India 2004-2005

I went to India for two weeks from December 2004 to January 2005 with my husband.  We started in Delhi, travelled to Agra, and then made a circuit of the state of Rajasthan, on the border with Pakistan. We visited the cities of Jaipur, Pushkar, Udaipur, and Jodhpur, and even camped in a small village called Rajliya.

We had a wonderful trip, but of course the trip was touched by sadness because of the Indian Ocean tsunami.  Our thoughts are with all those lost as well as those who survived and are attempting to rebuild their lives.  My husband, who heads an aid organization in Singapore, will be working to help make recovery possible in some of the affected areas.

Here are the two of us doing the must-snap in front of the Taj Mahal (pronounced Taj Ma-hell, I learned).

Here are some of the amazing folks we met when in the village of Rajliya.

This is my husband with the head bull of the village who is standing out front of a villager's home waiting to be fed.

Here I am taking a photo of my shadow while riding my good camel

(my first one "lost it" because apparently December is mating season for camels. Who knew?).

Here is my husband looking like the true Silk Road adventurer!

As you can probably already tell, my favorite part of India was the people. Here are a few of the neater folks we met along the way:  One of the photos in this section is me having my fortune told by an astrologer in Jaipur.  Unsurprisingly, my fortune is quite promising!

Who can have a set of pictures from India without making reference to all the cows that walk down the streets? They are literally everywhere. They seem particularly fond of intersections (scholars hypothesize that the car fumes act like a drug). It is amazing to see all of society move to accommodate the cows and other animals.  Sometimes and in some places, MY convenience is not the supreme value. 

Here is a cow walking down the main shopping street in the holy city of Pushkar.  You always have to watch behind you (and under foot).

The end.

More adventures to come!

Page last updated January 25, 2005.

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