Saturday, February 28, 2009
Crouching Tiger, Missing Honeymooners!
We're off to the Corbett Tiger Reserve for a few days! It is named after Jim Corbett, a famous tiger enthusiast who used to hunt down tigers who had a liking for human flesh. Unfortunately, he passed away, so next time you see Justin, he may be missing an arm. Jessica, on the other hand, will be fine, seeing as these tigers are just "man-eaters." Unfortunately, while Monkey-Fi is very common, it is also unreliable, so we'll post an update and pictures as soon as we find a baboon (or Wi-Fi).
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Jodhpur - The Blue City
Our next stop on our Rajasthani tour was the city of Jodhpur, where the sites (and smells) are nothing short of dramatic.
This was the view of the fort from our hotel. It stood above the city on a hilltop, overlooking the whole town (more on that later).
Usually you have to pay an entrance fee to enter the fort, but somehow we managed to sneak in the back entrance. And by back entrance I mean a giant doorway that stood open, with a security guard and a sign posting stating the cost of admission, but no one there collecting money. Again, we're breaking all the rules...
The fort was massive and formidable. There were beautiful gardens and foliage surrounding the walkways as we climbed toward the summit.
It was also a functional fort, as you can see from the numerous cannonball marks. For those of you having trouble finding them, they are circled for your convenience.
Some of the incredible intricate detailing on the walls and windows.
Just one of the fort's defenses.
A window onto the Blue City.
We managed to capture an impromptu game of cricket on one of the rooftops as we looked down over the city from the fort. Look closely and you can even see the ball flying through the air!
Jodhpur is intensely crowded; the old part of the city is navigable only through a network of alleys that are full with pedestrians, shops, autorickshaws, and, of course, cows. There are also open sewers through much of the city, which along with the cows packs quite a olfactory punch!
This was the view of the fort from our hotel. It stood above the city on a hilltop, overlooking the whole town (more on that later).
Usually you have to pay an entrance fee to enter the fort, but somehow we managed to sneak in the back entrance. And by back entrance I mean a giant doorway that stood open, with a security guard and a sign posting stating the cost of admission, but no one there collecting money. Again, we're breaking all the rules...
The fort was massive and formidable. There were beautiful gardens and foliage surrounding the walkways as we climbed toward the summit.
It was also a functional fort, as you can see from the numerous cannonball marks. For those of you having trouble finding them, they are circled for your convenience.
Some of the incredible intricate detailing on the walls and windows.
Just one of the fort's defenses.
A window onto the Blue City.
We managed to capture an impromptu game of cricket on one of the rooftops as we looked down over the city from the fort. Look closely and you can even see the ball flying through the air!
Jodhpur is intensely crowded; the old part of the city is navigable only through a network of alleys that are full with pedestrians, shops, autorickshaws, and, of course, cows. There are also open sewers through much of the city, which along with the cows packs quite a olfactory punch!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Pushkar - The Holy Lake
Our next stop after spending a few days in Jaipur was the (relatively) small city of Pushkar. Most of the cities we’ve visited in India thus far have populations of several million people, so the town of Pushkar with its 14,000 people was a welcome change. Although, if cows, monkeys, and tourists were included in the census count, I’m sure the city’s population would grow exponentially.
The view of the city was spectacular; from our balcony, we saw beautiful archways, temples, and a sprawling market contained on nearly all sides by mountains.
The sunset, seen from the top of our building.
"So many monkeys playing on the roofs,
Making so much noise you'd think they had hooves,
But how many monkeys could there be?
Click on the photo and count - one, two, three..."
More monkeys!
Many Hindus make a pilgrimage to Pushkar. Sacred ghats, or bathing areas, surround the holy lake, whose shores are also lined with temples. Not only were Gandhi's ashes scattered at one of the ghats, but all the ghats have a special significance to those who come there: certain gods have bathed at some of the ghats, and even the Beatles made a brief appearance during a trip to India.
Women, dressed in jewel-toned sarees, at one of the ghats. A few cows also take the opportunity to relax by the holy waters.
This is the market outside one of the only Brahma temples in the world. Brahma is a Hindu god who is worshipped as the creator in a work called the Trimurti. Apparently, as the story goes, Brahma came to Pushkar to perform a ceremony at the lake and his wife didn't come to see the ceremony. So, he did the logical thing and remarried. His first wife, Savitri, understandably annoyed, vowed that Brahma would not be worshipped anywhere else. One of the greater consequences of marital strife...
The view of the city was spectacular; from our balcony, we saw beautiful archways, temples, and a sprawling market contained on nearly all sides by mountains.
The sunset, seen from the top of our building.
"So many monkeys playing on the roofs,
Making so much noise you'd think they had hooves,
But how many monkeys could there be?
Click on the photo and count - one, two, three..."
More monkeys!
Many Hindus make a pilgrimage to Pushkar. Sacred ghats, or bathing areas, surround the holy lake, whose shores are also lined with temples. Not only were Gandhi's ashes scattered at one of the ghats, but all the ghats have a special significance to those who come there: certain gods have bathed at some of the ghats, and even the Beatles made a brief appearance during a trip to India.
Women, dressed in jewel-toned sarees, at one of the ghats. A few cows also take the opportunity to relax by the holy waters.
This is the market outside one of the only Brahma temples in the world. Brahma is a Hindu god who is worshipped as the creator in a work called the Trimurti. Apparently, as the story goes, Brahma came to Pushkar to perform a ceremony at the lake and his wife didn't come to see the ceremony. So, he did the logical thing and remarried. His first wife, Savitri, understandably annoyed, vowed that Brahma would not be worshipped anywhere else. One of the greater consequences of marital strife...
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Jaipur - Pretty in Pink
Our first stop in northern India was the city of Jaipur, the capital of the state of Rajasthan. It is known as the Pink City because in the late 1870s, the maharaja had the entire old city painted pink, a color associated with hospitality, to welcome the Prince of Wales.
The old city, contained by an imposing, appropriately pink wall, is where we explored the city palace, an ancient observatory, and walked through bustling bazaars.
We went by the palace, where a Bollywood film, “Veer,” was being filmed. The filmmakers got in trouble for starting work on the project before having all the permits. Justin got in almost as much trouble for taking this photo in one of the palace sitting rooms where photos are prohibited, but hey, who could resist?
Afterward, Justin had some trouble with his watch so we walked across the street to the observatory, which had working sundials (although they were a little off, having been built in 1728).
They also had structures designed to follow the different constellations. Here Jessica’s ramming it up with her sign, Aries.
Later, we hiked up to Monkey Temple, also known as the Temple of the Sun God. Both are featured here.
What we didn’t know was there was a spa/restaurant there as well. Apparently, one person gets a rub down, and the other gets some protein.
The color is amazing. And the sunset looks nice as well!
The traffic is not the best, but in India, they definitely take the cake for variety of vehicles. Along with the buses, cars, trucks, pedal-rickshaws, autorickshaws, camel carts, pedestrians, rolling fruit stands, and roaming cows, you will also find these bad boys of the concrete jungle.
This, as you might guess, is the Mountain Palace…no, that’s silly. It’s called the Floating Palace of course!
The old city, contained by an imposing, appropriately pink wall, is where we explored the city palace, an ancient observatory, and walked through bustling bazaars.
We went by the palace, where a Bollywood film, “Veer,” was being filmed. The filmmakers got in trouble for starting work on the project before having all the permits. Justin got in almost as much trouble for taking this photo in one of the palace sitting rooms where photos are prohibited, but hey, who could resist?
Afterward, Justin had some trouble with his watch so we walked across the street to the observatory, which had working sundials (although they were a little off, having been built in 1728).
They also had structures designed to follow the different constellations. Here Jessica’s ramming it up with her sign, Aries.
Later, we hiked up to Monkey Temple, also known as the Temple of the Sun God. Both are featured here.
What we didn’t know was there was a spa/restaurant there as well. Apparently, one person gets a rub down, and the other gets some protein.
The color is amazing. And the sunset looks nice as well!
The traffic is not the best, but in India, they definitely take the cake for variety of vehicles. Along with the buses, cars, trucks, pedal-rickshaws, autorickshaws, camel carts, pedestrians, rolling fruit stands, and roaming cows, you will also find these bad boys of the concrete jungle.
This, as you might guess, is the Mountain Palace…no, that’s silly. It’s called the Floating Palace of course!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Traveling through Rajasthan
We're continuing to have a difficult time finding Internet in India, so this is just a quick post to let everyone know not to worry (aka our mothers, please don't speed dial India's embassies). We're traveling in northern India in the state of Rajasthan; so far, we've traveled from Delhi to Jaipur, spent a day in Pushkar and are currently in Jodhpur. We're heading to Udaipur tomorrow and will stay there for a couple of days (hopefully we'll have a chance to catch some of the red carpet at the Academy Awards; we saw Slumdog Millionaire in Mumbai and are hoping it wins!) Pictures and more updates to follow soon...
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Splunking
We are in Aurangabad, about 7 hours (by bus) east of Mumbai.
Close by, in Ellora, there are a series of caves that were built between 600-1000 AD.
The site is divided into 34 different cave areas, built by three different religious groups: Buddhists, Hindus and Jainists.
The first 12 caves are all Buddhist caves. They are the oldest caves, although some of the later ones built, like the Chaitya above, are larger than the first few caves. Our guidebook suggests this is because they were trying to keep up with the larger Hindu caves being built around the same time. The Chaitya is quite remarkable in that it imitates wooden beams in its stone carvings, creating a beautiful cathedral-like space. There are also intricate carvings in the friezes along the walls, and a window toward the ceiling which provides some illumination for the figure of the teaching Buddha.
Beautiful carvings depicting deities in one of the caves.
Dananananananannananananan --- BATMAN!
Needless to say, there were certain, darker areas of the caves that Jessica was slightly less interested in seeing.
Looking in the caves, the fact that they continue to stand is pretty amazing. I cannot imagine how they did it. Digging tunnels on the beach is tough enough. Then again, they never had to deal with any waves, did they?
The second set of caves, caves 13 to 29, were all Hindu caves. It was interesting to see many of the similarities between all the caves.
These caves were easily the biggest, going easily 3 stories high or more.
Unfortunately, some of the finer details (like elephant trunks) were often worn down or broken off, but those that still stood were amazing. Many areas of this particular cave had also been painted, which we could still see on certain friezes and other parts of the temple, shown above.
The Jain caves, caves 30 to 34, were the last ones built.
These caves did not try to compete with the size of the Hindu caves, instead focusing on the details of the carvings, which were remarkably intricate. Unlike the other caves, not a single surface (other than the floors) did not have some kind of carving on it.
Unfortunately, because these where the last caves, after several hours of climbing and exploring we were a little exhausted, so we didn't get a chance to appreciate the details quite as much as we might have liked. But overall, they were amazing to see!
Close by, in Ellora, there are a series of caves that were built between 600-1000 AD.
The site is divided into 34 different cave areas, built by three different religious groups: Buddhists, Hindus and Jainists.
The first 12 caves are all Buddhist caves. They are the oldest caves, although some of the later ones built, like the Chaitya above, are larger than the first few caves. Our guidebook suggests this is because they were trying to keep up with the larger Hindu caves being built around the same time. The Chaitya is quite remarkable in that it imitates wooden beams in its stone carvings, creating a beautiful cathedral-like space. There are also intricate carvings in the friezes along the walls, and a window toward the ceiling which provides some illumination for the figure of the teaching Buddha.
Beautiful carvings depicting deities in one of the caves.
Dananananananannananananan --- BATMAN!
Needless to say, there were certain, darker areas of the caves that Jessica was slightly less interested in seeing.
Looking in the caves, the fact that they continue to stand is pretty amazing. I cannot imagine how they did it. Digging tunnels on the beach is tough enough. Then again, they never had to deal with any waves, did they?
The second set of caves, caves 13 to 29, were all Hindu caves. It was interesting to see many of the similarities between all the caves.
These caves were easily the biggest, going easily 3 stories high or more.
Unfortunately, some of the finer details (like elephant trunks) were often worn down or broken off, but those that still stood were amazing. Many areas of this particular cave had also been painted, which we could still see on certain friezes and other parts of the temple, shown above.
The Jain caves, caves 30 to 34, were the last ones built.
These caves did not try to compete with the size of the Hindu caves, instead focusing on the details of the carvings, which were remarkably intricate. Unlike the other caves, not a single surface (other than the floors) did not have some kind of carving on it.
Unfortunately, because these where the last caves, after several hours of climbing and exploring we were a little exhausted, so we didn't get a chance to appreciate the details quite as much as we might have liked. But overall, they were amazing to see!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Bom...er... Mumbai!
Here's a first look at India and our stay in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay):
Our hotel had the second oldest functioning elevator in India, one of those elevators that has a sliding metal gate. The oldest of course is at the Taj Mahal.
We took a boat ride out to Elephanta Island to see some ancient Hindu caves.
An intricate and beautiful carving at the entrance to the first cave we visited (there were six in all).
This is the most famous carving (with probably the worst lighting) at the caves. It features the Hindu god Shiva, shown here with the three faces, symbolizing the creator, the protector and the destroyer. It is considered to be a masterpiece of Indian art.
A seagull, seen from the back of our ferry from Elephanta Island.
A hazy sunset over Mumbai.
The Gateway of India was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay in December 1911. Construction on the monument was completed in 1924. Interestingly, the last British troops to leave India in 1948 when it became an independent nation passed through the Gateway of India's arches.
We also visited the Taj Mahal Hotel one evening. We had to pass through two metal detectors and send our bags through an x-ray machine before we were allowed to enter. One side of the lobby contained a beautiful memorial to the 31 people that were killed during the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. An insightful look at the resiliency of Mumbai from the perspective of a journalist who visited shortly after the attacks can be found here.
Our hotel had the second oldest functioning elevator in India, one of those elevators that has a sliding metal gate. The oldest of course is at the Taj Mahal.
We took a boat ride out to Elephanta Island to see some ancient Hindu caves.
An intricate and beautiful carving at the entrance to the first cave we visited (there were six in all).
This is the most famous carving (with probably the worst lighting) at the caves. It features the Hindu god Shiva, shown here with the three faces, symbolizing the creator, the protector and the destroyer. It is considered to be a masterpiece of Indian art.
A seagull, seen from the back of our ferry from Elephanta Island.
A hazy sunset over Mumbai.
The Gateway of India was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay in December 1911. Construction on the monument was completed in 1924. Interestingly, the last British troops to leave India in 1948 when it became an independent nation passed through the Gateway of India's arches.
We also visited the Taj Mahal Hotel one evening. We had to pass through two metal detectors and send our bags through an x-ray machine before we were allowed to enter. One side of the lobby contained a beautiful memorial to the 31 people that were killed during the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. An insightful look at the resiliency of Mumbai from the perspective of a journalist who visited shortly after the attacks can be found here.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
We're in India...
...but are having a hard time finding internet. Will post more once we find a source other then the bar we're in currently. Very cool bringing your laptop to hang out at a bar.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Close-ups
Some people say the devil is in the details. So here's a closer look at some of the details of our trip...
Burning incense coils in a temple in Hong Kong.
A fountain in the Hong Kong botanical gardens.
Intricate detail on the underside of the roof of a Wat in Chiang Mai.
Buddhas sitting along the top of a wall surrounding a Wat in Chiang Mai.
The details of one of the dragons from our previous post, guarding a Wat in Chiang Mai.
Bougainvillea flowering next to the same Wat the dragons were guarding.
Large pots containing lily flowers are common both outside houses and Wats.
Another Buddha in front of a Chedi in Chiang Mai.
A sea turtle in the turtle sanctuary in Sri Racha.
Plumeria blooming in Sri Racha.
Buddha in his many different forms outside a Wat in Sri Racha.
A King Cobra, the largest venomous snake in the world, looking most majestic at the Snake Farm in Bangkok.
A non-venomous snake at the Snake Farm in Bangkok (or at least that's what the handler tells his wife).
She's still smiling, so that must mean the honeymoon's not over yet. Next is India, with more photos sure to come.
Burning incense coils in a temple in Hong Kong.
A fountain in the Hong Kong botanical gardens.
Intricate detail on the underside of the roof of a Wat in Chiang Mai.
Buddhas sitting along the top of a wall surrounding a Wat in Chiang Mai.
The details of one of the dragons from our previous post, guarding a Wat in Chiang Mai.
Bougainvillea flowering next to the same Wat the dragons were guarding.
Large pots containing lily flowers are common both outside houses and Wats.
Another Buddha in front of a Chedi in Chiang Mai.
A sea turtle in the turtle sanctuary in Sri Racha.
Plumeria blooming in Sri Racha.
Buddha in his many different forms outside a Wat in Sri Racha.
A King Cobra, the largest venomous snake in the world, looking most majestic at the Snake Farm in Bangkok.
A non-venomous snake at the Snake Farm in Bangkok (or at least that's what the handler tells his wife).
She's still smiling, so that must mean the honeymoon's not over yet. Next is India, with more photos sure to come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)