India Index

Pictures from India

Delhi

Cows were everywhere in India. This one was in the middle of an intersection. The Red Fort The site where Gandhi was cremated

Agra

Laundry being done along the side of a river

The Many Faces of the Taj Mahal

Ranthambore

We saw a tiger for a few seconds through the trees, but we weren't able to get a picture.
A blue bull A sloth bear

Jaipur

Wendi with a couple of the Rajasthani caretakers in the City Palace The Hawa Mahal - where the royal ladies used to people-watch All types of transportation can be found on the streets of India - bicycles, cycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws, cars and buses, animals, scooters, and pedestrians (they are lowest in the right-of-way pecking order). We went to see a Hindi movie at this cinema. It was quite an experience - a combination of Grease and Rambo.

Fatehpur Shekhawati

The Shekhawati region is famous for its havelis - old mansions with beautiful courtyards and painted walls. This is the wall of one of the havelis.

Bikaner

There is a temple near Bikaner where thousands of rats, believed to be the reincarnations of mystics, run around free.

Jaisalmer

From Jaisalmer we took a 3 day camel safari through the Thar Desert. Our guides cooked our meals on open fires, and we slept under the stars.

Wendi with Sona (her camel) and Kaloo (Steve's camel) Us with Mr. Desert, the founder and owner of Sahara Travels Camels on the dune silhouetted in the setting sun
Camel shadows Wendi's view from Sona A closeup of Kaloo
Wendi waking up on the dunes to a beautiful sky Village women bringing water for the camels The camels getting some refreshment
Dadya, our head guide and owner of Sona and Kaloo, posing with Kaloo Dadya, with his hat flying off, trying to get his camel to go faster as he races against another guide Mr. Desert gave us this autographed picture of himself in full Rajasthani costume. He earned the title Mr. Desert by being voted the most Rajputy looking Rajput in Rajasthan. Among other gigs, he is the Indian Marlboro Man.
The whole crew The tourists
The Rough Riders A bunch of cute kids in Jaisalmer who sing Frere Jacques and do a dance as you walk by

Jodhpur

Around Jodhpur we took a village safari with one other traveler and a guide. We visited several rural villages and got a glimpse of traditional ways of life.
Jodhpur is called the Blue City. The blue color used to be used by Brahmins to distinguish their houses, but now others use it as well. This woman was the matriarch of one of the families we visited. The women were all dressed up to go to a festival given by someone who was ending a mourning period.
It seemed like everyone in the region was going to the festival, all via trailers pulled by tractors. The kids in another village followed us around.
We visited another village where we had lunch and saw carpets being woven. This women was supposedly in her 90s and still worked in the fields. We also watched other artisans in the region work, such as this potter.

Pushkar

Here we are high above Pushkar, a town with a holy lake where you will find lots of Hindu pilgrims (and hippies) but no cars.

Udaipur

Views of the Lake Palace, where part of Octopussy was filmed Women doing laundry at the lakeshore
The Monsoon Palce, where another part of Octopussy was filmed Some Muslim performers singing a love song in Shilpgram, near Udaipur This performer in Udaipur is standing on swords while balancing pots on his head. He got up to 10 or 12 pots.

Ajanta and Ellora Caves

Wendi on the overnight train that constituted part of our journey to the caves Wendi in the first class seats on the jeep that consituted the last stretch of our journey to Ajanta caves Ajanta caves, carved into the rock by Buddhist monks between 200 BC and 650 AD. The insides of many of the 30 caves are decorated with beautiful tempera, a type of painting.
A carving inside of the caves at Ellora. The caves at Ellora were carved by Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain monks between 600 and 1000 AD and are decorated with carvings instead of paintings. A multi-level cave at Ellora Kailasa Temple (Hindu) is the masterpiece of Ellora. "It is the world's largest monolithic structure, hewn from the rock by 7000 labourers over a 150 year period."

Mumbai (Bombay)

Mumbai Harbor, near our hotel The Gateway of India, officially opened in 1924, overlooks Mumbai Harbor.
At the dhobi ghats (municipal laundry) in Bombay, men beat clothes clean in rows of troughs, spin them dry in hand-cranked spin dryers, and then hang them out to finish drying. The tomb of the Muslim saint Haji Ali is contained in this mosque. The long causeway leading to the Mosque is lined with hundreds of beggars.
On the last night of our trip, from Juhu beach we watched the sunset over the Arabian Sea.