Taj Mahal

A beautiful morning view of the Taj Mahal -- we were up at 5 and at the gates of the Taj at 6AM!  The weather was beautiful, there were very few people and it was soo peaceful.  

The Taj is so beautifully preserved -- make sure that you click on the pictures to get the details. The floral motifs are inlaid gemstones which sparkle in the sunlight.  Inside the Taj (no pictures allowed), the details are remarkable and lit only from the sunlight as it filters in through the elegantly carved marble screens.  Truly a piece of heaven on earth!

 

The view from our balcony at the Oberoi Amarvillas looked out over the pool and there in the background is the Taj itself.  Out of this world  --- we were so lucky to get to enjoy this beautiful spot for the rest of our morning after that 5 AM wakeup call!

Road to Agra

So here we are on the road to Agra -- the most amazing 4 hours of our trip.  We thought that we would read a book or sleep, but you just couldn't do that -- there was too much happening outside of the window.  Here are a group of Indian women returning from temple.  There must have been 20 of them in the back of this open truck wearing the most beautiful saris. Most of them waved and laughed at us -- we all enjoyed it!

In the meantime, the scene on the other side of the bus was chaotic. A picture is definitely worth a thousand words!... And then there were the camel carts...

Delhi

We arrived in Delhi after a long flight from Cochin.  I had only a few minutes to buy some spices in the airport in Cochin, so these two beautiful girls at the Delhi Oberoi Hotel gave us our first welcome to India.  We had a wonderful dinner here sampling various Indian dishes -- the lamb kabobs were wonderful -- as well as the curry!

Our only stop in Delhi the next morning was Humayun's Tomb -- a beautiful piece of Indian architecture which served as part of the inspiration for the Taj -- just a teaser for our bus trip to Agra and the Taj Mahal. 

Now to face the traffic of Delhi -- It was crazy!  We learned quickly that size and speed are the only factors that count in traveling by car (or bicycle or motorcycle -- or camel).  In most cases, size wins!  Thank God we were on a bus!

Myanmar (Burma)

As the Crystal Serenity cruised up the Irrawaddy River to our destination at Yangon, we passed many fishing villages similar to the one above.   It was as if we had gone back in time.  I had been worried about visiting this place where there has been so much turmoil, but we found the people to be peaceful people who are just trying to eek out a living.  The feeling here is that the US embargo is hurting the people by taking away jobs and making a relatively poor people poorer.  We were unable to use credit cards but very easily spent a few US dollars. This was the first port where we had no cell phone reception.  We were however able to use skype and successfully talked with Alex!

The most famous spot here in Yangon is the Schwedagon Pagoda which is a buddhist temple complex of gorgeous golden domes and teak buildings, all meticulously carved -- 2500 years old and rising 326 feet in the air.   We were able to visit the pagoda on a beautiful, cool (relatively) night, just as the sun was setting, and again the next morning.  Not to be outdone by the reclining Buddha in Bangkok, we also visited the Burmese version...


The streets of Yangon were busy and crowded, a step back into the 1950's. Relatively few cars (most of them from the 1980's), but many buses always filled to bursting with people.

We enjoyed cocktails and a puppet show at the beautiful Strand Hotel. We were treated to a wonderful lunch the next day in the dining room of the Hotel. They rolled out the red carpet for our visit -- 

After the puppet show, we found that the shops in the hotel were full to bursting with mother of pearl jewelry and platters. But I fell in love with this beautiful marionette, which is exquisitely embroidered -- a great purchase on my birthday!

Phuket

So George wanted to ride an elephant!  No 5 star resorts on the beach for him! We had a great time riding these gentle beasts...and then George got a back massage from one of the younger ones.  The older elephants were about 40 years old and have been rescued from the northern mountains of Thailand where they worked carrying lumber ---so George and I were a light load for them on this incredibly hot (90+ degrees) and humid day!  The young elephants (5 - 7 years old) gave us a great show and were extremely appreciative of the bananas we gave them as a reward!

Of course, you can't go to a place in Thailand without visiting the temple -- always the most beautiful and well kept place in the village or city...the archiecture is so unusual and ornate in comparison to the relatively poor conditions of the locals.

Kuala Lumpur

On our only stop in Malaysia, we visited Kuala Lumpur for a day, viewing the architecture and checking out the markets of the city. The architecture is a mix of English Colonial Moorish with grand new skyscrapers with a touch of rainforest.  They are quite proud of the Petronous Towers which were built in the late 1990's...158 stories tall in an octagonal design....much prettier up close than viewing them from afar.   Shopping was an adventure, but not too successful.  Oh, and did I mention, hot and humid....

Singapore

Singapore!  The Raffles Hotel & Singapore Slings... and shopping!  We were on the hunt for a Jim Thompson store on Orchard Road,  and George made it his mission to find it!  Did a bit of damage there, and found quite a few nice things.  There are not a lot of bargains given the sad state of the dollar, but there are stores everywhere!  We did enjoy using the mass transit system (MRT, a lot like BART!) -- a very cool (and cheap) way of getting around in the heat and humidity!

Here we are pictured at Raffles Long Bar having Singapore Slings with friends Jim and Carol -- our bridge partners on the ship.  We had a number of drinks there while on ship tours, but found out as we lingered and the tour left us on our own to drink that they are one of our more expensive luxuries off the ship ($25 per drink!)  We were glad to make it back to our current version of home!