October 9th, 2011

I am in Jhodpur. This past week has been hectic to say the least. But I want to start at the beginning. I arrived in Delhi on October 2nd at 5 in the morning. I was picked up from the airport and met my driver Mr. Singh. I asked him what his name was and he said, you call me Mr Singh. He is a very nice chap, not much english, but we get by. I make him laugh a lot. He understands more than he speaks. He is a very good driver and I am lucky to have him. The traffic is unbelievable, several times I did say my prayers and expected the worst, but we survived every time. Saw a few bad accidents though. From Delhi I was taken straight to Agra to the very, very nice Jaypee Palace Hotel. What luxury. I had a female guide, she met us in Sikandra, a Fort on the way to Akra. We hit it off straight away and she suggested, instead of going into the Taj Mahal for Sunset, to go across the river and see it from there. We did and it was very special indeed. NO crowds and the Taj looks the same from all sides, except the pool in the front. Plenty of pictures were taken. The next morning I was picked up at 5.30 am for the sunrise at the Taj. I thought we would be inside, but they did not open the gates until well after the sun had risen. We now did all the things the tourists do and I had a ball. My guide knows her stuff, she had my camera most of the time, so I am actually in the pictures. One other good thing being there so early in the morning as well as in the season, there was NO pollution and the crowds were bearable.

Back to the Hotel for breakfast, then off to see the Agra Fort. From there we can see the Taj again in all it's glory.

On the way to Jaypur I visited Sikri and again it was a very nice building. But honestly, after the Taj Mahal, everything fades into the background. I was not very impressed with my guide.

We continued on to Jaipur, which is also called the Pink City as a lot of the buildings are painted pink or made out of pink sandstone. The most prominent one being the Hawa Mahal, the palace of the winds. Went to a small Museum to see armor and stuff like that and then to see artists at work. Could not resist to buy a couple of apintings. Very small ones! Had a look at the shops in the afternoon. Went to bed very tired but very happy.

To be continued.