Jealous?

The Trip begins sitting at the airport at RDU International

Then I awake after 18 hours and I am on a bus in Dehli!

Just looking outside the window. Smell is heavy, Sound is loud, Temperature is not snowing. I'll survive

My luxury sweet at the YWCA. Not as bad as we thought it would be. It has a fridge and running water that we must not drink. Western toilets were a plus!!!


Where I slept on a hard bed. Luckily I found a comforter in the closet and I slept on that. I brought my own sheet and pillow case as well though.

My first visitor. I named him Antonio. He eats the bugs so I kept him around. Pidgeons slept outside my window too. Also sat there in the window while I showered. Awkward but ok.

Morning comes and I have a nice patio outside my door. This latice looked pretty sweet. Outside the city is dusty so couldnt see far.

Outside the YWCA. Straight ahead is the gate which most places had for security. We played frisby a few times with the locals in the courtyard over to the left.

Woman sweeping the road with a stick broom. Lots were doing this even on the highway. A way to keep the city clean and provide jobs.

Nice bird. Had a long tail and was colorful. Bright yellow. Cant really see in this however.

Walking around the YWCA. Had nice little gardens around the building.

Our first trip was to the presidential palace. ALOT larger than the white house. Made of sandstone which most buildings were made off. Big complex. Has a gate, field, congress buildings and the palace. Very similar to Englands Buckingham Palace layout.

Congress building that showed inspirations from hindi, islamic, and roman architecture

The Palace which was guarded off. I got blown at by whistle twice here. I could of been deported! Kidding.. :)

Looking infront of the palace where the road comes up between two aedicules. A large garden is ahead of that with a lawn and a pool/fountain. Before that is the Gate of India. So i'll explain the layout again. Enter at the gate, walk past a yard/garden with a pool and fountains where you cross a huge round about that leads up between the two aedicules and then you past two semetrical parliament buildings with the presidents palace right ahead that is guarded off.

Heres the girls

The gate at the Presidential Palace. Nice elephants. (2nd whistle)Dont stand at the gate.

This is standing at an aedicule looking down at a huge staircase. (3rd Whistle) It "was" guarded off and we were not to walk down it. Did anyways.

The Gateway to India which was very crowded. The girls got their first pictures with the locals and I was stabbed with a pin of a flag by a preschool teacher who then wanted money. I was then left (thanks class) and a swarm of people came hurdling around me. Was a bit of a shock with everyone in my personal bubble but Tina (Our professor)saved me. :)Walking back to the bus I some guy followed me to buy some things. Think he was made after I had him follow me maybe half a mile to say no. Theyre very persistent.

Back on the bus we drove past this building which was beautiful. The decoration on the building were of colorful tiles. All together it made a pretty sweet pattern. Nice to see culture around the buildings.

We ate at McDonnalds. How American of us! Other place next door that served southern Indian food was packed and we were hungry. There is no beef and the chicken I dont think is chicken. (Vegetarians) Inside was clean. It looked priveledge and we saw other tourist. Suppose it was common ground for everyone. It had a security guard. I had nuggets, fries, and ice cream. No ice is allowed due to hazardous water that will make us ill.

After that we went shopping at FabIndia and I bought a shirt. It was pretty modern. Kinda like the GAP of India. This is some of the gang sitting outside waiting for Emme to stop shopping. Nice little shaded park. First street dog approached us. Ben pet him and then we had to disinfect him.

Back on the bus and driving around. Heres a city view. Very crowded and compact. Lots of construction going on. Theyre preparing the city for the Common Wealth Games.

We then came across the Qutub Minar which was huge and beautiful. Was a complex that had one of the oldest and first monument errected. Also the first muslim architecture was found here. Another tower was to be added here beside this one. Of course it was going to be taller but the ruler died and the people said heck no its too expensive. We then met up with one of Tina's old professors who explained the origin of Dehli. It lies beside a mountain with a river near by that cooled it down. The differant rulers then moved the city aroudn the same spot about 6 times then they decided to just keep it all. Now New Dehli is developed inside all of the 6 parts of Dehli. Too much moving of this capitol due to ruling egos that wanted to build a better city.

Heres some nice columns of a once covered area that has now fallen apart. Still in good shape however and the carvings are amazing.

Qutub Minar

The materials of Qutub Minar. Veery smooth and still in amazing shape. Red Sandstone.

Looking up on its amazing carvings. We cant go up because people liek to jump off. Its not a good ending.

Heres a view of the nice carving on a fallen gate behind the Minar.

Heres the fallen gates and Jenni being my scaled figure. It was HUGE. A small area still connected.

Heres looking up inside a dome. Beautiful colors.

Emme being wierd.

Beside the Qutub Minar was one of my favorite buildings. It was basically a large dome with a very cooling space inside. Had an entrance on all four sides. Was consited of white marble and sandstone. Still in good shape. The geometry of this building was perfect. A nice cube with a dome ontop.

Upclose of the building. Amazing carvings and color.

Me! I didnt know what to do with the arms... awkward

Heres a tomb beside the building. Cute ya? Beautiful as well. Ypu have to take your shoes off to go inside. Some people were inside praying I believe. Had a nice lattice design on all sides that let in a nice breeze.

An overall view of the 3 structures. Qutub is too tall so it leans a bit in this photo.

Emme, Jenni, Megan

I ran back into the tomb. Heres the lattice and a marble grave.

Outback in a seclusive corner was this aedicule. Great condiction and great design to it. Alot had lotus and snake/elephant shaped structures. This so beats Chapel Hill's dinky fountain.

Inside it was an opening that let in light. Could probably tell time if I was smart enough but yeah. Not so much. Its a mini Pantheon.

Looking outside the Aedicule with the Qutub Minar. Good example for Patrick's Wuwu and Archway discussion. The shape here shows a good example of most doorways in India. 5 arches for 5 fingers. Larger ones contain 10 which indicate the 10 fingers when you praying Mecca.

Here the bus by the way that took us around. Very spacious and cool when Ben and Clarissa don't open up the windows. They even gave us water! Dont drink Himalaya and watch out for super glued caps!

Cute kid. Cute cloths. Wish the hand wasnt there.

Next trip was to Humayans Tomb which is by far my favorite building throughout the trip! This image is the Gateway to it.

Humayan! This building was beautiful and serene. Very peaceful. It was the first large structure designed using Red Sandstone at such a large scale. Marble was mixed in here as well. Its a Mughul design so the structure lies in the exact middle and is symetrical on all sides. Four gardens are placed around the tomb making for exact symetry. The Taj Mahal ripped off this design.

Here's Jules looking over her balcony.

This is the entrance (one of them) to the Tomb which is symetrical on all four sides. The steps to it were very steep which was odd because they didnt seem very tall.

Here's a view of the gardens from a corner of the tomb. Since its a drought the water was not fully running. During the rain season it must be amazing!

Heres Humayuns corner.

Looking up inside one of the entrances. The gardens and tomb were set as a 9 square grid. Graves in the corners and Humuyan's in the middle.

Here are some graves located in the corner.

Gatta love those lattices.

In one corner of Humuyuns Tomb was this structure. So they lied! It wasn't completely symetrical! But they had to make a tomb for the hair dresser!

Nice vegitation around the tomb.

So Ben, Emme, and I ran off and found some run down ruins. We crawled in some holes and ended up on the gate roof. Found this random room inside though. Ben said he found some dead people in a dark room but we cant believe him all the time. Had fun though running around which won't be the first time. Dark holes lead to exciting places! So crawl in them all!

Later that day we went to see a performance. Beautiful singing and instruments except for the long exhausting day led for a few, maybe half, the group sleeping.

Next morning we went to the National Gallery! Old building. Needed some cleaning and was very hard to find my way around. Not very good way finding. It was circular with a circular courtyard in the middle. If you every design circles... good luck. Try to have some wayfinding indicators. Had a good shop though! We couldn't take picture outside. Safety reasons.


Dancing Shiva! Standing on a person! He's the father of Ganesha and was the one who chopped off his head! Which was fine because an elephant's head is better.

Dancing Krishna!

Krishna hitting on some woman. He loved the ladies.

Men on elephants killing men on horses.

Off to the Contemporary Gallery which was an amazing building! Heres a modern sculture outside. I shall name it corner face.

A cool pathway between the art gallery. Contemporary take using the natural sandstone. Most windows were sunken in or protected by columns from direct sunlight. Its too hot so I don't blame them.

Here's the entrance to the Gallery.

Back on the bus which was more of a van this time. We were now at eye level. Men watched the girls from a closer stand point. Kids on the van and adults in the car. We drove by a Tibetan protest for freedom from China. They have to protest somewhere!

Heres a crowded street. Very typical.

Awesome bikes that NYC needs.

We got to ride them :) Saw some monkeys running over the wires too. Emme was my partner.

Busy streets.

We were off to the Red Palace. Outside alot of domestic tourist waited. Beautiful bright colors. Was amazing to see how traditional the culture still was.

Tourist under the tree.

Entering the Red Fort we come to the first building after passing through 3 gates. This is where the King sat and answered to the public. Contained 9 arches which played a role in the 9 planets in the solar system.

At the left was the kings temple where he prayed and to the right is his bedroom. All white marble. Its nice, clean, and absorbs heat.

Silver, gold, and gems lined the interior. Jealous! My master bedroom will be better.. Way better..

Still jealous..

Heres where water use to run through the Queens quarters. There were a few of them. The water seperated each room and also cooled it down. Genious A/C

Interior view.

Outside the Queens chamber was a pool (not filled) with fountains. The center was a stage for performers. Lights, fountains, music, dancers, and food used to cover this place. Fairy Tale stuff only we could dream of.

Heres one of the Gates

Better view of the King's Chambers. Very airy.

Behind the temple was a beautiful garden. Water lined the walkways with giant pools.

This was once filled.

This building sat in the center of the pool. The interior of it was opened and acted as a pool courtyard. Would of been nice for a party back in the day.

This was filled too. I believe meetings were held here.

A common squirrel and chipmunk mix. Basically a chipmunk with a giant squirrel tail. I fed it some Artificial American orange crackers. They then swarmed me. They love Kraft.

A class of kids came running in. Their uniforms are alot cooler than ours.

Back on the street we go. Check out the wiring system. Health and safety would have a field day!

We then went off to a Muslim temple where the girls had to cover up. We had to remove our shoes too which some placed in my bag and walked around the hot stone. I stepped in bird poop.

Heres an overall view.

This is looking outside the temple. You can see how crowded the streets are with the market. I also met my first Filipino Muslim here. They asked me to take a picture with their baby. It was awkward.

Another view of the sreet before we left on the train to Jodphur.

I woke up on the train motion sick. It wasnt the cleanest. Shared a compartment though with two Japanese tourist. The man spoke Hindi, American, and Japanese. Probably spoke french too! Heres a view outside the window looking at the desert. My first time in the desert.

Then we arrive at our oasis in the desert! The most amazing hostel ever!

This is the door to the bathroom.

The eternal pool.

The beautiful outdoor kitchen.

Oh ya.. and a random peacock.

The courtyard was amazing. They had their own well to water the place.

The flowers and colors were tranquil.

These stairways went up to no where but the contrast of colors were nice.

The flowers.... had flowers in them...

This was my balcony to my crib. Ben locked me in one morning so I had to jump out the window. The people across the way probably thought I was crazy. They then sat next to us for breakfast and stared. Awkward.

Back on the bus we go. I see a camel :)

Off in the distance is a random temple that towered everything around it.

Ran into a gypsy who danced for money if you took her picture. Traditional dancing though.

A marble aedicule. Great carvings.

An amazing marble tomb. It was covered in pidgeons

Emme snapped a pic of me which I couldnt see. The sun faced righ tover the building which blinded me but made the structure pure white. The marble made my feet cold.

Inside of the tomb. Pure solid Marble.

Security guard chillin in the window.

Another doorway showing 10 small arches for all 10 fingers. As if someone grabbed and pulled up.

Here are some kids playing on the drums sitting outside.

Across the way we went to Meharangarh Fort which rested above a mountain overlooking the blue city. The entrance spiraled up the mountain which made a good watch zone when enemies tried to come up. They could just shoot them from the galleys.

Looking up above the gate. Pretty much carved the mountain. A pulley was used to get water up.

The Blue City. Homes were painted blue indicating shamen. Later on they kept them blue because it cools down the building as it reflects the heat. Attracks more tourist too.

A peacock charior that was held by men. The eye is a huge diamond.

Pretty cool Axe

Inside one of the rooms. Gold lined the walls and ceiling.

Better shot of the Blue City.

Emme looking out one of the windows. She wished to be one of the many Queens that got to look out. It will never happen Emme.

Outer view of the structure on the very top and middle of the fort. The windows had crecent moons hanging over them. It enhanced each window for the wives.

A courtyard of windows for the king to browse his wives. Kidding... maybe.

Emme with a flute player. We had run off again. The guide talked alot about everything. We got in trouble in the end. Was worth it.

Very festive Camel

Back on the bus driving through the desert. We drove across some huts. Thought I woke up in Africa for a minute. Seems liek these structures are just everywhere.

Village!

Camel Time!

Carlos and Megan

Tina leading the crowd.

Claire and I

This is Ferrari. Hes the fastest and tallest Camel of them all.

My camel was too fast for everyone else.

TINA!!

An awesome temple with a shrine.

Top of the Temple

Larger Temple! Beautiful carvings and very old. The foundation must of been placed very strategically.

Temple

Driving past some fields.

They work hard in the fields for about $1 a day. Amazing colors of India.

Woman in the field.

Atleast its fashionable.

Common mini taxi. Runs on natural gas so it's very sustainable.

Megan on the bus.

Jenni on the bus.

Ben on the bus.

Non GMO orange on the bus.

Temples on a mountain looking out from the bus.

Mountains outside the bus.

Clarissa on the bus.

ELEPHANT TIME!

We got to ride these babies up to a palace. You can buy one for $3000. Cheaper than a car! Emme was my partner again. We are now from China and Japan. A man took our picture and followed us for the next two days. Theyre are very smart in tracking! Got 5 pics for 2 bucks. Not bad. Thats Jenni on the Elephant.

Heres a conga line.

A garden in the middle of the desert.

Emme holding one of Jenni's hand made sun umbrellas. Cool stichery and colors.

The wall of the palace. It wrapped over the mountain. A bit like the Great Wall in China.

The entrance to the palace. Painted with amazing colors.

Close up on that.

Here are some gardens inside the palace's courtyard.

An outside pavilion using carved columns.

Jenni and I ran off this time to browse the place. We found some dark stairwells and climbed up. Very straight architecture for this palace.

Kept it simple here. Great lighting. A man took us to the roof who worked there so we thought it would be ok. He then asked us for money. What happened to common courtesy?

Lattice work.

Looking down at the gardens.

More lattice with a tiny window looking out. Good view.

Overview of the valley. A wall lined the palace borders.

In the center was a room that was lined with silver.

Ele decided to follow us back to the bus. Megan and Clarissa was almost left and Carlos tried to sell a pen to the street vendors.

Common vehicles.

Water buffalo taking a bath.

A palace sitting in the water. It's a man made lake.

Ben finally met a snake charmer.

The facade of another Palace. Each window was for each wife. They were not allowed to be seen by public eyes.

The largest clock ever! It is the largest sun dial that got down to the very minute.

This device showed the position of the sun in the world and what part was at night and day. Genious!

Astological device. Alot of Indians still use a family astrologer to make their matches.

Sagittarius are the best!

Found a tiny shrine. Smelt good. Carlos left his camera but a local found him. Very honest people.

Close up on marble carvings

At the Maharajah's fort. One Maharajah was 7' tall. He was real too! Not a Napoleon!

An outside pavillion. A ritual was going on to honor Shiva.

Here are the woman doing the ritual.

Colorful Door in the Maharajah's Court

Another Door

Maharajah's Home

And another door.

Heres the last door which went to the Maharajah.

A pretty sweet pavilion. Check out the color of the flowers. Very bold for the environment.

This is my summer home. We ate lunch here. Its a giant dining hall

Local Bird

Jenni on a couch.

Ben on a couch.

Emme on a couch.

Clarissa on a couch.

Anna on a couch.

Megan on a couch.

AND Carlos on a couch. Im on a couch too.

Next trip to Fatehpur Sikri. This is where the ruler spoke to his advisors and people.

People sat here and watched performances.

Awesome coulum where the king stood on top to speak to all four advisors in the corners. The column is solid and has snakes holding itself up.

Here's the exterior of the building.

Fatehpur Sikri's many levels.

A performance stage ontop of water similar to Red Fort's

An anchient jacuzzi.

Overview

Split level of the structure.

Great geometry.

Local beatle.

Anchient toilet.

Looking down a breezeway

Gateway to a temple next to the fort.

Bee hives lined the top which then attacked us. Emme slapped one on me.

Monkeys directed the light on the Taj

Entrance to the Taj Mahal

And here it is. One of the World Wonders.

Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator's glory.

The guide told the the story of Taj. She was a street girl who was picked up by the king and bore 14 children. Only a few survived and Mahal died during labor. She asked for two things from her husband. To take care of her children and to be remembered. With that the Taj was built. It is the finest of Mughal Architecture that embraced Persian, Indian, and Islamic design. Taj was buried in the middle facing Mecca and her husband facing towards her on their sides. Pure marble and precious stones were placed here. The four columns outline the monument and are actually built tilted so if they were to fall it would not fall on the Taj. A river runs behind the Taj to give an amazing back drop.

This temple was designed beside the Taj. To keep it symetrical, another was built on the other side but can not be considered a temple due to its orientation. The Taj was also built at the end of garden instead of the middle like most Muhgal architecture. This was made to enhance the grand entrance.

Swarms of people entering.

The domes were faceted

The Gardens infront of the Taj Mahal

Next was Agra fort where Shah Jahan was held captive where he could only see the Taj he created. His son overthrown him for power.

More gates to the fort.

Walled courtyard.

Similar to Red Fort. A pavilion with 9 arches was made for the Emperor to speak to his advisors and people.

Side View

Monkey!

This was once a fishing pond. The Emperor fished at the right facade.

Fishing Pond

I want one


Shah Jahah's View of his wife.

His prison wasn't that bad though. This was his bath tub.

The Prison overview. A bee did attack us here. Theyre attracted to black clothing. FYI

Side of the fort.

Detail of an interior structure.

Another Mughul Garden

If you make it past the mote with the gators then over the wall and past the lions then over another wall.... You're more than welcome to speak to the Emperor.

Engravings on the wall.

Courtyard where I found a hole and crawled in.

Semi Precious stones in marble. Beautiful skill and craftmenship.

Ghandi! Amazing quotes and amazing person.


Lotus Temple where anyone and any religion could pray. Beautiful structure with an amazing interior. Great for music but bad for speaking due to echoes.

There's a body of water under the temple. Literal concept anyone? Not bad though. Water wasn't very clean but it didn't stop people from drinking it!

Our trip back to the airport with lots of honking traffic.
Good Bye Dirt, Good Bye Smells, Good Bye Bottle Water, Good Bye Toilets, and Good Bye Stomach Ache. I shall miss you