July 7-11

I haven’t had much time to write recently - or had much internet access. Here are some updates from my travels in the past few days:

On July 7 we drove to Jaipur, where we visited the Jantar Mantar observatory and saw carpet and textile makers at their showroom (and had clothes made by a tailor at the shop). We shopped in the Old City, where haggled for clothes and shoes, and I ate a wonderful mango from a street stand.

We drove to Agra on July 9. En route, stopped at Fatepur Sikri, a city built by King Akbar in the 16th century, complete with a mosque and a palace for each of his three queens. The sights were amazing, but the 105 degree heat was nearly unbearable and having to constantly resist the children selling souvenirs got really tiring.

In Agra, we woke up at 4am to see the Taj Mahal as the sun rose. I was so glad that we went in the morning, when it was cool and quiet. In the early the light, the monument was incredible - massive, yet intricately detailed. We also went to the Agra Fort, where the king Shah Jahan (who built the Taj Mahal) was imprisoned by his son. In the afternoon, Ben, Cathy and I took a walk through a neighborhood near our hotel. We saw piglets and cows and dogs in the streets, and the neighborhood kids came running out to meet us.

We left Agra on July 11 and drove to Delhi, then flew to Varanasi. I’m so excited to arrive in the city that will be home for 6 months.

Photos: Me at the Taj Mahal, Ben with kids on the streets of Agra, elephants on the streets of Jaipur, the mosque at Fatepur Sikri, our lovely bus - which, as Cathy said, might as well have said "Loser" across the front.