Posted by Paul Groves on March 17, 2017

The Fort at Agra, India



Day 72 of 111. Agra, India

Not very far from the Taj Mahal is the Agra Fort, the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal Dynasty until 1638. We heard of the Fort at Agra in the Sherlock Holmes story, The Sign of Four. This fort (better described as a walled city) is where the Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal was imprisoned by his third son after the son took over the throne. The father spent the last eight years of his life in the Fort. I was surprised that his imprisonment was in a marble palace inside the fort. He had a view that allowed him to see the Taj Mahal, the burial place of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It was very interesting visiting the Agra Fort. It was much more extensive that I thought it would be, especially since it housed the royal wives and concubines. As with several other places we have visited, there were monkeys. Again, I enjoyed the carvings and inlaid designs in the walls. Much of the structure is from red sandstone, but Shah Jahan loved building in marble. India is the source of very strong marble.

Posted by Paul Groves on March 17, 2017

The Taj Mahal




Day 71 of 111. Agra, India

Our guide says that there are two groups of people, those who have seen the Taj Mahal and those who have not. We are now part of the group who have seen and been impressed by this monument to love. This is one of those surreal events. Our group members were literally pinching each other to know that we are actually here seeing this iconic building. Even with all of the people and the monkeys and the funny little booties we wore to protect the marble, it was an exciting visit and one that I will not soon forget.

Posted by Paul Groves on March 17, 2017

Delhi to Agra, India



Day 71 of 111. Delhi, India

We had a wonderful breakfast at the Oberoi Hotel near Delhi (Gurgaon) and then boarded the buses for the four hour trip to Agra. I really enjoyed the exotic uniforms of the staff at the hotel. The first part of the trip was again through Delhi and we had a second chance to see many of the same sights as yesterday. Again, the traffic was very slow through parts of the city. Once we passed Delhi, we saw a lot of agriculture. We saw ox carts and cows, goats, and even some antelope. There is a lot of wheat grown as well as potatoes. Surprising sights included the smoke stacks which are used by the locals to make bricks. The stalks from the wheat is used with mud to strengthen the bricks. Besides the smoke stacks, we saw stacks of bricks drying in the sun. Also drying in the sun were the stacks of cow patties. Our guide told us that the cow dung can be used as cooking fuel when dried. Also, it can be used as fertilizer and as one of the ingredients in making bricks.

We arrived in Agra, the city where the Taj Mahal is located. At one point, Agra was the capital city rather than Delhi. Our hotel is the Oberoi Amarvilas (Amarvilas means Luxury!) You can see from Ron’s pictures that the name matches the surroundings. We got checked in, had another wonderful lunch (I love Indian food) and then took off to see the Taj Mahal. We were able to see the Taj Mahal from our hotel room window. How amazing is THAT?!

Posted by Paul Groves on March 17, 2017

Delhi, India



Day 70 of 111. Colombo, Sri Lanka to Delhi, India

Because of construction at the Sri Lanka Airport, all flights had to leave before 8:00 a.m. For us, this translated into breakfast at 1:30 a.m. We left the ship at 2:30 a.m. We really did not see much of Sri Lanka because it was very dark. I was struck by the number of shrines along the roads in Colombo. These were easy to spot because the Buddah’s had LED designs behind their heads. The flashing lights and changing designs were surprising. There were also shrines to various saints, such as St. Anthony. The trip through the airport turned out to be rather long and tedious. We had our passports checked at least five times before we finally got on the plane. The trip itself was pleasant, however. We boarded buses at the Delhi airport and took off to our hotel, The Oberoi Hotel. This hotel was very elegant and comfortable and a welcomed relief after a day of travel.

After lunch, we had a tour of Delhi (New Delhi) and saw the government houses, many of the embassies, and the sandstone arch called the “India Gate” which is a memorial to the 90,000 Indian troops who fought for the British in WWI. The women wore the traditional Sari in town. We saw a lot of the ever-present “Tuk-Tuks,” a two-seater cab that will take you anywhere around the city for a small fee.

There were quite a few bronze statues around the city. One of the interesting statues was a commemoration of Ghandi’s protest march to make salt at the seaside. Our guide told us that India had made amazing progress in the past 25 years and by what we saw he is correct. The traffic, however, is amazing. It all keeps moving and everyone seems to get where they need to get, but I don’t know how they do it.

Posted by Paul Groves on March 15, 2017

A Bengal Sea Day



Day 68 of 111. Sea Day in the Bengal Sea

After so many ports of call and amazing adventures, a few sea days came as a welcomed change. The water is deep so the ocean is a calm ultramarine blue. The air temperature is warm, but the breeze keeps the air comfortable. We have been resting, organizing pictures, catching up on the blog information, and continuing our art and cooking classes. Paul finished a watercolor based on a photo taken in Malaysia. Ron and I took another hands-on cooking class on Indian Cuisine. The menu included Cumin-Scented Carrot Raita which was served with Puff Pastry Samosas filled with green peas and green chutney and tamarind chutney. The main dish was Butter Chicken and the dessert was a delicious Rice Kheer. The class was fun, but eating each of the dishes afterwards was the best part.