India 2023

 We were awake early because we were catching an 8:15 train to Agra for a one night stay.  We were on a newer train that was promised to be very fast and modern.  I would need to see the alternative to make a judgement on this but I don’t think Japan needs to worry about competition. On arrival in Agra we boarded our bus and went directly to  The Red Fort .  Appropriately named, the huge outer wall of the fort is very red.  Two outer motes protected the fort, one with crocodiles and the other with tigers.  The entrance to the fort has a sharp turn in it because running elephants that might be used to tear down the outer door were unable to make such a sharp turn.  The fort has been owned by seven different dynasties and is currently owned by the Indian government.   The fort is quite large (94 acres) and is more accurately described as a walled city.  There are many structures inside which served in such capacities as housing for the har...

 This morning several of us took a car arranged by the hotel to go to Old Delhi.  This is the chaos I think people think of when they think of India.  We were told to ask the drivers to stay so that we had a way back to the hotel with someone that knew where they were going.  Best move ever. Fist we stopped at  India Gate  , a war memorial to soldiers who died in the WWI.  While giving a very cool mist effect, you could really see how poor the air quality is in Delhi.  I have to think that respiratory disease is rampant.   The traffic here is organized chaos.  There I go using that chaos word again.  I believe that may be the theme of the trip but perhaps it's only in the big cities.  Somehow the combination of cars, bikes, tuk tuks and pedestrians all share the road while barely missing each other.  Since this was once an English colony they drive on the left side of the road.  I wouldn't want to try it! Our cars sto...

 Time for another photo trip, this time with photographer  Ira Block  and  Jock Montgomery .  We’re touring northern India with a final stop in Varanasi for the Diwali Festival.   I had a direct flight from JFK to New Delhi which was right at 14 hours.  It’s a long flight but well worth the time to get to such an interesting country. I would like to say I slept 8 hours on arrival but that just didn’t happen.  I was up before sunrise but in an attempt to switch to a new time I stayed up and organized a little.  Breakfast is always interesting in a large, international hotel such as  The Claridges  because you pick into breakfast foods from around the world.  Along with American eggs dishes, the buffet offered baked beans (England), noodles and steamed buns (Asia), and beautiful pastries.   A friend and I thought we would go for a nice walk around the hotel area.  We learned our first lesson - don’t talk to all the tuk ...