Rajasthan, India (December 2022)

Food is excellent!! I already liked Indian food, so here, even better. I do have to ask every time, “no Spicy”. Mutton Curry, my favorite..tongue-out
Indians have their own tea, the Masala Tea, and, with sugar, it is delicious.
In general, people are very nice and very helpful.
The Rajasthan tour was booked through Jaipur Routes, (www.jaipurrotes.com) and, the price / tour customization / tour coordination was great
* Traffic and roads condition are very very bad!!
I knew before coming to India the traffic was bad, like Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia…. But what makes India traffic “unique” is:
– The numbers of animals we can see on the roads. Camels, dogs, goats, sheep, monkeys, pigs, cows (see a slide below dedicated to the cows on the road) and it is so dangerous!!
– A taxi driver told us, the 2 most important items of your car are the horn and the brakes. They continually horn, sometime for no reason… So noisy!!!
– Another taxi driver told us, in India, on the road, NO rules, except if you have tourists in your car….
* Sorry to say that, but it is very dirty, trashes are everywhere…..

* Nice weather, not too hot, first time since I left the US 6 months ago……
* Took the subway during those 2 days, and it was easy to find my way.
* Spent only 2 days in New Delhi, did not see the modern side of it, but I saw the old Delhi, where tourists, usually don’t go, and, it was interesting….
* Image 1 Indian Gate
* Image 2 Lotus Temple
* Image 3 & 4 Red Fort
* Image 5 Jama Massjid Mosque
* Image 6, old city
* Image 7 Laxmi Narayan Mandrid
* Image 8 & 9 Qutab Minar
* Image 10 Gurudwara Bangla Sahib

Nothing, really, beside the crazy traffic and trashes everywhere, but, it is like that all over India

* The Taj Mahal: (photos 1 to 4)
I have seen now, the 7 World Wonders. The Taj Mahal, is not, at least to me, the most impressive one, compare to the China Great Wall, but, by far, it is the most beautiful one……
When you think this palace was the emperor’s wife last wish….. this is true love!!!!
* Agra Red Fort: (photos 5 to 10)
So much nicer that the one in Delhi!!
We can see only 20% of the Fort, the rest has been closed to the public after tourism vandalism, who stole the precious stones …..

Guslistan’s Fort & Mosque in Fatehpur Sikri

Guslistan is very interesting place, because it has a Fort and a Mosque side by side.
Both are very nice to visit and are well maintained

Too many people trying to sell us “stuff”….

Ranthambore National Park

Ranthambore National Park is well known to be a tiger sanctuary. And, if you are lucky enough, like us, you can see one….
Beside the tigers, there are plenty other animals that provide “meals” to the tigers, so they are not aggressive…
That was my first experience as a safari, and it was great!
We saw a tiger in the morning safari, spotted a tiger in the afternoon safari. Very difficult to see them, but, I won’t complain about it….

The highlight of Jodhpur is, obviously the Mehrangarh Fort. (image 5 to 12) For me, the 8th World Wonder. Absolutely fantastic!!
Went to the Sadar Market (image 1&2) to buy some spices.
Went to Umaid Bawan Palace (image 3), very nice building, unfortunately, only a small part of the palace is open to the public, so, we did not see much.
Roa Jodha Rock (image 4) is a small temple

Nothing, really, beside the crazy traffic and trashes everywhere, but, it is like that all over India

Jaisalmer’s fort is the only India “living fort”, that means, over 3000 people live inside the fort. (Image 4 to 11)
The architecture of the houses is absolutely amazing. The detail of the carving is fantastic.
Jaisalmer nickname is the golden city because all the houses’ stones are yellow, so during sunset it looks like gold color.
It is possible to visit an old Prime Minister’s house, where his 6th descendance is still living.
* Image 10,
the painting on a house wall, is a wedding invitation card. It will stay on the wall until the next wedding……
* Image 1 to 3
Bada Bagh Cenotaphs, so beautiful at sunset, when it turns in a gold color

Too crowded!!!

Jaipur

Jaipur, The Pink City, is the capital of Rajasthan.
So many sites to visit:
* Image 1
Hawa Mahal
* Image 2
Moti Dungri Ganesh temple
* image 3
Birla Mandir temple
* Image 4
Jal Mahal
* Image 5 to 7
The City Palace where the current king of Jaipur still lives
* Image 8 & 9
Amber Fort
* Image 10
Albert Hall museum
* Image 11
Sun Temple Amer

Nothing, really, beside the crazy traffic and trashes everywhere, but, it is like that all over India

My Indian train ride….

We all saw pictures of Indian trains overcrowded with people on the car roofs. If, I wanted to take photos of those trains, that was not my intention to be in one of those trains between Delhi and Agra (4hr ride) booked the train tickets weeks in advance (first class seat) but unfortunately, at the wrong date… When I realized my mistake, the day before taking the train, not only I could not change it or get reimbursed, but, only third-class seats where available….
It was not too bad… it could have been worse

The train was 2 1/2 hr dealyed…

Indian Cows Rule the Roads!!

In India, cows are sacred animals, so, the cows have by law, the right to go anywhere they want!!
It is part of India’s culture!
* They can be very dangerous on the roads, because they are not afraid of the cars, so they walk or stay on the roads without paying attention to the cars…
* Watch your steps…. even if in France, we say it will bring you luck…

Who has the best mustache??

Obviously, ME!!!!
I had a lot of compliments about my mustache….. At least the Indians know what look nice on a man face tongue-out

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