Photos of Agra, India

The primary reason most tourists go to Agra, India is to see the Taj Mahal. Nothing can prepare you for its' beauty, especially as the sun is rising in the morning. Another impressive but not as famous site is the Agra Fort, sitting on the river overlooking the Taj Mahal.

Taxi? Agra India. Your choice; camel or took tooks. 

Final act of the monkey/bear show at the road tax stop between Delhi and Agra, India. 

For the Skeptics

For all those who did not believe my story of being trapped in the car while a dancing bear, dancing monkeys, etc. performed outside the parked car, I've included pictures of the bear and monkey. By the time the snake charmer, jewelry merchant, and begger joined in, I was too terrified to continue taking pictures. See my previous entry on India.

Hauling stuff can take a variety of methods in India. 

Street scene in Agra India, but very typical of most of India. Somehow traffic seems to get through. 

Promised Photos

Now that I'm home, I can post photos from the trip. It's a little intimidating doing this because so many of you are great photographers (Sonny!), so please be merciful. I'm so sorry that I couldn't post pictures while I was travelling. Perhaps next time. Enjoy....Marion

A last look at the Tibetan mountains on the flight back to Hong Kong. 

Gasping and wheezing we toured the Norbulingka Temple, including the top apartments, reserved for the Dalai Lamas who visit there. The air is filled with the scent of burning candles made of yak butter and scents of incense. Walls are covered with shelves of the ancient books of the Bhuddist faith. Sadly, the Chinese government has placed limitations on the number of men who can become Bhuddist monks. Where there were once over 7000 monks, there are now only 1000 residing in this monestary. 

The Drepung Monestary and the surrounding market area with Buddhist pilgrims worshipping at the walls of the monestary. 

A Room in Tibet

With the tricky political situation in Tibet, the Chinese government has added an extra difficulty level for tourists; 1. You must have a Chinese visa, 2. You must be part of a tour, 3. You must have an official invitation from Tibet (this serves as your Tibetan visa), 4. You must enter Tibet from China. It would have been easier to visit Tibet from India, but I was forced to fly out of Xi'an and travel across China to get there. In my last minute scramble, I found a wonderful travel group (Wind Horse Holidays) that created a tour for one and sent all of my invitation paperwork to my hotel in China, just in time for the flight to Tibet. I was warned that my hotel reservation could be cancelled at any moment. The hotels in Lhasa will cancel one person's reservations for the opportunity to have a large tour group. This actually happened but I was moved to a fairly new hotel; the Dhud Ghu. It was located in a small alley which turned out to be a good thing. The best shopping in Lhasa is actually up and down the small alleys where the deals are the best. Also, each night I went to sleep with the sound of buddhist monks chanting outside my window, another reminder that I really was in Tibet.

The Dhud Ghu Hotel where I stayed in Lhasa Tibet, everything designed in a traditional Tibetan scheme. 

Loptsong,my knowledgable and gracious guide in Tibet with prayer flags flying overhead. The wind blowing the flags carries your prayers to heaven.