Yes, I was a one of the 7 wonders... be jealous

We woke up early, early, early this morning and headed to Agra (about 3 hours away by car) to see the amazing Taj Majal. This palace has such an amazing history to it and I don't think I can do it justice right now because it is late and i am sleepy, but I wanted to post the pics so that everyone can see them, I'll update the rest later.

Outside gates of the Taj Majal


Pictures do not do it justice!


Such a beautiful sight

Christine and I are really excited... We are at the TAJ MAJAL!!!


All of the people were offering to take our picture... but we have mastered the self portrait... sort of



The boys we are traveling with! So much fun and such goofballs... they definitely have kept their eyes on us and kept us safe


So fun!


They make everyone take off their shoes at the Taj, but because we're foreigners they gave us they slippers to put over it... Thank God for that... See below to see why.


Christine dying from the sun... you have no idea how hot we are... sit in a sauna for 5 hours and then you may know


Random families kept asking to have their picture taken with us... it was very odd... we were like zoo animals LOL


Me in one of the guest quarters' halls


and Christine :)


This is why I say thank God about being allowed to keep our shoes on... And people wonder why feet gross me out.


We rode back from the Taj in a horse carriage... This is the three girls loving the fact that we will soon be in air conditioning :)


You could also go by camel to the Taj... we called this camel row.



After, we went to a five star hotel in Agra for food... this is the man who opened our car door... His mustache is absolutely amazing!

Indian Dinner Party

After a full day of sight seeing, we went over to Samir's good friend's house to have a dinner party with "the group". It was such a great night! I had so much fun listening to these six boys who have grown up together pick on each other and laugh about stories that are years old. It was a lot of fun learning a little more Hindi as well. Most of what they taught us was for their own enjoyment, but it was a great night full of great food and great people... What else could you ask for?


This is a pic of all of us at the end of the night around 12AM... We are having to wake up the next morning at 4AM to head to the Taj Majal... it's one of those trips where no one sleeps :)

India Gate and the President's House

While venturing out with the chaperone, we were able to go to two of India’s main landmarks… India Gate and the President’s House.

We first stopped at India Gate, which was very interesting because it has the names of all the soldiers who fought in WWII carved into the stone of the monument. It is gorgeous. It is placed to honor everyone who fought in the war and is also very symbolic of the way that India is now governed. When the British ruled the country, the king would sit at his throne in the president’s house and say that all of his foot was over India. Now, the president’s house and India Gate are on the exact same level. Such a cool symbol.

Christine in front of India Gate.


The names of the soldiers carved into the stone

A different view



It was a beautiful monument and we found my prince there… This is him:

No man can compete with such beauty LOL ☺



After India Gate we strolled to the President’s house, which is about a km down the road and saw that. It was pretty cool as well. Apparently, later on in our stay we are actually going inside it because Samir has connections with the government and can take us. Here are some pics from it...
This is how the grass is taken away after mowing the fields... Isn't that crazy? The guy we were with said that they take it and feed it to the animals in the city.


These are the guards that are guarding the President's House... I thought they looked like Indian GI Joe's... especially the one in the dome LOL


Christine and I in front of the Ministry of Defense

I love India, mostly because everywhere you look there are pics of elephants... Goodness this country is awesome!

Our chaperone and us in front of the President's House... He was so much fun and definitely put up with all of our ridiculous touristy-ness

I love this girl! So much fun all the time... I am loving India thus far :)

Discovering Gandhi

So it is almost a year later.. BUT I am finally updating my blog... I have nothing else to do right now so figured I could get caught up... Here's where I left off...

Us, with "Gandhi's harp of India"...

Today we set out with a driver and a chaperone to explore the city of Delhi. We went to a bunch of different places today and tired ourselves out, but I'm going to break up the posts and separate each of the different places because otherwise it would be one ridiculously long post.

So, two of the places we visited were dedicated to what most people here called "The Father of India", Mahatma Gandhi. We first visited the place where he spent his last 144 days before he was gunned down and then spent some time at his grave, a landmark of India.

Replica of Gandhi meditating

The first place, was a place that was dedicated to his life on this earth and the message that he had while he was on it. He was an amazing man and Christine and I both spent most of the time reading his quotes and contemplating the repercussions of them. These were some of our favorites:
I think that some of this is common sense and all of it is profound. This man was amazing.

After looking over his life, we were taken into an interactive museum where we were able to play more than learn. I did learn that between Christine and I, we have the shortest attention span of any two 23 year olds I know... amazing... so instead we took pics...

Yes, we are amazing!
We thought this looked like a giant piece of birth control... we were impressed LOL


We got most of our goofing around and wacky tourist practices out of us and strolled into Gandhi's living quarters for his last 144 days. He lived so simply, it reminded me a lot of my dad because he had so few possessions. I was really impressed that this man was not only about changing a nation but that he lived EXACTLY what he preached. It was a loss that the world lost him when they did.
Where Gandhi lived during his last days


Gandhi's last walk to prayerChristine's foot is apparently the same size as Gandhi's...


Where Gandhi took his last breath... this is a sacred place in India.

We were also able to go to the place where Gandhi is entombed. It is also a sacred place and we were required to remove our shoes... It was ridiculously hot! But we survived although we may have some burns on our feet. :)
No shoes for us...
Gandhi's grave with an eternal flame

Oh, and these were some random pics I liked from the two places :)

Longest day of my life...

Yes, Christine and I took the longest flights that I have taken so far in my life. After some last minute shopping and hanging out with such a great aunt, we were taken to the IAH airport by Christine's friend, Will. He walked us all the way to the gate and made sure we got through security before taking off and I am grateful for that. But, for awhile, that was where the good times ended (OK, this is an exaggeration)
Christine and I on the shuttle to the airport :)

After getting a last minute birthday drink and making final phone calls to say goodbye to our loved ones, we jumped in what seemed like a 45 minute line and waited to board the plane. Upon finding our seats, we started smelling a very foul mix of BO and just dirtiness... It was then that we realized that our "row buddy" was a Filipino man who had decided not to shower for quite awhile before sitting next to me for 8 and 1/2 hours... It is true that your nose will acclimate to just about anything. Between that and him dancing to his techno music that blasted through his headphones, I must say it was an interesting flight. Oh and to add to all of this excitement, alcohol was completely free the entire flight... so the two Englishmen in front of us decided to drink the entire plane's content (well, at least what Christine and I weren't drinking)... They were also very very entertaining...
The first flight's seat layout... Yes, the man was in all denim wear and I was in the middle... This made it incredibly difficult to sleep...Me, trying to sleep... this picture is deceiving, there was actually no sleeping for me...

After the first flight, we navigated London Heathrow like pros, even changing our tickets for our return during our layover. We window shopped the ridiculously expensive designer stores and dreamed of outfits that we could put together, all while being in scrubs and PJ's... then, we headed to our gate. it was an odd concept at the gate. We were loaded onto buses and taken out to the middle of the tarmac where we then walked up stairs to get on the plane. I have done this on tiny planes to Fresno, but not while loading onto a 747... It was impressive and we snapped a shot from outside the plane. It kinda looks like its already in the air and I'm hanging out on the wings... i like it LOL.The second flight was pretty uneventful. I watched Taken (do not do this if you care about me while I'm traveling, it will just make you worry) and slept as much as possible. We arrived and got through immigration with ease... Apparently to no get quarantined for swine flu, you can lie about where you have been and what you do... otherwise, I probably would be hanging out in an isolation room right now. They're crazy about it here. After getting our bags, Mahima and Samir were waiting to pick us up and we headed to our new home for the next three weeks... I am excited!

P.S. on a side note, somehow Orbitz thought I was chunky and booked me all the way through with a low calorie diet... So while Christine was eating chocolate mousse and enjoying yummy, yummy food, I was eating cantaloupe and moping about my dry chicken... yes, this is my luck... I am getting used to it LOL