Final Stop - Delhi

On August 10th we traveled to Delhi from Agra. It wasn't meant to be a long drive, but it ended up being one due to the monsoon rains and traffic. One would think that after experiencing monsoon weather for thousands of years, India would have drainage systems set up, but nope...not at all. Large puddles accumulate in the middle of the road, and because small cars can't drive through them, there is an unbelievable amount of traffic. 

We only had two full days in Delhi and so on the first day we took a tour of New Delhi and Old Delhi. Our second day in Delhi we were given the morning off to pack, had an afternoon meeting with the CEO of Harley Davidson India and traveled back to Europe/USA that evening. New Delhi is honestly nothing like I imagined. It is so clean, the roads are very wide with multiple lanes and it is so, so green. I can totally believe that it is the greenest capital in the entire world. Everywhere around the city there are trees and parks. I'm surprised that Bangalore is considered the park capital in India, and not New Delhi. Seeing everything be so pretty and organized was a welcome change. 

During our city tour we drove past the parliamentary buildings and the India Gate, as well as some mosque's and temples. It was interesting seeing how different Delhi is from the rest of India. It is definitely a more vibrant and busy city. Fortunately, our professor also organized for us to visit Old Delhi. Because the bus wouldn't fit through the small streets of Old Delhi, the whole group took bicycle rickshaws through Old Delhi. 

Old Delhi reminded me of Mumbai so much. Despite the fact that Delhi has more people than Mumbai, in New Delhi you would never sense it, but in Old Delhi you most definitely do! It is so much like Mumbai: the buildings are all old, there are people EVERYWHERE and there are endless piles of trash. We stopped at a spice shop in Old Delhi and we rode through the wedding market, shoe market, jewelry market and silver market. It was very interesting seeing how things were perfectly organized and set up beautifully. That is one reoccurring theme I have seen in India: among the chaos there is actual order and beauty. That is something I would never had learned without coming to India and witnessing it on my own.

Being in Delhi was very bittersweet because I knew that this was the end of my Indian Adventure, but it was a lovely way to wrap up things in India. I sincerely hope to return to India and hopefully visit other cities. I love Indian people, culture and food now even more than before. I won't say that I love the way the service industry currently is, but I can see the potential for improvement. I am excited to return to India and see what changes have taken place. Thank you for the awesome experiences and memories, India!!

Emalisa xo

Parliamentary building in Delhi.

The parliamentary buildings were actually very large. 

So much greenery.

We also visited the India Gate that was built in honor of the Indian soldiers that died in WW1. This was also close by the parliamentary buildings.

I believe this was the 6th or 7th World Heritage Site we visited on this trip.

Humayun's Tomb.

The gardens of Humayun's Tomb. Delhi is so green and so beautiful!

After visiting the tomb, we got on the bicycle rickshaws and explored Old Delhi. We got on the rickshaws in order to best experience the small and narrow streets of Old Delhi. The best wouldn't have fit in most of the streets and walking 24 students would have taken waaaay too long, haha. Note the excitement on our faces though!

It was two people per rickshaw. We rode on the actual roads which was absolutely frightful.

Old Delhi reminded a lot of Mumbai: smaller shops, many people, chaos everywhere.

The streets in Old Delhi are so small that cars aren't able to pass at all. For that reason everyone rides the bicycle rickshaws.

Amazing how much they can fit into such small places; 10 shops in one building...

I really appreciated seeing all of this though. Definitely the India that I imagined before coming. 

Agra - Camel Riding, the Agra Fort, and the Taj Mahal

On Thursday, August 8th, we began our journey from Jaipur to Agra. Fortunately, a highway was built a few years ago that enabled our drive to be cut down from about 10 hours to 6 hours. Because it was such a long ride though, the Professor planned a camel ride for us mid-way through the drive, which was honestly so, so exciting! I thought it may be much like riding an elephant, but I definitely think that riding the camel was significantly more thrilling and scary, haha. It did depress me a little when we saw the camels though: their mouths were being held shut and the reins were pierced through their nasal cavities. I'm not even entirely sure how they were breathing. You could just tell that these were incredibly unhappy camels. Also, we rode the camels in green fields, which was quite confusing for me to get my head around. Camels aren't native to India, but the arabs brought them when they were in India. For that reason I think they have adapted, but I always pictured myself riding my first camel in the desert. Either way, I RODE A CAMEL! 

After the camel ride and some lunch, we were back on the bus for about 4 hours. We departed Jaipur at about 9AM, and we only arrived at the Radisson BLU in Agra at 5PM. We then had to quickly change and go for high-tea at the grand Oberoi Hotel; voted 4th best hotel in Asia and 34th best in the world. An absolutely gorgeous hotel! In order not to pay for dinner later that evening, I made sure to eat my little heart out at the hotel because after all, I am still a college student, hahahaha. 

The following morning I woke up so happy and excited because we had the Taj Mahal visit! When we got there I was honestly in shock and just kept on thinking, "I'm a 20-year Cape Verdean at the Taj Mahal". Such a beautiful structure. All of the details about it are just perfect. Before exploring the Taj Mahal, our tour guide told us the story about why it was built and I think it is one of the most beautiful stories I have heard. For a wife to risk her life multiple times for her husbands, and for an emperor to love his wife so much that he builds such a beautiful structure in her honor: true love. We only had about an hour and a half to take pictures and explore the place, but due to the scorching heat, it was enough.I can't even begin to describe how hot it is in the north of India. It's not even summer, but you can just be standing outdoors and sweat will begin dripping from places you didn't think could...

After the Taj Mahal, we visited the Agra Fort which was also quite interesting. It was built and inhabited by the third Mughal ruler. I personally just love the design of these places. The older Persian architecture is just so beautiful for me. After visiting a few forts though, they are quite similarly built.

Emalisa xo

Before going on the camel ride, we stopped at a Stepwell called "Chand Baori". It is one of the largest and oldest wells in north India. It was built in the 9th century and it 19.5 meters deep. All of the rectangular shapes are the steps that you can take to go down the well. I don't understand how they could build something like this with no technology or any proper tools.

Three of the well's walls were steps, but one side of it were closed rooms for the people in the village to be able to bathe themselves. So interesting.

This is Bruno, the camel that I decided to ride. 

At first he was very calm and was willing to take pictures with me, but then I had to stop because he was shouting at me. Bad Bruno. Isn't he so cute though!?

Cheesin' with Bruno.

The process in which the camel gets up is the scariest thing ever! First its hind legs go up, propelling you forward, and then the front legs go up, sending you backwards. I was not expecting that at all...clearly.

And then the lovely 30 minute camel ride began :). Great experience!

First view of the great Taj Mahal. So perfectly symmetrical.

Even at 8AM there were lots of people. It was quite difficult to get a good shot.

How gorgeous?

We were able to walk all around it and go inside to visit Shah Jahan's tomb. 

View of the garden and entry gate to the Taj Mahal from the actual Taj. So breathtakingly beautiful, no?

Inside the Agra Fort. Built using sand-stone, giving it that red color.

This is the main courtyard of the Agra Fort. The gardens were made with the persian design that divides the garden into different sections. To the left and right, those were the quarters of the two daughters of the third Mughal ruler, and all around that was the harem that hosted about 3000 (yes, thousands) of concubines. 

This was the audience hall. I find it very hard to understand how everything was built with such perfection. The columns all aligned perfectly. 

Jaipur - The Pink City (2)

On our second day in Jaipur, we fortunately (!!!) did not have to wake up so early. We had a 9AM start to visiting the Palace of Winds and a little bit about the city. We were able to learn a bit more about the city today. Jaipur is a Hindu state, but it has a lot of Muslim influences in their culture because it was ruled by the Moguls for about 200 years. The Moguls were Muslim and so a lot of their practices prevailed. Just like Muslim women have to cover their heads, here in Jaipur, the women use their sari’s to cover their heads. Not all of the women walk around with their head covered, but a number do. Also, because Rajasthan is a desert state, the women were bright colors, and by bright I mean very, VERY bright colors. Like neon greens, bright oranges and bright yellows. I absolutely love it! Seeing as it didn’t rain as much today, all the women and men were out and about, and it was awesome seeing this. 

Our first stop, The Palace of Winds, was built in 1727. Because you can’t actually go inside, we just stopped to take a few pictures. The Palace was used by married women. They would peek out of the small windows and watch their men go out to war. When the men would returns months or years later, again they would go to the windows and if their husbands were not among the group of men, the women had to jump into fires and burn themselves to death: an act called sati. When the British came, they fortunately abolished this practice but it continued for a while. If a women became widowed, she had to jump into a fire and kill herself. The children would be cared for by the family members. Too morbid. Glad I wasn’t alive during that time…or an Indian woman during that time, haha. 

After that we went to the City Palace. This is currently inhabited by the Queen of Mysore. Because the previous king did not have a son, the queen now lives there. It was a beautiful palace that was painted pink. Most of the city of Jaipur is painted pink because the Maharaja Jai Sing who founded the city thought the color pink was extremely welcoming, so in the city center everything is pink. It is quite lovely. The City Palace had a lovely courtyard that was peacock themed. I took several pictures in the various doorways, and I had time choosing only one, so I’ve only uploaded three…hahahaha. It was quite a beautiful palace!

After that we visited Jantar Mantar, which is another world heritage site. It hosts the world’s largest sundial as well as a collection of architectural astronomical instruments. It was quite interesting seeing how people told time and matched birth dates back in the day. Seeing all of the instruments they had that decided your star signs was also quite interesting. It's a pity I'm not terribly interested in astronomy because it was quite amazing! Another world heritage sight checked off of my list!!

We ended our afternoon with a shopping trip at the bazaars that are along the road by the Palace of Winds. I thought it was very interesting getting to see the city and the people outside the bus and on our own. By doing this I also got to practice my bargaining skills! There was a kurti that I really wanted, but it was 2700 rupees. I managed to bargain it down to 750!! I was so, so proud of myself hahaha. I also helped a friend of my bargain! It’s honestly the best haha. It made it such a fun and relaxing afternoon. In the evening we were treated to a free buffet dinner, where I proceeded to eat so much I made myself quite sick in the evening, haha. 

Despite not seeing too much in Jaipur, the colors and architecture makes this one of my favorite cities of India. Additionally, there aren’t as many people here as there are in Mumbai and Bangalore, so it is actually nice to walk around the city and enjoy all it has to offer. And now offer to Agra!

Emalisa xo

The Palace of Winds. The women used to peek through the very small windows to see their husbands off to war, or to see if they had come back alive. 

Not the most flattering picture I have, but it'll do, haha. 

When the Maharaja of Jaipur, Madho Singh II, went to England for King Edward VII's coronation, he took the water from the ganjes in these huge silver jars because he didn't trust the water from England, haha. Each jar, called Gangajali, could hold 900 gallons of water. Found this quite interesting and ironic haha. 

Such a beautiful palace! I love the shade of pink that the Maharaja chose to paint the city!

One of the doorways in the peacock-themed courtyard. 

Please don't mind the excessive amount of pictures of myself, haha.

How beautiful is this though?!

I need this in my house in the future.

Jantar Mantar. 

A man block-printing. Such an interesting art form.

The owner of the place we were at let some students practice block printing. She was working on an elephant. Note the fascination on our faces!

We were also able to see how carpets are made!

Funnest fact I learned today: a pure woolen carpet will never catch fire. Because of this, they use fire to burn off the excess threads in the carpet rather than cutting. You can just wipe off the darker parts that the fire creates. So cool.

We then were honored with a private carpet showing! These carpets retailed for about a thousand dollars...mere pennies! (I'm just joking, that is ridiculously expensive hahaha)

The same man who owned the block printing, and the carpet shop also owned a sari shop. I volunteered myself to be a sari "model", and its been one of the best decisions I've ever made!

I chose this color to represent my mother's sweet potato colors! 

Absolutely loved this! Pity I remember nothing of how to tie this hahahaha.

A lovely group shot of us :). 

Our TA had been wanting to learn how to tie turban, and he finally found a place that did it. I did NOT know it was so complicated. It's a 9m long piece of cloth that you roll around your head in a certain way. Too complex for me, hahahaha. 

Jaipur - The Pink City (1)

On Tuesday, August 5th, the whole group left Bangalore and traveled up to Jaipur after having a morning lecture (our professor will literally find any time that he can to squeeze in a lesson or two haha). The actual flight and bus ride took a total of 9 hours (from hotel to hotel). All of this traveling is really starting to take a toll on me! During this commute/travel, we all had to work on an essay about social entrepreneurship and so we were completely exhausted and worn out by the time we arrived at the Hilton Hotel of Jaipur. Again we were spoiled with an amazing accommodation! The reason why we have been able to stay in some really awesome hotels is because it is monsoon season, and being monsoon season it is the “down season” in India. So that is something that has definitely worked to our advantage!

The first full day in Jaipur, August 6th, we started off by visiting the Amber Fort and Palace. On the way up to the Amber Fort we rode on elephants and it was THE.BEST.EXPERIENCE.EVER! I honestly cannot describe how much fun it was being on an elephant, going up a sloped hill, while racing other elephants, hahaha. My elephant legitimately was racing the elephants ahead of us, and it made me so happy. We had seen some elephants in Mysore, and it was clear that they were very sad and mistreated, but these elephants were so happy! They only had to do 3 climbs per day, and got a day off every third day. It is just easy to tell that these elephants are happy, haha. 

When we reached the top we toured the fort, and then went in to check out the palace. Rajasthan in a Hindu state so they have maharaja’s. Currently there isn’t a maharaja of Jaipur, so no one resides in the palace. It was an absolutely beautiful palace built in the 17th century! In the Amber Fort and Palace, there are about 100 rooms, with huge courtyards and the grounds are beautiful. The fort is also surround by the Wall of India, which is pretty much the same as the Wall of China. My favorite part of the palace were the gardens. All of them were so beautifully designed and all of the plants and flowers were just gorgeous! I have a few pictures below!

After the Amber Fort and Palace, we went to the Jal Mahal (literal translation of Water Palace). It was a leisurely palace (no sleeping quarters) built on a lake in Jaipur and it was absolutely beautiful. A few years ago the government took ownership of the palace, but they did not keep up the palace at all, so a private entity then purchased it in 2005 and completely restored it to what it would have looked like in the 17th century. Unfortunately it was much too hot and humid to enjoy the beauty of the palace, but it was gorgeous. At this point we also hadn’t eaten for over 7 hours, so everyone was just beyond exhausted!

After finally getting some delicious lunch, we went to an orphanage that houses and educates about 400 street girls and boys called Lidli. The girls there study as well as make different forms of art such as necklaces, bracelets, bags, and block printed shirts. By creating and selling these items, all of the girls are able to have bank accounts with some savings so that when they are 18, they have some money to start their lives. It was very grounding being able to stay there for a few hours and chatting with the girls. Sometimes it is just so easy to get caught up in your menial problems. It is refreshing seeing different people enjoying the little things in life that you forget about. I honestly wish we could have spent more time with them. 

We ended our first day in Jaipur with a trip to the grandest hotel here, Rambagh Palace. It was ridiculously expensive but it was interesting seeing what the grandest hotel in Jaipur looks like! It was very, very similar to the Taj Hotel of Mumbai. Definitely an eventful day! From 8AM to 11PM!

Emalisa xo

The Amber Fort from a distance. 

While taking pictures of the Amber Fort, there was a snake charmer on the street. After finding out that the charmers actually de-fang the snakes and drug them so that they don't run away or attack people, I stopped being fascinated by the art of it. 

We then rode elephants up the fort. I thought it was the most thrilling experience ever, but my friend was crying the whole way up, hahaha. 

View of the Wall of India from the Amber Fort. So gorgeous.

Panorama of the entire Fort. Beyond this area is the beautiful palace!

Cheesing at the palace!

Where the Jaipur Maharaja addressed his people, and where people came to seek justice. 

The entrance to the Amber Palace. I absolutely love the architecture. 

Group photo in front of the entrance to the palace! I have become quite accustomed to the cotton pants, haha. Love it!

View of the gardens outside the Amber Fort. So beautifully built. I can't get over how beautiful all the green is! So weird seeing as Rajasthan is a desert state. 

The gardens inside the palace. Same design as the gardens outside the palace. 

This is where the maharaja threw parties. The walls have small mirrors built into them making it very different and beautiful. Inside, was where the maharaja would retire after a long day's work.

Different colored glass was also used. So pretty!

Posing in the gardens because why not! Haha.

Jal Mahal = Water Palace.

Took these beautiful boats to the Jal Mahal.

At first I thought it was a palace that was built and then flooded, but later learned that it was built on the water. Still don't understand how people in the older days built such great structures without any technology.

The Jal Mahal is a leisurely palace, meaning there are no rooms. This was the top floor: just gardens and the small structures to sit in. 

They were beautifully decorated though!

Another view of the gardens. Too, too beautiful!