Delhi, Agra, Jaipur

Excursion #4

15/9/2012

Delhi, Agra, Jaipur

So... There are many pictures here. I may have gotten a little carried away... Oops!

We're in DELHI!

                 

 1st stop was Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India, possibly the 2nd largest in Asia. We are standing in a big open area, which if full, could fit 20,000 people. It's huge.

Gandhi Jayanthi's place of assassination. The footprints are where Gandhi supposedly took his last steps,    

leading to this place, built to mark the spot where he was shot. 




Here is a Sikh house of worship, also supposed to be the largest in India.











Here, they are able, and regularly do, serve up to 20,000 people a day. One neat thing about Sikhism, is that they put a lot of importance on people having enough to eat, and so they have volunteers donate and cook food, welcoming anyone, regardless of race, caste, gender, clothing, rich or poor. Anyone can come for a meal.
           
Qutub Minar:

                

                                                                                 The way to my heart... DETAILS! Each pillar, side of every wall, anything, seemed to be etched with some 

kind of design. And not only design, calligraphy. I loved it.

 And of course we did some shopping! I bought some cards from this nice woman. I think they were unfortunately a little overpriced still, but they were so neat! I really can't help myself sometimes. And, I rationalize it because she said she makes them herself... so I'm assuming the money at least goes to her.

Agra!

Agra Fort gate:

Yep... more details.

And love the courtyard!

Agra Fort at dusk:

 

TAJ MAHAL!

The Gate:                                                                   The Taj!               

Scene on the street: Ganesh festival

Jaipur!


Henna

Tricky camel riding...

All in all, it was great to visit the north. This entire time, we've only been in the deep south, getting adjusted to culture here. We were able to experience yet another feel of city life in each place we visited. Delhi almost looked like home. The cars drove in predominately straight lines, and there was definitely not as much honking as Chennai; until we were in a traffic jam, of course. Otherwise, generally in the north, we saw some new animals on the street (camels, elephants, donkeys) that were all being used for something, and got to eat some different food. We had dishes that were familiar to us, because we eat them in restaurants, but are not typically chosen to eat in the south. So, we filled up on dal, naan, aloo (potato), and others. And it was less spicy!

Interestingly, we were there at the time of some bandhs (strikes) that were nationwide. In Delhi, the taxi drivers and auto drivers were mainly the people doing the striking. They were actively protesting the hike in petrol prices by stopping business for awhile. Thus, our taxi driver was out of commission for the morning as well. Had he gone out, he may have received damage to his vehicle by other protestors because he was not helping them and the collective cause. The other protestors were small businesses protesting FDI (foreign direct investment) letting big businesses in, and showed this protest by keeping shop closed all day or only opening the shutter halfway. In our hotel room, several street protest groups walked by, and the shops made sure to close- except for medicines. Same as the taxis; if they don't close, they risk having their store damaged, which we did see reports of afterward.

Otherwise, it was a pretty uneventful trip in that regard. However, we did so much and saw so many things. Before, I only mentioned a few most meaningful sights to me. This five day trip or so was such a whirlwind.
We were able to travel by airplane to Delhi and back from Jaipur, but travelled by car to Agra and Jaipur. This may have been one of my favorite parts, just because we had just the drive-by glimpse of the countryside racing by. I was reminded of home and agriculture. While the states that we passed were some of the hardest hit by poverty, we still saw tractors and other equipment used for farming. That's because there was a big push to invest in agriculture here in this area.