We saw the sunrise on the Ganges River this morning. Hindus go there to bathe in the river for purification and good luck. What a madhouse. We did this from a small row boat. There was a huge traffic jam just trying to get onto the river from the dock. Norm finally saw a new scam from the beggars today. One of them kept extending his hand to shake. When I finally did this, the man started massaging my hand and arm. I asked our guide what the heck was happening. He told me to just say it hurts and to walk away.

We saw many people on the shore and in the water this morning. Some just cleansing for purification, some actually soaping up. The locals believe that the water in the Ganga (Ganges) is holy. It is hard to believe that for a place considered holy, they have “Dirty Water” being poured into the river from the city. Who really wants to get clean in this water?

Also, who knew the uses for cow droppings? Mixed with water, they are made into large hamburger looking patties, dried and used for fuel. Wow.

This is a daily pilgrimage for the Hindus. Also, many people who are sick want to come here to die. They believe if you die here you go straight to heaven and all sins are forgiven. Afterward, we went to the Vishwanath temple (Golden temple). As we are not Hindu, we were not allowed inside. We had to observe it from the top of a four story building nearby. We arrived there by walking through many narrow, winding, dirty streets. Many stray monkeys around the temple. Armed guards were all around it.

We also went to the Durga temple. This is the temple to the wife of Shiva. The custom used to be to bathe in the pool outside of the temple but we are told it is too polluted to do this anymore. Then to the temple to Mother India. This is a place dedicated by Mahatma Ghandi to all of India. It is a room with a 3d map of India. Our guide pointed out all of the major places we had visited and major cities. We went to a weaving “sweat shop” to see 3 weaving looms in use. It was hot and dark inside. We also went to an old palace that just happened to be a showroom for Kashmir carpets. We considered some beautiful carpets but had no idea as to what size we might need. The salesman was really good and could probably sell ice to an Eskimo. Back to the hotel for an afternoon of leisure.

We are back in Delhi for touring of Humayun’s Tomb representing early Moughal architecture. This was built about 20 years prior to the start of the Taj Mahal, which has many similarities in architecture.

Then on to Qutb Minar which was the first city in Delhi in 900AD. The tower of victory was erected and also the first mosque in India which was built from a defaced Hindu temple.

The Bhai temple is a recent structure built to represent a lotus, the national flower of India. Then we took a stroll through Lodhi gardens which contains the ruins and tombs of the Lodhi rulers.

First we went to Keoladeo national park bird sanctuary in Baratpur to see a huge bird sanctuary. Unlike the Tiger park, we actually saw hundreds of birds. It was hatching season and the noise from all of the babies wanting to be fed was deafening.

We next went to the first city and fort in Rajastan, Fatepur Sikri. The legend is that the red sandstone city was built by Emperor Akbar in 1571 – 1585, was inhabited 20 years and everyone had to leave when the water supply dried up. Very large complex with interesting buildings.

The complex has one of the largest mosques in India. The mosque was filled with beggars and people trying to sell tourist souvenirs. Norm was hounded by several boys yelling Jason Gillespie to him. Jason is an Australian cricket player that several people say looks a lot like Norm. The attention was really annoying and the peddlers and beggars took away a lot from the mosque.

That afternoon we went to the white marble Taj Mahal built on the banks of the Yamuna River. What a sight to behold. When Emperor Shah Jahan’s wife, Mumtaz Mahal, fell ill and was dying after their 14th child, he promised to build her a monument representing his love for her. We believe he outdid himself. The incredible Taj took 20 years, 20,000 men, and 1 million dollars in 1648A.D.

In Udaipur we toured the City Palace which sits along Lake Pichola. The architecture is Rajput military and Mughal-style techniques. It is the largest palace in Rajasthan and consists of several palaces within built between the 16th-20th centuries by over 20 maharanas. Chamber after chamber exhibits beautiful artwork, mosaics, glasswork, courtyards, marble reliefs.

For lunch we took a boat ride across the lake to the Lake Palace, Jag niwas, built 1734-1751. This once was a summer palace and now a Taj mahal hotel. Also a scene from James Bond’s Octopussy.

Early rise as out to our open tiger safari buses at 7am for our trip to the Ranthambhore National Park, wherein are located the ruins of a 10th century fort. While this sanctuary is considered the best for observing the activities of the tiger, we only heard the warning calls of the other animals of the approaching tiger and the tiger’s roar. Other animals sighted included spotted deer, antelope, wild boar, jackals, and monkeys. Back to the train for breakfast. Cindy napped for 2 hours on the train trip to Chittorgarh where we arrived in the afternoon.

Off to the Chittorgarh Fort to learn that it was thrice besieged and has battle scars depicting valor. This was Rajasthan’s greatest fort and sits high upon the rocky hill with its ruined palaces, temples and towers.

The nine story victory tower (Vijay Stambh) is a sight to behold with its carvings of gods and goddesses.

We then strolled through Padmini’s Palace and learned of the death-before-dishonor code of the women over the centuries. Rani Padmini along with 13,000 other women committed “jauhar” whereby they committed suicide via immolation- jumping into the fire. This was after 50,000 warriors were killed and the fort was being overtaken by Sultan Alauddin Khilji in 1303.

Happy Birthday Jeanine. Sorry we could not call as figured you would not appreciate it in the middle of the night. We are in the Sun City of Jodhpur, land of sand and also referred to as the blue city the last 35 years with its indigo washes on the buildings and rooftops. This is to assist with sun reflection and to keep mosquitoes and flies away during monsoon season. Jodhpur is the second largest city of Rajasthan, founded by Rao Jodha in 1459, has a current population of 1.5 million with 80% Hindu and 20% Muslim. The population growth after independence has been fivefold.

We observed the high stone wall of Mehrangarh Fort with seven gates and bastions on top of the solid rock which rises 410 feet. The palaces within have hundreds of geometrical carved designs. Additions to the fort occurred between the 17th and 19th centuries. Perched on the ramparts are old cannons. The Phool Mahal was the chamber used for royal celebrations. The Moti Mahal built between 1581 and 1595, was the hall of private audience. The magnificent room displays stained glass windows and a ceiling of mirrors and gold leaf. The crushed seashells mixed with plaster give the walls a lustrous glow. The Jhanki Mahal is full of latticed stone screens. The Takhat Mahal is a fabulously painted room with a wooden ceiling. A 14th century image of goddess Kuldevi(the family deity of the rulers) resides in the Nagnechiaji Mandir. The museum is filled with royal chambers exhibiting royal life along with chambers displaying traditional costumes, paintings and weapons. One could even have their fortune told by a palmist sitting in the courtyard. We had a demonstration on how the turban is wrapped around the head for protection of the sun and the colors identify one’s cast.

The royal crematorium is a combination of Hindu, Zen, and Muslim architecture and the white marble looked exquisite against the threatening skies.

Lunch was at the immense Umaid Bhawan Palace with its 347 rooms which took 15 years to build with a force of 3000 men. The ballroom is where the local cuisine was served in Indiana Jones’s “Pancot Palace”. The palace was commissioned by Maharaja Umaid Singh beginning in 1929.

Sept 23- Arrival at Jaisalmer, the golden city, lies in the heart of the Thar Desert and was founded in 1156 by Rawal Jaisal. Our guide Narandra informed us there is a population of 60,000 which are primarily Hindu. Jaisalmer was on the silk route, and also traded in silver, gold, opium and spices. After 1949 the main industry is tourism. Summer months are incredibly hot reaching 49 C in the afternoon. We obviously experienced one close to this at 47 degrees centigrade. The fort which towers magnificently over the city, is a living fort with 5000 residents, a cluster of Jain temples, mansions and shops. The streets are very narrow, so off the bus to walk through the town and fort of golden sandstone from the 12th century with 99 bastions(towers). While today there is running water from underground wells, the people used to carry drinking water quite a distance from the manmade artificial lake. The Jain temples were built in the 15th -16th centuries and are exquisitely carved. We visited the Patwa Havali built in the 17th century. Havali’s were built by merchants with their facades so finely carved they appear to be lace. Extended family members lived together in the large mansions. The latticed stone screens are called Jalis which enable the women to observe street life discretely. The Jharokhas are the projecting balconies with curved bang alder eaves. Their purpose was primarily decorative. Inner courtyards are a private place for the family.

We arrived back for lunch at the train and Norm was not well. High fever with heat exhaustion and a bit of dehydration. A 47 degree Celsius day can certainly do it to you. Our cabin captain and assistant nursed Norm back to health by the next day. The local doctor was called and prescribed some things from the pharmacy that they administered to him.

Cindy went on the camel ride through the sand dunes with Suzanne from California while Norm recuperated. While the skies continued to look ominous the rain waited until the moment we departed from our camel.

The City Palace Museum is a spectacular combination of Raijput and Jughal architecture built out of sandstone. The first floor of the Mubarak Mahal is a museum of royal costumes and textiles. Weaponry is also on display in the Sileh Khana. There are two silver urns which are in the Guinness book of world records as they are the world’s largest silver objects which were used to carry sacred Ganges water for Madho Singh II’s visit to London in 1901. The Chandra Mahal is a seven storied palace which is exquisitely decorated.

Across from the City Palace we visited Jantar Mantar, the largest astrological observatory built by Sawai Jai Singh II. The 16 instruments were built between 1728-1734, and several are still used to forecast the intensity of the summer months, expected date and duration of the monsoon, and possibility of floods and famine. No day is complete without a shopping spree so off to the Emporium.

We walked through the Ganesh Pol, a 3 story breathtaking gateway, built 1640 connected to private apartments by screened uppermost level for ladies in purdah. The Sheesh Nahal is considered the glass palace comprised of tiny mirrors embedded in the chamber presents itself as a starlit sky. Also, delicate mosaic work. We had lunch at the Palace Hotel.

We stopped for the view of Jal Mahal, the water palace, built in the mid-18th century. It was inspired by the Lake palace at Udaipur, where the king spent his childhood.

At Amber Fort(established 1592 by Man Singh I on remains of old 11th century fort along with buildings added in the 1600’s by jai Singh I) we took a procession of Elephants on the cobbled pathway to the top then entered through the Sun Gate, Suraj Pol(facing the sunrise).

We stopped for a photo shoot at the Ramnivas garden with museum and archeological office. There are 7 gates into the old Jaipur City market. There we viewed the spectacular architecture of Hawa Mahal, or Palace of Winds, a 5 storied building erected in 1799 by Sawai Pratap Singh designed with delicate honeycombed sandstone windows acting as screens for the veiled royal ladies for them to observe unnoticed the street scenes, royal processions and festivals from the balconies.

On September 21 we boarded the Palace on Wheels about 5:30pm. There are about 100 passengers in 14 coaches for our week of travel around Rajasthan. There are also 2 cooking carriages, 2 dining cars call Maharaja and Maharani and a social lounge. Each sleeping car also has a small lounge for its passengers, this is where breakfast is served each morning.

We then went to Rajghat where the remains of Mahatma Gandhi are laid. Then off to the Champs Eleysee to see the India Gate World War I memorial listing all the British and Indians who gave their lives between 1029-1925. The gun and helmet are to honor the Unknown Soldier who died in 1971 during the war with Pakistan. The canopy was used to accommodate a sculpture of King George V until 1948 when it was placed in a museum. King George V was in India in 1911.

The Mugals were known as the builders of India and the time was called Golden Sparrow as all was peaceful and the country flourished. Shahjahan Abad took 10 years to build- 1638-1648AD. The entire center of the Mugal Red Fort was destroyed by the British who began their control in 1857. There is a totally intact Mugal fort in Agra. In 1911 the Capital shifted from Calcutta to New Delhi. India obtained independence in 1947. Delhi’s population is 14 million, total 1.2 billion in India. In Delhi, 20% are original people and 80% moved to the city from other parts of the country.

We visited Jama Masjid(great mosque). Built by emperor Shah Jahan and is the largest mosque in India holding 20,000 people shoulder to shoulder for prayer.

We visited the home Mahatma Gandhi was staying at when he was assassinated. They have a walkway showing the last steps he took as he headed to a prayer meeting and was shot. There is an interesting museum of his life and accomplishments.

Sept 19- A day to update website and travel this afternoon through Hong Kong with layover to Delhi, India for a day before our week on the train, Palace on Wheels.

We saw lots of French colonial buildings from the late 1800 and early 1900’s. The store fronts are very narrow and the buildings long. This was to keep the property taxes down as based on frontage meters. The rain held off until the end of our tour. We only got a little wet. The real rain came tonight and is most likely the start of the typhoon that is hitting the coast. It is hard to take a bicycle taxi ride when surrounded by motorbikes and cars going crazy in the street. No one here seems to use any traffic lights or rules. The motorbikes at the few stop lights that were observed looked like a line up to start a race.

When we got back to Hanoi, the rain cleared temporarily and we had a ride on a bicycle rickshaw through the French Quarter of Hanoi. We each had our own.

Sept 18-Our cruise ended a little early due to the incoming typhoon. We had to dock at a different port and take a taxi to a ferry boat to get to the regular dock on the other side of the bay. The only problem was that no taxis were available. Both of us and one suitcase had to ride on the back of a motorcycle taxi in the rain to get to the ferry landing. Cindy finally got her motorbike ride. Wow. After we got back to the usual dock, we met our guide and headed back for the 3 hour drive to Hanoi. Most of the drive had signs on the road showing a separate frontage road for bicycles and ox-carts. Who knew ox-carts got their own lane?

We also climbed a small mountain to the surprise caves which had 3 very large chambers.

We took a cruise on the Emeraude cruise line and spent the night in the bay.

Later our guide drove us to Ha Long Bay. This is a series of tiny islands that looks like many bays in James Bond movies.

Sept 16- after Danang, we flew to Hanoi. The tour company treated us to a dinner with champagne at a nice restaurant to make up for the visa problem and also because our hotels in Hanoi had to be changed. The city has been the capital of Vietnam since 1010 AD. Just enough time to go to sleep and leave in the morning.

Sept 17-We observed the body of Ho Chi Minh this morning. His body had been embalmed and is on display in a glass display. They have his mausoleum, his home and the old French capital building on display since he died in 1969. Apparently Ho wanted to be cremated and have his ashes spread on the north, center and south of Vietnam. Since he died before the war was over, they kept him on display for the people of the south to pay respects to. He would now be 115 years old. No pictures allowed in the mausoleum.

After the excitement, we visited the caves and saw the view of China beach. There are five mountains there representing the 5 elements. We climbed to the top of the Water Mountain. To the left was Metal, then Wood, Fire and earth looking in a clockwise direction. The Marble sculptures at the Ngu Hanh Son Sculpture Stone village were amazing. They also crate and ship but we just looked at the marvelous artwork. We then had a little time to observe the discoveries from the 11th-13th centuries from the My Son archeology site at the Cham Museum.

The next morning we drove to DaNang to the Marble mountain and climbed to see caves and temples. The tree at the entrance attacked Norm. Standing in front reading the information about the cave, a branch fell onto Norm’s head. Lucky for him it was a small branch. The guide looked up and said to move out of the way.

We stayed at a brand new beach hotel for one night. It was really hard to leave.

The children were all dressed in Unicorn/Lion costumes for the mid-autumn Moon festival for children. This is a local festival once a year during the full moon where the children go to businesses, perform the dragon dance and get small gifts from the shop owners. The rain that came later put a stop to the celebration by the kids.

We then flew to Hoi An. This is an ancient city from around the 16th century, and was the international trading centre in Vietnam. Fortunately this quaint town was spared from any destruction during the wars. We took an afternoon tour of the city visiting the Japanese covered bridge from the 17th century, Phung Hung ancient house, the museum, Quan Cong’s temple and then had dinner at the Cargo restaurant on an outdoor balcony watching the lightning get closer. We lucked out and did not get wet.

Sept 14- the travel agent in Vietnam got back to us that we could get into Vietnam this afternoon early. Bummer, we were ready to lay at the pool. Just as well. A heavy rain started just after we got news to go to Vietnam. Arrived and cleared immigration with only a bit of confusion.

Sept 15-since we are a day behind and are to leave today, the tour guide took us on a whirlwind tour of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and a stop at the US War museum. Wow.

Sept 13- We had a good flight to Bangkok for connection to Ho Chi Minh City. When we got to Bangkok, we saw a sign that the flight was cancelled. When we asked about our options we were told there was another flight in a few hours. The person then looked at our visa and asked why we were traveling today when we would not be allowed into Vietnam until Sept 16. We ended up spending the night back at the Oriental hotel since we knew the place in Bangkok.

Sept 13- We had a good flight to Bangkok for connection to Ho Chi Minh City. When we got to Bangkok, we saw a sign that the flight was cancelled. When we asked about our options we were told there was another flight in a few hours. The person then looked at our visa and asked why we were traveling today when we would not be allowed into Vietnam until Sept 16. We ended up spending the night back at the Oriental hotel since we knew the place in Bangkok.