We spent Monday afternoon and most of Tuesday in/around Agra, visiting several historical sites including the Taj Mahal. We began with another UNESCO World Heritage Site, Fatehpur Sikri, built by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the late 16th century. Akbar may have been a mighty emperor, but he apparently possessed a few flaws of reasoning. For one, the impressive, large Fatehpur Sikri, constructed of local red sandstone in a a style which reflected ancient Persia...

We spent most of Sunday inside the Ranthambore National Park on guided safaris in large jeeps (the only way to see the park). Occupying the site of a tenth century fort and the former hunting grounds of the maharajas of Jaipur, the 342 square kilometer park was first established as a game reserve in 1955. Later expanded twice and renamed a national park, Ranthambore is a Bengal tiger preserve, and one of the best places in the world to see tigers in the wild, w...

Thursday, primarily a travel day for us, included a stop at the only Hindu temple devoted to Brahma, the creator god, one of three gods for Hindus. As the only temple devoted to Brahma, it is a must pilgrimage for all Hindus at some point in their lives. Unfortunately, the temple allowed no photographs. Afterwards, we stopped at a guest house for lunch, a lovely home in the country, far from anything. We had to abandon the bus, too large to negotiate the narr...

Tuesday, suffering from a bit of traveler's flu and a bit of tiredness, we opted to hang out at the hotel in Udaipur rather than travel to a couple of (undoubtedly tourist centered) markets the group was visiting. We walked around the grounds a couple of times, discovering a number of unusual plants and birds in the process. In the evening, we found a small wildlife preserve, built next door to the hotel on what was once the principality's hunting lodge and est...

Monday 7 March This morning, we saw Udaipur in the light of day, city of hills and lakes, where we found cows, camels, and elephants on the streets. (Cows in the street, our guide explained, our reincarnated traffic cops). Out entire morning was spent at the Maharana's City Palace. Before the British colonized what we know of as India in 1858, the area was primarily a series of principalities, Udaipur among them. Started in 1859, the city palace was expanded...