Not even close to Wordless Wednesday

I finally have a few minutes to sit and share pictures of India with you!

I arrived Sunday night, and I stayed with Nick (Suzanne's brother). He took Monday and showed me around New Dehli. That place is crazy. So many people in such a small place - and when you get into Old Delhi, it's even more so. Here is a picture of Old Dehli I took from the steps of Jami Masjid:

Tuesday morning at 4 AM (after staying up all night waiting for my lost luggage, sigh) - I flew out of New Delhi to Coimbatore, where the wedding was. I tried to take pictures to show what it was like to be at a wedding with over 2000 people, but it was impossible. This is the night before the wedding - me with the bride and groom (the groom worked for me about 5 years ago)


This is the next morning. The wedding was at a Hindu temple at 5 AM. The major theme for this trip was me getting up at 4 AM. Somehow I wasn't tired, but this is a picture of me with people who were hanging out near the coffee - so I did get some caffeine, at least.

They make coffee with milk, not water. It. Is. Wonderful. The other funny thing is that every time I took a picture, everyone wanted to get in it - but then they didn't smile. Strange.

And this is me with the bride and groom and his parents. I was trying to just get a picture of us together, and they insisted on making it formal like this. The whole time I was in Coimbatore for the wedding, the father was making sure I was taken care of. He had some member of the family with me at all times - it was awesome, but I felt bad - like he had other things to do during his son's wedding!

When I would protest, and tell them I was fine, I was informed that it's how things are done there (Indian hospitality) and I should just give in. So I did.

I stayed in Coimbatore for 3 full days, and although much of it was taken up with the wedding, I did get to explore the countryside for a bit - which was SUCH a contrast from the cities. Here I am with one of Dhana's friends exploring a tea plantation.

The countryside was so GREEN and the hills were amazing.

Next stop was Agra. I took a train there, and this is for another post - but I was almost scammed out of my ticket. I have loads of pictures, but I'll sum it up with this funny one:
The Taj Mahal is the single most amazing thing I've ever seen. No picture can do it justice. You have to be there. My day in Agra was so much fun - I met a Swedish woman on the train and we shared a tour for the first part of the day, and then I spent the afternoon seeing all the rest of the sights. Amazing place. I got to see the Taj at sunset - that beautiful white building glows pink. None of the pictures I took show what it really looked like. But it was amazing.

Did I mention it was amazing?

When I got back to New Delhi on Saturday night, it became apparent that the hurricane in the US was going to screw up all my flights. Again, a story for another post, but Aaron finally managed to get through, and got me on a flight home on Weds. Which gave me 3 more full days to explore. I decided to go to Jaipur. I had met a Japanese man in Agra who told me I couldn't miss Jaipur - that the Amber Fort was amazing and I could ride an elephant.

So. Of course I had to do that.

Another thing I hadn't had time for was to get henna on my hands - so I did that in Jaipur:


Basically Jaipur was the cherry on the top of my Indian Sundae. I was so tired, I went back to my hotel around 4, where I noticed a flyer for Aruvedic massage. So I went and got one. The description sounded like torture (warm oil slowly dripped onto your forehead) but Oh. My. Lord. It was wonderful!

And then I finally got to come home and see my babies. It was so nice to go and have a complete change in pace, but I sure did miss my gang.