My flight from Narita was delayed and as I sat waiting I could hear Rick saying, “I told you so.” Now, he really didn’t say that, but he could have. He questioned my booking on the the early Continental flight to Houston from LA. I have flown this route several times this year and my Singapore Air flight has always arrived early (not this time). I even had the option during online check in to change to the later flight, but did I listen to that voice that gently encouraged me to do it? NO! Immigration and customs in LA was packed. I did get on the later flight, but lost my free upgrade to business that I had on the earlier flight and I was on one of the back rows in coach, not a big deal. I have learned my lesson and will book a flight that allows plenty of time in LA, not my favorite airport to hang out in, by the way.
Kristina picked me up late Saturday night and delivered me to James and Ruth’s. I arrived in time to celebrate Aimee’s 9th birthday on today.
This morning we woke up and after breakfast drove to the lighthouse. We took a hike and got rained on, but saw a fabulous rainbow and had a great time.
Luke, Maddie, Ally, Isabelle and Rick
The girls and I
After the hike we drove north towards Perth and stopped at Mandurah. My mom and Art served their mission there in the mid-eighties and I have often wondered what it was like. Allyson had looked up the address of the church and so we stopped by.
Mandurah Chapel
We drove around and discovered a marina area that is beautiful and brand new. We had lunch at Cicerello’s, they claim to have the best fish and chips in Western Australia.
After lunch we walked around and took some photos of the girls at some interesting sculptures created just for that purpose.
It rained during the night and continued to rain on and off throughout the day. We headed towards the town of Margaret River and made several stops before arriving there. The first stop was at the chocolate factory. We sampled a lot, the girls ate ice cream and we bought goodies to take home. The next stop was a cheese factory where we made more purchases (cheese and crackers for dinner). Next, we visited a olive oil factory and I bought a bottle of olive oil to take home with me. We made our way to a vineyard and walked around. It was a beautiful location. We did make it to Margaret River and walked around the town a bit before it started raining again.
Wallwalking
Luke and Ally
Maddie and the vineyard
Ally and Maddie
Isabelle relaxing after with her ipod after a long day
Today we traveled south of Perth for a short get away. We stayed at Bunker Bay. Maddie was excited to swim in the “heated” pool. It was not even close to being warm, so we walked down to the beach and found the water there a bit warmer. It was fun to watch of the progression of Maddie’s “only getting her feet wet” to being totally drenched.
Today is Maddie’s 7th birthday. She ate McDonald’s hash browns for breakfast and then we went to the grand opening of Toys R Us to spend her birthday money. She chose 3 mermaid dolls that are from an Australian show “H2O, just add water.” Then we stopped at Subway and headed to Cottsloe Beach for a picnic and to play at the playground.
Picnic
Cottesloe Beach
The black dots are surfers waiting to catch a wave
Today we went downtown and met Luke for lunch at Nandos, a favorite London chicken place. Then we walked to the mint. Izzie would be worth over $600,000 if she were made of gold and Maddie would be worth over a million.
Today we met our guide and driver and went to the Palace of the Wind. Jaipur is called the pink city because many years ago the Maharajah had all the buildings painted pink when a English dignitary was visiting. All of the buildings in the old city are pink or more recently terracotta. The Palace of the Wind is a facade that is only one room deep. It was constructed so that the women were able to see what was going on down on the street without being seen. The way it was constructed with carved marble screens allowed the women to remain cool.
Wind Palace
Next, we headed up into a mountainous area to the Amer Fort. It was arranged for us to ride an elephant up to the fort. This elephant ride is quite a racket. Elephants are not native to this area and climbing the steep incline in the desert climate is hard on them. Our guide was quick to inform us that the number of trips each elephant can make each is day is limited to 5. I think it’s limited to five because the tourists come all at once in the morning or all at once in the afternoon and that it is how many trips it takes for with all of the elephants to get everyone up. Our guide did not ride the elephant, our driver drove him up the back side and I wish that we would have gone the same way.
Amer fort
Women's View
Amer Fort Garden
After leaving the fort we went to the Jantar Mantar. This is an outdoor observatory. Hindus have a strong belief in astrology and place emphasis on the predictions the astrologer gives then about their life. Next, we went to the City Palace. This is where the Maharajah lives. I especially enjoyed the museum displaying examples of the Maharajah’s clothing.
City Palace
We ate lunch at an Indian restaurant and then returned back to the hotel.
The Taj Jai Mahal Hotel- Jaipur
Later that evening our driver took us back into the old city so we could walk around the market.
The next day we were up early for our 5+ hour drive back to Delhi. here are some photos from the drive:
The picture of this kind faced man was on the dashboard of the Toyota Innova that we spent a lot of time in. For some reason, I started calling him Baba Ganoush in my head. I know the driver believed that this kind man was protecting us. I know that Baba ganoush is an Arabic dish made from eggplant, so I didn’t say this aloud. He just looked like his name should be Baba to me and Ganoush was the perfect last name.
Our last day in Delhi was Sunday and we spent it by attending the International branch. It is always a blessing to attend church in the different cities we visit throughout the world and Delhi was no exception. It was fast Sunday and the members have so much faith. We flew back to Tokyo late Sunday, arriving Monday evening.
We began our drive from Agra to Jaipur early passing by many farms, most were cultivating rape seed, used for oil.
During the drive the words from a Primary song kept running through my head, “Little pioneer children gather chips for wood.” I first noticed this when I saw two little girls plastering something on the side of the large concrete pipes at the side of the road. I realized that it was cow dung and they were plastering it there to dry. Once the patties are dried they are stacked in mounds. As we made our way through the countryside we saw the mounds everywhere. It is still used as fuel.
We stopped at Fatepur Sikri. This is where the leader Akbar moved his capital in honor of the mystic who “blessed” him with three sons. The capital didn’t remain here long due to a lack of water.
We left our tour guide at the highway and he planned to make his way back to Agra by bus. We continued on our way to Jaipur with our excellent driver, Jagroop. We got off the road after a couple hours and headed across the country side and through villages to Abhaneri. We had lunch at a restaurant in the middle of the countryside. It was a small resort with one small building for accomodations, another identical building under contruction and the restaurant building. Lunch was good and our waiter spoke to us in English, he knew how to ask us what we wanted to drink in English and he also told us the names of the dishes in English but when we tried to talk to him he didn’t understand.
Abhaneri restaurant
Lunch was good and heading a different direction got us back to the main road and to the Harshat Matta temple and Chand Baori. Chand Baori was definitely the more interesting of the two. It is a deep well with many sets of stairs going up and down three sides of the well in “V” share. See the photo below
This was our last stop before heading on to Jaipur. We checked into the hotel and spent the evening there. We watched a dance performance and rested up for the full day to follow.
We finished up our sightseeing in Varanasi and flew to Delhi. Our driver met us at the airport in Delhi and we made the eyeopening four hour drive to Agra. If you think driving in India during the day is crazy driving at night is insane. Some of the large trucks don’t even have lights on the back and pedestrians appeared in the middle of the road as if from nowhere. How this mass of humanity gets anywhere is the “incredible” part of India. It was a bit intense, but our driver was great. We went to bed as soon and we checked into the hotel. We wanted to be rested for the next day’s adventures.
We started out with a horse carriage ride to reach the Taj Mahal. It is so much more fantastic when you are there. The degree of workmanship is amazing. Photos do not do it justice.
First Glimpse
The Taj Mahal
We're really here!
Taj details
more details
Taj Minaret
Next, we went to Agra Fort. It is made from red sandstone.
Agra Fort
Agra Fort detail
View of the Taj Mahal from Agra Fort
We also visited Itmad-ud-ullah, also called the Baby Taj. It is similar to the Taj Mahal, but was built earlier so the details are more geometric.
Baby Taj
Baby Taj detail
Sikander is where the Emperor Akbar was buried. The grounds of this tomb are beautiful and there are antelope roaming.
