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