Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Day 1 in Pictures

Alright - i am taking the time out to do this properly - Here i am - unveiled (sort of). We were on our way to Elephanta Caves and its a 1 hour ferry ride each way. So here i am enjoying the ride to Elephanta Caves



Flora Fountain in Mumbai which we spent an hour on foot searching for. We finally found it and my memorable first words? "I at least expected to see some water". LOL....Anyway, this fountain was put up by the British and there was no water cos Mumbai conserves water. At night though, this beautiful structure had strategic lighting and water. So beautiful

Baby / Mini Taj is actually a temple. I loved this place for a number of reasons. Its a temple and the caretakers were so so nice. We took our shoes off and they bagged them for us (you cannot wear shoes into any of the temples since they are obviously holy places). We walked around and it was so serene. When we came out, we had money to tip them and they vehemently refused.




Sikander Fort - we went to so many Forts but this one was truly amazing. Well i looked nice and golden here...LOL..Private joke. But i was quite rested when we went here and i got some pretty amazing pics here. Believe it or not, this is actually the main entrance into the Fort.




In Jaipur, we were taken to a village re-enactment (Chandi Chowk). It was so so cool. This picture is right outside the entrance gate and is supposed to depict a village setting with local men hanging out - i want to imagine they are talking about their wives (like Mr Sanjey talked a lot about his wife Babli. LOL. "Every 10th of the month, she is calling for money. My family lives in my hometown and i in Delhi City. Always for the money"



The Cenotaphs of Gatore in Agra are very very beautiful. So in Indian culture, the dead are cremated and not buried. Well in this case, the Maharajas of Jaipur are immortalized in the Cenotaphs - with each Maharaja having his own structure - think marble, arches and ornate carvings.



Amber Fort in Jaipur will forever be memorable to me cos we took an elephant ride up to this fort. So see how high this is? Well we took an elephant up and i was so so petrified. I dont like heingts. I am scared of heights. We got onto the elephant and the animal began to ascend and i was clutching tight to my handbag and the rail of the contraption we were sitting on while Daddy's Girl kept snapping away. She told me to bring out my camera - i could barely move. To make matters worse, the animal was trudging quite close to the edge. Daddy's Girl in a dead pan voice said "Its a little close to the edge isnt it?". I looked at her and muttered something like "you think"....LOL....I relaxed enough when we were almost at the top and i figured that if we fell at this point, it wouldnt be death but some broken bones. All the while Daddy's Girl is muttering - How amazing Uzo, How beautiful...LOL. I agreed after i relaxed a bit. Also, i almost fell down coming down from the fort....Did i say was clumsy?


The Palace in Jaipur - is so so beautiful. The Royal Family still lives there so we only toured some parts. The history of Maharaja Jai is amazig. In a nutshell - Jaipus (means Jai's city). A revolutionarya dn scientist, he built an amazing observatory with still working structures cos he was interested in astonomy - combine math and science and...anyway i think you have to be there to get it. Jaipur is called the pink city cos most of the structures are pink. Prince Albert was visiting and the Maharaja at the time decided to paint the whole town pink to welcome him. Yup. other people would get an elaborate bouquet of flowers but he painted the whole town pink.



Agra Fort - So everyone knows about the Taj Mahal? Well Shah Jahan who built it for his wife lived here with his family. This picture is of the Hall of Public Audience. So the locals would bring their cases to the royals who would be sitting within this structure and they would mediate and make the people happy. Shah Jahan's chambers overlooked the Taj Mahal. From his quarters, the Taj is only 2km away. So the walls of his chambers were inlaid with precious stones. And at night, when the lamps were lit, reflections of the Taj Mahal would fill the room (courtesy of being reflected on the surface of the stones). He died in that room.





The Taj Mahal - what can i say that can even compare to what actually being here felt like. I told Daddy's Girl that i want my own Taj Mahal. But not when i am dead. See the Taj Mahal is like an ode to love right? So i dont want to be dead to have love shown to me. And the Taj Mahal is so elaborate and beuatiful but my ode doesnt have to be so big. Every day "I Love you's" will suffice. There is a part of me that thinks that Shah Jahan went all out with this structure partly out of guilt. Like he was trying to make up for somethings he didnt do while she was alive. Just me thinking though. Did you know that it took 20,000 workers to build this structure? And that after the structure was completed, all the fingers of the workers were cut off to prevent them from being able to replicate their work? The descendants of the builders of the Taj Mahal have a thriving marble trade in Agra and their work is amazing. The sides of the Taj Mahal used to be inlaid with precious stones - emeralds, rubies etc. Well they are gone now. The British took them.














20 comments:

Mimi said...

he he he I'm first!

awwwwwwwwwww. it looks so ... quaint. lol.. i liked the painting..or is it mural?

Daddy's Girl said...

Looking at these just makes me smile... Mr. Mukesh's back view (in the fourth picture) is not bad at all... the so-smooth Mr. Mukesh LOL

Daddy's Girl said...
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Daddy's Girl said...

LOLLL you are too funny Uzo... loving your comments on each of the pictures. And loving the picture on the boat - did I take that? Believe it or not you hid the fear extremely well on that elephant - well done. I honestly did not know you were that scared - well, you mentioned being 'kinda petrified' LOL but I thought you were sorta kidding. Anyway, that was one helluva ride! You beat me to it - was gonna mention your memorable line on the lack of water at Flora Fountain in my next post - but no worries I have some more of your gems to share! You were so much fun to travel with... Good times... can't wait to go back!

Daddy's Girl said...
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Daddy's Girl said...

Ok last comment on this post from me - I am clogging up your comments box... thank you for reminding me of Mr. Sanjay's 'always for the money' LOL He was too cute with his tales of Babli. I am also loving the new avatar and the must-haves list on your blog...

DiAmOnD hawk said...

really love that pic of you...

Anonymous said...

awwwwwwwwww i love the Forts!!

and what?????? they cut off the fingers of those who built it? that's nuts!!!!

aww i can see Uzo's hair and stunners :D

ok i need to go read up on the history of this Taj Mahal

Anonymous said...

lol @ The British took them..

but actually it isnt funny. thats sad.

Aramide said...

nice pics :o)

dont mind me oh i realised they were old but i put them anyway lol

howdy? xx

Ms. Catwalq said...

I refuse to be jealous...

With regards to your cooment: i am lookig for any and all info on the nigerian film industry, statistics on investments, ditribution networks and contacts, production houses, projects and outreach etc...mostly deep stuff that one can't find on the internet...or maybe one just needs to know where to look

Jennifer A. said...

awwwww....beaurrrriful...I like the story of the reflection of the TAJ MAHAL at night...

wow...u guys enjoyed urselves o...I shd go on a vacation like this soon...God pls, I like this luxury.

Just travelling on the ferry for an hour over blue waters is enuff for me...ah, the bliss.

SET said...

AWESOME PICS, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU GUYS HAD FUN AND SAW SOME AMAZING PLACES.

Anonymous said...

i just saw the comment u left on linda ikeji's blog and girl u are a very brilliant lawyer,the were u analyzed the whole thing and all...u right ,u very right n smart..i just had to come here and applaud you!

Anonymous said...

i meant the way you analyzed-lol

SOLOMONSYDELLE said...

oh how lovely. I'm soooo jealous!

Anonymous said...

God, these pictures bring back memories!! I'm glad you had a great time out there. I love your commentary as well, especially with the elephant scenario. My missus & you would get on juusst fine.. I now suggest a train trip across Siberia. :-)

36 INCHES OF BROWN LEGS said...

i refuse to be jealous miss Uzo!! but the pics look gorgeous!! why didnt u guys take me with you ehn????

Ore said...

This looks like fun. Enjoy your vacation.

Tolantino said...

Uzo,

I came across your post on your Indian trip through daddy's girl's blog and that I got from bella naija's blog. I myself moved to India sometime in October and will be working here for the next 2years. I have been in Mumbai all along and not really had chances to visit other big cities around the country. The pictures which you have posted are truly beautiful. From our trip to Mumbai, you can probably tell that there is a lot of poverty here and people keep telling me that this is not what India is all about but I can only judge from the places I have been. My work sometimes takes me to other parts of India but these are mostly small villages and towns. Your post for me now is like confirmation that there is more to India than the Mumbai which I have been living in for the last 2 months. You can also check out my blog for my stories on living and working long-term in India