My friend and traveling companion to India, Pamela Macdonald, has allowed me to share her posts from her travel blog.  She writes so much better than I do and so thought I would send them as part of my blog.  I hope you enjoy them.

Gail 

by PamelaTravelBlog

Day Trip to AGRA

After breakfast this morning, we 17 met in the lobby, cleared our bills and brought our luggage to the bus. Pick up was arranged at hotel for 9 am and we met our guide Mr Luv. He will be with us – and his team of driver and assistant, for the entire two weeks. He is lovely, kind and well informed.

He informed us of a few facts as we toured the city of Delhi and New Delhi. Namaste is the greeting used widely in this country despite many languages spoken. Guests are considered like gods and service is very important. Delhi is the second largest city in India, 20 million population. Mumbai is the largest with 22 million. India is the second largest country in population, next to China. There are 1.5 billion people living in India.

Delhi is rich in diversity of all kinds. Religion categories include Hinduism which is the oldest religion practiced by 82% of the population of India. Followed by Muslims at 12.5%, and third Christians at 2.5%. The Sikh religion is 400 years old, relatively young in age and less than 1% practice, .7%. Buddhism is practiced by less again. Why? We will talk about it more another day. The city of Delhi is the city of dreams and opportunities with many universities and educational facilities.  

Delhi is the book that narrates the history of India. Del means heart and this city is the capital of India. 20% of the city is covered in green space. 180 sq miles is this city.  

Diversity is also seen in wealth, with the very very rich and the very very poor. All people sail and are enjoying life and are happy, says Luv. This makes India a most exotic destination and different from any other. Our tour is called Royal India and we will learn about the land of the Kings and Queens of India.

India has been taken over some 7 times in history. This 26 January marks Republic Day, a celebration of independence for India. India celebrates many festivals for such things as full moon, half moon and no moon! Life itself is about celebrations and happiness, says Luv.

Our first stop is Qutab Minar. It is a very ornately carved and stunningly beautiful minaret situated in a park like peaceful setting with plenty of green space and many ruins around it.  

Meen trees are medication, used for toothbrushes. 

Referred to as the Tower of victory. This Minaret is the tallest. 72.5 meters, 379 steps, 5 stories. Pride of Delhi. From 7 and 8 century was worship place.  

Rulers took over and divided people and tried to stop the religion. In 1199 began construction of the World largest brick minaret.  
Looks like lotus flower in ground from aerial view. Access is closed here due to suicides. Also on the property is the Tower of jealousy. Calamities happened and it was never finished.  

Demolished all temples that were here prior .. Now Ruins here … Also, first mosque facing to west. More mosques in India than any country in the world. First mosque and largest mosque in Delhi and New Delhi.  

We also visited today the Lotus Temple, which is the Baha’i House of Worship. It is made completely out of white marble and has 27 massive lotus petals. Once inside we were treated and blessed by the chanting and prayers. The sound was so moving it brought tears to my eyes. What an experience!  

Lotus flower is symbol of creation and is the seat of the thrown of Lord Brahma, God of creation. The temple to him is in Pushkar and we will go there later on the tour.  

Lastly we stopped at the burial and cremation ground of Mahatma Ghandi – another powerfully moving place.

Security is high in Delhi, however we are making our way :). 

Tomorrow we will tour the Taj Mahal. Described as a poem of love in marble. We will stay tonight at the Trident Hotel in Agra, part of an Indian chain of hotels of very high quality. It is considered an oasis in Agra.

Namaste

Pamela

by PamelaTravelBlog

Exotic mysterious. Another world. Off in the distance and extreme up close. There is a mystery in the air, trees coming out of the mist, buildings with unique structures silhouetted against the sky. Full moon, hazy yellow sun ball of light.

Busy. Hazy.  

People. Hard working. Content and smiling. People wanting to please others. Peaceful. Tragic deformations, intense eye contact

Brown barefoot and some with sandals. Women carrying items on their heads, using no hands. The body is a vessel of manual labour. Scarves. Bright coloured women with grey clothed men. Chiseled features, black hair, deep eyes with big smiles. People wanting to be close to us, have their picture taken standing close.  

Sacred animals wild and tame. Dogs, monkeys, cows, Brahma Bulls, horses, peacocks, chipmunks, green parrots, large dark birds of prey, chickens. Beasts of burden pulling carts of produce.

Chanting. Haunting music and bells, sounds of prayer. Music of India heard on the streets. Honking of cars, tuktuks and people, airplanes overhead.

Spice markets, scent of incense, florals, urine and dust. Vehicle exhaust.

Crowds of people on the roadways, on sidewalks and in doorways and businesses. People walking and carrying goods. People in rickshaws hauling heavy loads with strength of their legs. Gentle mothers cradling babes in their arms, holding hands with children close by, walking behind the men. Heads covered and shawls draped around covering shoulders and breasts. Skirts long to the ground, bright red can be seen from a distance. Single worker in the fields.

Green and orange and white flag waving with pride. Tents and cardboard huts for homes, clothes out on the line. Stacks of rooms where people stay, hundreds upon thousands of new apartments being built in the suburb area outside of the center. Town center in old area is busy and crowded, bodies touching as they go about their business. Men working in shops of countless varieties. Selling sarees, spices, food stuffs, clothing. Bare necessities of life. Jewellery adorns faces and necks. Henna designs on hands and feet.

Palaces and structures of ancient times, poetry in marble. Preserved and visited historical monuments to a time of Royal reign. The Taj Mahal took my breath away.

Namaste. 
PamelaTravelBlog | January 24, 2016 at 7:56 pm | Categories: Travel Diary | URL: http://wp.me/pzpWQ-pF

January 25/16Off to Rajhistan and Jaipur. It’s so foggy. You cannot see200 feet

Going to abandoned fort because of lack of water….unesco sign. 1584 abandon

80% of marriages are arranged. 1% divorce rate because use of horoscope in arrangement.

Cibi…. Indian cows….bigger hump are males.

There so many people that wear blankets over there shoulders and their heads I think mostly to keep warm. It is quite cool and they don’t have sweaters or jackets.

Cow dung patties used for cooking. Lots of brick factors Es.

75,000 Kms of rail…largest in world. All levels of service up to “palace on wheels”….5-600$US/night.

Tata …most of “road-kings”… Decorated cuz it is their home, hanging black balls, 7 chillies and piece of lemons….protect….get rid of negativity.number of days..

Ackbah home. Fatehpur Sikri.. City of victory 1570-1586 built only occupied for ten years. Then abandoned.

Ragisthan largest state as well as largest producer of wool. 350000sq. Jaipur is pink city.

Sorry about the random thoughts…..only get pieces of the info

January 23/16.. Beginning of tourDestination today is Agra to Taj Mahal. Taj..means crown. Mahal means palace.

82% are Hindu. Oldest religion 1.25 billion population in India.

12% Moslem. More than in Pakistan, 2.5% Christians

Sikhism from Punjab is only 400 years old. More Christians than Sikhs, also Buddhist only less than 1%. Jainism….only .5%…a very strict extreme religion…food, insects
Lotus temple…lotus symbol of creation

Population …20 million in Delhi (1400 sq. Kms), 22 million in Mumbai

Odd and even rule for cars to lessen pollution. ….1400 more vehicles added daily to the streets of Delhi.

20% of the area of Delhi is considered green.

Tuk-tuk or auto rickshaws use compressed natural gas.

Jaipur shopping capital
Qutab minar tallest brick minaret in world. 370 stairs 5 stories high. From top looking down, looks like lotus which represents creation. Airplanes so close you think they could touch it. Built in 1199ad …..first mosque in India 7&8 century Moslem came to India. 300,000 mosques in India more than any Moslem country. That may be because they have the second largest populated country in the world
Lotus Temple next…Baha’i religion….19th century…no idols, 1986

Rajasthan marble, best in world because it is …non porous…..used for Taj Mahal. It is spectacular.

Cities ending with “bad”were started and ruled by Muslims

“Pur” cities were started and ruled by Hindus.

Then we were off to see where Mahatma Ghandi was cremated…..surrounded by a very, very large manicured green space with flowers (dahlias) and on the centre piece of the monument…..lots of cut marigolds……lovely.

From there we hit the highway….a toll highway….no traffic, passed miles and miles of farmlands. Round huts sort of like yurts. Not sure what they are, if they are homes??? We stopped mid way to Agra for a late lunch. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meal but except the garlic naan bread, I couldn’t eat….just way way too hot for my tender mouth. This is not fun. I has ordered a yellow dhal that was supposed to be so mild it I couldn’t bear it. They even brought one that had “nothing” in it but I still could not.
January 24/16

Agra and the Taj Mahal. We didn’t go at daybreak due to chance of major fog/smog and then being unable to see it. As it is, the skies although somewhat sunny, it is hazy. Just as we were leaving in our bus, the bus supposedly broke down so off we get only to be transported in horse drawn carriages…..Indian style. That was an experience. One gal was terrified! It wasn’t scary really but fun. OH MY GOD is not enough to describe the Taj! Spectacular is not good enough….just don’t know how to describe it. Breathtakingly beautiful. All white marble with inlaid semi precious stones at the entrance and inside where you cannot take pictures or anything with you that could possibly be used to chip out one of the stones. The structure is built on a plaza that is flanked on 4 sides with canals and gardens that are the same and on the north and south side has humongous “guest houses” in red sandstone. The Taj was never a residence but a mausoleum, (built to honour the favourite wife of the Shah Jehad who died in childbirth……the 14th), so I am not sure why the guest houses.

From there we travelled to a place that has the artisans that once a week, go in to repair and maintain the Taj. They also make spectacular tables, table tops, elephants, etc…..all with inlaid semiprecious stones, for sale. Some of the group bought pieces.

Then we went to explore the Red Fort of Agra….the residence of the Shah’s family, concubines, etc. It is of course made of the red sandstone. The building(s) if you want to call it that, overlooks the river and primarily looks at the Taj Mahal….so that the Shah could look at the beautiful building that housed the body of his beloved……all the while reflecting in the river. For the last 8 years of his life, he was kept in house arrest by his son, the new leader, because along with the beliefs of Islam, to prevent further building of palatial structures…one of which he had wanted to build of black marble.

Then it was back to the hotel and yoga…..ouch!

January 18/16…..Travel to India 
It was 4 in the morning when I started my day. Four of us girls left Victoria ….Janie, Gerry, Jeanette and myself. Janie left on a different flight and direction than us other 3 but we connected on our flight that left out of Toronto, with her sister Donna. There was snow on the ground and -9 in Toronto so of course they to de-ice the plane. As my late husband used to say in reference to the first ferry in the morning, that they were right on time….15 minutes late, we were right on time too……1 hour late when leaving the ground in Toronto for Delhi, India. The first two flights, YYJ to YVR and YVR to YYZ (Toronto), were on time. We were totally out-numbered race wise….probably 95% Indian or higher. The flight was good except it was so, so very long….about 14 hours. We arrived at the airport at 9:51 pm on January 19th. Figure it out…..it’s a long time. I believe there is 13.5 hours difference between Victoria and Delhi……Delhi being ahead. After going through the line up for e-visa customs (a different one than those with regular visas), picking up our luggage (didn’t have to have our luggage checked) we went to the exit where we were to be greeted by someone from Indus for our transfer to our hotel. No one was there. After waiting around for a while, Gerry asked a fellow with a cell phone (funny, he happened to be from Brampton, ON) if he could call Indus. They did send someone around finally….probably another half an hour. The airport is quite a distance from the hotel. The Hotel, the Metropolitan, is quite lovely. They check vehicles coming into the hotel parking lot, underneath…….with a mirror on a stick as well as under the hood. (I remember a similar experience when entering the property of a restaurant and classy resort, when I was in Kuwait). They also ask that you put any hand luggage or bags every time you enter the hotel, through a scanner. After unloading my luggage (cuz I had to find some stuff for my so very sore mouth and throat……hope it isn’t anything serious, I hit the hay around 1:30 am. Exhausted??? Oh yes! That was probably 30 plus hours since getting up.
January 20th.  

After a good buffet breakfast we 3 met up with Audrey, whom both her and I though we were to share in Delhi. The hotel staff insisted that we were not to. Who knows??? As long as they don’t charge us more, I don’t care. They say I am to share with Laine, another gal on the trip. I’ll find out tomorrow when she arrives. Anyway, a representative from Indus met us in the lobby around 10 am, apologizing for the screw up at the airport when the fellow wasn’t there to greet us. He said also, that we could have a vehicle to drive us around Delhi anytime, with 2 hours notice, at no charge. We thought we 4 would just walk around and check out the sights in the area. Audrey had ventured outside earlier by herself. She and Jeanette and I had thought about taking a slum tour before leaving Victoria but after she had walked around earlier, thought we didn’t need to….that there was enough slums close by. Right from the start, it was pretty obvious from last night in the dark and this morning, there is major smog….a combination of fog and smut. It smelled somewhat bad last eve but not this morning. Anyway, we started our walk, after going back for my jacket (it was quite chilly…. about 9-10 in the morning and 14-15 in the day. Colder apparently than they are used to. Oh my, the vehicles were driving all over the place(there is no such thing as staying in your own lane), tuk-tuks (3 wheeled vehicles…..like motorized rickshaws) all over the place, trucks, and cars and taxis and they are all beeping their horns. It is deafening! We stopped by this humongous Sikh temple where we got a brief lesson on Sikhism before entering it. We had to put little cloth things on to cover our heads, had to take off our shoes and socks because you have to walk through water before going in (and wash your hands). It was explained to us that a temple is not a place of worship but a place of learning. The whole area appears to made from marble….the floors, walls, pillars, domes (that was explained are representative of upside down flowers … marigolds). Inside the “temple building” the ceiling, pillars and altar-type centre piece, was coated in gold…pure gold I am told. Impressive….the whole thing! From there we just wandered. We seemed to have guys hanging around us, wanting to help…across busy, and I mean take your life in your hands busy streets, showing us shops, getting tuk-tuks. One particular one, would wait outside as we would go in this store(?) or that and would be there when we exited. He was real a pain although he didn’t come off in anyway, as threatening. We saw a herd, if that is the right word, of monkeys, scurrying up this wall and down another….I guess in search of food. At one point, a woman was making Chai tea…on the side of the street. Gerry and Audrey had some….because it was obviously boiling that it should be safe to drink. We’ll see. Shawna, Donna and Janie’s niece who lives here in Delhi and whom along with husband are connected to Canadian High Commission, explained to us the night before, to not give anyone anything for if you do give one person something that hundreds will be all over you and….although it seems harsh, when you see little children with no legs…begging, to not give them money, food is okay. They are the way they are because someone, parent or pimp has done this to them as a way to make money. Disgusting! Twice I saw that yesterday. It is so hard when they are following after you with outstretched hands, to ignore and keep on walking. Keep remembering…….don’t!!! I think it was around 3 when we had had enough. My knees were bothering me and that constant “attention” and the noise of the horns beeping was getting to all of us. We though a nap was in order. Sleep it was. Audrey called at one point as did Jeanette, waking me up, asking if I wanted to go get something to eat. I did not. I had a protein shake and went back to sleep….not getting up until 4 am. Guess I was tired. Oh yes…no wifi anywhere ……unless you pay. Maybe tomorrow I will.
January 21st

A number of the girls should have arrived last night but no one came to share with me. Sure wished I had wifi so that I could let my family and friends know that I am okay. Got to check on that.

7 am and the chanting with drums start. I heard them sometime during the night as well …… not sure what time it was though…. Maybe it was only 7pm???

At the breakfast buffet, we met up with a few more gals that arrived last night…..Pamela, Sherry, Laine, Christine, Iona, Glenda, Darlene and Linda. Later, although I didn’t see them (they are staying at a different hotel, are Cindy and Liz. Janie and Donna are at the High Commission. That leaves Gail H. to arrive on Friday.

We all with the exception of Sherry, walked around in much the same areas as the day before, finally ending up at the same place, Nirula Handcrafts Bazar P Ltd., where a number of us are having Indian PJs (kimono and pants) made….of pure silk. Anita was the main lady…spoke extremely good English with no accent. Her helper started to show us off wrapped in saris (they take 7 metres of fabric). They were absolutely beautiful but no one bought. They also had scarves and carpets etc, etc. The smell on the street was pretty bad today (a number of us put on masks for breathing) although the sun did come out and disbursed the fog. By this time my knees and feet had had enough so Jeanette and I caught a tuk-tuk back to the hotel. The rest walked. Again I never had “dinner”. If I don’t lose weight I will be totally surprised. I tried to send a message from McDonald’s to my kids that I had arrived safely but I don’t think it went. 

In the newspaper”Selfie kills youth”. It is apparent that a number of people have died as a result of getting too close to the edge in different locations while taking selfies. I don’t remember hearing of anything like that at home???

January 22nd

Again no one is here to share with me. Pam spoke to them at the desk yesterday. Incase, she is saying do not give them a credit card and to pay for incidentals with cash. I paid already, I am not paying single supplement.  

Today I don’t feel like walking or touring. I wouldn’t mind having a massage. Nine of us decided to take a couple of taxis with tour guide, to show us around. First we went to see the Hindu Krishna Temple. No pictures allowed inside. Lots of gods in this religion, Brahman, Vishnu and about 6 others. From there we went to the mini Taj Mahal….huge not really mini at all but considerably smaller than…… It is not a lot of white marble but predominately red sandstone. Beautiful grounds….the same on each of the four sides….with pools and narrow canals. The doors are carved from single piece rock. Amazing. We passed by the India Gate but because of preparation for Republic Day on the 26th and the treat of terrorism, it was not open to the public….lots of cops and military. We then were taken to Chandni Chowk (not sure of that spelling), to the spice market and to the wholesale spice market where no cameras were to be used) , men slogging huge heavy loads like you wonder how they can carry them or push, alleyways and rickshaws and masses and masses of people, some cows at the beginning, overhead wires hanging like spaghetti in a pile, sections that were strictly sari sales, bangles, rickrack and accessories for making of clothes, monkeys on the overhead wires, into a mosque off the street, shoes off, shoes on, thought my phone was gone at one point, then forgot my Nordic poles, vehicles honking, insanity to the extreme. It is amazing that there are no accidents either between vehicles or people’s or animals. Generally nice featured people, mild mannered, no aggression that was noticeable…. surprising seeing as what they’d were having to deal with. I guess it is all a matter of what you are used to. Just the biggest Oh My God!!! How can people live like this? The noise is deafening wherever you go. The hoards of people everywhere. I’ll just keep saying it is insanity but it seems to work. Amazing and crazy and to this point, the highlight!

 I have added descriptions but they have disappeared…too bad!  

flower display in honour of 66th anniversary of China

Linda B., Rae H., Elden B. and I are all going to Vegas for close to 2 weeks.  We were told of this hot deal out of Belligham on Allegiant Air.  So Linda and I traveled over on Sunday and stayed at Rae’s so that we could get the flight out of Bellinghan supposedly at 2:30 pm on Monday.  Before going to bed on Friday I think or maybe it was when we got up, someone was notified that the flight was going to be delayed until 3:30.  Then sometime later we got another notice that the flight would be leaving at 1:30 and that the flight number was changed from 222 to ?222.  Okay then we got in a bit of a panic because we had better get going cuz you never know what the traffic is like at the border.  No problem.  We get there in plenty of time.  Well there are people in line….(no clerks on duty to check us in) that were supposed to have flown out yesterday but the airplane had a broken wing so they had been overnighted.  The flight that had been mentioned that was leaving at 1:30 was their replacement flight….hence the different number.  And so we wait.  The screens that display arrival, departures and gates, said our flight was on time but several people besides myself have alerts saying the flight was delayed til3:30. At our gate it says on time.  Even the ticket agent said the flight was on time.  Okay what is it?  The 1:30 people finally leave on their replacement and now our gate says it is delayed until 5:36 now but there are still other sources that are saying that it is on time.  Finally someone that works for Allegiant comes to the gate , gets on the microphone and says that “the 2:30 flight has been canceled. What!!!  That cannot be!  “But there s a flight leaving at 4:15 that they would try to get us on”.  Then a mad scramble happened to get in line ….. first.  Then they don’t seem to know what they have to do about the checked luggage, if everyone that has checked luggage on 222 have to go back through check-in and so also through security check (Linda and I only had carry-on but Rae and Elden had checked luggage).  The rigamarole that we had to go though including emptying so much of our stuff, shoes off, our bodies exrayed in that round-about-thingy….a first for me, patted down, yadda, yadda.  Guess I had too much bling on my top that it set the lights aflashing).  The plane is going to the same destination for God’s sake! Then they decided that we wouldn’t have to do that after all but then we were told we had to move to a different gate.  So…. We got a boarding pass that said flight 220 (for a flight that was supposed to have left at 8 am this morning plus an $8 food voucher for our trouble but we couldn’t use it on alcohol that we all wanted. Oh well!  I am telling you that this was a real circus run by a bunch of monkeys.  Personally I would never book with them again, not only because of this big screw up but also the fact that for our carry-on suitcase we were charged US$30 return and to print off a boarding pass at the airport is a $5 charge, etc., etc.  Talk about nickel and diming!  If we had done the math it probably would have been cheaper to fly out of Victoria at CAD$$$, save on the gas to and from Chilliwack, the ferry return, our share on the gas and parking in Bellingham for the duration plus food and drink at the airport (that was outrageous). And so another lesson learned.  

I would imagine that our dance buddies from Victoria that were to meet us at Gilley’s for line dancing lessons (not sure if I can dance though), are probably disappointed as will Judie, who is picking us up.  I am writing this while still on the flight.  Yes it did eventually go.  I am wondering if they were trying to fill two empty plane cuz there were more empty seats on this flight (so why did they say they would try to get us on this flight?) than I have ever seen before.