We awoke early to disembark from our ship. Our bags were packed but we first had to do a face to face immigration inspection. We went up early to stand in line so that we could be checked among the first people since we are leaving the ship today and needed to catch our flight. Luckily we were whisked through the line, grabbed some breakfast and we were off the ship about 8 am. We needed to find a taxi, but due to regulations only approved taxis were allowed in the port area so we had to walk through the port to the exit gate. There was a group of people welcoming us on the dock and thanks to Jeff I got some of those pictures! On our way out, there were cows just walking alongside us! We were in India! The cows have free run of the land and it was so interesting to see them just walking alongside us and laying down in the middle of the road!
We had to deal with the taxi driver to get us to the airport, but we managed and we were off. We had our first glances of Mangalore, India along the way! Thanks to Jeff, I have more pictures of Mangalore!
When we arrived in the airport, there were also other friends of our from our ship there! They were on their way to the Taj Mahal as well! Customs went smooothly but you had to have a tag on every one of your belongings, so every article of mine was tagged to show that it passed inspection and once we got to the gate to board our plane, they checked every tag to ensure it was stamped. Our flight first went to Mumbai with a short layover then we were off once again to Delhi.
A preview of Mumbai from the air!
Delhi is the capital of India and the country's third largest city. Old Delhi was the capital of Muslim India between the 17th and 19th centuries and has many mosques, monuments and forts. The other part, New Delhi, is the imperial city created by the British. In 1911, Edwin Lutyens, the most renowed English architect of the day, was chosen to design New Delhi, which has wide straight avenues in a strict layout, plenty of parks and low colonial buildings with spacious gardens.
Getting a hair cut on the street!
So far today I was on a ship, van, plane and now I am once again in a car for a 5 hour drive to Agra. We had a quick tour of Delhi, stopped to see a Lotus designed mosque, went to a fabric store, that sold the most exquisite pashminas, and then we were off on our drive to Agra. The drive is SO worth it! The sights that we saw speak for themselves. Not only are their cows in the middle of the road, there are pigs, camels, donkeys, horses and monkeys too! There are cow patties in carts and in neatly stacked piles, but also large mounds of designed cow patties! People crowd the streets, families of 10 and more crowd into the small tuk tuks. Slums, small shabby houses and makeshift beds line the road. People are seen urinating and believe it or not, pooping, on the sides of the roads. Shabby shops of fruits and sugar cane juice also are on the road. You can see everything imaginable on this drive! It was truly amazing. The pictures speak for themselves.
After a long 5 hour drive, we arrive in Agra to the Jaypee Palace Hotel! Armed guards checked our car, looked under neath with mirrors for bombs, and eventually let us through the gate. Our hotel was amazing! Decorated so beautifully with many different restaurants, a pool, a game center, spa and even a bowling alley! Although we were only here a short awhile so it was not possible to enjoy the many amenities! I couldn't possibly stay in a hotel when the Taj Mahal and years of history were right outside the door!!
They create these amazing arrangements everyday by hand!
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