India in 8 days!Â
Rickshaw ride!
Temples
Amber Fort where they had elephant rides!
Taj Mahal!!!
An amazing trip!!
First we had to apply for a Electronic Travel Authorization to even enter the country:
On September 9, 2024 Eileen and I flew via American Airlines first to Washington DC, then to New York, then on a 15 hour flight to Delhi, India.
Those flights are long, but they feed you and you can watch several (lie seven?!) movies.Â
Upon arrival we found pillar #17, our guide found us and took us to the hotel, about an hour’s drive away. The drive to the hotel in Delhi gave us a view of trees, and other vegetation along every beautiful road. We also some of the roadside vendors and poorer aspect, including a guy feeding the pigeons (he was helping his karma our guide said).
Our hotel, the Park Plaza was quite nice. We got settled and walked around a bit.
The next day we had breakfast (many interesting dishes, I tried some, some were very good.)
We went with our guide all around the city. Our guide told us that all that horn honking was just friendly honking!
Day 1
We had quite a tour of the city today 9-10-2024.The rickshaw ride was fun, the Chandni Chow Street was interesting. We walked for blocks passing stalls selling everything under the sun.Â
1. Royal Mosque
2. Walk around Old Delhi
3. Rickshaw ride
4. Mahatma Gandhi
5. Sikh temple
6. Humayun’s Tomb
   A busy fast paced day
 First, we visited the Royal Mosque.
After walking a while through the bustling streets they treated us to a rickshaw ride:Â
Next we went across town to the memorial Raj Ghat a memorial complex in Delhi, India. The first memorial was dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi where a black marble platform was raised to mark the spot of his cremation on 31 January 1948 and consists of an eternal flame at one end.
Next, further south to Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi
This tomb, built in 1570, is of particular cultural significance as it was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent. It inspired several major architectural innovations, culminating in the construction of the Taj Mahal.
Park is open to the public, but we were as “foreigners” allowed to skip the long lines!
Another stop a sikh temple where they feed 20,000 a day!
Sikhism was founded in India in the Punjab by Guru Nanak in the 15th Century CE and is a monotheistic religion. Sikhs think religion should be practiced by living in the world and coping with life’s everyday problems.
Sikhism advocates equality, social justice, service to humanity, and tolerance for other religions. The essential message of Sikhism is spiritual devotion and reverence of God at all times while practicing the ideals of honesty, compassion, humility and generosity in everyday life.
Day 2
9/11/2024
In the morning we drove to Jaipur, the second city of the “Golden Triangle”.Â
On the way we stopped in a truck stop for lunch.
The first stop in Jaipur was the  “City Palace”, a huge complex.
The City Palace forms one of the most famous tourist attractions and a major landmark in Jaipur. The beautiful palace was built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh during his reign. Among the various forts and palaces of Jaipur, City Palace stands apart, with its outstanding art and architecture.
Google map of the site.
This plaque reads:
Believed to be the largest silver vessels of this kind in the world, the “Gangajalis” were made to hold holy water from the river Ganga. These were cast by the silversmiths of the “Mistri Khana” (one of the thirty-six Karkhanas or workshops of the Jaipur Court) following the order of Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II. They were made to carry water for the Maharaja during his 1902 trip to England to attend the coronation of King Edward VII. Gangajalis were made from silver as the metal was traditionally considered purifying. Each jar was made of approximately fourteen thousand silver coins issued by the State treasury. A wooden mold was first prepared, and then the coins were melted into sheets of silver, beaten and shaped over the mold. The jars each weigh around three hundred and forty-five kilograms, and have a capacity of approximately four hundred gallons, or around two thousand liters. A circular base with wheels was constructed to allow them to be moved easily, and ladders were used for reaching the mouth of the Jar.
Three hundred and sixty KG is 760 pounds, filled they would weigh almost 2 tons each.
From the City Palace we walked down a busy street to a place that sold rugs. We ere treated to tea while they displayed their stock of handmade rugs.
Dinner at the hotel.
Day 3
9/12/2024
Still in Jaipur.
The top of our hotel in Jaipur was quite interesting with a pool and a bar:
On a trip to India it goes without saying that you will see cows. Everywhere, cows. Not so many cows in the country, but all over every city. You cannot go a mile without seeing one or a group of four to six. Our guide explained.
A hundred years ago cows were worshipped. They were an integral part of the every day life of the people. They were used to pull the plow, used for milk, grown for their meat, their waste was used to burn for fuel, their hide was used for clothing and shoes, and other things. They were valuable to many . Anyone finding a cow not on a farm was precluded from killing it.
Fast forward to today. No one wants a cow any more. No one eats the meat or drinks the milk. The thousands of stray cows in the cities are taken care of by the residents because it is “good karma”. Out on the highways the cows stay on the shoulders near the traffic. Our guide said that in the fields, flies and insects bother the cows, if a cow stands near the traffic the air from the car whizzing by blows the insects away. You can be travelling at 60 miles an hour and have to almost stop if the cows wander onto the traveling lane. In the cities they usually stay out of traffic, but it is not uncommon the have all traffic stop and wait for a cow or two to move.
Travel is mainly by car, but maybe 20% are motorcycles or mopeds. In town are the Tuc Tuc vehicles, by the thousands, the bicycles and the rickshaws.
Of course you have to have the street performer and his cobra.
We entered Jaigarh Fort where they had an elephant used to give rides. It started to sprinkle and the rider got out a tarp to cover the whole animal! The Jaigarh Fort is the most imposing and spectacular fort that overlooks Jaipur. It is famous for the Jaivana canon, considered the largest canon in the world. The fort was built by Sawai Jai Singh II in 1726 to protect the Amer fort.
From the Jaigarh Fort we went to the Amer fort. Amer Fort is known for its artistic style elements. With its large ramparts and series of gates and cobbled paths, the fort overlooks Maota Lake, which is the main source of water for the Amer Palace.
Our next stop was Jantar Mantar where a man created astronomical instruments to tell time.
Next we went to a place where the workers took cloth and wood cut patterns and made long drapes or other goods with repeating patterns on them
Videos: https://www.facebook.com/100001033300024/videos/544621354797258/
and https://www.facebook.com/100001033300024/videos/pcb.8539081086136250/1506813830224630
Next we stopped at our guides relatives home where we talked with them for a while.
Next we stopped at the Palace of the Winds. It has 953 small windows called Jharokhas decorated with intricate latticework.
Day 4
9/13/2024
After breakfast we drove from Jaipur to Agra.
Around the corner was Fatehpur Sikri.
It is amazing what they did with stone!
Leaving the complex we traveled through local streets.
Then we arrived at the Agra fort.
Next we went to a gemstone place.
Next we went to a place that cut the same marble used in the Taj, and inserted semi precious stone into the cuts. I purchased an elephant with 360 inserts!
Day 5
Taj Mahal
We had to get up at 4 AM to get to the Taj before the crowds and when it was in the mist. 10-14-2024
Day 6
Our plane did not leave until almost midnight, so we got an extra day the rest did not. We hired a guide to drive us around. And he sure took us a lot of places!! 10-15-2024
Our first stop is where Gandhi was killed, (earlier we saw where his cremation remains were) Gandhi Smriti Museum and marker. We had to go barefoot on the grass where Gandhi had walked.
Stop number 2 was a water well, built so people could walk down and fetch water! “We love the architecture and uniqueness of this step well . It is a 1000 year old structure that has been used to store and collect water.”
Stop number 3 The Snri Laxmi Narayan Temple, a Hindu temple located in New Delhi, India. The presiding deity in the temple is Laxminarayan i.e., Vishnu along with his consort Lakshmi. The temple was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi ensured that members of all castes would be allowed in the temple. It was built by Jugal Kishore Birla from 1933 and 1939. There are also small shrines on the sides dedicated to Shiva, Ganesha, Hanuman and Buddha
No photos were allowed and we had to go barefoot. We had to take off anything leather, they supplied pants to cover our legs and we had to walk clockwise around the inner sanctum,
I had to use the bathroom, the seat of the stool was unique as far as I knew, a bow to those who squatted to use the stool and those who sit:
Stop number 4 was Lodhi Gardens. A huge garden area.Â
Lodi Gardens is a city park situated in New Delhi, India. Spread over 90 acres,[1] it contains Mohammed Shah‘s Tomb, the Tomb of Sikandar Lodi, the Shisha Gumbad and the Bara Gumbad,[2] architectural works of the 15th century by Lodis – who ruled parts of northern India and Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of modern-day Pakistan, from 1451 to 1526 are present here.
Stop number 5
Jahangiri Mahal (Jahangir’s palace) Agra Fort, Agra.
Agra Fort is a historical fort in the city of Agra in India. It was the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal Dynasty till 1638, when the capital was shifted from Agra to Delhi. The Agra fort is a UNESCO World Heritage site
Gate.
Bath
This is the Jahangiri Hauz or Jahangir’s Bath Tub. It is monolithic tank used for bathing 5 feet in height, 8 feet in diameter and 25 feet in circumference (It looks similar to Bhimar Charia in Hazo Assam. Read about it here about it here). On the rim there is an inscription in Persian, the only decipherable part now shows that it was Hauz e Jahangir (Jahangir’s bath or made for Jahangir) in 1019 A.H. (A.D. 1611).
Stop number 6
We went to the Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, one of the most prominent Sikh gurdwaras, or Sikh house of worship, in Delhi, India, and known for its association with the eighth Sikh Guru, Guru Har Krishan, as well as the holy pond inside its complex, known as the “Sarovar.”
- What to wearVisitors can wear a scarf, cloth, or bandana. If you forget yours, you can ask someone at the gurdwara, as they usually have extras for visitors.
- Other customsVisitors should also remove their shoes and wash their hands before entering the prayer hall. If it’s your first time entering the prayer hall that day, you can acknowledge the Guru Granth Sahib by walking up to the front and bowing.Â
The interior was amazing, sets with idols etc. that people were worshipping.
Stop number 7Â
Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi
Built in the early 13th century a few kilometres south of Delhi, the red sandstone tower of Qutb Minar is 240 feet high, tapering from 9 ft in diameter at its peak to 47 ft at its base, and alternating angular and rounded flutings. The surrounding archaeological area contains funerary buildings, notably the magnificent Alai-Darwaza Gate, the masterpiece of Indo-Muslim art (built in 1311), and two mosques, including the Quwwatu’l-Islam, the oldest in northern India, built of materials reused from some 20 Brahman temples.
Located here is the famous “iron pillar”.
Can an iron structure stand tall for 1,600 years without rusting, despite being exposed to the elements?
It seems implausible, considering the supposed lack of technology at the time of its construction.
Yet, inside New Delhi’s UNESCO-listed Qutb Minar complex – a collection of historic monuments and buildings built in the early 13th century in the city’s southern Mehrauli district – one mysterious structure stands as a testament to this very enigma.
Visitors to the courtyard of the complex’s Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque will immediately spot an imposing 7.2-meter, six-ton iron pillar with a decorative top that’s even older than the complex.
Remarkably, the pillar is now as pristine as the day it was forged, defying both age and environmental adversities, including the Indian capital’s intense temperatures and increasing pollution. Dating back to the 5th century, its remarkable resilience continues to captivate travelers today.
Purchases
What an amazing fast paced tour of India, three cities – the Golden Triangle.