Elephant Joy Ride

This past weekend has been a whirlwind. I saw Delhi and Agra in the matter of a day and a half. The rest of the weekend was spent traveling to those cities. But it was worth it. You already heard about my time in Delhi.  Saturday we headed out at 5 AM to see the Taj Mahal. Saturday I saw the sunrise at the Taj Mahal. The scene was beautiful and I can’t imagine what makes for a better sunrise. Come on you got India, marble, and the sun. That’s a good mix. It’s funny though cause exactly 4 years ago my mom, Brad and Laura were in China on the Great Wall experiencing another amazing Pioneer Day. We’re thinking we’ll make it a family tradition of every 4 years having at least one family member experience Pioneer Day (July 24) in a different place. Somewhere besides Utah. :) And this morning Laura’s singing at the sunrise service in Salt Lake for Pioneer Day. I’ll miss being in Utah for the holiday. Here in India it’s just another day. But already it’s been superb. If we’d waited any later the place would’ve packed and the weather almost unbearable. Even as early as we went there were tourist everywhere and I was sweating up a storm. 

I got some fun pictures though. A classic pose is jumping in front of the Taj, which of course I did, and few others for proof that I was actually there,

Seeing it from far away I was still like “I can’t believe I’m here. That’s a mirage or something.” So I took a picture of my hand touching it so I have proof. The main building at the Taj is so beautiful. The stunning architecture, hand carved marble, inlaid semi precious stones are just some of the features that make it beautiful. It is a marvel to see and also a beautiful monument to love. The man who built it, Shah Jahan, built it as a sign of the love he had for his wife Mumatz Mahal. I’m sure all girls out there wish there was a man who would build something so beautiful just for them.

After the Taj it was time for the Agra fort. Let me tell you about the Agra fort. It’s what Emperor Akbar built as his “palace.” Indian rulers do things a little different. They build a kind of palace within their army fort. Sounds safe to me. J The Agra fort has amazing mughal architecture detail. And I liked learning about something in Indian history I actual knew a little about. 

There’s this Bollywood film I own called “Jodhaa Akbar.” It’s a good movie with Aishwara Rai and Hrithik Roshan. Emperor Akbar was muslim but he married a hindu princess. It’s a great movie if you have 3 hours to kill sometime. I actual watched it during finals this spring. J After that little history lesson… Next we had like 3 hours to chill at the hotel. We stayed at Jaypee palace which is one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed at. Except there was no hot water. Everything else was so luxurious though and the breakfast was gourmet. Omelets made to order, hash browns, strawberry milk, and traditional Indian food. MMMMM it was good. After chilling at the hotel (Everybody went to the pool while I took a nap even though I was planning on working on my blog) we went shopping! We stopped at this rug store where we saw these beautiful handcrafted rugs being made.

 If I’d been able to call my parents right at that moment I probably would of bought one for our house. They’re amazing. A few floors up from the rug part of the store was shopping! Clothes, woodcarvings, tablecloths, you name it you could buy it there. I splurged and spent $100 on a hand carved and painted elephant. I felt a little guilty after the purchase but know that I will pass it down in my family for generations. Plus I LOVE elephants. After that shopping we then did more shopping at what was pretty much equivalent to an American mall. At first I just bought myself a pretty orange tunic top and white chududar pants. That then turned into a top for Laura, Mom, and Marion. Go Strobell girls! Authentic tops from India. :) Before I got back on the bus we stopped at McDonalds for another 25 rupee cone. Man those things come close to the 60 cent ones back home. :) Finally after seemed like days we ate dinner at…. Pizza Hut! It’s weird, here in India it’s like a gourmet restaurant. They wait to seat you and you order of a menu. I got the fiery masala magic pizza with the garlic bread platter and man was that good. Lots of carbs but it’s definitely one of the best pizzas I’ve had. Indian tasting pizza. Delish. Oh by the way Madi, Dean Capo stopped by and he rated their restaurant pretty high. :) Following dinner we stopped by a bizarre where I purchased some henna (one of the housemothers can do it the night before I leave) and slippers. The slippers are the cutest things you’ll see and I can’t wait to wear them when I get home.  All this just in one day! But it was good. Almost as good as… Riding an elephant, one of my life goals. The next morning we went elephant riding! I felt a connection to the elephant Rajesh and couldn’t believe I was actually there riding an elephant.

After the ride we were taking pictures with him and I was by his ear. I never knew it could hurt so much being hit with an elephant’s ear. It felt like I was being slapped! That’s one tough ear. Ah I’m so excited to do it again in Jaipur. And hopefully it will last for longer than two minutes. But to borrow a quote from a friend it was "two minutes of pure bliss." Seriously lot enough time for a lifetime elephant lover like me. :) That’s pretty much everything from the Delhi trip minus the minute details of the 6 hour bus ride to Agra and back. Traveling from Chennai to Agra pretty much took a day. But it was worth it. :)

Ems