So extremely happy to visit the Taj Mahal! It was my 5th of 7 wonders of the world! Words cannot truly express its beauty. To give you a little background about its significance, the marble edifice was built by emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth. It represents his eternal love for her. If you don't know the history of this wonder, you should read more about it. I was also able to go see the actual stage play about it, which brought it to life!
You can not visit India without paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi! His fight for independence for India reminds me of MLK's fight for justice for USA and Mandela's fight for South Africa. I love the museum display of his statue and all his wonderful sayings. My favorite is "A word uttered from a pure heart never goes in vain." -Mahatma Gandhi
We visited Jaipur, which is also known as the Pink City of India. It is also home to Amber Fort, another captivating site. On the way to Jaipur, I felt like I was driving through a zoo. The animals live amongst the people so I captured some random shots of cows, monkeys, camels, oh my! Since cows are sacred here, they are free to roam as they please and no one eats beef!
I believe the most fascinating thing was how the locals are intrigued by 'foreigners' and will sneak and take pictures of you or just come ask if they can get in a pic with you. Since I love taking pics, it wasn't a problem for me :) However, after a while, it does become a little annoying. I started taking pics of them taking pics of me!
I love how the Indian culture celebrates life so lively. I witnessed and participated in a couple of parades. We even stopped and partied in the middle of the expressway. I wish the U.S. knew how to enjoy life in this manner. Oh, I CANNOT forget about the 'chicken bus'! It is their city bus transportation (pictured to the left) which moves about 70 mph. The bus attendant climbs out of the back door and onto the top of the moving, packed bus moments before the next stop and unties the belongings of the exiting passenger, without the bus ever really coming to a complete stop...AMAZING! The three people per motorcycle is fun to watch too. I love how they make the best and most of everything.
Now to the food (the real reason I travel)! Indian food is one of my top 3 favorites and they did not disappoint. I did not capture all the great stuff because I had ate it before realizing I never took a pic, oh well. Anyhoo, here are some shots of some street food and some at the most amazing restaurant in the city (sorry, can't remember the name).
The elephant ride to the top of this temple seemed grueling for the animals in that sweltering heat, so I declined. I was amazed at how organized the whole set up was and how beautifully adorned the animals were. As you can see from the pics, it's a beautiful place. As I stated, the locals love the beautiful black women (me)! I was swept away from the sidewalk to the upstairs of a shop by a young man wanting to sell his clothes. I tried on everything, but only decided to purchased the one outfit you see me in on the video (www.instagram/letsgettrekking). He promised me the sun, the stars and the moon, but I had to regrettably decline :)
Because of my friendliness, I got us invited to a wedding being held on the grounds of our hotel. It was an experience to say the least, and we got to be real live wedding crashers, NO JOKE! A gentleman we saw earlier invited us in and introduced us to the father of the bride and I took pics with the father of the bride. We were then ushered around and invited to eat. Out of politeness, I got something to eat and we sat at a table while 500 sets of eyes stared at us. After taking a few more pics and walking around without the escort who invited us, we were then ushered out of the party by an armed security guard. 😂🤣Honey, good times happen like this for me on a regular 🤣The experience was priceless! Pics below of me with father of bride (we even matched)
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