Frankfurt - Delhi - Agra

The past few days have been very heavy on travel, so there has not been too much to blog about. On Tuesday evening, we left Michael's family who were staying in Munich for several more days. We caught a train to Frankfurt. We were only in the city long enough to sleep and grab a quick dinner before catching an early-morning flight to Delhi.The flight was about 8 hours and we arrived in Delhi late in the evening due to a time change. I (Kelley) had heard horror stories from Michael about the chaos of the Indian airports. When we got off the plane, I braced myself for the worst. We were both pleasantly surprised at the ease of getting through customs and obtaining our luggage. It was not the nightmare Michael had experienced in his previous trip to the country. Once again, like the night before, we were only in the city long enough to eat a quick dinner and head to bed to prepare for an early morning train ride to Agra, which is where the Taj Mahal is located.

The train system in India was a great experience. The train was cool, clean and had tons of leg room. They served a complete meal and even gave everyone an individually wrapped flower. When we arrived in Agra we were greeted by our driver, with a sign with our names, and our guide. We headed directly to the Taj Mahal. The palace is just amazing. There are really not enough adjectives to describe how beautiful it really is. The Taj was commissioned by a Mughal emporer in memory of his wife, who died in childbirth. It took 22 years to build and was completed in 1653. Mark Twain said the world can be divided in to two groups; the people who have seen the Taj and those who haven't. After seeing this in person, I understand.

We left Agra in the afternoon in order to head to Jaipur. It took about five hours for the trip. We were able to see a lot of the countryside during the trip. In Jaipur, we checked into our hotel, the Rambagh Palace. It was truly a royal welcoming. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a man with a huge "umbrella" made of velvet and adorned with gold sequins and beads, who escorted us to the front door. We were greeted with cool, wet towels to help us cool off. We were also given a traditional "welcome" of a flower lei and a red dot on our foreheads. We were taken to our room, where we were checked in in-suite and provided with welcome drinks. The room is amazing. We have a sitting room, 1 1/2 bathrooms, bedroom and dressing room. You can tell that the place was built by royalty! The hotel grounds total 60 acres and are just amazing. At around 6pm, a man began playing a flute in the central gardens which we could hear in our rooms. At 730pm live music and dance were performed near the restaurants. We enjoyed dinner, the show, and then a famous Polo Martini in the polo bar before heading to bed.

2009 7-9