Getting ready

Ready for security. Bye Momma!!! Love you 😘❤️

Jessie studying linguistics while we wait in Wichita for our first plane.

Getting on board to Minneapolis, MN to transfer to our plane to London. We leave Minneapolis at 10:00 and arrive in London at their noon. Then to Delhi!

Jessie saw an old coworker on the plane. That was a fun surprise!

The staff of life. ;-) Delicious homemade bread \240by momma and Jessie- and easy to pack:

Great inlay throughout the Minneapolis Airport. Everywhere. This actually may be my favorite airport ever. Great selection of foods and stores of all kinds and charging stations everywhere, great music, just interesting too. :-)

On the plane. Everything snug in the overhead bins. It’s bedtime for two tired bodies whose souls are soaring try to sleep. 🦅 We’re ready to sleep! Almost fell asleep waiting.

We landed in snow flurries. The 5% of the 50% chance of snow:

London Heathrow airport - a looooong maze of corridors, then a loooong loud bus, then another security check, With very friendly workers I might add, then check in... and finally a rest room and chance to settle in. Love the accents tho!!! 👏 bravo England! Your accents rock. And here we are, ready for Jet Air to Delhi ! ! ! 👣 ✈️

Snowballs in London anyone?

A thumb’s up rating! :)

Trying to take a photo of the snow falling. Definitely not a tropical climate.. Brr.

But first, coffee.

Thankfully this layover gave us enough time to take out the new camera and get acquainted!

In the immigration line. Passports, visas, fingerprints and off!

Ajaz, our friendly Delhi guide meets us: Go Deeper Travel. Using the Uber app to get a taxi.:-)

Looking back to the airport:

In the taxi! First stop - Caleb’s home for lunch, meet and greet, and then visits in the neighborhood all afternoon and eve with Azaz and family. Another home for a big family supper - and Henna for Jessie and the other girls of the house. :-). Pinch me!

A much warmer environment greeted us:

How’d you like to be the electrician here!?

Caleb and family live here. He owns the tour company we are using and we connected with through friends. Most excellent:

Other side of the front door above:

Central courtyard:

Majestic wood and stone work everywhere.

Wash for lunch:

Red carrots! :-). Very sweet!!

The lovely Call family: what welcoming and gracious friends.

Traffic jam right outside the front door! It took awhile to figure out.

City well for cleaning laundry , etc. you just can’t see it but they’re washing down there. This is Ajaz!

Some of the parks management plan

Love is everywhere

So much love and laughter! (and beautiful henna!!!)

Gentleman was saying morning prayers and he the gate guard. India.

Talkin on cell, driving rickshaw! Gonna die!

Security for subway is intense.

I sure wouldn’t want to the the electrician for here 😶😶

Largest mosque outside Arabia:

The buildings have lots of Arabic integrated into the design. The calligraphy style is the Persian style. Incredibly hard to read, definitely beautiful though.

Shoes off, covering over, holy ground.

Ritual cleansing pool:

Bird in the chandelier of the mosque...

He’s growing his whiskers!

Hey, who needs shoes?

Feeding the animals is considered a very compassionate and kind gesture. This particular mosque had a giant pile of birdseed that many people would walk up to and add their own.

This man had a really cool way of keeping the birdseed in check!

Today in micro fashion:

Today in not-so-micro fashion: modesty robes!

Since eating with hands is the norm, many places have faucets outside of the restaurant. Very helpful!

Anybody want some ice from a bicycle?

No one we asked about really knew what the meaning behind creating this bonfire thing for Holi festival. They said they just do it just because.

Can you spot the turmeric?

Getting ready for the festival tomorrow!

Turmeric goldmine!

This was a great spot to watch people fly kites. There’s even a kite culture here!😮

This falcon can also be seen at in the tower 10:00 o’clock from Jessie in the next Picture too:

Absolutely delicious! Water buffalo in butter and the juices of the meat. Just amazing.

Stirring the chai milk:

Ever photogenic Jessie😂

These little guys are just everywhere! Very cute.

Yes, we are in India!

In the Qutb complex is one of the most curious metal objects in the world - “Iron Pillar of Delhi”, which does not rust, despite being over a thousand years old. It is estimated to weigh more than six tons.”

While several inscriptions are found on the pillar, the oldest one is a six-line three stanza Sanskrit inscription in verse form. As the name Chandra is mentioned in the third verse, scholars have been able to date the making of the pillar to the reign of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya (375-415 A.D.), a Gupta king. Although it stands in Delhi today, how this pillar got there, and its original location is still a subject of scholarly discussion.

See the parakeet?

Wild birds in India.

After a super market run and yet another delicious meal, we made our way back to the hostel to get ready to leave early the next morning.

Is our name on the list? No. Oh well, we have a ticket anyway. What’s the list for? Have no idea.

Thankful that 40 years later I have an app!

Train backing into Platform 2.

There’s our car. E-1! First window!! Jessie’s already there. 12015 Ajmer

Catching the news... Trudeau, Trump, Holi.

Up into the car.

Swing by to check out the necessaries...

Jessie back right...

Yay! We left in time!!!

Conductor checking tickets.

Small station stop along the way:

One of the “Pink City” gates.

Famous windows of Jaipur.

Sunrise.

Elephants, yes!

There she be! The Amber Palace of the Hindu Raj..

The line starts early for elephant rides to the Palace. We chatted with Chuck from Las Vegas and heard his travel stories of Egypt, China, India, and Turkey... he was with a tour group.

Items for sale along the way...

The chipmunks here are more like squirrels with long bushy tails and boy can they jump and climb trees!

The elephant ride was a blast!

With absolutely epic, mind blowing views at every turn.

Inside the palace “driveway” and by the ticket counter - My favorite picture of the day:

Steps into the palace entrance.

Symmetry and color.

A Picture can’t capture what the human eye can, but zoom into this little detail for just a taste:

Plane inclusions in the marble floor!!!!

Zoom in - and this is the ceiling:

Garden courtyard:

Elephant parades up and down the hill:

Jaw dropping views: and the Great Wall of India.

Mirrored walls and ceiling: stunningly gorgeous.

Off to the town for lunch:

The cooking is all outside:

I want to hang out with this guy all day!! Please, please, please!?

Where our dishes are washed. Hey! It’s watering the tree!

Dessert anyone? Get in line.

And the hair raising white knuckle ride home - thought we were in the Grand Prix of road warriors III or something. We didn’t die! Karla, honey, we made it alive! Your daughter is safe.

See - we made it back for a rest in the heat of the day. More this evening...

Along the way...

This decorated wall is not uncommon in India - where the \240spiritual / religious focus is huge. Here’s the wall and then some closeups:

These are all tile too, by the way:

And nice flowers in bloom make a great backdrop:

Even building a huge office building uses bamboo scaffolding:

But amidst the beautiful is the ever present trash:

Long may she wave!

Since when did the bestsellers section of an American bookstore include two books on spirituality? There was a third one if you count the one by Prime Minister Modhi for students that includes mantras and yoga exercises for greater success in taking tests!!!! \240What?? \240Wow!! Just WOW!

Yes, some clothes were bought (Jessie rocks Indian) and I bought soap! and herbs ;-) but I bought dinner! So there)

We had a mini extravaganza of local street food:

Then we retired to the cool breeze on the balcony at the guesthouse who’s name means we welcome each guest as a ”guest who is equal to god.” India.

One day. Our fourth full day in India. Feels like it must be at least a month.