Jaipur with Mr. Khan. I was not thrilled about being in the car for so long, but was excited to get to the Pink City.  We quickly found out that the one major road leading from Agra to Jaipur was blocked.  In a much simplified explanation: people were protesting and refused to allow cars to pass through.  Our 5 hour journey, we were told, was about to become 10 hours.

For those of you that have had the pleasure of sitting in meetings with me or pulling all nighters, I am sure you will remember my inability to sit in one place for long periods of time...although I can do it, it is a challenge for me!  I was DREADING this car ride.  We were told we would have take back roads and go through tiny villages in order to avoid the blocked road.  The pictures below are from our journey through the villages.

It is amazing that something I dreaded so much turned out to be my favorite part of the trip. I don't even know how many hours it took to get from Agra to Jaipur because I was so caught up in seeing all of the people and how they lived.  Their reaction to the chain of cars parading through their villages made it quite evident that they usually didn't get a great deal of traffic. This was a big event for them.  But honestly, I think it was a bigger event for me.  

Cows and Camels and Peacocks, Oh My!

One of my favorite aspects of India was all of the animals (not sure what this says about me?!).  I loved sharing the road with so many different creatures!  At one point, our driver, Mr. Khan, had to get out of his car to move a cow that decided to take a snooze in the middle of the road.  Cows are considered sacred in India, so it was fascinating to learn about the differences between the "free" cows that roam around without a care in the world and those that were tethered and obviously had an owner. I tried to photograph all of the animals we saw, but many times we were in the car.  I did the best I could while whizzing by.

Baby elephant...mom was close by!

Baby camel enjoying some lunch.

We were driving behind this elephant waiting
patiently for him to get a move on!

Camel as a tourist trap...wanna ride, little girl?

I could have taken pictures of cows all day long.

Just out for a stroll... with my goats!

A few friends out on the town scrounging for food.

No luck in getting this peacock to open his feathers

It seems that if we weren't looking at cows,
we were surrounded by birds

Remember when I was a vegetarian?
This might have sent me back to my old ways.

We went to a place called Galwar Bagh to see the monkeys. There were hundreds and hundreds of them roaming the grounds. Most of them were friendly and were just anxious to eat the food we were offering. There were a few moments when the alpha male decided a particular monkey should not eat and he made it known. I didn't know monkeys could squawk so loudly! 

A monkey's version of a spa day

The weight of the world is resting on my shoulders.
No one understands the kind of pressure I am under.

Glad to See You

I get emails from people commenting on my blog who are not listed as a "follower".  This made me wonder if there are others out there who are reading in secret.  I would love to know who my audience is...this will help me to not embarrass myself when I tell stories (or try not to at least!).

So if you are reading this and haven't done so yet, please click on Follow to the right of this post!

I can't wait to see you!

The Taj Mahal Deserves its own Post, Don't You Think?

We crawled out of our beds in New Delhi at 4:45 am and took a taxi to the train station.  If we were not awake before arriving at the station, we soon were WIDE awake and clutching our bags.  People came from everywhere trying to "help" us with our bags.  We kept walking and repeating the word "no" all the while trying not to trip over the hundreds of people sleeping on the train station's floor.  It was really cold, so they were covered in blankets, flattened out cardboard boxes, and pashminas.  It was easy to misstep in the chaos of it all and inadvertently step on someone.  We were unsure exactly how to get on to the platform, but as two savvy city girls we knew that we could not look as if we were unsure.  

We made it on the train and settled in for our 2 hour train ride.  We called the hotel and asked them for an early check in.  Arriving in Agra at 8 am would be perfect!  We would have time to eat breakfast, shower, and check out the town.  Well, 5 hours later we were still on the train and did not have the faintest idea why we kept stopping.  We later found out it was due to fog, but 5 hours is a long time to avoid using the train toilets!  We finally arrived 6 hours after our departure time and we were excited to get off the train and stretch our legs.  Since we were so late, the driver we had hired was nowhere to be seen.  Once again, we were surrounded by men who wanted to show us the town for a "very cheap price".  Luckily, Beth had a cell phone and called the company we booked with.  Shortly after, we connected with our driver, Mr. Khan, and were on our way to explore AGRA!

We went to the Taj Mahal and could only drive so far.  They no longer allow cars (or anything with exhaust fumes) near the building.  Once close enough, we took an electric car and walked the remainder of the way.  We ended up spending a few hours just walking around the grounds, sitting on benches, and just enjoying the Taj Mahal's quiet beauty.  It ended up being a great day.

This is called The Great Gate (gateway into the Taj Mahal)

This is the mosque on the grounds of the Taj Mahal.

And....finally, the structure that was built as a symbol of eternal love.

They are working hard to preserve the grounds.  All non-Indian guests had to wear little red booties (they charged us a lot more for these little booties!).  Indian visitors went bare foot...and it was freezing!  Can you see Beth's booties?

Having only seen pictures of the Taj Mahal, I had no idea about the intricate details.  It was stunning, breathtaking, and amazing all rolled into one.  I am not sure the pictures do it justice.  So many gemstones that reflect in the light, calligraphy from the Koran, and geometric designs that I wasn't sure what to admire first.

It was foggy the day we visited, but this is the view from the back of the Taj Mahal.  I love the man in the boat.  Can you imagine if the Taj Mahal was your scenery each day?

This was a view from another building on the grounds.

We were told that it was not safe to go out in Agra past 7:30 p.m., so after our day of exploring we headed back to our hotel and hung out there for the rest of the night.  With such an amazing attraction, one would think they would build up Agra a bit and benefit from its many visitors.  Besides the Taj Mahal, I am sad to say I was disappointed with this city.