We just returned to the University Guest House from a wonderful weekend of touring India. We left Friday morning and "endured" a long bus ride. It's amazing how a 250 km ride (approx. 110 miles) can take 6 hours! We arrived in Jaipur early enough to visit the Jantar Mantar Observatory. It was very interesting to see giant sundials made of marble that are accurate to 6 seconds.
We also visited City Palace and Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds). There are no words to describe these beautiful architectural buildings. The amount of time and craftsmanship that had to have been utilized to create such beauty is unbelievable. We also did some shopping in the local marketplace. What an adventure that was! Shop owners would follow us down the street trying to negotiate a price that we would agree to. It was great fun, and we picked up some nice souvenirs (for very reasonable prices - we must be good bargainers). Our hotel Friday night (Alsisar Haveli) was beautiful and reminded me of a palace. After dinner we were treated to a puppet show in the courtyard that involved music, singing, and entertaining puppetry that included setting a puppet on fire. One of the females in our group was given the opportunity to try her hand at puppetry and performed wonderfully.
Saturday we arrived at Amber Fort early enough to "beat the crowd". This turned out to be a very good decision as our group arrived right before a tour bus of close to 100 people. We mounted elephants at the base of the hill and rode up the hill to the fort in style. When we reached the top we toured the fort. Again, such beautiful architecture. We learned that it took over 100 years to build this fort at the top of a hill just outside Jaipur. There were so many rooms to see, that we decided it would be a great place to play hide-and-go-seek. After spending some time taking pictures and learning of the building's history, we got a ride to the bottom of the hill in Jeeps and again boarded the bus.
Our next stop was at Fatehpur Sikri. This was a palace built by Emperor Akbar in the 16th century. Yet another large beautiful structure. We were able to go into his bedroom and view the elevated stone platform that he used as his bed. We got back to the gate to leave and they had locked up for the night. We were able to summon a guard to let us out, thank goodness.
We then got back on board the bus and continued our travel to Agra, where we spent the night at another beautiful hotel, the Raj Mahal (we were spoiled over the weekend with the luxurious accomodations).
In the morning we headed straight to the Taj Mahal, as we were informed that an important dignitary was going to be visiting at 11:00 a.m. and they would be closing down for him/her. When we got to the Taj Mahal it was kind of foggy, but we were still able to take some fantastic pictures. It's unbelievable the amount of marble that can be used in one building. The Taj Mahal was built for Emperor Shah Jahan's wife Mumtaz Mahal. Both of their tombs rest in the center of the building. The intricate carving of the marble and inlaid stones are beautiful. No wonder it is one of the seven wonders of the world. We stayed as long as we could and took advantage of this photo opportunity with MANY different poses and just generally had a very good time here.
Our last official stop was at the Red Fort just a little way past the Taj Mahal (in fact you can see the Taj Mahal from the Red Fort). The Red Fort was built by Emperor Akbar. I found it especially interesting that there is a double security wall around the fort. We learned that during it's time of use there were crocodiles in the moat outside the first wall, then elephants during the day and tigers during the night between the first and second walls. Talk about good security! This expansive structure seemed to go on and on. By the end of our tour we were exhausted and ready to board the bus again.
We stopped for lunch and also snuck in a little shopping time on the local streets. Again, it was so much fun to negoatiate with the local people on the prices of their trinkets. We were able to pick up some more souvenirs to bring home and share with our families.
Throughout the weekend I found that Dr. Yelkur was very correct in her statement that the locals really appreciate when we attempt to use the few Hindi words we learned. Each time I have used Hindi words for "thank you", "bottled water", or "excuse me" it has been returned with a smile from the locals. It helps me remember that we are all similar in so many ways, yet different as well. It also helps me feel like I'm doing my part to show the Indian people that Americans are good people who want to keep a positive relationship with them.
Until next time-
Heidi
We also visited City Palace and Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds). There are no words to describe these beautiful architectural buildings. The amount of time and craftsmanship that had to have been utilized to create such beauty is unbelievable. We also did some shopping in the local marketplace. What an adventure that was! Shop owners would follow us down the street trying to negotiate a price that we would agree to. It was great fun, and we picked up some nice souvenirs (for very reasonable prices - we must be good bargainers). Our hotel Friday night (Alsisar Haveli) was beautiful and reminded me of a palace. After dinner we were treated to a puppet show in the courtyard that involved music, singing, and entertaining puppetry that included setting a puppet on fire. One of the females in our group was given the opportunity to try her hand at puppetry and performed wonderfully.
Saturday we arrived at Amber Fort early enough to "beat the crowd". This turned out to be a very good decision as our group arrived right before a tour bus of close to 100 people. We mounted elephants at the base of the hill and rode up the hill to the fort in style. When we reached the top we toured the fort. Again, such beautiful architecture. We learned that it took over 100 years to build this fort at the top of a hill just outside Jaipur. There were so many rooms to see, that we decided it would be a great place to play hide-and-go-seek. After spending some time taking pictures and learning of the building's history, we got a ride to the bottom of the hill in Jeeps and again boarded the bus.
Our next stop was at Fatehpur Sikri. This was a palace built by Emperor Akbar in the 16th century. Yet another large beautiful structure. We were able to go into his bedroom and view the elevated stone platform that he used as his bed. We got back to the gate to leave and they had locked up for the night. We were able to summon a guard to let us out, thank goodness.
We then got back on board the bus and continued our travel to Agra, where we spent the night at another beautiful hotel, the Raj Mahal (we were spoiled over the weekend with the luxurious accomodations).
In the morning we headed straight to the Taj Mahal, as we were informed that an important dignitary was going to be visiting at 11:00 a.m. and they would be closing down for him/her. When we got to the Taj Mahal it was kind of foggy, but we were still able to take some fantastic pictures. It's unbelievable the amount of marble that can be used in one building. The Taj Mahal was built for Emperor Shah Jahan's wife Mumtaz Mahal. Both of their tombs rest in the center of the building. The intricate carving of the marble and inlaid stones are beautiful. No wonder it is one of the seven wonders of the world. We stayed as long as we could and took advantage of this photo opportunity with MANY different poses and just generally had a very good time here.
Our last official stop was at the Red Fort just a little way past the Taj Mahal (in fact you can see the Taj Mahal from the Red Fort). The Red Fort was built by Emperor Akbar. I found it especially interesting that there is a double security wall around the fort. We learned that during it's time of use there were crocodiles in the moat outside the first wall, then elephants during the day and tigers during the night between the first and second walls. Talk about good security! This expansive structure seemed to go on and on. By the end of our tour we were exhausted and ready to board the bus again.
We stopped for lunch and also snuck in a little shopping time on the local streets. Again, it was so much fun to negoatiate with the local people on the prices of their trinkets. We were able to pick up some more souvenirs to bring home and share with our families.
Throughout the weekend I found that Dr. Yelkur was very correct in her statement that the locals really appreciate when we attempt to use the few Hindi words we learned. Each time I have used Hindi words for "thank you", "bottled water", or "excuse me" it has been returned with a smile from the locals. It helps me remember that we are all similar in so many ways, yet different as well. It also helps me feel like I'm doing my part to show the Indian people that Americans are good people who want to keep a positive relationship with them.
Until next time-
Heidi
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