Packing up the bus to leave Agra. I was trying to get a picture of the doorman's outfit.
We take a short trip across the river to try to get the back view of the Taj Majal, but it's pretty hazy
out, and we are shooting back toward the sun.
While we are stopped, we come across this little piece of "wildlife". Note that when you get "mutton"
there, it means goat, not sheep. We even saw "mutton chowmein" on a menu.
More cows and water buffalo.
As we cross the bridge, people are doing laundry in the river.
The ubiquitous monkeys at play.
We stop for a local bite..
...at this place. I don't know if/how Raj knows which ones have edible food.
Here they are making a local treat: dough balls that puff up when fried in the oil.
They are served in these bowls made from ficus leaves. After you are done, you just thrown them on
the ground for the cows to eat.
The finished dough ball.
Another treat: it looks like worms in the picture, but it is really a fried dough like a funnel cake,
then soaked in a honey-sugar syrup. It's called a jalebi.
On to our sightseeing, starting with the Fatehpur Sikri, a small city reminiscent of the Forbidden Palace
in China. It was built in the mid-1500's.
Inside the stable and animal pen area.
A classroom.
Us with the valley landscape in the background.
Main courtyard. The problem with much of the "Indian" sightseeing is that you are really looking at
Muslim or Moghul architecture from peoples that have invaded the Indus peninsula.
Some color still remains.
This is a performing area located out on a reflecting pond.
The view of the performing area from the king's main rooms.
Part of a bathtub imported from Germany.
Looking at the overall design, the pictures cannot capture the detail intrinsic in each piece.
Some of the beautifull-landscaped gardens.
The five-story Panch Mahal, where spectators can overlook the courtyard where parcheesi is played
with slaves and concubines as the pieces.
This part of the treasury was carved from a single piece of sandstone.
More around the gardens.
Some local wildlife: two pigeons in the nest and a parakeet.
Off to lunch, and what passes for french fries.
Off to the train station in Bharatpur...
...where everyone is dressed in their finest.
We catch this train to Ranthambore.
The bus is still hours behind us, so we take these 20-person jeeps to the hotel. They are the same
ones that we will use for the safari tomorrow.
The hotel is lovely, reminiscent of the Raj era. This courtyard is open to the night sky.
Here is our room and canopy bed.
Instead of the normal buffet, we have a barbecue in the common area.
This must be Kimberly's room, because of the lion lamp.
