This tour of Rajasthan ends today as we return to Delhi (a 4 hr drive we figure will take us 6 hrs).  Tomorrow we have a 6-hr drive to Rishikesh where we’ll be attending a yoga festival… we figure it will take 9-hrs of driving & stopping).

lots of these guys along the way:

musicaians entertained us on the way to the mausoleum

This was my favorite.  He let me try his instrument… saying it was his grandfather’s …. then he tried to sell it to me (I think).  There were twelve metal strings (which you tune, but don’t touch… then there’s one horse hair string which you play.  The metal strings and coconut shell make an incredible sound.   

These were built for the “lower” royal members (not for the king and queen)

This was for the king:

The workers use cell phones:

The blue city:

Shopping in the fort:

Annie goes to any depth (debt?) to find bargains:

I have to interject “which one flies?”… forgetting this is India, not Arabia:  

local cabs:

Hard at work:

This family followed us around the market for a while:

Annie fitting in:

These knives were used for tigers…  Jab the tiger then squeeze to the blades open and rib up his inners….  I’ll pass:

The kids in this family worked hard (singing but didn’t smile….

I brought out some balloons and they smiled…. I think as soon as we left the father might have removed the balloons – they probably get better tips when they don’t smile”

When we first saw and entered this fort, I kept getting images of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings…. Then a few days ago when we turned the TV on (one of the few times we did that), Lord of the Rings -the final episodes #3 was playing.

The wall around the fort made us think of a smaller version of the Great Wall of China….  but it’s still pretty impressive:

Royalty were carried in fancy carriages before cars:

Local artists use whatever they have to create miniature arts….  Annie was happy to see bugs (the artist was happy to see Annie)

The Blue City:

On Friday we spent the day driving to and exploring Mt. Abu.  A pretty lake, a palace, and an incredible temple waited for us there.   Then at night time we enjoyed another local market.

The next morning we began our 2 hrs later than planed (a little more retail therapy and a visit to the post office).

The drive to Jodhpur brought us through desert and mountains.  Much of the land scape reminded us of the South West in the US.

The curvy roads up and down the mountains seemed big enough for one car and few safely fences…  when motorcycles and other cars  would come towards us from the other direction or come from behind us wanting to pass, it felt a bit unsafe.  Our driver said, “this is nothing….  in the Himalaya Mountains the roads are ‘really’ narrow and curvy… and the roads are crowded with recklessly fast drivers.”

Our driver likes to pull over when he sees small groups of kids on the road… especially very poor kids.   Some of the views (of their homes, working conditions, and technology makes us feel like they are living in a time warped past.

This photo wasn’t in focus (sorry) but seeing people crowding into cars and trucks ….  on top, on the hoods, holding on the backs, is pretty common here.

Anything can delay our drive..

We visited the Kanakpur Jain Temple along the drive.   Yesterday we thought the temple we visited was the cream of the bunch….  but this one blew that one out of the ball park.  1444 marble columns, each different, and each with intricate carving …  even better – they let us take photos (for a charge).

Afterwards we watched as monkeys danced on out car… as we made it to our hotel in Jodhpur.  We were welcomed by the young owner offering us a flower necklaces and fresh juice.   He told us that this hotel was his family home, built  125 years ago by his ancestor who was a military leader.  There were paintings of each family member (the patriarchs) for the past 125 years up on the walls.

He mentioned how 10 years ago he and his brother tried convincing their 60-year father the value of turning their family home into a hotel (the father wanted them to wait maybe 20 years so he could live his remaining years in the house he grew up in and always lived in)….  After they converted the house into a hotel and moved their father and the rest of the family into more modern nearby homes, the father asked, “why’d you wait so long?”   People and families are the same everywhere.

For our final day in Udiapur we decided we had enough temples and castles…   this was to be a day for retail therapy.   I hung out on the streets waiting or in a coffee shop with my lap top. One “find” was a shop that just sold Rajasthani puppets. When we went inside, the owner took me in the back room and demonstrated some of his puppets. He took out newspaper clippings showing that he’s famous…. He even had an invitation to present his puppets at an exclusive crafts fare in New Mexico three years ago (he had problems getting a visa and couldn’t go).

After his demonstration I took out some balloons and made him a balloon puppet.   He asked if I could return after 3pm (when his 5-year old daughter got home from school). Annie and I returned and he put a puppet show for just the two of us.   His sensitivity reminded my so much of Alice May Hall, a close puppetry friend who died about 25 years ago at the age of 97… a few days after her final puppet show.   He didn’t even try to attack us by selling anything… it was just an artistic exchange.

We visited the home of the man who was our guide the day before.   He’s been investing all of his and his family’s money building a hotel/restaurant/art gallery in town.     We wished him luck and said we’d mention him to anyone we might run into who’s looking to invest money.

We watched as some local folks were preparing a big street dinner for their families:

That evening Annie finished her shopping and I did some more balloons outside the shops.

In the morning we had some time while waiting for our driver, so I thought I’d say goodbye to Udiapur in my own way –

I figure we can either research each location and then see what we’ve read about or just be surprised day after day….  I like surprises (i.e…. I’m getting lazy).

This morning we started early with a walk to the local temple… passing small shops and street folk –

The carvings on the walls of this temple went on forever with so many images… row after row…

Then we were off to the Palace –

The arrows intrigued me… I had to ask what the crest shaped arrow was for….  for shooting off the head of the enemy.   That caught me by surprise.

One king realized his enemies were afraid of elephants, so he dressed his horse as an elephant as he rode into battle:

We stopped at more shopping places….

and then a beautiful garden:

We stopped at the ruins of another temple and I made some balloon offerings:

During the final drive traffic presented us with another type of vehicle… he splashed water all over our windshield –

Then we ended at the final temple of the day…. the largest, nicest one that dwarfed everything else.

When we entered the temple, we bought some flowers as an offering…  I smelled the flowers… very fragrant!  Only to find out offering pre-smelled flowers is an insult, so I put the flowers inside my hat and kept them.

There was a downside here – we couldn’t take photos…. the upside was that a street fair celebration was going on outside so our cameras has a field day:

(note – these were not my balloons… I was afraid if I had taken out any balloons I’d get mobbed and never get out alive once my pockets were emptied of balloons)

At then end of the festivities  folks packed up their sales items and left.   Many of these families walked to the festival – possibly a 3-hr walk each way and many of them without any footwear.

We haven’t though about our stomach bugs for a couple days….  so I figure they’re done with (for now)

We thought we were waking up for a 4 hr ride….(not noticing the sheet said 5).

First we needed to return to the market place from yesterday.  A little guilt was hitting for negotiating the one sales man down for the wooden snake.  We returned to his stand and bought another.  When the old lady (he wasn’t there) asked for more than he originally asked me for a second snake, I thought I’d freak her out by demanding to pay 100 rubees more.   She accepted my “offer” and without missing a beat, began to offer to sell me other things.

A few of the shop guys recognized me (even though I forgot to weary hat) and balloons came out again.  When a crowd gathered and began getting too big and aggressive I made my get-away.

We began our drive and saw what has become the traffic:

Along the way when we’d pass kids our driver would pull over and out came balloons again…

As we drove through these desert villages the image of kids and women carrying containers of water brings us back a couple hundred years.    With the stop at the market and the stops along the way, the 4-hr drive (which was really 5 hrs) took about 7.

We arrived in this city of Udaipur at about 6pm.  It  is magical…  reminding us of Kathmandu (the streets and shops).

The driver got us within half a block of the hotel….  the alley ways wouldn’t let him go further.   I’ve no idea how he backed out of the alley ways he drove us down.

Here are some shots from the roof restaurant in our hotel:

Over dirt roads we made it to our hotel…. The local guy who built it a few years back wrote that he wanted to keep the flavor of the lives these simple folk live rather than just build a generic 5-star hotel. It has a lot of charm.
In Mysore, every home had a chalk drawing drawn in front every week by the woman of the house…. Here (at least at the hotel) they seem to do it with flowers.

A guide met us and gave us a walking tour thru the small town. The streets are clean, with little traffic, and lots of shops – Annie was in heaven…. The one “thorn” was that the ATM machines were broken (all three of them) and no one accepted credit cards,

First we saw the one temple here… 1000 years old (no photography permitted). Then the Holy Lake…… People from all over make their pilgrimages here to visit, bathe, and pray from healthy and long lives for their families. and then it was time for retail therapy! No time to waste (pictures on Annie’s blog).

There were quite a lot of weapon shops…. not for Annie.

Towards the end Annie saw a wooden snake we liked. The salesman asked 800 $12.50) Rubees. We said 200… he played his game and we walked away… he followed us down the street. Annie kept stopping in more clothing shops and he kept pestering me to raise my price. Finally I said, “250 and balloons for your kids.” This puzzled him as much as it sent a fear in me… what if he had 20 kids?
I quickly asked, “How many kids do you have?” He said “3”.. So I took out some balloons and began figuring on the worst case I’d make him 3 balloons and then leave…. The best case, he’d accept my offer after getting the balloons for his kids. Suddenly kids were popping over (some locals, some tourists) from all over and he gestured me to take care of them first. This was becoming a wonderful chaotic madhouse for more than half an hour. I didn’t even notice that Annie took a break from her retail therapy and took pictures. Finally the salesman pulled me away from the crowd and assisted us back to the road for our driver. He smiled and said to just make him the balloon for his kids and he gave me the snake. When I finished the balloons for him he gave me a look and held out his hand…. Sometimes after negotiating the salesman has said to us “take it for free”…. Then after we take it, the salesman asks to be paid. It happened again this time… but he accepted my “final price”.

As we were getting to our car we saw a dozen camels giving rides. One of the things this town is known for is that they have a camel show once a year… 1000’s of camels come to dance, compete for prizes, and be bought and sold.

WIFI’s slow and only in the hotel lobby, so these postings today go out tomorrow.

Easy 3 hr drive from Jaipur to Pushkar on a bright, sunny day. We had a glorious dream like moment. Our driver pulled off the road at a  public pool that had what  looked like an open yoga terrace with 25 women reclining in their rainbow of saris and scarves.

I thought they were yogis. And our driver gestured to me to go take photos of them. I felt awkward about doing that, so I walked slowly towards one corner of the place and I sat down, just looking around; checking out the scene. The ladies there seemed responsive and warm. After a few minutes a large woman came over, reaching down and pulling me up to stand. She pulled me into the middle of the whole group of women, who were getting a kick out of this. Then she pushed me to sit down in a forceful and clumsy way. And I felt I was in the sea of Shakti energy and I was being carted off to live with my tribe whom I’ve been unknowingly searching for all these years.  They radiated joy and fun. We were having a love fest together. Their heads were all covered in red and pink and gold. It was a bewitching tapestry of  merriment. I was thinking- what to do?

I led them in some laughing yoga and then a child with a balloon hat appeared and Allynn came around the corner and I got up and our driver said it was time to go. Our driver said they were napping – resting after they’d been working. Maybe in the farms- no idea- what a happy group they were.

Pushkar was right up the road and the Indian size town I’ve been hoping to find here. It’s small, clean and a charming village sized town with a temple for Brahma. It’s on a lovely lake and is a spiritual  destination for Hindus. We checked into a fantastic hotel that looks like an ancient desert palace with courtyards and gardens and separate stone cottages.

Had lunch and headed back to town to hook up with our English speaking guide. He took us thru the temple and down to the lake.

Then he left and Allynn and I strolled the shopping area.

I found a few things and leaving a shop, I saw that Allynn was in full swing with his balloons decorating the street. He bought a wooden cobra snake toy and we  watched the camels giving rides as dark fell upon us and an amazing day was drawing to a close under a starry sky.
Good night from the magic land of Rajhastan!
Annie

We thought about taking the 20-minute elephant ride up to see this palace, but opt’ed out when we looked at the 2-hr waiting line.  This is how the kings would enter the place ….

I keep thinking of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit looking at these structures…

The inners are all filled with all sorts of art works…

what do you give a king for his birthday who has everything ?  Another elephant of course:

then, there’s the cleaning crew

and the musicians

Stange looking Westerners keep popping into our view, sometimes royalty… sometimes court clowns… sometimes both:

Afterwards we went to a rug making shop and watched a demo… watch out for the knife:

the block printing also caught our eye:

While Annie showed, I played chess with a saleman.  I was thinking of buying this set because the pieces were so confusing.  It back-fired on me…  I mistook a bishop for a knight and lost a rook…. making the game more fun for me (like like to play from behind) and I lost my first game in India….  We had a good laugh.

Time to head back to the hotel and deal with the typical traffic:

We even saw local balloons for sale (with the 50 lbs I brought with me, we didn’t buy any):

Back at the hotel I had fun with a guy from Brazil and his daughter….  they live in Spain and come here to buy merchandise for their store:

Time for a new city and adventure…

It was sad to see how these families have been living for generations.  a couple thousand people live in this slum area…. very small rooms where a variety of generations work seemly all day carving puppets, painting them, and costuming them.  After we visited a school room (maybe 10 foot by 6 feet with a dozen young kids getting a music class), and having them sing for us, then demonstrating a bit of Annie’s frog costume (just the head and hands while sitting down) and me having some fun with a couple balloons), they took us to a room where the main puppeteer offered to sell us puppets his grandfather made (and the puppets he was performing with the other day).  The head music teacher wanted to show us the kitchen, where he hoped we would buy the food for the kids for a week or month…  or maybe pay for a new roof that wouldn’t leak when it rained….. this wasn’t just an artists demonstration leading to a sales room… this was a desperate call for sympathetic help.  It was tough seeing their living conditions and how hard their lives are.

Comparing this visit to the tour of the royal palaces, temples, and forts is mind-boggling.  The old kings here spent unbelievable wealths creating life styles for the select privileged and the only benefit the regular poorer folks saw was that they got employment creating arts and services for the royalty.  The beauty of the art works we’re seeing is wonderful….  but I keep seeing the poverty that most people still live with and it colors the artwork with a slightly negative pigment for me.

It feels so good to bring smiles to these families who have so little….  but feels so frustrating to see how much they need and how little we can do for them.   I get more respect for our son who is so active with a group of “effective altruists”.   You want to help, but you want the money to really get to  place where real help is happening.

Sorry, I have to do more balloons tomorrow….  that will cheer me up.

I know I can create smiles in the kids…. and when the kids get a special “high” for the day, that gives their parents a special ‘high” as well….  but this is like a distraction… a band aide for a problem, not a solution.

One night at our hotel, we were pleasantly surprised to see a puppet show was about to begin!  It was twi-light time, and their colorful tent was set up on the lawn of the courtyard.  The drummer started  and a variety of  traditional Rajhastani puppets danced into our hearts. Afterwards we chatted with the 2 performers and we planned a get together at their puppet colony for today, Sunday.  What a time we had. Not at all what we were expecting. It was a slum- no other way to say it. And it was extremely distressing to see the squalor these lovely people are living in. We traversed narrow alleyways and up some steep stairs to the school- one small room with one shelf on the wall . It was music class time and the teacher was playing a harmonium and every body was happily joining in with the music- clapping and singing.

Eventually I donned my blue frog head and gloves and then Allynn did a few balloons. Then we went to a puppet storage room and bought 2 puppets. We were given a tour thru the alleyways as my heart was absolutely breaking.  We saw a room full of wood chips and pieces of mango wood where 3 men were carving puppet heads.  It was such an oppressive sight and I had a difficult time wrapping my brain around it. One mother, sitting in her little hovel, was sewing puppet pieces. And her half dressed baby was shocked and frightened when he saw me. I suppose he’d never seen a white person before! And I must have looked like a ghost to him. It was such a poignant moment and I think the photos I took will say more than I can put into words.

After our safari yesterday, we returned to our room and spent the whole day there, napping. Allynn spent most of the day in the bathroom and I went to the hotel reception and asked about a doctor. I was feeling exhausted after the day before  but I did fit in some retail therapy at the gift shop. They make things to order so I browsed thru the fabrics and had a top and a vest made. By 8:30 they were done, and lovely. By 9:00 I was in bed, and the doctor arrived to our room, with 2 other guys. Checked out Al and he prescribed 3 medications that were delivered to our room an hour later – all for $30.00.
Driving now to Jaipur. A long drive. We are doing well now with the stomach thing tho now I have it too.  We’ve stopped a few times so Al could make balloons and I could take pictures.

There are no rest stops in India. We’ve been sitting in this damn car for 4 hours without a break. We are going thru desert now- dry – all farmers here with goats, water buffalo, cows  and a few pigs.

The women are wearing colorful scarves- often covering their faces of very bright colors- bright golden yellow, bright orange and red.  The air conditioning in this car is dismally inefficient.  Later.  We have arrived at the pink city. But it’s not pink and so far, it all reminds me of Canal Street.  The hotel is funky bohemian. Quite a comedown  from the last few nights, where. I felt like a princess.  I am very excited to go to the block printing museum where I can purchase block printed bed spreads- hoping- or maybe I’ll find better prices at a street market. There is also an art museum- – I am sure it features miniature paintings  which I adore.  Tomorrow we’re going to the fort- I’ve seen several- a bit forted out. Later- our driver took us to a beautiful Vishnu temple, high up, over Jaipur. It was so refreshing to see marble carving.

Still not much time to post… and we need to have time to sit, time for Annie to write, and put to gather picture, before our next “real” post….  but here’s a note to say we’re still “kicking”

The last night at the Tiger Safari Lodge I got tired of having an upset stomach, so Annie had resort call a doctor.  He came to our room by about 10pm… along with his driver and assistant (they might have been his drinking buddies for all we know)… checked me out, and gave me a prescription for medication which arrived half an hour later.

The next morning when we checked out of the resort I had to pay the bill… 2000 Rubees (1000 for him and 1000 for the medicines)…  that came to about $32 for a housecall.

We had a 3-hr drive in Rajasthan this morning… it took about 4-1/2 hr because we kept stopping so I could make balloons for kids along the way (I should learn something from this?) We’d get to a scene in the countryside with grass huts and some woman bathing her two kids in the well…. the driver would pull over for Annie to take a picture and for me to make the two kids balloons… before we’d leave a dozen kids would appear out of nowhere. More balloons….. We saw some cute small school and he said, “let’s stop for a photo”…. of course this meant a few more balloons. soon we realized there were over a hundred kids gathering. I went thru about 350 balloons by the end of the day (50 pounds for 6 months goes pretty quickly).  

The next time we stop while driving someplace, I’ll look a mile in each direction before taking out a balloon.
One nice surprise tonight was a puppet show at our hotel in Rajasthan. After the show we spoke with the puppeteers. They’ve been doing it for generations and have a puppet colony nearby where everyone makes or works puppets. We made a date to visit them on Sunday.

The scale and numbers of these monuments in India are unbelievable.  The Taj Mahal is the crown of them all… and we decided to get a guide of the day…. then we decided to accept the photographer he suggested to “document” our visit.

First we had to wait on line…. a long line, but our guide helped us cut up front.  We followed all of his suggestions to expedite the entrance…. (no bags, no pens, paper, food, etc)…  but he didn’t say “no balloons”… they took them from me at the entrance.

Next he went into “professor” mode – explaining all the history, poetry, culture, colors, etc…  as the photographer moved us from one location to the next, posing us in all the “required” poses (like a wedding photographer, navigating around 100 other weddings that were using the same location).  I don’t think we ever got to actually enjoy the Taj…  we just rushed between the photoshoot and the lecture.

The photographer said, “no pressures, $1.50 per photo we liked and we could decide (he’d have them ready when we’d exit).   Then he said for about just $150.00US we could have a complete album of the 70 or so shots & even a CD with the photos… including some arial shots (not taken when we were there).  Oops….  the phrase “no pressure” was about to come back and hit us when we’d leave.

We chose more shots than we really wanted….   and we didn’t go for the CD or the arial shots.

It made us feel a bit like celebrities.

The tour began and we’ve got lots to share….  but the internet connection is frustrating.  We’ve both tried riding camels, we took a photo session at the Taj Mahal, and lucked out, seeing tigers at the start of our Safari experience (not in a zoo).  Hopefully we’ll heave better WIFI access tomorrow and we’ll post more.

   I will call it poo- so sick of that word shit- but it still dominates the scene here. Allynn was really sick last night- vomiting and the other stuff. And our friend Sharon said that we needed to collect a specimen and get it to the lab. Yikes I thought! She said you gotta know if it is a parasite
or an ameba. You can treat it right away if it is. And, before you leave India, you should check too, cause they can’t check for this in the States.  So we left the hotel about 7:30 am with a sample ( Sharon had given us a bottle)  and we walked a while – skirting traffic, over train tracks where folks live in shacks  and soon found the lab. $2.00 fee and walked back. They sent results via e mail- all clear. Packing day and we had another adventure getting a box sent home via the post office.  The hotel has a shuttle service which we were able to make use of . They drove us to the P.O. and there are guys outside who will- for a fee- wrap up your box. The bizarre thing is that it must be sewn by hand ; enclosed in Fabric!  And a guy did it for us- took him about 20 minutes. He sewed it with string- a loosely woven cloth. And we went inside the P.O. and they took it and that was that.$125.00 -will take a month.  Tomorrow we have an early pick up-7:30- to go see the Taj Mahal – Hurray!  And then onto Rajhastan. Namaste and good night- love Annie

I should have chosen 2 or 3 of these….  but I have a good internet connection and figured….  go for broke.

Driving today we are both tired from our adventures at the Red Fort yesterday but we are on our way anyway to a fun filled day! I will look for tangerines and cookies along the way and Definitely have a chai tea break somewhere .sitting in traffic now- a sunny warm day – we just passed the place where Obama spoke recently- in January.
As we came to a red light a child was at the window of our car, tossing a sticky spider man toy on the glass – I bought one (20 cents) so sad to see children like this!
I so enjoyed taking photos yesterday of women and children that I am planning on doing  that again today. And Allynn is bringing balloons so – here we go! We are here!
2 hrs later- we had a blast!  Went to a tall monument that was a great courtyard  for picture taking . A very tender experience- There were so many nicely dressed women and children.  I wanted  their photos and they wanted mine – and Allynn’s.  We spent the whole time posing for photos and we were Happy to do it! I think that they so seldom see people with light skin and light hair – and of course Allynn is wearing that cute hat- it makes us feel like celebrities! As soon as we pose with one person, then others want to pose with us too. And then I feel comfortable asking them to pose for me and it is a truly wonderful feeling of connecting and of appreciating each other.  When I was taking photos of little children, Allynn made simple balloons to give them. This worked very well for about 45 minutes, until a guard appeared and said the balloons were not allowed at a national monument. He was very pleasant about it and by then we’d had enough of it all anyway. So we returned to our hotel. Allynn is ill tonight. I think it’s food poisoning. Poor Dear!  Hope he is better in the morning. Nitey nite Annie

Our internet connection has been non-existent for the past two days.  Tonight it seems to work, but for only about 45 seconds at a time.  So I’ll write this post, try to get online, and post it (as well as Annie’s).  However the photos take too long to load (longer than 45 seconds) so I’ll probably have to skip those for now.

We did some tourist things the past couple days in Delhi.   Annie gets such a kick out of taking photos of the local families who dress up (especially the women and children) to visit these ancient places.  As much as she likes taking their pictures, they want her (and me sometimes) to pose with them for photos.   I feel obligated (it doesn’t take much) to say “thank you” by making balloons for their kids.

Yesterday we were in a crowded attraction.  I knew I shouldn’t, but I took out balloons and started.  It was so much fun to get these serious-looking families laughing … and getting very young kids who are shy and a little scared of this strange westerner with a silly hat to lighten up….  accept the balloon, shake my hand, and say “thank you” (English is not as common here as we hoped it might be) after their parents prompt them what to say.

That evening I was sick again (a stomach thing)….  the second time since we’ve been in India.  I had a test at the local lab to make sure it’s not a parasite (about $1.50) and I’m clean.   We rested all day today – tomorrow we’re off for the Taj Mahal and then a 2-week tour of Rajasthan.  The adventure continues.

A pleasant adventure to the Red Fort in Delhi turned out to be a magical experience. I had no idea what the Red Fort was all about. I just knew it was a massive stone wall that went for miles around. And I thought it was so huge, it would be an exhausting ordeal to even visit! But fortunately I was totally wrong and we were in for a real treat. It is, of course, an ancient war fort, built to protect the capital of India – Delhi.
And the history of Delhi reads like an adventure novel with tons of dreary battles and blood baths. Quite the tourist attraction, we waited in a long line and I marveled at the Indian fashions! I have been feeling in a let down mood after leaving Mysore, and I felt my spirits pick up as I started seeing the exotic display of humanity around me. Quite often Allynn and I are asked to pose with the Indian folk for photos and we are more than delighted to do so! So today I got brave and asked many people if I could take their photos. Usually people are willing to accommodate us and sometimes it begins a pleasant conversation.

As we entered the Fort I was pleasantly surprised to see a shopping bazaar! Retail Therapy time! And then we strolled thru the spectacular interior garden and palace complex that I had no idea that it existed. Inside the massive stone walls is a virtual city that is designed to be a garden of paradise! Who would have thought? I am really beginning to admire this city of Delhi! And – much of the Fort was destroyed by the British Army. So what you see now is only a small part of what was there before. Amazing -This was a really special day for us and we topped it off with an incredibly delicious Indian dinner. I wish all of You could have been with us today. You too might have loved the shopping as much as I and I know you would have loved the dinner. I know Allynn really appreciated it because for the past 3 nights our dinner here at the hotel has been a tangerine! – one of the staples here. Funny what you do when you don’t have a kitchen. Love to you all and Hugs. Good Night! Love Annie.
P S. Allynn captivated the crowd with his wonderful show at Sharon Lowen’s amazing school.
She is a Wonder and we are so Grateful to her for all that she has so generously done for us! Thank You Sharon! She has her 97 year old mother living with her. She brought her over here to India from her home in Michigan several years ago and she too is sweet as pie. WOW!