On to Mumbai

It’s been a few days since my last post due to poor internet and fatigue. There is so much to see and so many people to meet,  the two pictures below are of the Mumbai laundry.  This is a place provided by the government with a water supply and drainage for laundry operation.  This is getting smaller as it is now possible to get a washing machine and proper plumbing.  We have seen several instances of progress being made.

While in Jaidapur which is a city of lakes, we took a boat ride and were able to see this palace on the shore.  We had just a few hours walked through the palace.

On the stree in Mumbai, this stand was selling sugar cane juice.  He ran stalks of cane through a masker and the juice dripped out a spout. We did not try this offering

Here we are in the apartment Mahatma Gandhi used while in Mumbai.  I am glad we went here as it gave a really good overview of his life. His spinning wheel was pretty cool.

Common site here.  Woman in sari driving motor bike.  Check out her feet!

Mumbai flower market 

Elephants, cobras and turbans, oh my

Lots of firsts today.  As we drove around the city of Jaipur, we stopped to look at a palace which was really nice, but the fun part for me was a guy on the sidewalk with a cobra in a basket and a flute in his hand.  I approached him right away because I had decided that if we had the chance, I wanted to hold a cobra..surprisingly I was the only one

From here we went up a small mountain to visit an ancient fort.   Our transport for the last bit of the climb was aboard  an elephant. What a bumpy ride.  Our elephants name was Sonya.  I still haven’t got the picture of Betsy and I on our elephant which was taken by someone else in our group, but this is what they all looked like.

While inside the fort we met a man with a beautiful turban.  For a small price he took it off and showed us how he puts it on in the morning.  I love the video I took of him,but can’t figure out how to put it in this post.  (Can anyone help me).  He was quite a showman   The fabric in,the turban was 9 meters long.

While in the fort we met this guy.  He had just been ordained as a priest from Kashmir   He was celebrating while traveling with his sister. They were both very friendly and talkative

This is a section of the marble floor in the fort.  I took several pictures like it.  Looks like a good pattern for a quilt

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This is the fort we were visiting.  It’s amazing how many really significant things there are in the world that we have never heard of.  Travel teaches us how little we know.

Another interesting road trip

Yesterday we drove to Jaipur. It was a long ride, but was interesting all the way.  We viewed how people lived and did business.  I worked on a waxed linen basket that I had started at home.  Don’t know how big it will be.  Guess it depends on how much time I have and how I feel about it.  Here it is so far.

Last night we were on our own for dinner so we went to the grocery store.  Everything in India is fried in ghee, clarified butter, and it was available in many brands in the store.

Below is a yogurt we have grown to love.   Use be working, because we are still well.

We rode to the grocery in the back seat of a tuk tuk, a three wheeled open air taxi.

We bought lassi from this man.  Lassi is a sweet yogurt drink.  Very delicious.  Our guide is from Jaipur and she said this man is famous for his lassi.  There were two similar stands next to his but they had no customers.  The guide said that he sells out quickly and then the others begin to sell theirs.  The lassi is served in the little clay cups.  When you finish your drink, you throw your cup in a bin and it is recycled.

Entering Jaipur was sad because we drove through a large slum area.  

This is a fairly common sight.  Camel carts are quite useful

Gun permits are required to buy a firearm.  Not many people own guns.

Ranthambore National Park

Poor us.  This is the entrance to the hotel we stayed at next to the park.  Opulent

Spotted deer were common.  

This is the big deer species. There were quite a few of them also.

We really loved the angry birds

This guy wanted to ride with us.

Jane got a new friend

The scenery in the park was pretty to look at also

On the road To Ranthambore National Park

Spent a large part of the day on the bus.  That was fine because the views are so interesting. Here is a market from the bus window.  We are eating lots of f units and vegetables, but none from the street.

We took a walk around a small town.  Below are some dung patties drying and being stored on The roof of a house. 

This gentleman claimed to be 105 years old.  He was smoking his hookah

These cows were not free range as most were, but were at this time tied by the house

We sto by the house of this potter.

The two pictures below are of a step well.  Built centuries ago, it caught rain water.  Women carried their containers to the well and walked down the stairs until they got to the water.  Fill your jugs and then carry it back up. There were 13 levels of steps in the well.

The Taj Mahal and the Red Fort

Agra is home to the Taj Mahal and Red Fort.  It was a sad love story.  The fifth mogul king worshipped his wife.  She died giving birth to their 14th child.  The mogul freaked out and spent most of the national treasury building the Taj Mahal to honor her and provide a burial site.  It’s all made of white marble and is quite beautiful.  The mogul than wanted to build a similar structure for his burial across the river where he would be able to always to see his wife.  That was too much for the country and somehow one if his sons became mogul #6 and locked his dad in the Red Fort.  It was a kind of house arrest. He had no freedom, but could look out the window and see the Taj Mahal

I haven’t yet figured out how these guys put their pants on in the morning

Maintainance at the Red Fort

The Red Fort is all red sandstone. And it was Hugh.  Well protected too.  First moat crocodiles.  Second moat bengal tigers, third moat hot oil.

This guy was staying in our hotel.  He was part of a flight crew. Today they are flying to Kilimanjaro 

Holy Cow, dung patties and mustard

Today we drove from Delhi to Agra.  There were stops on the way, but the most interesting part of the day was the drive.  Saw a lot of agricultural land.  Winter crops in now. Prime crop now is mustard.  Also this area is big for making bricks.  All along the way, and in the cities wee free ranging cows.  No beef served in India. The cow is king.  We saw them everywhere!

In this picture you can see dung patties neatly stacked by the side of the road.  Dung used for heat and cooking. The women make the patties which are dried before storage.  There are small huts scattered on the land for dung patty storage

Hits for dung patty storage

View out bus window

Welcome to Agra

Below are smoke stacks from brick factories.