As stated in the previous post we left to go to the Taj Mahal at 5:15AM!! It was so ridiculously early and we were getting up to see the sunrise over the Taj Mahal but it was so overcast we didn't even get to see it. But we did get to see the Taj and it was AWESOME!! We wandered around for a few hours just taking pictures and being tourists and enjoying the much less muggy weather of Agra. Here is a little history lesson on the Taj Mahal: Building was started by Shah Jahan in 1632 as a commemoration to his favorite wife who died in childbirth with their 14th child. The Taj Mahal took 22 years to build and is now a mausoleum for both Shah Jahan and his wife. It is made predominately of marble with some precious stones added into the detailing to add color. It was really an amazingly beautiful building.
After the Taj we went back to the hotel for breakfast before heading out again. After breakfast I got to do something that I wanted to do from the minute I decided to go to India...I GOT TO RIDE AN ELEPHANT!!!!! It was totally sketch but I didn't even care. So we had a tour guide for our whole day in Agra and we had told him we all wanted to ride an elephant. So, after breakfast we pull over next to this big dirt lot on the side of the road and in the lot is an elephant, an elephant driver, and the guy running the whole operation. Their were nine people on the trip so we took turns riding the elephant tree at a time. I rode with Heather and Sarah (one of RSO's director's that came with us). We climbed a ladder to get up to the "seat" on top of the elephant. To get up the elephant has to kneel down so when it stood up again it was totally crazy! We had to hold on to the seat really tight so we wouldn't slide off. We only rode the elephant around the lot but it was still so awesome and so cool!! I also got to sit on a camel outside the Taj Mahal--yeah I rode an elephant and sat on a camel all in one day...what of it?!
Elephant Ride!!
I'm on a Camel!!!
After the awesome elephant ride we went to the marble place where they do marble in-lay, just like at the Taj Mahal, on tables, figurines, plates, etc. It is beautiful work and it was really interesting to see how it is made (there were workers making things outside the store). After the marble store we went to another store that sold spices and all kinds of different things. The workers at this store were hardcore bargainers but so are we so we were in that store for awhile. After that we went to a bazaar, that was basically just a street with shops--I wasn't super impressed. One cool thing we all did at the bazaar though (besides shop) was we all got henna on our hands! Henna is a HUGE cultural thing here in India so it was really fun to get it done by the experts. All of our hands turned out great and it was really fun.
After the bazaar we went and grabbed lunch before going to a carpet store. Again they had workers in the store weaving carpets and making them so we could see how it's done. I was AMAZED by how fast the weaver worked at the loom--I didn't think anyone's hands could even move that fast! Another cool thing about this store was that the owner was investigating the church! He asked us where we were from and when we said Utah (cause everyone is either from there or going to school there) we asked if we were mormon. When we said we were he pulled a pass-along card out of his shirt pocket and told us he kept it in his front shirt pocket everyday. He had started reading the Book of Mormon and was really enjoying it--it was really awesome to see international missionary work in action! We looked at some rugs and shopped at the store owned by the same guy before heading back to the hotel. It was only about 4:30pm when we got back to the hotel but we had such an early start and full day that we were all dead.
The carpet weaver at work
Anne Marie, Heather, and I sat in our room watching Indian music videos before we headed to dinner. Side note: I want to be in an indian music videos. They are all super fun and happy and there are huge choreographed dance numbers in every single one! It is my new life goal to be in an Indian music video. We went to dinner at the super nice Indian restaurant in the hotel before going to sleep. Another note: Indian power is shady and crazy EVERYWHERE! Even in our super swanky five-star hotel we lost power at least three times on Saturday night...that's India for ya.
The next day we woke up and got on the road back to Delhi by 8:30. The drive from Agra to Delhi takes five hours but guess how many miles it is?? 127!!! In India it takes 5 HOURS to drive 127 miles!! It's crazy! We got into Delhi around 1:30 and were able to go to a local branch sacrament meeting that started at 2:00. I love that the church is the same wherever you go--no matter what country or language. It was awesome to see the people in India with such strong testimonies.
Church building in India
After church we grabbed lunch before heading to the airport. Our flight hit turbulent weather and was delayed so we didn't get into Chennai until 10:30. Rajenderon (one of RSO's drivers) picked us up and took us to Rising Star. The campus honestly feels like home after the past couple weeks and it was great to be back.
Well that is the sparknotes version of the crazy Delhi weekend. Pics to come soon :)
Namaste!
Elephants? That is awesome!!! I'm also way jealous that you got to ride a camel too! I can't wait to see your pics from this weekend, sounds amazing... I miss you but I'm so excited that you have been having such a cool experience!
ReplyDelete