24 hrs in Jordan

I arrived in Jordan on April second via a connection in Bahrain. I have to say, I stopped at the McDonalds for lunch at 10:30 in the morning! (It was 1:30 my time and I hadn't had red meat in a month...does that make it ok?) Unfortunately, there were no shamrock shakes here!

First site I saw out of the airport was a military helicopter with what I thought was a refueling thing (technical term -- sorry Dad and Jim!) flying so I took a picture hoping that when I zoomed in I could see if it was a CH 53 E. I don't think it is but will leave that up to Dad.

The next day, I went to Israel by the King Hussein Bridge. I have some more pictures but apparently could go to jail for taking them so won't post those until I leave this country! ... Just a teaser for Jerusalem, Jerash and Petra pictures to come soon!

My ride back to Delhi

Apparently all the guide books say women shouln't travel alone in taxis in India. I had a four hour drive back from Agra to Dehli alone. Fortunately, the driver had been pre-arranged by a travel agent, but still I was a little uncomfortable. Nice enough kid from Nepal originally -- but kept looking at me and wanted to take MY picture! Anyway, I was pretty happy once I got to my hotel -- albeit feeling a little guilty about staying at such a nice place in the middle of everything I experienced and saw around India.

Here are some sites from my drive back.

To the Taj

Just a short note from Jerusalem. I can't actually keep up with a blog since I am actually traveling and touring -- but here's a quick look.

Went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal a week ago. Traveled by plane from the Dharamsala airport which was about the size of the one in Wings but spankin brand new. I don't think they checked my passport but I was really excited that they had electric hand dryers in the airport bathroom. We drove from Delhi to Agra. I traveled with 3 other ladies from my CCS program - Polly, Tanya and Amy.

Taj was beautiful! We got into Agra at 1 am and got up at 5:30 to see the Taj at sunrise since that is supposed to be the best time. Unfortunately, we missed the sunrise anyway because the line was so long to get in. Fortunately, it was overcast and there wasn't much of a sunrise. It was BEAUTIFUL. Here are just a sampling of the pictures.

By the way -- you husbands out there who a) love your wives and b) think you will outlive them better start saving your poorly valued US dollars! The Taj was built by Shah Jahan as a memorial to his wife who passed away in childbirth with I think their 14th kid! He was soooo distraught, he commissioned the Taj. I overheard a tour guide say it's the first time they used the technique of carving into the marble and inserting the colored stones for the entire design. (The end of the story is sad -- one of his son's overthrew him and imprisoned him until his death -- at least he did give him a prison with a window where he could view the Taj!)