Incredible India!

I travelled for the first time to India with my parents and sis. We toured the 3 main tourist places in Northern India, called the Golden Triangle of Rajasthan. On the day of departure we were at KLIA at about 2 in the afternoon but our flight, Air India, was delayed for 2 hours. When we were finally waiting at the departure lounge, we sat next to this guy who was wearing some sort of white uniform. He was sprawled all over the seats snoring like a pig. When the stewardess annouced that we could board, this guy in white woke up, wiped the drool off his face and then picked up a white hat from under the seat. He then proceeded to walk into the cockpit...My dad and I exchanged alarmed glances...O.M.G he was our PILOT and he decided to take a nap! I always thought pilots were cool, sexy macho men in uniform. But that encounter totally spoiled my fantasy. : P

We arrived at New Delhi really late at night. We then took a long bus ride to our first hotel in Jaipur. We woke up early the next morning and managed to get a glimpse of what everyday life is like for the locals.

Shower and wash clothes by the roadside using the public water pump.

Next, buy breakfast from the stall... that's also by the roadside...


Before you start work, you might just like to shop for necessities like eggs...




...chicken...



...vegetables...



...maybe even a sweater for your goat...


then take a "becak" to work.. just watch out for the many many cows cos they're considered sacred...



And in the evening, after work, you can ride an elephant home for a change...LOL

Our first destination was Janta Manta, a science Observatory...

The biggest sundial in the world...According to Mr Tour Guide, It can tell the time accurately to the second! He was sooo proud of this I dunno why..Gimme a cheap digital watch anytime man.



In front of City Palace where the Maharaja still resides till today.




Lav and I with a palace guard. Its good to see they don't discriminate against little people!




visited a temple made fully of marble



Palace of the Winds




This palace was built right in the middle of a lake..apparently for some Maharaja to keep his concubines safe...heheh..

parts of the former palace converted to everyday homes and shops make up the Pink City

The next day we headed to Amber Fort where we were gonna ride elephants up to the palace. We were so excited that we stole some bananas from the breakfast buffet to feed them. But while waiting for our bus driver some kids started begging for food, money,etc from us. Lav gave them the bananas and was quickly ambushed by a mob of them. She ran up the bus squealing! : )

Amber Fort from our tour bus


boarding the elephant...







there was fine workmanship everywhere like this window grill...The queen or concubines will peer through these grills whenever they wanna kay-poh kay-poh...


trying to pose like my mum when she was younger...


There were peromances at our hotel that nite...This poor dude balanced that huge jar for like half the nite!

This fire-eater was really good!

After Jaipur we travelled for half a day to Agra. The country side was pretty bleak and poor. The locals had no running water, electricity, phone lines, LV or Chanel stores... : (

a typical house in the rural outskirts of Agra. Note the bed on the left!!


strange pancake looking cushions...later discovered them to be made of cow dung to be used as fuel for cooking. hmmm...

And yet when dusk fell,this group of labourers (who were riding on the back of a truck and happened to pass by our bus) going home after a hard day's work were still so cheerful and friendly!

Today was THE DAY of our trip. We were gonna see the Taj Mahal! The hotel built by a Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan...

About 10 km away from the Taj, we had to board this cekai looking eletric bus. A preventive measure to ensure that there are no fuel emissions that could cause further discoloration to the Taj.



It's surprisingly small inside the Taj Mahal...the 2 tombs. The one on the left belongs to Shah Jahan and the one to the right belongs to his wife.

there are 2 mosque that are mirror images of eah other flanking the Taj


Instead of making us remove our shoes,(fear of them being stolen like in Slumdog) we were given shower caps for our shoes.

The garden was absolutely gorgeous! Comparative to Versailles if i may say so!




The parents very pleased with themselves at Agra Fort...

We went to Delhi after Agra. I wasn't realy impressed with Delhi...Felt like any other city in South east asia...except s'pore la...

Homeless people just sitting around, begging...A common scene. So depressing.



Delhi's Arc de Triomphe...just like de one in Paris

Lastly, we visited Gandhi's house. We retraced his triumph in leading India to independance through non-violent ways. I really enjoyed learning about how he spun cotton and made his own clothes to encourage Indians to be more industrial...about how he inspired his countrymen and the world to fight for civil and human rights. Such a shame he was assassinated...

Visiting India was a real eye opener. Nothing you watch on tele can prepare you for the real thing. Poverty is ubiquitous!... Yet i find that Indians are a very proud nation. Even though many parts of the country are still under developed, i felt that in the short time i was there, the people i met were really genuine and friendly. From waiters to doormen, from street kids to pharmacists, just about everyone i encountered had pride in whatever little or much they had...

*****