March 10, 2004
India pics.
We had so much fun in Rajasthan that we can't believe our time is already over. But as you will see, we took full advantage of the time we did have!
Ever wonder how people get around in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh... well, here are some pics that will hopefully answer your queries! The streets of Dhaka!
Sharing a cab with Raaj and Bholan.
Raaj and Bholan's families!
Our trip to the cinema where we saw our first Bollywood movie and came across the band, as well as our trip to the Sikh temple! The last pic. shows a little boy who was lying on top of this 30 foot pole and spinning around to the beat of his father's drum.
Our day around Delhi, and yes there are cows all over the road! We saw a nice Hindu temple, a snake charmer, another Sikh temple, India gate, the Lotus temple, Qujt Minar and then our visit with Shweta!
On our way to Mandawa, our driver Balwant! We saw another Hindu temple and then the beautiful Havelli's in the village. Jill fraternizing with the locals in the last pic.
On the outskirts of Bikaner we stopped at a cenotaph, the rat temple (where they actually worship the rats, yuck) and then inside the fort. As well, we visited a camel research centre. You can see that one of the camels has designs shaved into it's hair, this is done for the camel fair.
In Jaisalmer we stopped at another cenotaph just before sunset, hence the wonderful colours hitting the sand stone monuments. We also took a boat tour around the natural lake that has many unique buildings surrounding it. What a beautiful picture of the fort in the background! The rest of the pics are just intertesting shots we took inside the fort and of the people. The one guy with his arms out, he is holding his mustache. If you look close enough you will be able to see it.
On the way to Jodhpur, we stopped to see another fort along the way and this is the garden where Jill and I enjoyed our 'free' cup of tea. Then there was a chilli market along the side of the road as you can see, yes those are all red chilli's that are spilling out of the back of the tractor. The rest of the pics are of the fort and inside the fort. Now do you see why Jodhpur is also called the 'blue city'? That is one of the many young lads that got a pic with Jill, and then outside of Jodhpur we visited a little village where we saw some people weaving and doing pottery.
Ranakpur was home to the most beautiful Jain temple in all of India! It's magnificent! There are over 160 columns in the temple and no two are the same.
Udaipur, aka the 'lake city'. The first pic is the beautiful hotel totally surrounded by water where the James Bond film, "Octopussy" was filmed. Those are some of the Ghats where people come down to bathe and wash their clothes, as well as some other interesting buildings that border the lake. Jill and I also ate our dinner overlooking the hotel watching the sunset, and the last pic is the city palace museum.
On our way to Pushkar we stopped off at some temples that contained the 'Karma Sutra', or erotic carvings. Then we had our mishap with the car as you can see Balwant and the other guy pondering what is wrong. We watched the sunset with the rest of the town's population as soon as we entered Pushkar.
In Jaipur we saw the tiger fort, the Hawa Mahal and the Raj Mandir, the gorgeous cinema where we saw the bollywood movie 'Khakee'. The bottom three pictures are at the Amber Fort, where we rode elephants up to it. These were the same elephants that we saw at the elephant festival the day before, that's why they are all painted and decorated!
The Elephant Festival. We had such an unbelievable experience! You can see the many decorated and painted elephants, camels and horses, as well as all of the people in their festival dress. Everyone was dancing and playing instruments. Yes that is an elephant painting, and below that you can see the 'trunk to trunk' race, the game of polo and the tug of war! What a great day!
The celebration of Holi (colour festival). The first picture is one of the many vendors selling the colour powder and the next one is the result of what it looks like when it gets plastered on you, as you can see from our multi-coloured faces. Apparently it turned out that Balwant, our driver, was quite the dancer! It must have been his Punjab upbringing!
Sights along the highway...
The people of Rajasthan showing their many colours!
