This n That In Black n White

I am finding it incredibly difficult to sum up our spectacular trip to Northern India in words let alone post the nearly 1000 pictures we took in attempt to capture the jaw dropping moments now memories. So instead of posting all of them we chose a few of our favorites and highlights and changed them to black and white for some contrast. All of our pictures are posted on our blog under the page called PICTURES. Just click HERE it will take you straight to all our albums that we update regularly.

So our trip was a 6 day 5 night extravaganza. We flew into Delhi and had a driver waiting at the airport for us. We traveled around there with our driver and guide for a couple days then drove 5 hours to Agra. Monsoon rains were washing out roads the entire way there so it was a nervous drive and took hours longer in detours. Arrival into Agra it was still raining so we saw many sites from inside the car. Hoping the following day early morning to see the Taj in hopes of beating the rain worked. It was gray but not busy and not raining. We were so thankful! The rest of the time it was wet. We drove then another 5 hours to Jaipur spending a couple more days before returning home. In Jaipur we saw camels and elephants and even got a ride! We rode our elephant all the way up a steep mountainside to a large fort. We then toured the fort and several other castles and buildings before having to pack up, drive back to Delhi and fly home. It was a whirlwind trip but it was so nice to have the same driver the entire time from airport pick up to airport drop off. The guides were overall pretty great too and gave us helpful suggestions for fabulous restaurants, shops, and how to avoid the scary beggars and ridiculous and very annoying hawkers. Well here are a few of our favorite places....enjoy!

Delhi, India

The Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque built in 1656

Standing before kneeling to pray

This mosque was absolutely beautiful with the huge marble slabs and incredibly crafted architecture. It was hard not to walk through with our mouths open.

In the main courtyard of the mosque was an area filled with birdseed and thus filled with pigeons. They took flight and we captured them at just the right moment. Like this pigeons are quite beautiful.

Washing head, hands, and feet before entering the mosque for prayer

This grand iron gate stands proudly in front of the President's House.

This was a monument that had a statue of King George V inside. He was "removed" after Independence was declared for India no longer under British rule on August 15th, 1947.

India Gate which is a World War 1 memorial. Written on the bricks that make up the walls are inscribed with the names of the fallen/missing soldiers.

The Lotus Temple. As you can see they tried to copy the Sidney Opera House in some of its design, but the Lotus flower is important to the Bahai religion and they used it as the main design on top.

Qutub Minar, the world's tallest brick minaret, built in 1193.

Agra, India The Taj Mahal built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a burial place and memorial in memory of his third and Hindu wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Located in the city of Agra also known as the City of Love for the Taj Mahal still stands as India’s symbol of eternal love.

Looking from the platform of the Taj back at the Main Entrance of the Taj Mahal. Even the entrance is spectacular.

We did not want to leave this place as it was so magnificent and became more and more special the more you looked at it. And it was so much bigger seeing it in person and the intricate and ornately detailed marble work and inlaid gemstones make the Taj one of the 7 Wonders of the World. Leaving Agra was actually (surprisingly) difficult as its beauty truly captivated us and we knew it would be highly unlikely that we would never return to see her in person. Good thing we bought a small replica to remind us of how she looks and feels. We also bought a small carved stab of the same famous Indian Marble as the Taj itself and inlaid patters with the same technique and gemstones as in the Taj. It was created by men in a particular shop that hosts the actual descendants of the man who built the Taj, so we thought that was very special. We cannot wait to show that off when we get home.

Goodbye Taj! Thanks for the Memories.

Jaipur, India

Beautiful arches inside an open court of the castle in the fort that hosted important meetings, concerts, plays, and other entertainment for the King.

This castle was built on land and then they created a lake to surround it so the castle was only accessible by boat. Amazing architectural feats and it has been preserved perfectly all these years!

Wouldn't you like your front door to look like this? This was a doorway leading to one the Ladies in Waiting's room.

Astronomical instrument from Jantar Mantar, a large observatory built between 1727 and 1734. This instrument particular instrument was used to measure the sun and where it was exactly in what hemisphere. Makes me realize that for all our technology today we think we are smart but judging from the brain that invented this and carved it from marble and stone to line up the sun, we know nothing.

There are so many more pictures we would love to show off in this post but it would be 200 pages long. Please check out our albums on Picasa and see the details of the rest.

We had a wonderful time site seeing and traveling around. We were tired of driving for sure, but besides some poor hotels we fared just fine and got home safely for which we were thankful and so grateful for the opportunity to see other parts of the country. We saw some amazing things and it has us excited and already planning our next Indian adventure..... what is next to conquer...perhaps Goa?
-Jenny