India and Nepal
Spring, 2015
Elephants and Tigers
Asiana Check-in at LAX
Our Noble Beast... the Airbus A-380
Downstairs for Peons
Upstairs for Royalty
The wingspan is enough to require an escort on the taxiway
Marina del Rey on the departure from LAX to Seoul, Korea
We were not looking forward to 12 hours in the air, but Asiana was nice to us.
On the Horizon, Mount Shasta, Northern California
Our Route - from LAX, over Alaska and Far East Russia, to Seoul, Korea
After 12 hours, landing, Seoul, South Korea
So we could change planes and go another 8 hours
Only 4 hours to go... over Dhaka, Bangladesh
Arriving at midnight, our first early morning view of New Delhi from our room high up in the Holiday Inn
The first thing we did was go to the zoo, figuring we would see a
Bengal Tiger here if we missed one in the wild.
This poor fellow paced endlessly back and forth along the fence
Elsa, attacking a Jaguar in the zoo
He wasn't taking his captivity as badly as the tiger
Next morning, off to see a big palace
Big Palace - no photos allowed inside
After the Big Palace, back to Reality
More Reality
India, from a Tourist Bus
Women must be properly attired before entering a temple
We're off on a tricycle tour
Our tricycle tour
Just like Costco, except smaller
Our poor little cabbie, huffing and puffing up the hill to the finish line
Street Market
Tour Busses can't stop here, click quickly
Tour Busses can't stop at the Presidential Palace, either
There's a meaning behind every twist of the design
Our group of 20
We return to our humble abode
Note the cows wandering along the river
Off to Agra to see the Taj Mahal
The pendant with the driver's picture and lack of curtains is a result of
legislation introduced in New Delhi after an attack on a woman riding a bus
It doesn't apply outside the city
Elsa, cooling her heels
The Taj Mahal is just around the corner
But first, we stopped at the Mini-Mahal, Elsa bought three refrigerator magnets
from a street vendor. When she found she paid twice the going rate, she
tracked down the unsuspecting vendor and demanded half her money back.
She got it !!
The Mini-Mahal
Watching the Mini-Mahal Monkey Circus
Monkeys love eating the Marigolds
This Little Pig went to market, for his dinner
Tomorrow, the Real Taj Mahal
The Trident Hotel, Agra, India
I Owe, I Owe, so off to Work I Go
It's a long way from the Taj Mahal bus park to the Taj Mahal
But a taxi is available...
Elsa and Patty, contemplating which camel to take
One of the gates to the Taj Mahal
Entering the Garden
The Taj Mahal
The Accidental Tourists visit the Taj Mahal
Looking back to the Gate
The reflection pool has been drained for painting
Oh, No, We used the Wrong Color
Elsa visits the Agra Fort
I was there, too
Thank You for Not Scratching on the Monument
Our Group and Our Honorable Gate1 Guide, Lalit
Why, Yes, I remember... it was in the Spring of '87...
The Taj Mahal, in the distance, as seen from the Next Fort
The inside of the Next Fort
Passing a Camel Caravan
Chand Baori
That's a lot of steps for a bucket of green water
Another Camel Caravan
View from the back of the bus
Map of Ranthambhore National Park
Drying Truck Seats after the rain, before Bengal Tiger search
Tiger Hunter dressed for the Day
Entering Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve
Tiger Reserve
Park Ranger
Animals are calm, no tigers are nearby
Tame Bird
The trees are crawling with monkeys
Their alarm calls are the early-warning system for tigers approaching
Mother Bengal Tiger, leaving deer kill in the tall grass, goes to find her cubs
Mother seems unaware of breakfast possibilites of truck full of tourists
Mother meets with three cubs
Mother and three cubs head back to tthe site of the deer kill
Come on Kids, Breakfast is Waiting
This is the reason we went to India
The cubs, almost 2 years old, are nearly ready to go off on their
own, so this view of the family together will be one of the last.
Stop for a drink
With the tigers gone, the most entertainment we can find is offered by a monkey
I saw four Bengal Tigers. We can go home now...
Our hotel near Ranthambore National Park
Sheep Caravan
Elephant Ride
Madam, Your Elephant is Ready
Old Lady and Old Guy on Old Elephant
Elephants return to be Recycled
The Courtyard at the top of the hill
The Accidental Tourists Survive Elephant Ride
Printing Demonstration
Chess set
Jodhpur, The Blue City
Mehrangarth Fort
Jaswant Thada, the Taj Mahal of Marwar
About to enter the Mehrangarh Fort
View of Jaswant Thada from the top of the Mehrangarh Fort
Inside the Mehrangarh Fort
Inside the Mehrangarh Fort
Taxi back to town
Our Partners in Crime
My first selfie, by accident
The start of the Holi Festival, the evening before the throwing of the colors
We went off to dinner by car, but others chose traditional transportation
A surprise birthday cake for me before dinner
with Bharat Lalit, our most honorable guide.
Birthday dinner on the roof garden under a full moon
The Holi Festival (Festival of Colors) got underway in the hotel courtyard
Participants decorated each other with handfuls of dyed corn starch
I think Elsa needs a little more green, right here...
The white garments, provided by the tour guide, didn't stay white for long
Happy Holi, to You
After a trip through the car wash, all the colors washed out.
Our Elegant Trident Hotel
Elsa, watching tigers on TV
Wedding celebration
Elsa's dream for our fish pond, wall-to-wall water-lilies
Washing feet before entering temple
Caution, Wide-Load Ahead
It's OK to use your cell-phone if you're driving an elephant
Cows are sacred and allowed to wander where they choose
They are actually animals that don't give milk anymore, left to fend for themselves
Another fine Trident Hotel
All dressed up and here we go...
Boat ride to small island and back
Off to Bombay
The air here looks just like the air in China
The movie, Slumdog Millionaire" was filmed near here
Approaching Mumbai city center
Industrial Grade Laundry
You can have your clothes smacked against a concrete
wall to remove those "hard-to-get-out" stains
The richest man in India lives here
He has 600 servants, working in three eight-hour shifts, for a family of six.
In Mahatma Gandi's home and library
Here's what rent-control can do for you
Nobody can force the tennants out and nobody can
collect enough rent to maintain the building
Cricket Field, downtown Mumbai
This is the place to be - The Gateway of India
View of Bombay from our room in another Trident Hotel
Walkway across the street from the hotel.
Elsa was invited to join local boys having fun
The Accidental Tourists in Mumbai
Off to Kathmandu, Nepal
Descending in a holding-pattern before the approach to Kathmandu airport
The Himalayan mountains dominate the skyline
Racing our shadow to the airport
A Turkish Airlines A330 ran off the runway, collapsing the nose gear
and closing the airport for four days, just before our arrival
Still on the main ramp, waiting to be towed away from the terminal
Baggage claim was a slow-motion nightmare after the airport reopened
Wiring goes to an offshore call-center...
Now you know why it's so hard to get a straight answer sometimes
The eyes of Budha are upon you
Street vendor, doing a tally
Colors from the Holi Festival
Multiple cremation ceremonies taking place along the river
If you lived here, you'd be home now...
Washing clothes on the sidewalk
Live poultry in the baskets
One-cylinder diesel tractors are everywhere
Heading up to a viewpoint of the Himalayan Mountains
From the mountain lookout
Cup o' Tea, on top of the world (almost). Mount Everest is 100 miles off to the right
not visible from the Club Himalaya Nagarkot Resort where we were
Coming back down from the lookout
Elsa, at the Pharmacy, Kathmandu
Walking back to our hotel, the Radison, at the end of the street.
The Nepalese Flag
Durbar Square, before the earthquake
The earthquake destroyed it completely
View of Kathmandu from the hilltop temple
Would you throw my poor dog a bone?
Cooking the Books
I smell something fishy here
Compare the left side of this scene showing the Hari Shankar Temple to...
this scene, after the earthquake
Catching a few winks before the flight back to New Delhi
Turkish Airline plane, now removed from the terminal area, with the
airline name and logo painted over until repairs can be completed
Taking the scenic route from Kathmandu to New Delhi
We were treated to three hours in a hotel in New Delhi, before returning
to the airport for our flight back to Los Angeles via Seoul, Korea
After another 20 hours of flying, we're only 13 minutes from home
Los Angeles, before the earthquake
Good Performance by Asiana Airlines