Photo Diary * The Golden Triangle Pt II
This is a series on the three cities that make the Golden Triangle in North India - Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. You can view Part I here.
For all the times I have visited India, I had never been to Agra to see the Taj Majal. My mother had said that if we were taking Jack all the way across the globe, we had to see this wonder of the world. I had heard mixed things about seeing the Taj Mahal in person - it's crowded, it's not as beautiful as you would think, there's too long of a line to get in - but any preconceived notions I had disappeared immediately on arrival.
I found the Taj Mahal to be absolutely spectacular - a monument of love and a testament to Mughal architecture, engineering and design.
From Agra, we drove through the Rajasthani countryside to Jaipur. I love taking long car rides in India, I much prefer driving or taking the train to flying. Passing through villages, stopping for tea and fruit, seeing children on the way back from school, the cows moving gently with their calves. As someone who grew up in a small, rural area in the US, I feel extra connected to the quiet parts of India. Despite having lived in NYC and now in LA, I feel way more like a country mouse than a city mouse.
One of the most incredible sites we saw in Rajasthan was the Chand Baori Stepwell in the village of Abhaneri. The stepwell is dated to the 8th or 9th century CE and extends 100 feet into the ground, with geometric precision on every level. Stepwells are unique to Rajasthan - from my knowledge, they aren't seen in other parts of India. They served as watering holes, a place to bathe, to cool off, perhaps to swap stories. They were for the community.
We were most delighted by all the parakeets flitting about.
