We visited India for our Chinese New Year break in February. David was already required there for work, so the rest of us joined him. We visited the Golden Triangle area and Varanasi. The weather was fantastic - winter in India. We had a great time and really enjoyed seeing a country that is so colourful, crazy and full of life at every turn. There really are an incredible amount of awesome sites (not just the Taj Mahal - although that was a highlight for sure), and also really lovely people.
This is the Lotus Temple, a Baha'i house of worship. We visited here right after Church, as it is located close to the chapel we attended. It reminded us of the Sydney Opera House.
Getting a little ride with Dad.
This is Akshardham, a Hindu house of worship. We were not allowed to take pictures in this complex, so we have none of our own photos. We looked around in that building above and then took an indoor boat ride that walked us through some of the history of India, which our guide told us was only about 50% correct. Ha!
We went on a rickshaw tour through Old Delhi. We really enjoyed it, except for Erica who was a little nervous about the whole thing. Delhi traffic isn't very orderly :) In the above picture we are standing in an old home that had been owned by somebody noteworthy, and this is a good example of architecture from a certain time period. I can no longer remember the noteworthy person or why exactly the architecture is of interest.
Check out the monkeys walking across the powerlines. We enjoyed the monkeys for the most part. If nothing else they always provided entertainment for Clara.
Wandering through the spice market. Before we went in here our rickshaw driver offered us tissues. We were confused, but accepted the tissues. We understood why these were necessary when we started walking amongst all of the chillies. We bought some (much) smaller packets of spice mixes from a stall. They smell so good whenever we open them up at home to use in our Indian cooking.
Our lunch in Old Delhi. It was delicious.
I love the detailing and colour. So much of this in India.
The above three pictures were taken at Agrasen ki Baoli. This is an old stepwell from the 14th century. Step wells are wells where the water is reached by descending steps. They were used to store water (but not anymore).
Humayan's Tomb. This is the tomb of Emperor Humayan (that may have been evident from the name). It is constructed of red sandstone.
Qutb Minar. This is part of an old mosque complex. It was built to celebrate Muslim dominance in Delhi after the defeat of the last Hindu emperor.
We discovered that New Delhi has a Chili's. The kids were pretty happy with their humungous American-sized servings.
The above two pictures were taken on the plane while flying from China to New Delhi. This is around the time that Erica said to me "Mum I don't feel well". By the time we reached the hotel she had gotten considerably worse and ended up spending the first few days of our trip in bed.
On our first night we stayed in a hotel close to New Delhi airport. Clara opened up the curtains the next morning and said "Wow, India is so beatiful!". David and I had a little chuckle and decided that she could only be further impressed from here on out. The picture above was the view from our hotel window.
Erica sick in bed :(
Some of the wiring in Old Delhi.
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