India

India was the most different place I have ever been in the world.  First of all, there were thousands of people in the streets.  Then there were all the women in their colorful saris.  A sari, which is the clothing that the women wear, is actually just a piece of cloth 6 meters long, which is wrapped around the women in different ways.

The driving was crazy, with cars going opposite directions and never ending honking.  The streets were filthy with dust, garbage, and who knows what else.  There were people begging everywhere, who would go up to the window of our car and knock to get our attention.  When we were on a drive once, our driver said that we were going to pass through a very small city of only half a million!  That shows you how many people there are in India.  We were never bored on the car drives.  We would drive through small villages and see women working in the fields, carrying baskets on their heads.   As we drove through villages, school children would wave at us too.

                    

The cow in India is a sacred animal.  There are cows walking in the middle of the road, and all the cars just go around it as if it is a fenced off area.  You are not allowed to hurt a cow in any way, so when people are done with their cows they just set them free.  If they kept the cow and it died while in their care, it would be considered extremely bad luck.  That's why you see old cows wandering around eating garbage!

  While we were in India we went to New Delhi, Agra, Ranthambore, and Jaipur.  This route is called the Golden Triangle.  New Delhi is India's capital and there are 15 million people who lived there.  We saw a Red Fort and a Sikh temple.  There was a market going on and the streets were completely crowded with people and the things they were selling.  It was amazing.   We also went on a rickshaw ride around part of the city.  There were wild monkeys walking around on the roofs.  We later learned that there were vegetarian monkeys (don't bite), and non-vegetarian monkeys (do bite).

 Agra was the home of the Taj Mahal.  The Taj was actually a tomb, which a king built for his wife.  The king was going to build an identical, black Taj across the river with a silver bridge connecting them, for his own tomb.   It was too bad he couldn't though because of this:  the eldest son was to become king after his father, but the youngest son wanted to be king, so he poisoned his older brother and imprisoned his father!! The new king (youngest son was a very bad leader.  It was just like a story you'd read in a novel!         

(look for the people in the bottom right corner)          (tiger tracks below)

 In Ranthambhore we went on a tiger safari! My grandparents had done it before and they didn't see a tiger, so we didn't have our hopes up.  The first time we went to the park, we didn't see a tiger, but the second time we were luckier.  We saw a tiger, and we saw a leopard!!!  Everyone back at our hotel was telling us how lucky we were.  Our guide told us that his friend had gone on fourteen treks (we went on two) and he didn't see a single tiger or leopard!  It was a frightening but breathtaking experience when the tiger appeared.

   Our last stop was Jaipur, nicknamed the Pink City, because the old city (inside the walls) is all pink!  We took an elephant ride up to the Amber Fort, and all the elephants had their trunks painted in different colors.  It was a very fun experience.

   It was sad for me to leave India, because we had a lot of fun there.  I hope I will be able to go back and visit again.   I loved India for its colorful and exotic nature,    and contrasting people!