Hari and Sita

Taj Mahal

2009-09-16T06:18:00.000-07:00

We woke up earlier the morning of the 5th to go to the Taj Mahal at sunrise. We arrived around 6 am.

There's no food allowed in the Taj Mahal, and Sita got stopped going through security, because we both forgot that there was a package of cookies left in the bag. I thought it was funny that she was stopped so I took a couple pictures.

This is the entrance to the Taj. Our tour guide said that the domes on top represent the number of years it took to construct. It took 22 years, so there are 11 here and 11 on another entrance.

Standing in the courtyard before entering. The buildings surrounding this courtyard where the dorms for the workers.

Sunrise.

Our tour guide told us that the inscriptions get larger as they go up the wall so that they appear even to the viewer on the ground. He also noted that the inscriptions are made of black marble inlaid into white marble as paint would've faded by now.

The Taj Mahal in all it's glory.

The gardens around the Taj are nicely maintained.

Sunrise really is a good time to visit.

Our guide explained to us that the minarets actually tilt outwards at the top so that they appear parallel to the viewer at a distance.

This mosque (to the left of the Taj) is still in use.

Our guide explained that there are many illusions on display at the Taj. In this case the star patterns become zig-zag lines as they go off into the distance.

Inside the Taj. It is fairly dark since it's only lit by natural light. Flash photography is not permitted inside, luckily our camera has a nice setting for low light and I got some good pics.

The morning sun.
I tried to get a nice pic of the ceiling inside but it came out all blurry.

There are a few outer rooms surrounding the inner core of the Taj. These rooms were quite a bit lighter, especially with the morning sun. We're standing in front of windows which look into the inner part of the Taj.
An entrance into the Taj, the ceiling inside was much like the ceiling seen here.

The Yammuna river next to the Taj with the Agra Fort in the background.

These two pics demonstrate how much the color can change depending on the angle and light. Two different settings on the camera were used for these pics. But just as the camera can see the same thing in two ways so can you when you're there. It's really an intriguing place.

Another illusion at play, it's hard to tell with this picture, though. At the top this column looks like it has sharp edges where the peaks of the zig-zaging lines meet, but actually the column is a half-octagon, with four flat surfaces each containing a v-like portion of the zig-zaging lines.

The Indian archeological survey embedded this replica of the steeple of the Taj Mahal so that people could comprehend the actual size of it. It's actually 10 meters high which is over 30 feet.

This view of the Taj Mahal is another illusion as you step away the focus narrows which makes the Taj look bigger, whereas usually things look smaller the further you go from them.

Even the storm drains are elaborately carved into the sandstone.

A squirrel we spotted in the garden.

A side view of the Taj.

Sita and our tour guide.

A view from the garden.

Another view of the worker's dormitories.

Marble Work

2009-09-16T03:03:00.000-07:00

After visiting the Agra fort we went to this place to see how the marble work is done. It's a free demonstration, but afterward a higher pressure sales pitch commences. I was ok with it because I knew it was coming and it was worth it to learn how these things are done.

Because acid rain damaged the Taj Mahal there is no large industry allowed for 60 km around Agra. As a result Agra is known for it's cottage industry. Here this person is shaping the semi-precious stone on a grinding wheel like those used in the times of the construction of the Taj Mahal.

Shaped semi-precious stone sitting on top of marble.

Each one of these pieces is shaped and placed togehter by hand.

The spaces for the stones is carved into the marble this scratching tool. Since the marble is whit, they can't really tell what scratches have been made, so they first coat the marble with a henna dye that they remove later. This also follows the traditional method done, hundreds of years ago.

The work on display for purchase and the salesman/presenter. He claimed his family had been in the marble business since the time of the Taj Mahal, which they also worked on.

A demonstration of the luminescence of the marble when the lights are turned off.

One of the boxes that I liked.

A piece still being worked on, still coated in henna dye.
The traditional glue is in this metal bowl. It's hardened here, but it is made from the dust of the marble, as well as honey and beeswax, as well as some other natural ingredients.

Agra Hotel and Mall

2009-09-16T01:03:00.001-07:00

Our hotel in Agra was definitely the nicest one of the trip but it came at a price, although it was still cheaper than the price we paid on our first night in Delhi.

This room had an interesting feature. You had to put the key in this slot in order for the electricity in the room to be turned on. It seems like a good idea, you can't leave the TV or lights on when you're gone, but it is actually kind of hard to find this slot at night, with just the light of the hallway, plus the refrigerator is rendered mostly useless as it is not on while you're gone.

The hallway was pretty fancy with marble floors, but an oddly low ceiling.

Across the street from our hotel was this mall where everything was as pricey as things in the US.

Agra Fort

2009-09-15T05:11:00.000-07:00

The next place we went in Agra was the Fort. (Insert some historical text).

On the way in I spotted the Taj Mahal for the first time, you can barely see it at this resolution, but it is in the middle of this picture. It's a captivating sight that calls for you to take pictures of it. So there are a number of pictures in this set of pictures of the fort that feature the Taj in the background.

The fort is walled in with this moat that is no longer full of water, but I imagine it used to be.

The outer entrance.

The inner entrance where you present your ticket (250 rupees).

After the inner entrance there is still this long walkway, before going through another gate.

This is the first building you see when you enter.At first I thought that this might be all there is to it and I lamented paying more for this than we paid to get into Sikandra (Akbar's tomb). I still think Sikandra was a more impressive sight, but this fort was also amazing. All the red colored buildings are made from red sandstone.

Sita coming down some stairs that we were trying to ascend, before encountering a gate. You know us, if it looks like we can go somewhere we'll try and go there.

Part of the fort is in ruins.

Zoomed in.

Incredible sandstone work.

This is a random picture of a dark room that had restricted access. It only had a couple of small openings so I set the camera to flash and stuck my hand in with the camera to see what was inside; nothing. Now that I'm thinking about it I realized what room in a fort would have small openings allowing hardly any light inside. It's probably a cell.

Another spot to look at the Taj Mahal.

One of several courtyards.

The fountain/pool in the middle of the courtyard pictured above.

The mughals emperor Shah Jahan, commisioned the Taj Mahal as a monument to honor his favorite wife (the only one to bear him children), named Mumtaz. He also commisioned a place inside the fort in her honor named Musamman Burj. This is a picture of it from the outside.

Me inspecting part of the fort, someone decided to plaster over the original sandstone in this area. I don't know if it was the British or the Indians, but it's coming off.

Here you can see the space between the fort and the outer wall.

The moat had some water in it, as you can see here.
Another view of Musamman Burj from the outside.

This is an area of marble work next to Musamman Burj.

Another picture of the Taj from the fort.

This is Musamman Burj where Shah Jahan viewed the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan was imprisoned in this fort by his son Aurangzeb. Shah Jahan had laid the foundation for a Black Taj Mahal to be constuced in his honor on the other side of the Yamuna river. His son said that the Black Taj Mahal was too much of a waste of public funds and that the treasury was being drained for these projects, so he imprisoned his father.

These windows allowed the women of the court to look out at the Taj without being looked in upon.

Originally a lot of the marble had intricate decorative painting as well.

This flower was made of gold paint and gold inlaid into the marble.

A Beautiful carved-fountain.

More photos of Musamman Burj.

Marble with semi-precious stones inlaid.

Some of the semi-precious stone inlay is damaged or missing. Unfortunately, thievery (not just decay) is a main cause.

We weren't the only ones enamored with the Taj and drawn to take pictures.

This is the white mosque where Shah Jahan prayed we had to take our shoes off to enter.
Water features inside the mosque.

Sita loved the light effects of these windows so we posed for some pictures here.

Me pretending to meditate, but really just posing.

If there's nothing stopping me from going there I'll go there, even if it's a ledge.

I think this picture has a really great effect, it appears that the ledge is at the same level as the bricks below. My body covers the transitions in the corner so it creates a real MC Escher type of picture.

More incredible marble and inlay work.

There was a well inside the fort.

A cute kid running around speaking gibberish to everyone.

The background of this picture is an area of the fort that we couldn't go to, but wanted to.

These next few pics are from an area that was also not one of the main tourist areas, but there was nothing stopping me from going there so I went and took pictures.

Another view of the Taj Mahal on the way out.

Sikandra

2009-09-14T10:09:00.001-07:00

Our first stop in Agra was totally unexpected. We didn't know anything about Agra except for the Taj Mahal, our driver Akshay was basically in charge of our itinerary which was great because he knew where to take us. We didn't know until we were almost in Agra that the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays, but it wasn't a concern for Akshay since he had already decided on our itinerary for that day and that we'd be visiting the Taj on the next day early in the morning.This is Sikandra. It's amazing, ornate and excessive (all monuments in Agra, including the Taj, are excessive).

These are verses from the Quran etched into the marble in Urdu.

This massive compound is walled-in and has an amazing amount of garden space which is well maintained.

Originally all of the ceilings in this monument contained ornate frescoes, but only a few have survived the years. The paint used here for the urdu verses is gold paint made from real gold.

Sikandra is a tomb for Akbar the Great. He started it's construction around 1600 died in 1605 and his son Jahangir had it completed in the 1605 to 1613 time frame. This is one of the graves, the person is buried 7 feet below this.

This lamp was added by the British, everything was originally designed to be illuminated by natural light (of course).

More tombs, I forget who they belonged to, but they were people in Akbar or Jahangir's family
The windows in the background are each a solid piece of marble carved out.

A close up of the intricate marble work on one of the tombs.

More verses carved into a solid sheet of marble.

People were taking naps here. I only costs Indians 5 Rupees to enter (100 Rupees for foreigners) which is just a little more than 10 cents. You'd think it is so cheap that it would be crawling with people, and you'd find more nappers, but luckily the craziness of outside is kept outside.

Can you imagine all of these with the original frescoes?

The channel you see in the middle of the walkway is for drainage from a fountain. There was a walkway leading out of the tomb in each direction and a structure at the end of each walkway. The first structure in this series of pictures is where you enter. They're all incredible and each one had a fountain in front (they're dry now)

I was worried I'd forget the name of this place so I took a picture of the entrance ticket. You used to be able to pay on $2 to get in, now they only accept rupees and it's 100 rupees which is like $2.06

This can help you gain a perspective for how big each of the structures are.

Solid pieces of sandstone were carved without error to create this window.

This fountain had water in it, but not on purpose. I think it was non-drained rain water.

Some restoration work is currently going on.

This is one of the gates to the tomb which has been completely dilapidated but they are restoring it. We got pretty close to it before one of the workers drove us away.

The gardens contained gazelles and peacocks.
The grounds were lower than the monuments and walkways and steps lead to the grounds, originally water flowed in the middle of the steps.
A gazelle and other antelope.

A fountain or pool near the tomb.

The fountains probably served as pools, since they all had steps leading into them. You can see the steps pictured here.
Some of the original fresco in tact.

Look at me in comparison to the size of these gate structures, they're big.

This windows are carved out from single pieces of sandstone.

To Delhi Then Agra

2009-09-14T09:54:00.001-07:00

ack on the road again. We left Rishikesh at 3 and spent the night in Delhi before heading on to Agra.
I took this picture just minutes after being on the road. After relaxing in Rishikesh all day it was back to curves, animals and trucks.

Another villager delay, this one lasted only a couple of minutes. They were playing the dhol and dancing around. We were told they were celebrating a Muslim holiday.

This is a picture of the India Gate we saw on our way out of Delhi on Friday morning.

We had a pit-stop at this interesting tourist spot. They sold all sorts of things that Agra and Rajasthan are known for, and they were all literally 10 times the prices elsewhere. Even the food was 10x the price. When I say "literally" I mean that a parantha which we got earlier for 15 rupees was being sold here for 150 rupees.

I had to get at least one picture of these messages which are written on every truck. "Blow Horn" and "Use Dipper At Night". This one had a bonus phrase, don't get confused and think they mean collie (like the dog) they mean "coolie", which is a name used for porters and sometimes generally for any unskilled laborer (some consider it a slur, so don't go using it willy-nilly).

How many people can you fit on a rickshaw? More than this, I assure you.

Rishikesh

2009-09-13T10:12:00.001-07:00

We had most of the day Thursday (September 3rd) to spend in Rishikesh. At this point we were feeling like we'd been racing around, so it was nice to slow it down and just take it easy in a spot that caters to tourists. We still spent time in the car this day but we didn't leave until 3 pm.There are many popular mandirs and temples in Rishikesh this is the view of one of them from the outside. We didn't end up going in any of them as we spent most of our day eating, wandering around and getting on the internet for the first time in almost a week (we each had over 50 new emails).

I liked how these Gods are depicted playing the shakers. I bet some people believe you can attain divinity through percussion.

This monkey jumped out at me in an aggressive manner just before i got this shot. I think he thought I was going to mess with him, then he realized I just wanted a close up so he posed for me.
One of the beatific "Jhula's" or temples in Rishikesh with the Ganges and Sita in the foreground.

This bridge is busy all day with foot traffic two-wheelers and monkeys.

Dipping in the Ganges

Based on a description we received of the location, we thought one of these two places (pictured in the next three photos) was where the Beatles stayed when they came to Rishikesh, but we couldn't confirm this with anyone. Now that I've done an internet search I don't think these are the place, but they're certainly of that era.

The view from the spot where we ate breakfast.

Food that caters to tourists is awesome. We were ready for a change from paranthas, pakoras and other fried food for breakfast. This meal only cost us a few bucks.

This is the place where we ate lunch. It's right along the Ganges and we saw kayakers and rafters while we were eating. We had just been wandering around and getting soaked in the rain that's why we appear wet.

I ordered "onion rings" and I got this. They're basically pakoras with just onions on the inside. In this picture you can also see the "Guacamole" in the upper left. It was basically smashed avocado with masala in it.

From Gobind Ghat to Rishikesh

2009-09-12T09:47:00.001-07:00

We left Gobind Ghat the morning after visiting Hemkunt Sahib. We got up before 5 am and left around 5:30. It was raining and foggy that morning so we felt content with our decision to not stay an extra day to visit the valley of flowers. We had to wrap ourselves and our bags in plastic pullovers to keep us dry.

We literally ran down some of the way and moved at a brisk pace when we weren't running. These next three photos are seconds apart.

About half way down the rain stopped and we had to ditch the raincoats because they were keeping us hot, even the the morning air was cool.
As you can see I took the bigger backpack down as well as up, but if you think Sita had it easy, think again, she was as sore as me at the end of this. I think the way down is what left us sore as we had to use all our leg muscles to resist against gravity and allow ourselves controlled steps. It was atually so gruelling that I'm still slightly sore 5 days later.

Back at the car we left Gobind Dham around 9 am. It took us only 2 hours to get down from Gobind Ghat to Gobind Dham.
After about an hour and a half on the road we had to stop and wait for an hour. The delay was a protest by local villagers to the urge the government to improve their conditions.

One can't complain much about being delayed anywhere in this area as they'll still have great views of the beautiful Himalayan mountains.

I made sure I got at least one photo of one of the many protruding rocks we drove under on this route.
A few more pics on the way to Rishikesh.

The view from the veranda next to our room at our hotel in Rishikesh. It just got dark as we arrived in Rishikesh.

Hemkunt

2009-09-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

Our first view of Hemkunt Sahib Gurdwara. The langar hall is in the building in the foreground.

As we entered this was the view to the right. It's the end of the trail for those who took horses/mules or the switch backs rather than the steps.

Another view of the entrance area.
A closer view of Hemkunt Sahib and the langar hall, as you can tell it was very foggy when we arrived.

The fog lifted briefly a few times, enabling us to see the full extent of the lake.

I took swimming trunks so that my katcheras would remain dry for the hike down.

Everyone who was taking dips was doing so for a few seconds, I decided I needed to do some banis, so I did Tav Prasad Savaiyay and Baynti Chaupi Sahib in the water, it took me about 10 or 15 minutes. I was shivering uncontrollably by the end, but since I used my hands to hold my Sunder Gutka out of the water, they weren't freezing and it was easy to change back into my bana, but it still took me a while to warm back up.

The Gurdwara is the upper floor of the main building while the ground floor holds the shoes and other machinery. Since it was raining and cold Sita put on her large jacket and gloves before we went into the Gurdwara.

Looking out at the rain from the ground floor of the Gurdwara.

Inside the gurdwara I couldn't hold my hands straight for a good picture because I was still shivering from my time in the lake.Pictures of the Gurdwara and Sangat. The sangat wrapped blankets around themselves to stay warm.

The stairs down from the main Diwan to the ground floor.

Pictures of a machinery room on the first floor. I didn't think I'd be reminded of being at a ski lodge while at Hemkunt, but somehow this did it.

More picttures from the outside. The roof is steeply sloped to handle the heavy snowloads of the winter.

I took this picture because I thought it interesting to see a picture of the Gurdwara posted on the Gurdwara itself. Recursion.

Sita trying to stay warm.

The whole way up people who have made the trek etched or scribbled their names on rocks, I suppose some thought it appropriate to graffiti the Gurdwara building itself.
Intricate marble work at the entry way is at odds with the parts of the wall where the marble is missing. I didn't realize the Hemkunt Sahib was in need of a renovation, but it is.

A picture of the small Hindu temple, we didn't go there.

Because of the rain we had to put on the our plastic rain coats.

This person really wanted a piture with me. We took one which he wanted me to email to him. He was worried I would forget his email so after the first picture he found a pen and paper wrote down his email address and chased us down barefoot after we had alredy descended a few hundred feet.
Pictures of the journey back down to Gobindghat.

Up to Hemkunt

2009-09-10T13:23:00.001-07:00

A view of Gobindghat from the beginning of the trail to Hemkunt Sahib. Hemkunt is an additional 6km from Gobindghat (again I think this was computed linearly on a map and didn't take into account slope and switch backs).

Every sight on the way up was gorgeous.

Our trek to Hemkunt also served as our view of the valley of flowers. We aimed to go to the valley of flowers but it was too foggy in the afternoon on the day we went to Hemkunt and it was raining the next morning when we decided to trek back to Gobinddham. We talked to some people who went toHemkunt on the same day as us and who had been to the valley of flowers the day before. They told us that they saw pretty much the same thing in the valley of flowers as they did on the way up to Hemkunt, as demonstrated in this photo.

Did you ever think you'd see a sky this blue in India? I didn't.

Half way there, there were lots of stalls selling water and food.
More Beautiful views.

The stream that comes from Hemkunt Sahib.

At this point, we found what I'd been wishing for, a trail were horses/mules weren't allowed. The last 1km to Hemkunt has two options, a set of stairs or more switch backs and animals. You can infer which one we took.

The stream coming from Hemkunt actually comes down a pipe and goes through this mini hydro-power station.

The water gushing out of the hydroelectric station.
The pipe that delivers the water to the hydro-power station.

Every good has its bad. This makeshift dump is right near the entrance and you can see the entrance to the Hindu temple in the background.
The trail itself is kept clean by vigilant sevadars, but the trash has to go somewhere and I don't think it is bagged and taken out as quickly as it comes in.

Another interesting thing you see just before the entrance is the bathroom on the right. After hearing about Hemkunt my whole life I came to think that the aesthetics would be fussed over as much as they are at the Harimandir Sahib, but the trash and bathroom sites just before the entrance seem to show otherwise. Of course this could also be a cultural thing. What I see as sites which should be hidden behind a facade (or made more beautiful), might be seen by the average Indian as the things that merely exist in places but shouldn't in anyway be related to the greater site to which they belong (i.e. Hemkunt starts after this point). I'm just speculating here, it could also be that greater beautification just isn't possible because of lack of resources or difficulty of terrain. I do know, however, that culture has a huge impact on what is viewed as beautiful. There are so some many things in India with lights and plastic decorations, which in the US would be typically viewed as tacky but in India are seen as beautiful adornments.
The entry way from the stair pathway.

Up to Gobind Ghat

2009-09-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

we arrived in Gobind Dham a little after 1pm and immediately started the trek up.

Gobind Dham.
On the bridge you cross to get to the start of the path to Gobindghat and then on to Hemkunt.

The path way was paved with paving stones the whole way up.

The path had steps in it making it impossible for wheeled vehicles (like bikes and scooters), but there was an abundance of horses you could hire. One thing I wasn't expecting and had more of a negative impact on me then I would've preferred was the horses and their impact on the trail. They left their byproducts everywhere and you had to watch your step closely not to step in it. The hopscotch around horse poop wasn't all that bad compared with the awful smell and the horses' disregard for your personal space when passing you.

The path was washed out in some places just like the road on the way up had been.

There were many shops selling water and food on the way up.

Beautiful waterfall.

Cute kids on horses.

We took a subset of what we brought to India up to Gobind Ghat. Sita got the small back pack and I got the big one. We probably could've traveled even a little lighter.

We took a brisk pace and moved quickly but even still it took us longer than I was expecting. I think the 13 Km written on the sign as the distance between Gobind Dham and Gobind Ghat was probably calculated linearly and didn't take into account the slope and many switchbacks.

It was physically exhausting and we had to stop for a break and to eat. Here you can see how we sweated through our clothes, and if you look closely you can see steam rising from Sita's back. The temperature was already much cooler at this point (more than half way to Gobindghat).

A series of tents that claimed to be the base camp for Hemkunt and the valley of flowers. In reality Gobindghat is another 1 km from here and it is a pretty developed town considering everything was carted up walking or on the back of an animal.

Journey to Gobind Dham

2009-09-10T08:14:00.001-07:00

Our third day in India we drove from Rudraprayag to Gobind Dham and then walked up to Gobind Ghat (aka Ghangria). These are some pictures on the way to Gobind Dham.

One of the many fleets of donkeys and/or small horses we'd see on the road. One endearing thing about them was that in this area people would adorn them with bells, which was kind of pleasant and would let you know they were there.

This is a foot path cut into the side of a very steep mountain wall.

More agricultural terraces.

One of the first of many waterfalls we'd see on this journey,

Pictures of the steep and windy road.

The river was at the bottom of a very narrow and steep canyon. In this picture there are some people working on the opposite side of the river way down near the bottom, but you can't really see them at this resolution.

Sometimes we'd get stuck sitting in a certain place on the road waiting while a caravan of larger vehicles going the other way, carefully and slowly navigated their way around us.

Where we stayed in Rudrapayag

2009-09-09T23:29:00.001-07:00

These are some pictures of where we stayed and the view from the hotel on the second night of our journey. It was just outside Rudraprayag. It wasn't anything special and we couldn't turn on the AC, which didn't seem like such a big deal since we thought we were only paying Rs 1200 ($25) for the room. Then later we learned we were paying Rs. 1500 ($31) and we regretted not having something nicer. It doesn't seem like much of a difference but in India this is huge and you can expect a nice clean AC room for around Rs 1200 (unless your in Delhi or another big city where the prices are higher).

Despite the nonfunctional AC, the views were pretty nice and we were already starting to get an idea about how vastly different the views on this part of our trip would be from the views we became accustomed to seeing in India.

Journey to Rudraprayag

2009-09-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

The morning of August 30th we got up at 6 am and started our drive to Hemkunt Sahib. Our first night we would stay along the way in a place called Rudraprayag. I took the opportunity to take pictures of things that may be considered mundane to people who've been to India, but make up a picture of the typical sights to those who haven't been.

All the trucks in India are painted bright colors and most of them are of the Tata brand.

There's always animals in the road, sometimes they're actually serving a purpose (like to pull a cart).

A typical view of the countryside is fields under cultivation with a row of Eucalyptus trees along the road.

Distances between passing cars are very narrow.

Tractors are another common sight, this one is pulling sugar cane harvest.

Sugar Cane.

Typical stalls selling whatever, in this case vegetables with a side of exhaust.

This is where our driver, Akshay, stopped for chai, it's a typical chai stall/grease pit.'

The kind of title of a place you'd find in India 'Central Potato Research Institute

Field hands live in these huts with their families, sometimes the whole family are field workers (men, women and children).

The place we stopped for lunch maintained a pretty nice garden for the tourists.

Lotus Flower.

A view of Rishikesh on the way up. We bypassed the town on the way in.

Pictures of the way up, everything started getting much greener, much less crowded, much steeper, and the road started becoming very winding and fractured.

Typical sheet metal huts that people live in.

We had great views of the Ganges and other rivers.

People still grew a lot of their own food in these areas, typically done without tractors in terraces.
Another standard tea shop.

This car was practically our home for days as we spent so many hours in it driving to and from Hemkunt. It is a Tata Indica diesel. The person I arranged this with wanted to put us in an SUV for $450 to Hemkunt sahib and back. I said I didn't want to pay above $250 and that we didn't need an SUV, just four doors and AC so we got this for about $250.

Delhi First Night

2009-09-08T11:25:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Delhi at 8:30 pm on Saturday August 29th after flying out of Albuquerque on Friday the 28th at 1:30 pm. We had prearranged a taxi and a hotel in Delhi as well as our taxi to Hemkunt. It was nice having someone standing with a sign with our names on it waiting for us at the airport. India is so chaotic, that a little bit of organization already in place goes a long way. Even though it was only 8 am back at home when we landed by the time we got to our hotel in Delhi it was noon back at home. After the long journey, however, we were ready for sleep. These are some pictures of the room were we stayed in Delhi and of the view.

Reviving the blog

2009-09-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

After a little over two years I decided to revive this blog to include our current trip in India. A lot of people have asked me to either take lots of pictures or post pictures, so what better place to do that than here. I know I skipped a couple of our trips in between (namely Mexico and Canada) but I might be willing to upload those pictures when we get back if I get enough requests for them. In the meantime enjoy the new photos.

Pirque 2

2007-11-25T21:50:00.001-08:00

"Hey, what's this another post? Your last post featured you leaving Chile."
Yeah, but we did get another chance to go to Pirque and harvest some more fresh almonds on my last day there. Plus more pictures of Pirque were requested so I had to give the masses (by "masses" I mean sole requester) what they wanted.

This time I got a better picture of what appeared to be a honey operation.
There is this old abandoned adobe house on part of the farm that the horses seem to like.

Daniel's family accompanied us the second time and they loved it there. I thought it was great to get the kids out of the city and enjoy a more rural environment.
This time we brought a ladder, smart, huh?

Amanda being cute as usual.
"Hey, there's an almond in there."

Daniel goofing around.

Amanda felt left out as Nico hung out on my shoulders...
...So dad came to the rescue and put her where she wanted to be.

The horses galloping through the orchards.I was still taking pictures on the way out.

"What do you want?" We stopped at the entrance to the dirt road that leads to Pirque and bought some refreshments from a stand.
Hanging out.

These guys were just riding on the back of this tractor really enjoying it and waving to us. It reminded me a little of Punjab.
Some better pictures of the unknown plant along this river.

Heading back into the city.
"Bye Pirque."

Leaving Santiago

2007-11-25T21:47:00.000-08:00

After four exciting and adventurous weeks the time came for me to leave. The whole family accompanied me to the airport where we enjoyed a meal before I boarded a midnight flight home.

Amanda standing outside Jorge and Sylvia's house before we left for the airport.
Enjoying dinner at the airport.

Daniel and Luna may look caught off guard here because I was actually trying to get a picture of the waiter behind them, who's featured in the following two photographs as well. You know how people say they have a "twin" or a look-a-like somewhere else in this world. Well I thought this guy looked a lot like the mayor of Española, Joseph Maestas, so I took some pictures of him to see if anyone else thought the same.

Amanda being unusually shy.

Sita saying bye to me (she left 10 days after me).One last "act" from the kids, before I boarded the plane. They're so cute, aren't they?

Fantasilandia - Amusement Park

2007-11-25T21:40:00.001-08:00

On one of our last days in Chile we decided to go to an amusement park named Fantasilandia and take our eldest niece, Luna, and her friend, Magdalena, along.

Sita, Magdalena and Luna, waiting to board the first roller coaster.

This was one of the biggest attractions a looping roller coaster that takes you forward along it's tracks and then backwards.

You know me, I had to insist we ride the bumper cars.

This is the one that the kids were raving about "El Disco" the disc. They ensured that we rode this early and often. Their excitement was warranted, it was a fun ride, and probably Sita's favorite of the day as well (I like the roller coaster the best).
"Hey stop taking pictures and hurry up on board."

I did not want this picture up on the blog but Sita insisted I put it up so I bartered with her for permission to put the llama sneeze up. She'd initially given me permission right after the llama sneeze incident but she wanted to rescind so I bargained with her.

This ride was fun, they lift you up real high and then drop you real fast.
It took some convincing but Sita finally agreed to get on.

Magdalena, Sita and Luna on El Disco, again.

After the day at the amusement park we stopped at a mall for some ice cream. The parking lot had sensors for each spot and corresponding lights mounted from the ceiling to tell you if a spot was free. If the space was filled the light was red, green if it was unfilled. Luna and Magdalena enjoyed running around and making the sensors go off.

Luna with, what has become her signature amongst these photos, her tongue sticking out.