Day 2 In Pictures

A lot of people think of India and think of snake charmers - well there are a few of them all around the place. I was still quite shocked to see this in person. The black cobra with the forked tongue in the basket. This man begins to play a tune and the snake "dances". Weird, scary and fascinating all at the same time.



I love India so much partly for its spirituality. All faiths and beliefs co-exist here. And nothing moved me as much as my experience at The Lotus Temple in Jaipur. The temple is for the Ba'Hai faith which is really an interesting religion. Its for everyone. As long as you believe in God. This beautiful white temple which looks a lot like the Sydney Opera House is built to resemble a giant lotus flower which is a symbolic flower in India. As we got ready to enter the main hall of the temple, 2 beautiful ladies told us that when we got in, everyone had to be completely silent and just meditate and commune with God. I was so so moved in this place. Amazingly beautiful. I have never felt God's presence more than in this temple.

No pictures can truly do the Taj Mahal justice but i especially love this picture from the gardens...

This man is a "guard" in the palace in Jaipur. The elephant is all marble. There are actually 2 of these that flank this entrance.....

India Gate is a tribute to the fallen soldiers from World ars 1 & 2 and the Afghan war i believe. The names of the fallen soldiers are inscribed all over the wall. Underneath the main arch is an ever burning flame that is a tribute to the unknown soldier. These strapping soldiers are from the Defence Academy. I think they were having some sort of program there. When we got there, they were already packing up so i didnt know exactly why they were there....

There are some people that scream TOURIST. They dress in a certain way and let's not talk about the rudeness. Anyway, this european man made me smile. We were at the Winter Palace in Jaipur and on the way up, there were people hawking all sorts of things including this Maharaja hat. So imagine my suprise when i saw this man in shorts and hiking boots rocking this hat. Then again, it was quite hot - so maybe he needed to protect his head? I told Daddy's Girl that maybe i should have bought a hat too...Not this type obviously....

The Gateway to India is in Mumbai and we took the ferry to Elephanta Caves from this point. In days gone by, people would come into India by boat and come this way - hence the name

Daddy's Girl and I were local celebrities oh. 2 beautiful black women with braids. People kept stopping us to say hello, ask us where were from, how we did our hair and just to take our pictures....This didnt happen too much in the bigger cities - New Delhi and Mumbai but in the other cities? Forget it...LOL...My dad said i should tell them i was from Hollywood - cos he said the only black people some people would have seen would have been on TV. All this he said when he called me at one of the monuments and heard some people saying "I take picture with you"...LOL. These adorable teenagers smiled and giggled so much and didnt speak much english...There were a lot of "hi's and bye's"...Love it

At Chandi Chowk (the village re-enactment mentioned in Day 1 of pictures), this scary scary archway was there. Pretty scary but interesting.

This hottie was at the palace in Jaipur. He isnt posing oh. He didnt even know i took his picture. He was actually trying to get out of the way of my camera but i got him. Check out his lovely eyes....

This cutie is Mr Mukesh who was our guide in Jaipur. This man oozed charm and coolness. He is so in love with his daughter and wife. Immediately he got in the car, he immediately whippedout his wallet to show us pictures of his beautiful 2 year old daughter and his beautiful wife.