In Delhi we visited the Ashkardam temple. We’re not really sure what it was…The temple was pretty but the place had an odd vibe and we didn’t stay very long!

We also visited a market recommended to us by a friend from Wharton. While at the market we bumped into 2 other Wharton students who were traveling around India. It’s a small world!

We visited the India gate, a huge Arch de’Triumph like monument that has the names of numerous Indian soldiers killed in various wars. The scene is much the same as a small town fair, with vendors selling food, cotton candy and children selling cheap toys. As usual, we were as much of an attraction as the monument. Indians wanted to take pictures of us (while we were taking pictures of them as well), little children begged for money and the vendors shot off their rocket toys in hopes that we would buy one.

On our last day in Delhi we visited the Ba’hai temple. It was a pretty funky structure but once we got there it was pretty much like a big church (or cult? We’re not sure!). We also visited the Qutb Minar – an ornate tower built in Afgan architectural style with a mosque and the Red Fort (although our heart was not really in it by the end of the day – all forts start looking the same after a while when it’s over 100 degrees!).

We had the best food on our trip in Delhi. The Kabob factory and Dhaba were quite tasty! The chef at Dhaba gave us a tour of the kitchen and demonstrated how to make the delicious naan bread.

At the end of our last day we headed back to our hotel, showered and headed for the airport to catch our 2 AM flight. We had a great trip to India but were excited for our trip to Slovenia & Croatia!

View our Delhi photos.

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Our next destination was a Himalayan mountain station in the northwest, called Shimla. There was no direct train from Jaipur to Shimla so we had to take a train to Delhi and another to Kalka before arriving at Shimla. We were only able to secure tickets to Kalka and had 2 tickets on a waiting list for the Kalka-Shimla leg.

Traveling by trains in India is cheap, the problem is that many are not air conditioned, and some trains do not have assigned seating. Train stations are crowded and porters are trying to carry your bags for you.

We traveled by train from Jaipur to Delhi with no problems. We arrived in Delhi at midnight rented rickshaws to take us to our hotel. The rickshaw ride was very slow and cramped but we were excited to experience a rickshaw ride.

We had an early train the following morning to Kalka, further north in the Himalayas, so we awoke at 3:45 AM. We had 4 AC sleeper beds on the train to Kalka so we played cards and talked for the 6 hour trip. Upon arriving in Kalka I had to use the restroom. This was my first ever non-western style toilet and I wasn’t really sure how it really worked.

Lyndi explained it was a lot like camping (but I had never camped!) so after a little pep talk, I headed into the bathroom with my toilet paper and a bar of soap. Z laughed at me for packing toilet paper and soap but I’m very happy I did. These items and the anti-bacterial wipes came in very handy!! I have to say, the non-western style toilets were actually not so bad – kind of funky at first, but I didn’t mind them!

We had put our name on the waiting list for tickets but when we arrived to Kalka, we found that we did not get the tickets. After a little negotiating with a train station employee, we were all allowed us to get on the train. However, 2 people had to stand for the entire trip…

The “toy train” was extremely slow and with no AC, we were pretty miserable. The train trip from Kalka to Shimla took us over 7 hours. Z kept swearing he was going to jump off and walk. We had 2 seats reserved and rotated out with our friends for the standing “seat” by the door (yes we were hanging out the door… you do what you can to maintain sanity when it’s 100+ degrees with no AC!!!!!!!!!!). Z made friends with a couple of guys going to an AA meeting in Shimla (not sure if they were attending or running the meeting!!) so this provided us with entertainment!

We arrived at Shimla at 7 pm after having been awake since around 4 am. We were tired, grumpy, hungry and very sweaty and dirty. Luckily I had previously talked Z into splurging and getting a 5* hotel so our hotel was very nice.

Shimla was an interesting town on the side of the mountain. It was much cooler than everywhere else we had visited. We spent a lot of time walking around and people watching.

One thing we’ve noticed across India is that men (old, middle aged and young alike) walk around hand in hand…. you rarely see women/men or women/women holding hands but the men are very affectionate to one another… Our friend told us this was a sign of a “good friend.”

While in Shimla, we visited another Monkey Palace. I was a little afraid because we had been told the monkeys were very naughty and would steal your glasses, bags etc. I like monkeys from afar but don’t want them touching me or jumping on me!

We rented a driver on our return trip to Kalka – we didn’t even consier the 7 hour train… The car was great and only took 3 hours. We even stopped at McDonalds for lunch along the way. We also took a nicer train from Kalka to Delhi so the day of travel was not as bad as our previous trip.

View our Shimla photos.

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On our first day in Jaipur we decided to sleep in and take advantage of the pool. We spent the day lounging. In the afternoon I started feeling bad. Unfortunately at dinner I got sick and had a fever.

We had been very careful about what we have been eating – nothing we didn’t peel ourselves, nothing uncooked, no fresh juices etc. and we only ate in 5 star hotels. I tapped into my medicine (Cipro) and stayed behind to rest the following day while the others explored Jaipur.

The staff at the Jaipur Hilton were exceptional. The hotel manager personally checked on me to make sure I didn’t need a doctor, another member brought tea to my room. I’m so glad we paid the extra money to say in a nice hotel!!!

Two days later, I felt better and we explored the Monkey palace. There were monkeys everywhere and if you were brave enough (we were not), you could feed the monkeys bananas. It was fun to watch them run and play up close. We also saw our first snake charmers however, to get a picture you had to bribe them.

At the palace they had 3 pools: One for monkeys, one for men and one for women – and they drained into one another in that order! I don’t think I would have swam there!!

We also went to a jewelry factory (really a small house) where there were 16 men working on polishing stones, making the gold jewelry and setting the stones. It was really interesting to see. OSHA would have had a field day there!!!

View our Jaipur photos.

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After checking out of our Agra hotel we We drove 3 hours south to a town called Gwalior. In the past, Gwalior was a hunting area for the King. Today, the forests are gone and Gwailor is a very hot and dry place. Gwalior is the hottest we’ve experienced so far. It was over 110 degrees.

After our quick trip to Gwalior, our driver took us back to Agra where we caught a train to Jaipur (the riots in Rajastan finally stopped). We were very excited to say goodbye to our driver – his driving on the way to Agra was less than ideal!

View Gwalior photos

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Because of the riots in Rajastan, we had to change our itinerary.  We decided to go to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, following Chennai.

We flew through Delhi and had arranged for a driver to pick us up at the Delhi airport. We had brought our cell phones with us and purchased minutes for a very low price. These phones came in very handy as it allowed us to communicate with our drivers (and call home!)

Unfortunately, the driver in Delhi was one of the worst we had experienced!!  The trip to Agra was about 4 ½ hours and our driver was so bad we thought we might die. Our previous two drivers were awesome.  They could navigate the cows, dogs, people, rickshaws, cars etc. and make it seem easy.  This guy scared us and the bald tires on our vehicle made us even more concerned!  To top it off, our driver was constantly pulling over and trying to get another “tour guide/ translator” guy into the car because he couldn’t understand us. While he said it was free we knew it was a scam and were very frustrated.

We found an Italian restaurant at a western hotel and enjoyed pizza… I love Indian food but after 3 meals a day of curry, I was excited to have something familiar!

It was very very hot in Agra. It kind of feels like you crawled into the oven! We visited the Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal.  We left our hotel at 6:30 AM to beat the heat but it was still over 90 degrees.

We hired a guide who was able to give us a lot of background on the history. The Taj Mahal is beautiful and it was amazing to see such beautiful work which had all been done by hand. After visiting the sites we returned to our hotel and relaxed by the pool and playing ping pong. The Hilton hotels in were great – very clean and reasonably priced.

View Agra Photos

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