Sandy and I are off to India!!
After a 17 hour flight to get from Toronto to New Delhi we arrived safely and in high spirits. We immediately found our driver to take us to Hotel Ajanta and got settled in. Our sleep was surprisingly very good up until around 3:30am and then Sandy and I both couldn't fall back asleep for a while. Once we finally did, we slept until 11am the next day!
Sandy and IWednesday, July 29th, 2009
So, our day was off to a late start, but we managed to pack in a lot for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Because of the time change and long flight we had lost a day, but we made up for it with the busy schedule planned. Sandy and I would stay in Delhi that day and then head over to Jaipur (about 5 hours drive) the next day and to Agra (another 3.5 hours) the day after. We were supplied with our own driver, Baba, who could take us anywhere we wanted to go, but had an itinerary of historic spots to visit. We started off going to a large Mosque called Jama Masjid, then to the Red Fort, then the Gandhi Memorial Site and Museum, the Baha'i House of Worship, the Delhi Hata Textile store, and finally India Gate. We got back to the hotel around 10pm and had a nice dinner on the rooftop and packed up our bags to go to Jaipur early the next morning.
Jama Masjid (Old Delhi)
The Red Fort (Old Delhi)
The Gandhi Museum (Delhi)
The Baha'i House of Worship (New Delhi)Thursday, July 30th, 2009
At 6:30am we headed off to Jaipur with our driver Lalit. We drove for about 4.5 hours before getting to Ampr Fort and Palace. We walked around the grounds and visited some of the many rooms and court houses. The Palace was very beautiful and had amazing structures to keep the Palace cool in the summers and warm in the winter time. We then drove by the Water Palace, which was situated on a man-made lake for the purpose of duck hunting. The Ragistan Textile Corporation was next on the itinerary and it was really interested to see how the ink block were used to make textiles. Each color was stamped on seperately until the entire stensil was complete. The ink that was used was made out of plant materials; green- mango leaves, yellow- tumeric, red- Henna (base of the Sugar Cane). We then drove past the City Palace, the Jantar Mantar Observatory, and the Wind Palace, Hawa Mahal. Jaipur is also known as the 'Pink City' because all the building walls were painted pink for the arrival of the Prince of Whales in the 1800's. Sandy and I did a bit of shopping in the market before going to our hotel, called the Dera Rawatsar. The hotel rooms are really gorgeous and there is a swimming pool which we are planning on utilizing early tomorrow morning before heading out to Agra.
Elephant ride up to the Ampr Palace (Jaipur)
Sandy and I on the elephant
Ampr Palace (Jaipur)
Ampr Palace
Water Palace (Jaipur)
Friday, July 31st, 2009
We set off for Agra early in the morning but not before going for a swim at the hotel. We also visited the Birla Temple which was a magnificent temple made of white marble. The trip to Agra took about 4.5 hours and gave Sandy and I a chance to really see the diversity from the city life to the rural areas. Many of the Hindi ladies work in the fields harvesting their crops and wear bright and colorful Sarees that area beautiful among the lush green. Our next stop was Fatehpur Sikri. The parking lot was about 10 minutes from the building at the very bottom of the hill. It was extremely hot and tiresome, but Sandy and I decided to walk anyways, to stretch our legs a bit. We drove a bit farther before getting to the next destination of Agra Fort. The fort was enormous with many extensions to the main fort and secret passages that were blocked off to the public. It took Sandy and I a while to go through the entire place but it was well worth it because of it's beauty and elegant craftsmanship. By the time we finished at the fort we were exhausted and when to the Hotel Grand Imperial to go for a swim, have dinner with live entertainment (see the video below) and rest up for the next exciting day at the Taj Mahal.
Fatehpur Sikri (Agra)
At the bottom of the Fatehpur Sikri hill next to a working camel (Agra)
At the hotel in Jaipur
Agra Fort (Agra)
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
We went to see the Taj Mahal at 6am to be able to catch the sun rising. It was spectacular. We took lots of pictures and some of the touristy type too. Our day was not much more eventful afterwards because we needed to drive from Agra back to Delhi where our coordinators would pick us up to take us to another hotel. We took a bicycle rickshaw back down the long hill leading to the Taj and stopped off at some souvenier shops along the way. We then got into our taxi and drove for about 5 hours before getting back into New Delhi. There were some really crowded streets and some 'clown cars' which made the journey more interesting. We got back to Hotel Ajanta a bit early so Sandy and I took a short trip to Connaught circle market via a Tuk Tuk. I wasn't successful in finding anything really appealing and we were tired from the long journey back. We were picked up by the CFHI coordinators and taken to our new hotel where we had dinner, cleaned up, and went to bed. We had to be up by 4:30am with all our bags packed so that we could get to the train station on time and get to Dehra Dun the next afternoon.
On the bicycle Rickshaws
Crowded Tuk Tuks seen on a daily basis
The busy streets in Agra
Sunday, August 2nd
Today started off very early and we met up with some of the other interns with the CFHI program. They were all very nice and we got to know each other during the 6 hour train ride into Dehra Dun. When we got there, we were met by the coordinator of CFHI, Rahul, and were brought to the homestay building. We were briefed on our schedules and collected our cell phones. Sandy and I met 2 girls that we would stay with in Rishikesh, Kiana and Allison, and they had already been with the project for 4 weeks and stayed 1 week in Rishikesh, so they were a great asset to us. We were driven into Rishikesh which took about 1.5 hours and had to bring our bags across the river to get to the Ashram. There was a bit of a trek with our luggage because cars were not allowed to cross the river and the streets were too narrow for cars. We immediately had supper, had a quick tour of the area, and settled into our rooms for the night.
Our beds in the Rishikesh apartment. They are basically wood boards with a thin pad ontop.
