I’m back in Delhi for a few days after the end of my Heart of India tour and the start of my next tour. I had a free day yesterday to visit a couple of museums. I read in Atlas Obscura about the Sulabh Museum of Toilets, so I decided to go see what it…
Varanasi is a fascinating city. It is a pilgrimage site for many thousands of Indian Hindus who arrive every day to bathe in the Ganges. They are tourists, like me. But their reason for being here is different from mine, so this was, for me, a mostly wonderful learning experience.
I spent the last two days in Lucknow, the capital of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Although this is a beautiful city with some very interesting things to see, there were far fewer tourists here than anywhere else we’ve visited on this tour. This was a pleasant diversion after the throngs at the Taj Mahal.
Agra is the most touristed city in India. No doubt that is because of the Taj Mahal, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. And of course we visited this beautiful monument. But there is a lot more to see in Agra, so here’s the rundown of what I did.
After a final morning in Ranthambore, we drove to Agra. But since that’s a very long drive, we stopped to spend the night at a village camp. I’m not going to write about Agra now; I’ll save that for the next post. This is mostly about Lalsot and Abhaneri. Lalsot was a town we were…
I am currently in Ranthambore, at what may be the most amazing hotel I’ve ever stayed at. This is the home of Ranthambore National Park, and yesterday we took a safari through the park. And today we visited a school supported by Grand Circle Foundation and a village where we spent “A Day in the…
I’m two days behind on my blogging; there’s just not enough free time. So I will have to give a very quick overview of my 1 1/2 days in Jaipur. For some reason, Jaipur is known as the “pink city.” Well, there is a reason. In 1876, Maharaja Ram Singh had the buildings painted a…
Yesterday was our last day in Delhi, but I’ll be back two more times on this trip. Today we head to Jaipur. Because I have extra time in Delhi later on in the trip, I haven’t pushed myself to see anything beyond our regular tour program. I’ve used my free time to catch up on…
Yesterday, our second day in New Delhi, we visited a Sikh temple, Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. To say this experience was unlike anything I’ve ever seen or done is an understatement. It was a cultural earthquake.
After an overnight flight from Istanbul, I arrived in New Delhi at 5:15 am yesterday. My OAT tour, Heart of India, officially begins today, but our trip leader, Ashish, gave those of us who arrived in time a short intro to the city. Here, then, are my first impressions of New Delhi.
I’m currently at Istanbul Airport awaiting my flight to my next destination. I’ll arrive tomorrow morning at 5:15. I’ll take this opportunity to share about my last day and a half in Istanbul: a food tour about more than just food, a visit to a church/mosque/museum with some beautiful mosaics, an ancient water storage system…
Last time I was in Istanbul, in 2022, the Blue Mosque was under renovation. I learned it was filled with scaffolding, so I opted out of visiting. This time, it was my top priority for my Istanbul stopover.
