March 29, 2015 (Agra, India)

After a night of sleep on the train we woke early in Agra and were ready for the Taj Mahal! To get to the Taj we first took a bus, then a 1/2 golf kart and 1/2 eletric bus to the entry. The rest of my family, Syd, Kendall, Mom, and Dad has been to the Taj before, but this is my first time. The Taj is big! The Taj is made out of marble with coral, stones and semi precious stone inlay work. Each of the pillars around it is slanted out 2.5 degrees towards the land, so one day when the pillars fall they wont fall on the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal was built by the emperor as a burial for his dead wife to show his love for her. It was beautiful.

Also at the Taj they had sorts of birds flying around. Some that I saw were birds of prey and large Parakeets that were green!

Next we walked over to our “champane breakfast”, but of course neither mom or I had some.

Finished with our breakfast we drove back to the train and stayed there for a couple of hours. Our room on the train was different but similar in a sense to Rovos Rail the train we did in South Africa. It was similar in how it had a classy older look, but Rovos rail seemed older, classier, fancier and nicer in some things. 

Later, Mom and I ate lunch then departed again with the group to the Agra Fort. The Agra Fort was used several hundred years ago as a castle like area where the royal Moguls would stay. Inside the fort were carved lines in the floor so the animals that came into the fort had grip. One of the parts of the fort we saw was where the past King who built the Taj Mahal was imprisoned. The king was put into prison by his son who took over the throne by force. Where the past emperor was being held had a view of the Taj. Another part we walked to was a room that had natural air conditioning. That place was air conditioned from water. One last section we walked to was the harem’s quarters. The women of the harem were women who would perform, entertain, and do other things for the emperor. There used to be hundreds of women of the Harem.

Finished with our group tour of the Agra Fort we drove over to the marble inlay shop. Marble inlay work is when they inlay carvings into marble. They cut semi precious stones to fit flat on the marble. Inside the shop we were able to watch them shape the semi-precios stones. And we were also able to look through their shop.

At the train we ate dinner in one of the cars and departed from Agra.

March 28, 2015 (Delhi, India)

March 28, 2015

I started the day off by eating by myself at the lounge. When I walked back my room Mom was already talking to my school teacher April and I was ready to work. After a couple hours of working I had another stop at the lounge before leaving on our tour to the Sikh temple, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib. The Sikhs are kind of like a mix between Hindus and Muslims. They broke off from Hindus but they believe in only one god and their temples and seem to look more muslims with their turbans. Our Sikh tour guide toured us around the temple. At the temple Mom and I got pictures with some of the temple worriers who carry with them at all times a huge double edged swords. Sikhs are half saint and half worrier. 

Our guide also showed us the kitchen and the dinning room where they feed around 45,000-50,000 people a day!  This is part of their oath as Sikhs to serve others in need and anyone that needs a meal can get one at the temple. Mom and I also placed our feet in the holy water. This temple was white and Gold and has some Muslim architecture to it.

From there we left our tour guide at the temple and moved on with Benson, the head of the touring company we were using. With Benson we drove to the next temple named Akshardham. which was pretty recently built. This was a big temple! From the outside it was a tan color, but from the inside it was white marble with hundreds of carvings! Inside the temple they had one room that had a statue of a holy man. That one room was all so decorated in gold unlike the other rooms. Some of the marble carvings on the wall told stories. The ceilings were great with their 3 dimensional carvings. After walking around the temple I got my sandals on and walked towards the exit. On the way to the exit we walked through this place named something like the Lotus Garden. We walked on a raised path through the manmade lotus, on either side big grass Lotus pedals.

Next, we jumped in the car and drove to our lunch restaurant. This resturaunt had one of the biggest menus I had ever ordered from. We talked with Benson during lunch. He is also LDS and lives in Delhi and heard about his life here. After lunch we had one last stop before driving back to the hotel, it was the shopping area called Dlli Haat. This shopping area was outside, had much smaller stores than yesterdays, and was less westernized. Mom got some stuff while I got a bird painting and a meditation bowl which we had to bargain for.

Back at the hotel we had a little while before leaving again to the train station. At the train station we were met by the people of the Maharajas express. The Maharajas Express is a train ride that we are doing from Delhi to Mumbai, India. Once seated at the train station we listned to some music and waited for our train. On the train we met our helper, Dash that would help us throughout the trip. Later we ate dinner then fell asleep.

March 27, 2015 (Delhi, India)

Outside government offices in Delhi

 President's - huge home built by the French where the current Prime Minister lives

Outside President's Palace

 India Gate

 Humayun's Tomb in Delhi, which the Taj Mahal was modeled after

 Lattice stone work inside the tomb that was built for a Mogul by his wife

my new brass painted parrot

 Outside the Jama Masjid Muslim Mosque in Delhi

 Sabbath day in Delhi and prayer rugs are being rolled out

 Rickshaw around Old Delhi

Ghandi's Memorial

Where Ghandi was cremated

 Where Ghandi was assassinated

 Ghandi's bed

 Pillar of Castlessness inside the Ghandi museum