Sat Mar 27, up early again this time to see the sun rise at the Taj.We were amongst the first people on the grounds and it was extra special to see it without thousands of people around. Although the crowds show up soon enough.W e got the requisite pictures of us on the white marble bench that Diana sat on. Admission is a whopping 750 rupees per person, to give you an idea of how expensive that is, our hotel for the 3 of us was 450 rupees for the night.Tourists pay the 750 rupees but Indians themselves only pay 50 rupees.Security is very tight, they pat down everyone and confiscate the most bizarre things,( my gum and Lara's traveling gnome) . We left Agra at 7:00 pm to go to Sawai Madhopur and do our safari in Ranthambore National Park. More on the train ride from hell later, but the amazing part is we did manage to see a tiger, he sauntered directly in front of our jeep, about 20 feet away, it made the whole trip worthwhile..

India continued:
Tuesday Mar 23. arrived in Varanasi in the am, OMG it's hot, already it is 40 degrees.  We went to a Hindu ceremony in the evening right on the bank of the Ganges, lots of insence burning and singing, Our hotel is very central, right on the river and about halfway between 2 burning ghats. It is a maze of alleys and small streets and shops.Up at 5:30 to take a boat and see the sunrise, very lovely and at that time of morning the temp was bearable.It was amazing the number of people around, we went by both ghats and watched some of the burning, it goes on 24 hrs a day here, they bring the body down the river, wash it and then a priest performs a ceremony and then the body is placed on the pyre and lit. Some one from the family stays until the body is completely burned and the ashes scattered in the Ganges.No women are allowed, there is smoke everywhere. On the boat we did pass a body floating by, usually if the body is not burned it is because it is a holy man or someone who was bitten by a snake, I guess there are several why a body is not burned..It was a little disconcerting to say the least to see a body floating by and people washing and drinking the same water. After our boat ride we went o a yoga class and I was so hot/dehydrated I was a little sick, the temp is now 42 degrees.
After Varanasi we went to Agra, Truly one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, the Taj Mahal is really magnificient. Since the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays we took a local bus (37 rupees one way) to visit the ghost city of Fatehpur Sikri formerly imperial capital of the Mughal emperor Akbar. The city is 40 kms south west of Agra and was built between 1569 and 1585.Shortly after the new capital was built, it was basically abandoned and Akbar moved his capital back to Agra.Spent the afternoon there and returned to Agra to watch the sun set over the Taj Mahal..

India Monday mar 21

Well to continue where I left off yesterday. Met Kim at Humayuns tomb. Delhi's first Mughal mausoleum. The gounds were lovely and huge so there did  not seem to have a lot of people. It was hot around the 37 degree mark, within the grounds is a square mausoleum for Humayun's barber. An important man because he was trusted with holding a razor to the emperors throat, thought that was kind of an interesting tidbit. They closed down the site early, made everyone leave as they were expecting some prince from Belgium. We then went to Lodi gardens and just wandered around and tried to find any shade.
Today Lara arrives and this evening we take the train to Varanasi, am really looking forward to that. It will be good in some ways to leave Delhi, it is so huge, busy and a little overwhelming to say the least. There are lots of things to see and I've probably just scratched the surface, hopefully I will some more time at the end of my trip.

Arrival in India

Arrived Wed after a long trip, was very tired so did not do very much at all.After agood night's sleep I was off to explore Delhi, quite a place, crazy, noisey, and the smog was really bad on Thursday. I went to India Gate  which is a 42 metres high arch that commenorates the 90,000 Indian troops who died in WW1 and bears the names of 3000 Indian and British troops who died on the NW frontier in the Afghan war, from India gate it is a straight line to the Presidential Palace on the Rajpath, very impressive.. That evening I took a taxi to Kim's flat for dinner and drinks with all 7 of her room mates. They were really sweet, they provided birhday cake and candles and sang Happy Birthday to me in their native languages all at the same time.. They are from Poland, Hungary, Japan, and Brazil. It was vey special amd I was very touched.. Must go Kim and I are off to do some more sightseeing, will continue later..
Winn

India 2010

Well, I am off once more. This time I am going to India, I leave in 6 days and am very excited. It is a bit of a trek to get there, I fly first to London, then a 9 hour stopover, then an even longer flight to Delhi, the good  news is that I arrive at a good time 10:40 am Mar 17th.You might wonder at the picture that I posted, but this is a bit of a work in progress and as I don't have any pictures of India yet, I thought I would post my of favourites from the Galapagos Islands. Blue Footed Boobies are very cool & these 2 are ready to start their mating dance..