INCREDIBLE INDIA - THE END

The 7-day golden triangle trip in India came to an end. In fact, we only spent 5 days in 3 cities (Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi); just a very small part of India. I did enjoy this trip and I would like to recommend my friends to discover the beauty of India once in life time.

Here are some tips for India trip, no matter you are with a tourist group of just be a backpacker.

• Be prepared for cultural shock. You will definitely see many differences from your regular life, and please show your respect to their culture.
• Be careful of food and drink. Only drink brand bottled water and avoid eating the street food. Being health is very important during the trip.
• Drink enough water, especially during summer.
• Go to the toilet whenever it is available. Toilet is not easy to access as other countries.
• You will see some homeless people or kids asking for money from you. It is OK to share some cookies or chocolate with them, but do not give them money. It will encourage them to keep asking for money from tourist instead of learning and working. Let their government to handle this problem, it is not a visitors' job.
• Whenever you buy anything from street vendors, make sure what currency they are asking for.
• Just take the photos of these beautiful scenes. I do recommend you not to impress your friends by taking the photos of some one's miserable life.
• Remember there is no free help.

OK! That's all for my India trip. Hope you enjoy all these articles and photos about my India trip. Also hope you can share some experience with us. See you soon!

INCREDIBLE INDIA - THE LAST DAY IN INDIA

(Qutab Minar)

(beautiful pillars at Qutab Minar)
(interesting sculpture at Qutab Minar)
(Humayun's Tomb) (India Gate)

June 20 was the last day for our trip, and we spend most time in Delhi. We visited Qutab Minar(古達明那高塔), Humayun's Tomb (胡馬雍大帝陵寢) and India Gate(印度門). I think the Qutab Minar is more interesting than other 2 locations, because you can see several different architecture styles there; including Greece, India and Muslim.

INCREDIBLE INDIA - SIKANDRA (AKBAR'S TOMB)

(the gate of Akbar's Tomb)
(Akbar's Tomb)

(Beautiful sculpture on the ceiling of Akbar's Tomb)

(the last rest place of Mughal Emperor Akbar)

(monkeys at Sikandra)

Akbar's Tomb (阿克巴大帝陵寢) was the last place we visited in Agra. Emperor Akbar built this place for his last rest place when he was alive. To construct a tomb in one's lifetime was a Tartary custom which the Mughals followed religiously. Akbar's Tom is well built and decorated with beautiful carvings. Also, there are so many animals around, including monkeys, antelopes, and peacocks.

INCREDIBLE INDIA - AGRA FORT

(the Agra Fort, from outside) (inside the Agra Fort)
(beautiful sculpture at Agra Fort)
(Taj Mahal, view from Agra Fort)
(the Agra Fort, hit by British canon. Now is a bird nest!)

(Musamman Burj, where Shah Jahan spent the last seven years of his life under house arrest by his son Aurangzeb)

(beautiful decoration of Musamman Burj, the British Army took the diamond away from these decoration)

The Agra Fort (阿格拉堡) is another important tourist site in Agra. There are several palaces and buildings inside the Agra Fort, you should try to pay attention to every detail of each place to discover the beauty of Agra Fort. Also, don't forget to learn about the romantic story about Shah Jahan (the emperor built the Taj Mahal) and his beloved wife. This story makes Taj Mahal and Agra Fort more touching.

INCREDIBLE INDIA - TAJ MAHAL

(pollution free car from parking lot to Taj Mahal)

Agra is the most popular city to tourist, because of Taj Mahal (泰姬瑪哈陵) which is one of the seven wonders in the world.

Because Taj Mahal is the most valuable cultural and tourism property of India, there are some protections for it. One is keeping it from air pollution, so tourists must take electric cars or walk to the entrance. Another one is security check to keep terrorists away from this beautiful place. Also, you will see many armed police around. Because it is so valuable, the entrance fee is also high; USD20 for each foreigner.

In fact, the body of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's queen is not here, but Emperor's real tomb is here. There is another story behind! You can easily find it on Internet.

*We visited Taj Mahal on June19, and it was over 42 degree Celsius. Nice weather for taking photos, but too hot for tourists. My sister got heat stoke, but lucky she recovered soon. But there was an old lady from Hong Kong not so lucky, she died because of heat stoke and other diseases. May her rest in peace!

The selected photos of India trip now are posted at flickr

INCREDIBLE INDIA - AN UNDERGROUND PALACE AND FATEHPUR SIKRI

(underground palace, so deep!) (underground palace)
(underground palace)

(The entrance of Fatehpur Sikri)

(The Tomb of Salim Chisti)

(tie a red wool on the window to make your wish)

On June 18, After taking a yoga class and having breakfast, we left Jaipur for Agra. In the middle of nowhere, we visited an underground palace (地下皇宮) (sorry, don't know the official name. please let me know if you have any information). The palace is so amazing, all the palaces and temples we saw in India are all above the ground, but this one is underground and it is so deep (about 8 floor in depth). Some information say it is a palace hidden under ground to keep away from enemy, and some say it was a public bathroom for nobles. After visiting this astonishing place, we also took a camel ride to see the little India village around. That was my second time to have a camel ride, still nervous! especial whey camel stands up and knees down.

When we were getting closed to Agra, we visited the Fatehpur Sikri(勝利之都). It was the capital of Mughal Empire, but it was soon abandoned, due to lack of water. When you are visiting this place, be prepare for the most annoying vendors in India. They are more aggressive than most places during this trip.

INCREDIBLE INDIA - ANIMALS

As we know, oxen/cows are holy animals to Hinduism, so they can feel free walking on the street even highway in India. But during this trip, I saw different kinds of animals on the street, not just dogs.

It seems everything can walk having the right to walk on the street :)

INCREDIBLE INDIA - JAIPUR 3

(Hawa Mahal in maintenance)
(major street in old downtown of Jaipur)

(market in Jaipur)

(vendor of local snack. Don't ask me about the taste! I don't dare to try.)

(street vendor in Jaipur. guess what he sells, but not condom!)

(street vendor for cheese dofu. I did not try it, but I tried a yogurt drink which was good.)

(the mango is good!)

(vendor for spice)

Jaipur is called "Pink City". Because in 1876, the king of Jaipur asked people to have all the building painted in pink for the arrival of Price of Wales from British. I think the most famous pink building is Hawa Mahal(風之宮殿) . When we visited Hawa Mahal, it was in maintenance, so we just walked around it and took some photos, then went for our adventure.

We spent almost 2 hours on the major street in Jaipur to visit these shops and even went through the small alleys to see how people live there. We saw a lot of street vendors selling local food and drink, but we did not dare to try it, because no one want to get sick since we still had several day to go. But we did buy some fruit. In India, don't miss the mango!

INCREDIBLE INDIA - JAIPUR 2

(an astonishing view of Amber Fort)
(a close view of Amber Fort)

(Amber Fort, a view form elephant back)

(Amber Fort)

(inside the Amber Fort)

(inside the Amber Fort)

(Jal Mahal in the middle of a dry lake)

Amber Fort (琥珀堡) is one of my favorite sites in this trip. It was built in 1592 and the color is similar to amber, so it is called Amber Fort. It is located in the middle of a mountain, gives its a great position for defense purpose, also gives a astonishing view of itself. We took an elephant ride from the bottom of the mountain to Amber Fort and have a down hill ride on a jeep.

Amber Fort does not only give a great view from outside, there are also many well-decorated building inside.

Jal Mahal(水上皇宮) is supposed to be a "Water Palace" sitting in the center of the Man Darobar Lake, but now it is just the beginning of rainy season in India. So we can not see this "Water Palace", but a palace in the middle of a dry lake.

* The elephant we rode to Amber Fort was like a young Formula one driver. That No. 11 elephant passed over 6 other elephants when we were on the way up to Amber Fort.