Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his third wife. Construction began in 1631 and was completed 22 years later. The building, which is a UNESCO site and is often considered one of the seven wonders of the world, and its surrounding gardens, are almost perfect in their symmetry, the only piece out of place is the burial site of Shah Jahan, who is placed off center of his wife.

the view through the main gate

the view immediately inside the main gate

the Taj Mahal and I

looking back towards the main gate

the details carved into the marble

notice the shoe covers I was required to wear

Agra Fort

Agra was once the capital of India. Now only with a population of a little over two million people, the city is small compared to the over much more populated cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, and Bangalore to name a few.

Agra Fort is similar to the Red Fort in Delhi, both of which were built for the same purposes and out of the same red sandstone materiel. These forts were where the Mughal emperors of the time would live, govern, and house their armies. There is still a large percentage of Agra Fort that the Indian Army utilizes.

the Taj Mahal can be seen from Agra Fort

the entrance to Agra Fort

Hindi

Hindi is the name of the most commonly spoken language in India. It is the national language of the country along with English. Most people I've found only speak Hindi. Whether or not someone knows English depends on what school they attended. Some schools only teach in Hindi with Hindi textbooks, whereas other schools-usually the more expensive and at times Catholic schools-teach the almost all of the subjects in English.

Roads In Indian Cities

Generally, there is trash everywhere and all of the buildings are falling apart. It is crowded and many people are living on the streets. There is rubble and exposed wires everywhere. Also, traffic throughout the city is crazy. No one follows the rules. It's basically a free for all. People go the wrong way, pedestrians walk in the middle of the streets, rickshaws, bikes, carts, cows, pigs, sometimes monkeys, occasionally camels, and definitely stray dogs inhabit the roads. There are random constructions project that are either being worked on, or have simply been abandoned, but regardless, there is no sort of warning, signage, or orange traffic cones in order to inform the public. If one isn't careful, he or she could very easily end up walking into a hole or tripping over a pile of bricks. In order to successfully drive in India, one of my tour guides told me three things are required, good brakes, a good horn, and good luck. Thank goodness we have the laws, regulations, and codes we do in the United States and thank goodness people actually follow them.

the inside of an auto rickshaw

rubbish and a regular rickshaw 

exposed wire, carts, motorbikes filled beyond recommended capacity

old falling apart buildings

the view while on a rickshaw

people selling things in the middle of a road

a random construction project

more people and auto rickshaws

a camel powered cart

water buffalo in the middle of the street

another rickshaw operator

Indian Rupees

The name of the currency in India is the rupee. Currently 1 USD is about 63 rupees (INR). All INR banknotes feature Mahatma Gandhi, the famous leader of the Indian independence movement.

The 1600 rupees here is worth about $25

The 1600 rupees here is worth about $25

India Gate

The India Gate is similar is design to other famous arches like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris or the Arch of Constantine in Rome. It is a war memorial dedicated to those of the undivided British Indian Army who died during WWI and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. Around 82,000 people from this army died during these conflicts.

Humayun's Tomb

Humayun's Tomb is sometimes called the predecessor to the Taj Mahal. The Mughal Emporer Humayun is buried here in this mausoleum. This building is a great example of Mughal architecture. Interestingly, the architect was Persian. This was the first garden tomb on the Indian sub-continent. It was built in the mid 16th century.

Red Fort

The Red Fort is impressive complex made of red sandstone. This was the where the Mughal Emperor of India lived for about 200 years starting in the mid 1600's. Every August 15th, Independence Day of India, the prime minister of the country (the current Prime Minister is Narendra Modi) hoists the flag and delivers a speech.

above the main entrance of the fort

notice the height and thickness of the fort's outer walls

decorations on some of the inner walls

here the wind was blowing strong enough that the Indian flag can be seen slightly better

Qutab Minar

The Qutab Minar is one of Delhi's three UNESCO sites. It is the second tallest minar in India, is almost 73 meters high, is made of red sandstone and marble, and was completed in the mid 1300's after over 100 years of construction.

the minar from mid-range. if you look closely you can compare the size of it to the bystanders

looking up at it. notice the different colors of stone

the Arabic inscriptions on the minar

other ruins of buildings located around the minar

the details carved into some of the columns of the nearby buildings

Qutab Minar selfie

the minar and I from a distance

Scuba Diving at the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the natural wonders of the world. Tours leave Cairns every day. People can go snorkeling, scuba diving, or simply cruise along on a glass bottom boat. The amount of biodiversity in the reef is breathtaking. I saw fish I had never even seen in aquariums or in science textbooks. There are also many varieties of coral. The entire Great Barrier Reef is made up of close to 3,000 individual reefs.

the mask I wore

the oxygen tank that is used when scuba diving. here you can see how large it is compared to the diving instructor's leg

people snorkeling. notice the difference in water color where the reef is

people getting their scuba equipment put on while sitting on the platform at the back of the boat

sporting the wetsuit I wore. again notice the difference in water color

holding on to the rope that the boat was anchored on while I practiced breathing through the apparatus and edged deeper and deeper into the ocean

underwater in all of my equipment. I did two dive. each lasted about 25 minutes. the furthest I went down was about 10 meters