Today we ventured out from Agra, first to Fatehpur Sikri and then to an elephant sanctuary run by Wildlife SOS. In Fatehpur, an emperor built a large palace. It took them 12 years to build it, and they lived there for only 13.

It’s a beautiful place. It starts with a courtyard and public assembly area.

There’s a large Parcheesi board in one courtyard, big X’s in a square. We’re not sure if they used people as pieces or had large pieces that someone moved for them. Either way, I’m sure the competition level paper compared to that of my family’s. 😁

The emperor that built Fatehpur Sikri had two wives, a Christian one and a Hindi one. If I understood correctly, only the Hindi wife gave him a son. That warranted her the much nicer palace. The Christian wife had one buildings which was small in comparison. The Hindi wife had multiple buildings and courtyard.

Every palace/fort we’ve visited have these water structures in courtyards. We’ve seen them called “tanks.” I think they are to hold rainwater during monsoon, so the entire place isn’t flooded out. This is one of the questions we asked our guide but I don’t think he understood.

There was amazing detail in the buildings, carved into the sandstone. This one had symbols of various religions. We also saw the swasitka, I have no idea for what it was symbol in this emperor’s era.

We then went over to the Mosque and Emperor’s tomb.

We’ve boarded the train to Agra, it’s a 2.5 hour ride. I’m always interested to see how transit operates in other countries. The Indian train system is heavily utilized, as evidenced by the very busy Hazrat Nizamuddin station. It’s like Penn station in NYC during rush hour but with only 8 tracks. India has an interesting mix of modern and old world technology. We have electronic tickets for the train yet this lovely lady is sweeping the entire platform with this broom.

Another observation I’ve made is transit riders are 80% male, even those walking around. I see very few ladies out and about. And actually, Ben told me today that Agra is 80% male. I concur with that stat after today.

India rail puts Amtrak to shame. A lot more leg room and a big meal came with our tickets. They offered instant coffee or tea kits too. My guess is they have the space for a hot water cooler but not power to actually make coffee.

It’s pretty flat in this region. You can see some of the air pollution in these photos. I overheard a guide say these were probably mustard plants. The above was taken near Faridabad, southeast of Delhi.

Livestock roams free here, especially cows. They are everywhere. Today we saw monkeys, cows, dogs, peacocks, ponies and a goat! This was all in the streets of Agra and in the park by Agra Fort. We had a moment with a bull. He did not want us to cross his path. It was on a side path, no one else around. Before, we had just walked by, no issue. On the return, however, he stared right at me and stopped eating. We were about 15 feet away. Oh yes, he’s got his horns. We stopped and decided to go no further, backed away. Luckily the bull didn’t follow, and the owner/watcher pedaled his bike to our aide. The bull went back to eating. The man stood in front of the bull so we could pass. He smiled and said something in Hindi, gesturing at the cows. Adventures in Agra! 😊

Above is the view from the top of our hotel. That’s the Taj Mahal.

We walked through the city to Agra Fort in the afternoon. We didn’t go in this one, just walked around it.

We wandered into Delhi today, started at the Red Fort. We took the metro in, we’re about 50 km from it, so it took a long time. We got to see a lot of the surrounding area as the metro rails are elevated. It ranged from ag fields to a tent city as we headed into the city. We were the only foreigners on every train we were on, and we definitely got a lot of stares. Indian men tend to stare at women, especially foreign women. On top of that, Ben and I tower over almost everyone by a good 6-10 inches. One kid stared at us wide-eyed for a full ten minutes! =)

The Red Fort was built in the 17th century; it was the residence of Mughal Emperors. It’s a ginormous property–lots of courtyards and built “tanks” (dug-in holes that would hold water) along with many buildings. We hit our 10,000 step quota very quickly. Most of it is sandstone and marble

After the Red Fort, we headed to Raj Ghat (“royal steps” or “King’s Bank”), a memorial to Mahatma Ghandi. Today was not our best coordination effort. Normally, we do quite well in using public transportation and walking to see a city as well as the sights/tourist spots. Today was a test of our endurance and frogger ability to dodge traffic. I don’t think New Delhians believe in sidewalks. We had to get creative and sidestep a lot of…stuff. By the end of the day, we were crosswalk experts. No walk signals, you’re on your own to decide when to go, and when you do start, don’t stop! We survived the last roundabout to head into the Shantivan park. That was a nice break, to walk through a park. What we didn’t do was measure the distance from Red Fort to Raj Ghat beforehand–not the smartest. So we walked a lot more than intended and ended our tourist day after seeing the memorial. 9 1/2 miles is not the most we’ve ever walked in a day, but it was still a long haul.

I wondered if all the Gandhi’s in this park were related to Mahatma, and it turns out they are not. They are all related to each other–Indira and Rajiv–however. Feroze Ghandy changed the spelling of his name to Gandhi to align with Mahatma and the independence movement in 1930. Indira married Feroze, thus the political Gandhi family.

For those that may not know, Mahatma Gandhi led a non-violent movement to gain independence from Britain. He was a member of the Indian Congress. His given name was Mohandas. Mahatma means great-souled or venerable in Sanskrit. He was shot and killed in 1948 by a Hindu that felt he was too accommodating to Muslims.

We returned to the hotel to find that last night must have been the Indian version of a rehearsal lunch/dinner. It could have been a Mehendi ceremony; or, it could be two different weddings that we’ve seen. Just after we returned, we started hearing a constant drum beat. We look out to see a long procession with singing and dancing. As Ben said, “progress is not the goal of this.” It took them about half an hour to walk 100 yards, stopping frequently to dance.

Don’t fret – Cody’s been making friends.

We landed late Thursday night. We booked a hotel close to the airport for one night, so it was easy getting there and crashing for the night.

The time difference from the east coast is 11.5 hours. The flight attendant said India is one of two countries that has a half hour time zone, Venezuela being the other. I wonder if it’s just New Delhi or the entire country in the same time zone. What was the thought process that decided a half hour change was necessary over an established hour.

We got a little sleep on the plane, however, we were still exhausted by the time we got to the hotel. We slept about 10 hours before waking up 8 minutes before check out time. Whoops! We’re now driving to our next hotel in Noida. Well, being driven. Driving in Asian countries is a skill neither Ben nor I care to possess. I do enjoy watching traffic though, it fascinates me. It’s semi organized chaos. It reminds me of Beijing with more motorcycles.

We’re getting a reprieve from the very poor air pollution that’s plagued northern India this fall. It rained yesterday and earlier this week, so 2.5PM levels are only in the poor category. So normal smog-ridden levels. We’re able to walk around without face masks at least. We got to see a little of New Delhi as we headed to Noida.

The hotel we’re staying at in Noida is beautiful. It’s a resort with a golf course. They greeted me by name right out of the car! We assume no other foreigners are checking in today; otherwise, it was an amazing guess. All hotels here have security and screen bags at the door. They check hoods and trunks of cars before letting them on the grounds. Today we’ve just stayed around the hotel. We walked the grounds a little. Not sure what we’ll plan for tomorrow.

We have over 15 hours ahead of us on a plane. We decided to give business class a go. On long flights, the seats are like individual berths, and the seats lie flat for sleeping. I’ve been excited since we bought the tickets. Ben and I have been like kids in a candy store, pushing buttons, checking out the “presents” (blankets and a toiletry kit). Now I’m off to rewatch some Maisel episodes and fall asleep.

Hello! I’m trying something new, keeping a travel journal online that I can share with friends. We’re hanging out in Logan Airport in Boston waiting for our flight. We’re hanging out in the Air France lounge, it’s a perk we’ve recently come across. Ben gets any American Express card fee waived being active military. The Platinum card gets you access to airport lounges. It makes travel so much nicer. If anyone reading this is AD, check it out!

I’ll post more when we land. My random observation from the lounge: If you’re checking the nutrition facts on a cup of noodles, you probably don’t want it. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.