Side Note: I am unable to upload photos at this time.
Day 1: Arrived in Delhi, drove 6 hours to Agra. We visited the Agra Fort and Krishna's birthplace. It was really neat to visit that site because of the importance it has to the people of India. The birth town is famous for it's Milk. The milk is so thick and sweet that it tastes like yogurt. I was reluctant to give it a try given my compromised digestive system, but I'm glad I tried it.
Day 2: Visit the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal was one of the most amazing buildings I have seen in India. It felt as though we were looking at a picture because it was too perfect to be real. The sky behind the Taj Mahal was pure blue...not a cloud in the sky! Absolutely perfect. Travel 10 hours to Jaipur. Upon reaching our destination, we explored the local cuisine and picked up some "short eats" aka snacks. They were seasoned peanuts and chick peas. So delicious! That night we called it an early night in order to be rested for the following day of adventure.
Day 3: Visit the Pink City! A city that has pink buildings? What more could a girl want? In 1876, It was a law that every building had to be painted pink on the outside as a symbol to welcome Prince Albert. The pink city is also one of the most planned out and engineered city that I have ever visited. All of the roads and buildings are measured out in increments of 9 because it is considered to be a lucky number. After visiting the Pink City, we went to the Jaipur Palace where we rode Elephants!!! To paint a picture of our experience...Rj and I happened to choose the elephant also with a compromised digestive tract which turned out to be quite a bumpy ride up a mountain. To our relief, we made it to the palace grounds. The palace was also engineered perfectly, absolutely beautiful and so picturesque along the mountainside.
After visiting the Pink City, we went to the Water Palace. It was a palace built in the middle of a man-made lake and the only way to get to it was by boat. It literally looked like the palace was floating! I thought that was really funny.
The next stop we made was to the Observatory. The observatory was home to the WOLRD'S LARGEST SUN DIAL!! There was a discrepancy of only 2 SECONDS! That's more accurate than my wrist watch, hahaha! There were also measurements of the latitude and longitude of all of the Horoscopes and Constellations in relation to the city of Jaipur.
Day 4: Drive back to Delhi and visit Nehru's Museum, Indira Ghandi's house and memorial, and Ghandi's Memorial. We also saw the Parliament Building, the President's house, the Prime Minister's house, the Lotus Temple (which was beautiful!), the Qutub Minar, and the India Gate. The India Gate was built in honor and remembrance of all the Indian Soldiers that fought before their independence.
Day 5: Drive to Amritsar. I like to call this day "Sleeping with the Ants". It first started like a normal day in India with sweltering heat and busy streets. We traveled to Amritsar to visit the India/Pakistan border where the soldiers retreat every day at 6:30pm. We arrived at the border at 2:00pm. Why arrive so early? Unfortunately, I asked myself the same question and never came up with an answer. Keep in mind the weather was 99 degrees Fahrenheit in the desert and we were wearing Indian attire (long pants, a long shirt, and a veil) to avoid offending local people. Given my inability to digest unknown foreign foods and drink tap water, I should have known this was a recipe for disaster. Disaster struck around 4:30pm that evening. I was given an apple in my complimentary breakfast package and little did I know that I was wrong to assume that anything was safe to eat. I let my guard down once and ate the apple. Shortly thereafter my body began to eliminate anything and everything that I had eaten that day. As I sat on the side lines with thousands of people watching the American girl throwing up...I began to think the day could not get worse. I was wrong. I managed to collect myself enough to cross the security gates. I found one nice looking tree that could provide some shade which became my oasis. I then spent the next hour and a half by that tree and behind the abandoned police office. My body was so tired that I had to take a nap. I wasn't even thinking when I laid down on the half dirt/half broken cement "floor". There were ants crawling on me and I was surrounded by some unidentifiable animal holes, yet I was strangely okay with it. A Punjab officer tried to offer help, but since RJ speaks no Punjabi...the efforts were futile. However, he could offer me a wooden bench for some "rest". Thank Goodness RJ was there, she was my saviour that day! I don't know what I would have done without her help during that time.
After taking a nap I managed to muster the strength to make it to the car. Upon reaching the car, RJ suggested that I drink some Sprite. When reaching for some cash, we noticed we had been ROBBED!!! Was this really happening? How could this be?? This day just got worse! We quickly checked the trunk and to our dismay they had rummaged through our baggage!! Did no one see this happening? Of course they had seen it, but perhaps didn't know it was a robbery? Fortunately for us, the only things that were stolen could be replaced. Our passports were still with us! :) I have been going through how the robbery occurred and have decided that it's not the worst thing that could have happened. What if we had been hurt or kidnapped? We thank our lucky stars for our health and safety (and our Passports). That's all we ask for.
The hotel was a safe haven that night and when our heads touched the pillows we could not have been happier to get a good night's sleep after such a day.
Day 6: Fly back to Bangalore!!
We are now safe in Mysore visiting with RJ's family and taking a much needed break.
