Agra (Uttar Pradesh)

First thing in Agra we went to the Taj Mahal. It was built in the XVII century by Mughal Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Since Mumtaz was Muslim, the building bears many Muslim influences, such as minarets and Arabic calligraphy. Apart from the wall design and decoration, there isn’t much to be seen, since all rooms are empty and the original tomb has been moved out of sight.

Few years ago, the Indian government noticed the pollution was yellowing the Taj, so instead of tightening the pollution norms they replaced motor vehicles with animal traction on a 2km radius. But since nobody figured out how to deal with the inevitable manure from the horses, the roads are literally covered and a very bad smell accompanies visitors.

Then we went to the Agra fort which, in our opinion, far more interesting, with many rooms and more functionality.

After visiting we became friends with the guide, so he invited us at his place to have some tea and meet his family.

Permalink|Comments RSS Feed|Trackback URL

Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi

This archaeological site is located near Bhopal and contains the oldest stone structure in India, the great stupa, dating from III century BC. The core of the stupa is built on top of the actual relics of Buddha. Not nearly as impressive as other similar places, but still enjoyable.

Permalink|Comments RSS Feed|Trackback URL

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh)

Upon reaching Bhopal (scene of the worst industrial disaster in history) we found the family of a friend, ex co worker at Columbia Pictures / Los Angeles. We had the chance to taste home cooked indian food as well as some Jain specialities for the first time. With their help I purchased a new camera, this time a Nikon S2500 Coolpix (compact and expendable).

Thanks again for the hospitality!

The day after the color festival was going on in India. People celebrated by throwing paint powder on each other. We escaped their actions with minimal damage 🙂

Permalink|Comments RSS Feed|Trackback URL

Palomina

It’s time to congratulate our third crew member for the 40,000 miles (64,000 km) succesfully completed. That’s 50,500 km more than what she had when I purchased her. Still doing great, after some routine maintenance and minor repairs performed in Calcutta. We are now at km number 13,600 on our journey, still very far away from the destination.

Permalink|Comments RSS Feed|Trackback URL

Bhimbetka rock shelters (Madhya Pradesh)

The paintings found in the rock shelters at Bhimbetka are, most likely, the oldest man-made thing we’ve seen in our life. The shelters were inhabited from 100,000 years ago until the medieval times and the oldest surviving paintings are estimated to be 30,000 years old. Since our second camera died just as we were visiting the site, I must point you to wikipedia for more pictures and broader explanations.

Permalink|Comments RSS Feed|Trackback URL
Pages: Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next