We met our driver for the day at 9:00am and began the drive to Orcha, and ultimately Jhansi, where we’ll catch a train to Agra.  On paper it seems like a mild drive of 4 hours, enjoying the rural scenes of India. We had a chance to observe the rural scenes, but the drive was way more than “mild”.

 Kinda narrow Gotta share the road Where to go?

The road was narrow, paved, and two-lanes.  There wasn’t a shoulder, and the pavement edge was ragged and dropped off sharply.  The traffic consisted of bicycles, motorbikes, buses, tuk-tuks, cars, industrial trucks with big loads, and lots of tanker trucks.  We even had to wait on a wooden cart pulled by two horses to cross a narrow bridge. The driving technique consisted of pulling up close behind whoever you need to pass, honking to warn them we’re coming around, then racing around before we hit the oncoming traffic.

Passing through the villages and towns was eye-opening.  We see lots people living in the worst conditions, and begging as we drive by. We could tell when we were nearing a school because there were students everywhere, walking and riding bikes (on the same roads as all the traffic).  All along the road we passed tuk-tuks jammed with people (8 to 12) sitting on top of each other.  Cattle are walking everywhere and stopping traffic.  It’s everything I’ve seen portrayed as India, but I assumed it was exaggeration. It’s exactly as you’ve seen it portrayed.  India is expected to pass China for the largest population in the world in 2023.

We arrived safely (whew) in Orchha.  I had never heard of it, but there were several elaborate palaces and temples built in the area.  There’s a river nearby, and the setting is beautiful.  It’s no wonder the Moghul rulers of the time selected this site. We had a nice lunch, met our guide around 2:30, and began our tour.  The palace was built in the 15^thcentury.  It’s amazing they were able to design and build palaces and temples with so much detail 600 years ago.  After our tour, we walked the town before loading up for our short drive to Jhansi.

 Where we ate lunchThe river from our lunch site.

 Looking out from the palace over the valley

One of the other temple areas

Sights from walking around town.

Jhansi is a city of several million.  The train station is a hub of activity, with taxis, tuk-tuks, and motorbikes whizzing everywhere.  We meet our train station escort and head into the station.  Our driver has to make the long drive back to Khajuraho, in the dark. Our escort gets the tickets, and stands with us while we wait for the train.  We’re an hour early, so I always enjoy watching the people moving in and out of the station.  Out on the platform waiting to load, beggars are working the crowds.  The whole station is grimy and dirty, much like the city we saw as we drove in.  Orchha is such a contrast!

 Waiting for the train

We board the train, find our seats, and stash our luggage in the overhead.  It’s no small feat since our big bag weighs nearly 50 lbs.  The train trip is close to two hours.  It’s far different from the high-speed trains in Japan and China.  Porters actually tried to serve a meal in the midst of all the passenger activity as we passed through several stations.

We arrived in Agra around 9:30.  Laksme, our Delhi driver, greets us as we get off.  Shaym, our guide for tomorrow is with him.  They take us to the Jaypee Palace Hotel.  It’s a huge hotel, and the nicest of all our hotels up to this point.  We’re worn out after a day of crazy driving, walking some palaces, and a grimy (but interesting) train ride.

The weather forecast was for thunderstorms all day, but nothing ever materialized.  Around 6:00pm it sprinkled lightly for 10 minutes, but stopped.  We spent the day in our regular spot, in loungers around the pool nearest the beach, wandering between the ocean, the pool, and the food hut.

 Looking north up the beach

 Looking up the hill.

 Looking over towards Dom and Shannon’s beach bungalow

Looking south

Restaurant.

The resort is beginning to fill up.  We had our first encounter with kids today, who were bouncing around in the water, knocking beach balls around.  It wasn’t a problem, but I laughed at myself for being a little irritated about the noise and activity, after days of tranquility.  I could hardly get in a good nap.

The sun was bright much of the day, so my hat has been out.  I’m working to avoid sunburn.  There’s no problem around the pool, but the ocean is warmer and fun, and there’s absolutely no shade today.  I picked up a bit of reddish tint, but it doesn’t seem too bad.

At the end of the day, everyone scheduled another trip to the spa for massages.  Judy and I went up to our room and dipped in the pool.  We have a “pool access” room but hadn’t used it because everyone else was down at the ocean, and the nearby pool.   It’s a beautiful setting, and if the others hadn’t been around, we’d have used it more.

 Our room and our access to the pool

My attempt at some “artistic” touches.

Tomorrow is our heading home day.  It’s been a long trip, but we’ve had a blast.  Check-out time is noon, but our airport transport isn’t scheduled until 9:00pm for our 1:00am flight from Phuket to Incheon, South Korea, and then on to DFW.   We finished the day with dinner near the beach.

 Time for dinner

Yesterday, we began to figure out our best “sea day” options.  We like an early breakfast at Blu.  I like to head to Café al Bacio where there’s a nice view, and assorted coffees & teas, and I can catch up with news and sports from home and work on the blog.  I usually like to follow up with some table tennis till I get ready for a late lunch. Back in the room after lunch, I go to work figuring a way to post pictures with really slow internet. Eventually, a nap wins out.

Judy has been experimenting with the Reflections Lounge for her hangout to read and listen to podcasts. There was a little piece of excitement for her today.  The captain had mentioned that we would be meeting someone this afternoon?  Around 3:00pm, the ship began to rapidly slow down and turn.  From Judy’s vantage point, she saw a small boat speed away, toward a larger ship. Several of the guests around Judy said they saw guns being loaded onto our ship?  Guns??  I guess they’re serious about the pirates.  I had also played table tennis with a guy in some type of military security uniform (before the maneuvers).

My conspiracy theory is that the captain was practicing some type of evasive maneuvers.  Apparently we have a fast ship, so out-running the pirates is also in the playbook.  I think the guns were loaded at sea, because it wasn’t allowed in Aqaba.  I wonder if they’ll have to be taken off before we get to Oman?  Oman and the UAE are not friendly with each other right now.  Yemen is totally at war with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.  Lots of geopolitical intrigue these days (mostly in my mind).

Tonight is the first of three “L.O.V.E. nights” (Lights Out Virtually Everywhere).  It’s their creative way to deal with blackout procedures.  The top decks are totally closed.  Curtains are closed in all cabins, restaurants, lounges, etc.  Lights are dimmed everywhere.  The blackout runs from 6:00pm (dusk) to 6:00am.  We are nearing the Gulf of Aden where most of the pirate activity has taken place in the past.  Sudan and Somalia are to our west, and Yemen is to our east as we cruise this section of the Red Sea.

I’ve been able to keep up a little with the Cowboys and Mavericks.  I guess all is well in DFW with recent big wins by both teams.  Of course, since we’re 9 hours ahead, I don’t get the scores until around 6:00am.T

Had a great breakfast and wandered around the grounds of the hotel (Jaypee Palace Hotel) this morning before going out in the city.  It’s a huge hotel complex with gardens and a convention complex.

 Garden outside our roomA few Christmas decorations

Laksme picks us up at 9:00. We pick up Shaym, our guide, on the way. He gives us some of the basic info about the Taj Mahal.  It took 22 years to build from 1631 to 1653.  It was built by the 5^thMughal Emperor Shahjahan in honor of his wife who died during childbirth of their 14^thchild.

We’re driving thru fairly heavy traffic, and suddenly it’s time to get out.  I’m really surprised because it’s seems like we’re in the middle of the city, honking horns, etc.  Every picture of the Taj Mahal I’ve seen had me thinking it was sitting out away from the city in the countryside.

The walk along a peaceful paved road (no traffic) took about 10 minutes, before we arrived at the ticket area and security.  The crowd was active but not overly large.  The lines to get in weren’t long and moved quickly.  Security is heavy with bag and body scanning.  The temperature today is around 65 degrees, and comfortable.  This would be a miserable place in the summer heat with large crowds, but today, it couldn’t be nicer.

Entrance Gate

Our guide has great knowledge about the design and building of the monument.  It’s all marble and all the floral decoration and writing on the gates are inlaid stones.  The amount of delicate work to piece it all together on such a huge building is hard to imagine in this day and age.

 Looking back at the entrance

The advantage of having our own guide is he really knows how and where to go to get the best pictures.  He had us posing all over the property.  He basically took over our camera.  We’ve never had so many pictures of ourselves.  It’s digital overkill.

When we finish, we walk out and climb in a wooden cart to ride out to the edge of the property to our car.  We get great information wherever we go, and our transportation is ready and waiting at the end to whisk us to our next destination.  This is a great way to see India.

We’re delivered to a marble factory to watch some of the local craftsmen as they work to cut and shape pieces of various stones to make the inlaid designs on the building and now, some of their own designs.  We’re told that some of the workers are descendants of the original stone artisans that built the Taj Mahal.

Our next stop is Agra Fort. Yeah, yeah, what’s the big deal? When you get inside it becomes apparent why it’s a big deal.  This fort was built and improved by three different Mughul emperors.  They ruled India during the 15^thand 16^thcentury.  Each emperor put his own architectural signature on the building.  75% of the building is still in use by the Indian Army. Tourists are only allowed in the 25% of the fort where the families lived.  It’s built on a hill above the Yumana River, looking out over the countryside, with a great view of the Taj Mahal in the distance.

 Agra Fort entrance Pavilion where the Moghal rulers held court

 More digital overload

After the fort, we had a chance to eat lunch.  After lunch, we opt to go back to the hotel to relax and enjoy the amenities of the hotel. We’re looking forward to some rest time. We’re moving from city to city so quickly and seeing so much, I can barely keep up with the writing.  The occasional slow internet makes the photo uploads drag.  If I miss a day, it’s hard to catch up, we’re so totally involved in traveling and touring sites.

My sea day routine is settling in.  Enjoying the early breakfast, then tea/coffee in Café al Bacio, followed by table tennis. Had a burger for lunch and time in the room to work on loading pictures to the blog (can’t wait for faster internet). Moved from the room to the Sunset Deck for a beautiful sunset.  There were a few small fishing boats in the area and lots of dolphins playing around them. After a light dinner, we both headed back to Café Bacio for reading, etc., while we listen to an entertaining acoustic duo.  Will probably end up with dessert somewhere.

As Judy and I settled in at Café al Bacio this morning, I could see land on our starboard side, and was reminded what the captain had said about passing through the narrows of Aden. Somalia is off our starboard and Yemen is in view off port as we pass headed south.  The Red Sea doesn’t look that big on a map, but we’ve been sailing over two days from Aqaba, and are just now getting to the Gulf of Aden. Like many other things I’ve experienced in the last few years, I never thought I would be here.  Unreal!

Somalia off our starboard side

Yemen in the distance off port side

Had a message today from the Excursions Office that our short trip Sunday in Abu Dhabi for “High Tea at Jumeirah” has been cancelled (not enough guests).  They gave us an option for another excursion at a 10% discount, so I jumped on it.  Now, Saturday, when we first arrive, we’re going to visit the Grand Mosque at night, then have dinner at the Emirates Palace.  This is a nice substitute.  We’ll get a short visit in Abu Dhabi at night, before our bigger tour during the day on Monday.  Depending on how we feel on Sunday, we could always take the Hop-On Hop-off Bus and get a wider experience of the city.

The Jaypee Palace Hotel was great, except for the slow internet.  I spent too much time waiting on photos to upload, etc.  Met Laksme at 8:30 to begin our drive to Jaipur.  Today will be our last day with a site tour in India. Tomorrow is just the drive from Jaipur to Delhi.

 Traffic, traffic everywhere A Hindu shrine by the roadside.

As we drove, we began to notice more farms and agriculture.  We’re told it’s potatoes, mustard, some wheat, and some rice. Several places I noticed stacks of disks piled up or laid out.  It was cow dung drying out to later be used as fuel for fires..

We also began to see camels more frequently.  Where there was grain being grown, the camels were being used to pull carts hauling the grain to market.  Almost every animal we see is used to pull or haul something.

 Just another camel pulling a grain container

Many of the villages we passed had a centralized area where water was available for bathing.  It’s a common sight to see someone standing at one of these areas taking a bath on a raised platform, 50 ft. from the road.

The highway to Jaipur is mostly 4 lanes, and seems to be new.  The median has flowering plants.  Only as we pass thru the villages does it get dusty, and the traffic stacks up, especially at an intersection.  Even on a big highway like this, cattle can bring traffic to a halt if they get stubborn.  We stopped after two hours at an Indian version of “Stuckey’s” with a restaurant, gift shop, washrooms, and a place to buy snacks.

Jaipur is built in the hills.  As we get close, the road begins to climb.  First stop in Jaipur is lunch at a small restaurant.  After lunch, check-in at the hotel, meet our guide, and by 2:30, we’re driving to the Amber Fort.

We thought the Amber Fort was named for it’s color, but it’s something entirely different.  Shiva, the Hindu goddess of destruction has 1000’s of names.  The most commonly used name during the time the fort was built began with Amber………. (didn’t quite get the whole name), but evolved into Amber.  It had nothing to do with color?

 The drive to the gate

The fort is just another amazing palace built by a Maharajah with lots of money, who spared no expense getting everything he wanted.  There seems to be a lot of that going around 500 to 600 years ago.  The views of the valley below were great!

The drive back down

After the Fort, we had a short picture stop at the Water Palace.  It was built as a summer palace for the obvious reason it would be cooler.

Next stop was a place where we watched a “block printing” exhibition.  It’s an ancient version of screen printing, with anywhere from 3 to 12 different blocks to add colors to a design.  After the colors are added, a dip in a vinegar and water concoction brings out the colors.

Last stop of the day is the Palace of the Winds.  It’s a façade built to resemble a palace.  It has 953 windows with lattice-work designs that allowed royal ladies to observe life on the street below without being seen.  We’re dropped off at the hotel to eat dinner and get ready for our final full day in India.

Man, these time changes are hard to keep up with.  We moved forward another hour during the night.  There’s a small digital readout on the phone, and the ship channels on the television have the correct time.  It’s weird, but some of our digital devices are picking up some of the time changes, while others are still showing the time in Rome, or even the time back in Atlanta.  Nothing we have is showing the correct time, except my old-style watch, which I’m setting manually.  I’m pretty sure we’re 10 hours ahead of Central Time.

We settled into our sea day schedule with early breakfast, then coffee & tea in Café al Bacio. I’ve been fighting slow internet for loading photos, so I asked in the iLounge what was going on.  The IT guy confirmed the internet had been slow for a couple of days, but was faster today.

Later in the afternoon, the website quit uploading my pictures?  I’ve read some of the “tech support” answers and articles, and it seems there are four possible options, all of them requiring entering code somewhere in the software.  Yeah, right! I think I’ll get more satisfaction throwing my computer around the cabin.

I eventually gave up trying and went to play table tennis.  The rest of the afternoon was spent eating and sleeping, topped off with more table tennis.  Judy headed out to her usual reading haunts.

We decided today was going to be our day to send in laundry, etc.  We had a couple of Captain’s Club perks to make it cheaper.  We ended up sending two bags of laundry and one bag of cleaning.  The last time we had laundry done on a ship, the finished product was a tangled mess. We’re curious how this will turn out. We washed some of our own things in the sink last week, but it took them forever to dry.  Hopefully we can find some good laundries in the Dubai, Delhi, and Bangkok.

After dinner, we went back to Café al Bacio to relax and listen to the acoustic duo.  Frustrated with the internet, I went back to the iLounge to complain.  A different techie offered to look at what was happening.  I ended up getting a lesson on photo manipulation.  Yes, the internet is really slow right now, coming off a satellite in this part of the world (Yemen, Sudan).  He expected it to be better as we neared Oman tomorrow.  Also demand around the ship slows it down at peak times.  My photos were very large (2.5mb and larger) so he showed me how to reduce the size so they might load faster.  It began to work somewhat.  I finished off the night adjusting and working to get more photos sized so they’ll load.

Laksme is scheduled to pick us up at 9:00am for the drive back to Delhi.  He says it will take 6 hours.  We have a leisurely breakfast and take care of several things on the internet, since the connection is much stronger here than Agra.  Every time we turn around in this hotel, someone is waiting to ask if we’re ok.  Three different times last evening, someone knocked at the door, wondering if we needed anything?  It became almost too much.

The broom is a different model than we’re used to seeing.  Trident Hotel in Jaipur

Doorman at the hotel.  Doormen at several of our hotels have looked like this.

The drive to Delhi is mostly done on a decent road, six lanes at least.  The truck traffic is heavy, much more than anything we’ve experienced previously.  Laksme says it’s the main road for commerce to pass from Delhi to Mumbai.  Anything for Delhi that comes into the port at Mumbai has to be trucked.

 Many of the trucks are decorated.Check out the front of this truck.

There is an election today in the state of Rajasthan, of which Jaipur is the capital.  It’s for state leaders.  All the businesses and tourist venues are closed.  As we’re driving out of town, we see several places where people are voting.  It looks like the polling is done with pen & paper.

Laksme pulls over at one place where there are lots of monkeys on the roadside.  He says this is a “wildlife area”.  Many hindu people come here to feed the monkeys for some type of good luck.

Didn’t open the window to take pictures.  Thought we might pick up an unwelcome passenger.

We made a halfway stop at a cute little combo restaurant/gift shop.  I noticed several similar places within a few miles of this one.

As we get closer to town the traffic gets even heavier.  We spot the first tall buildings we’ve seen since we’ve been in India.  Our Delhi hotel has been near the airport, which is outside of the main part of Delhi.  We haven’t seen the Central Business District where there are bound to be many larger buildings.  We just haven’t been close enough to see.

 How many riders on this motorcycle?

Some added decorations.

We get checked into our hotel around 1:30pm, collecting the two extra bags we stored before we left Delhi on Sunday.  I’m glad we weren’t trying to haul them with us on our short hop flights Sunday & Monday.  It would have been real interesting dealing with them on the train from Jhansi to Agra. We created only one problem by leaving some bags behind. My extra underwear didn’t get into our traveling bags, requiring several sink laundry sessions.  With good blow dryers, I was in good shape.

Some of the Delhi hotel Christmas decor.

The rest of the day was spent looking ahead at our Thailand activites.  I’m constantly working to monitor our budget (for information more than anything else).  Tomorrow I’ll need to exchange our remaining Indian rupees back into US dollars.  I’m also trying to catch up the blog.

Judy is working on our bags, making sure we can meet the weight limits.  We were close to peak when we flew into Rome.  We’ve made several purchases as we’ve traveled, so we’re pushing it.  We can probably make the international limits on the Delhi/Bangkok flight.  Our two short hop domestic flights in Thailand from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, and later to Phuket have lower limits.  It’ll be interesting how we do.

I intended to “close out” our China years long before now.  I just couldn’t get motivated, and there were so many “spam” comments (22,000, yeah 22,000) to delete, I couldn’t keep up, so I gave up.  Now that we’re about to head out on another “trip of a lifetime”  (we’ve had so many more than we ever expected), I thought I would try to post some comments and pictures for my mom.

Here’s a summation of our trip/jobs in China.  In the fall of 2012, Judy and I were both mentally fatigued from doing basically the same jobs for over 37/38 years.  We spent 25 years teaching in Clovis, New Mexico, and 12 more in Arlington.  I taught one early year in Friona, TX, before we moved to New Mexico while Judy finished her degree at WTSU.  We enjoyed our careers and had great memories, but were tired of the same grind, and going to work was no longer “fun”.

We realized we were eligible to retire and the challenge of teaching overseas and the allure of travel sounded exciting and reinvigorating.  Our two years in Beijing were exactly that, exciting and reinvigorating. Judy loved the challenge of embracing a new curriculum, but making it fit her teaching strengths.  She met some wonderful people and has been enjoying keeping up with them through emails and WeChat, since we left.

I developed a deep respect for the Chinese students and teachers I worked with, and also made some great expat friends.  I still check in on Josie, the PE teacher at BSHFIC while I was there.  She moved back to El Paso, and helps me keep track of some of the teachers and students I had a chance to work with back in China.

In the three and a half years we’ve been back in the US, our lives have continued to evolve.  Judy’s had one knee replaced, and I’ve had both knees replaced.  We feel great and our health is good.  We have found part-time jobs that have kept us involved in music education.  Judy works with student teachers for Texas Wesleyan University, and I mentor/consult with band programs at six schools for Fort Worth ISD.

We’ve continued to travel extensively, visiting Israel, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and Australia. We’re about to embark on a six-week trip that includes a 15-night cruise from Rome through the Suez Canal, time in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, over a week in northern India, and two weeks in northern & southern Thailand.  The time in southern Thailand will be “beach” time spent with some of Judy’s friends from BISS in Beijing.  It’s a bit of a reunion, and we’re looking forward to catching up on everything and everyone.o

There’s not really much new happening today.  We wander around between our food favorites and reading relaxation spots.  I managed to get in a little table tennis, both morning and afternoon.  I’m still obsessed with trying to get the blog posting issues resolved.

Things get faster as the day wears on.  I finally completed posts and pictures up to Petra right before bedtime.  It involved posting a lot of pictures, requiring all kinds of resizing, etc., and then they still loaded slowly.  I know you’re reading this not understanding “what’s the big deal”.  Sorry about my obsession, but the time gaps between “living it”, “writing it”, and “posting it” are too wide for comfort.  I need to be able to tour, write, and post in one day for this to work. After Petra, I’ve got all five sea days written and ready to post, and there aren’t many pictures, so they’ll go quick.  But Petra and Wadi Rum need pictures.

We had determined we needed turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie to make this day right.  Without family, all you’ve got is food, and without the food, you’ve got nothing.  Blu isn’t serving turkey tonight, so we made reservations in the main dining room, San Marco.  We were seated at a large circular table with 7 other guests (five from the US, and two from Belgium).  As usual, the more everyone talked, the more we realized what seasoned travelers they all were.  We’re like rookies in this group.

The turkey was good. The dressing was good, but a far cry from what we love.  The best part of the dinner was the pumpkin pie.  It was memorable!  We spent some time in Café al Bacio, people-watching and trying some new tea flavors.  When we headed to bed, I realized that the early NFL game is on.  Maybe the Cowboys will be on later (as if I’ll be able to stay awake).