Jaipur

 Stained glass in the lower courtyard of the Palace of the Winds.

Looking out on the main boulevard from the inside of the Palace of the Winds.

 

 

City Palace. The royal family still lives in the yellow section seen in the background.

 

 

The different layers of the Palace of the Winds.

 

 

Going up to the Amber Fort via elephant.

Part of the first courtyard outside the palace in the Amber Fort.

 

One of the screened in rooms in the women's quarters in the Amber Fort.

The outside wall of the Amber Fort.

Rajasthan, in northern India, is what many foreigners envision when they think about India.  Bright colors, amazing textiles, camels, forts, and more, it's a desert area with an incredible history. I spent two days in Jaipur, known as the Pink City, and saw the Amber Fort, the City Palace, and the Palace of the Winds, and did some shopping along the way. The Amber Fort predates the City Palace, and it consists of a main palace area and living quarters.  We rode an elephant to the top of the fort before wandering around.  The Palace of the Winds is inside Jaipur and was built later.  It was for the ladies of the court, and the outside of it is the most famous view.  Above are a taste of some of the places we saw and experienced there.

Agra

Everyone says that it's a must to go to the Taj Mahal while you're in India. I was skeptical. I have found that usually if you build up your expectations too much, they disappoint. That is not the case with the Taj Mahal.

A few cool facts: It took 22 years to build. 25 elephants could fit between the lower and upper domes. You can only see the lower dome from the inside where the crypt is, which is difficult to see from the floor in the first place. The four pillars on the outside of the main building lean slightly outwards so they would collapse away from the building in an earthquake, rather than smashing it. And the list continues.

There is no way to express how large the actual monument is or how ornate the detail work is. I couldn't believe how much thought was put into making everything exactly symmetrical except for the king's coffin. I've put a couple of photos above to see how beautiful even an amateur's photography is, but seriously, go there. You can't appreciate it without seeing it in person.

The rest of Agra, the town itself, is a giant tourist town. My favorite example was when we went to grab dinner. My friend asked for really spicy food, which she hadn't been able to find all day. When the food came, it was basically bland, something I've never experienced in India. Our tour guide told us later that tourists would ask for spicy food, get sick because they weren't used to it, and then not be able to make their tours. As a result, the tour guides asked the restaurants to stop serving spicy food so they wouldn't lose revenue.

Pick Up Lines in Foreign Countries

One of my friends and I have traveled extensively in India and some in Latin America. We have compiled a list of (failed) pick-up lines used on us over the past 3-4 years:

Guy on the street:  Heeeeyyy baaabyyyy! You speak-a Spanish?
Me: No.

Guy wants a photo (while staring at my chest): Wow, you're slender (I'm really not). Photo?
Me: *Shrug* Sure.
Guy puts arm around shoulders and inches towards *other* places, which I remove. He turns in shock, "But. . . you're western!"

Random guy in market: "Madam! What country?!"

While we were riding a camel, "Madam! Verrryy niiice cam-mel!"

More while on camel, "Hello camel lady! You are looking very beautiful!"

Woman groping us at the airport as the scanner picked up the underwire on our underclothes, "You are wearing undergarments, yes?"
"Yes"
Grabs the undergarments, "You are wearing Indian dress" (yes, yes we were) You wear Indian dress verry nice!"All the while patting said undergarments. We ran.

French man invites American girl into his apartment after one meeting. She declines. He responds, "What? You don't like sex?"

Guy in bar: "Hi, I'm Nigerian-Finnish. Why are you here?"
Me: Why are you?

Man in market in Morocco to my male friend traveling with me, "Sir! Sir!"
Friend: "Yes?"
Man: "I will give you 20 camels for the blonde."

While walking through the streets of Kerala, a teenager zooms by on a bike and slaps my friend on the butt. Classy.

Not a pick-up line, but pretty epic out of a tenth grade playbook. Indian guy sits next to girl, spends the evening rubbing her side with his elbow. Expects her to know what's happening.

In a club, awkward man pursues friend, looks deeply in her eyes and mouths along with the lyrics, "And tonight I'm f***ing you!"
No, no you're not.

Holi

A friend of mine and I went to the boys' home where she volunteers to "play color" on Holi. For those of you who have not seen the result of Holi, the point is to throw both powdered and wet color at each other until you run out. It was 25 young boys versus the 5-6 adult volunteers. It was insane and one of the best experiences I've had in India. The only downside? I showed up to work with most of my face still multicolored due to the staining. Everyone would look at me, giggle a little, and then say, "Happy Holi!"

Sangam

A friend of mine came to visit, a lifelong Girl Scout, and we took the opportunity to visit one of the international Girl Guide/Girl Scout centers, which is located in Pune in southern India. On a whirlwind, one-day trip, we flew down to Pune and met with some of the women who volunteer at the center.

The center is located smack dab in the middle of three different communities of various backgrounds, but it is an island of serenity. The grounds are beautiful, with lovely gardens and a pool, and many of their programs focus on volunteerism. They even offer space for local schools to rent in order to learn about camping and tell their own stories around the campfire.

Though I didn't get to see much more of Pune, it was wonderful to see a place where women from quite literally around the world work together towards mutual goals-- I saw signs from women from Bangladesh, other places in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and many other countries. Women from at least four or five were volunteering while I was there. Highly recommend getting there if you have any tie to Girl Scouting!

Rhinos, elephants, and monkeys. . . oh my!

Where you start your elephant safari from.

Baby elephant came to say hi!

Riding through the elephant grass.

Watching the rhino cross the road.

The view of where the Diphlu River meets the Brahmapatra in the third section of the park.

Monkeys!

Three friends and I went to Kaziranga for a weekend and got to experience one of the coolest vacations I've ever had. Kaziranga is one of the national parks in India located in the northeast, in a state called Assam. It serves as a preserve for one horned rhinos and tigers. Sadly, though we saw many rhinos, there were no tigers.

The trip started with an elephant ride early in the morning (where baby said hi to us all!) followed by a jeep safari through the Central Range. We saw more than fifteen different kinds of birds, some rhinos, some wild elephants, two different kinds of deer, water buffalo, and some monkeys.

In the afternoon, we headed to the Western Range, which is home to more rhinos than the other areas. This is where we got to see a rhino cross the road-- just a few feet from our jeep! The final stop was in the newly opened part of the park, which is better known for its scenery and the opportunity to see three different kinds of monkeys-- which we did! All in all, an incredible adventure.

Christmas in Kolkata

This year I spent Christmas in Kolkata. While sad about not seeing my family, two friends and I had a wonderful time seeing the lights on Park Street and the decorations around town. There were some that I found particularly entertaining. From the creepy Santa in front of the Forum Mall to the tree that looks like Spiderman is crawling up it (he's actually attached to the building right behind it), I loved to see some of the interpretations of traditional holiday decor and the truly stunning lights along the main drag in town, Park Street. I hope you enjoy this taste of Christmas from Kolkata!