We took a comfortable 5 hour train ride in the AC Chair car from Agra to Jaipur for a total cost of about $13 U.S. Upon arrival, we quickly set out to see the sites. During our four days in Jaipur, the Pink City, we were fortunate enough to encounter a great driver to take us around to all the sites. He was even honest enough to go by the taxi stand and get a pay slip so we could be sure we were not overpaying. This is basically the most honest man in India by our account.

We took time to visit the Isarlat Tower to see a great panoramic view of the city, which actually isn’t as pink as we thought it would be. Honestly, it’s more of a beige city. After seeing the view, we headed over to visit the City Palace. City Palace, once a royal residence, is now a really cool museum. It has courtyards and interesting artifacts, as well as a guy who “charms” snakes regularly outside the gate. The beautiful doorways that adorn each entryway around the palace are enough to make anyone want to stay around for hours.

Just across from the City Palace is one of the most interesting and most visited places in all of India. Jantar Mantar is an observatory and planetarium that houses fourteen large geometric devices for measuring time, tracking the positions of stars and planets and predicting eclipses, etc. The instruments were designed by Maharaja Jai Singh II, who was King of Jaipur in the 1700s. He had 5 such observatories built, of which the one in Jaipur is the largest and most famous.

Next on the list in Jaipur was the Palace of Wind, which is a really cool structure that was meant to be shaped like Krishna’s crown. It reminds most people of a honeycomb.

Griffin checked out the Amber Fort for some photo opportunities and we took a brief stop to look at the Jal Mahal, or water palace, which is visible from the main road.

We enjoyed our visit to the Pink City and were also excited to move on to the next city, Jodhpur. Check back soon for info on “The Blue City.”

Experience the warmth of our people during an evening of ceremonial rituals, powerful cultural performance, storytelling & hangi feasting!

One of the things that I was most looking forward to about visiting New Zealand was getting to know a little more about the Maori culture. I had heard little pieces of information about the indigenous people of this beautiful place, and was interested to learn more. Although Maori people make up more than 14% of the population of New Zealand, it is still difficult to get much history about the culture, short of just asking someone.

Then we heard about the Tamaki Maori Village in Rotorua. We quickly signed up for this unique learning experience.

Our bus arrived at our hostel right on time and we were greeted by both the driver and a guide. As we made our way to the village, the passengers formed a tribe and our bus became an ancient canoe that we paddled along the way. A chief was chosen to represent our group and the guide gave us important information about how the Maori people came to be the first inhabiters of New Zealand.

Upon entering the village, three Maori warriors came make sure our tribes came in peace. Once it was established that we meant no harm to the village, we were invited in.

Inside the gate, the village stands much like Maori villages once did. Groups are free to tour around and watch presentations about village life and even participate in a few dances and games if they like. Maori history and culture is alive and well here.

The group was then lead to an outside pavilion area where our dinner was being cooked via geothermal heating in a pit! We watched as lamb, chicken and vegetables were pulled from the ground, smoking hot and smelling amazing!

While dinner was prepared, we were treated to a show like no other. The warriors and women of the tribe put on demonstration after demonstration to show us everything from how to keep rhythm during dances, to how to kill an enemy with a wooden paddle. Photography was encouraged, but who could take their eyes away from this spectacular exhibition?

After a short video about even more Maori history, we were ushered into the dining hall for a feast! The very food we saw pulled from the pit earlier had been prepared, along with other treats, and was set out buffet style before us. I’m a little bit of a picky eater, but there was nothing I didn’t LOVE about this dinner. When desert came, it was more of the same homemade goodness, including a new favorite, Pavlova!

When all hearts and bellies were full, we set off from the village to return to the modern world. Our driver led us on several sing-a-longs that made the time pass all too quickly.

In the end, this was one of my favorite experiences of our travels so far, and is sure to become a fantastic memory of our trip to New Zealand. If you’re visiting New Zealand, I encourage you to give this experience a try. You certainly won’t regret it!

If you want to check out this fantastic experience, you can check out their website here. The tour lasts 3 1/2 hours and they will pick you up from your hotel or hostel. They are awesome about giving discounts, so be sure to check with them beforehand or check with your accommodation staff. You’ll need to book at least a day beforehand and the tours are available 7 days a week. We also highly recommend skipping lunch on the day of your tour! Please let us know if you go!

While living in Bali for a month, I was exploring some of the nearby area one night and came upon some sort of ceremony at one of the nearby temples. Curious to see what was going on, but not wanting to intrude or offend, I hung around near the entrance for a bit and listened and watched as the ceremony progressed. I exchanged smiles with the people going in and out and even tried to ask a few of them what was going on, but most spoke very little English, so I just enjoyed the atmosphere and continued to observe.

Not much time had passed when a very friendly man came and spoke good English and invited me to come in and watch. Up until this point there had been a lot of praying and ceremonious worship going on, so I was a little hesitant and offered that I was not Hindu, but he said that the prayer part was ending and now it was time for a show of some sort, the name of which I cannot remember. He welcomed me into the temple area and introduced me to some of the people there. As it turned out, everyone there was related in one way or another and this was their biannual family gathering. The kind man had to leave to go to his home a good ways away and so introduced me to his cousin Kadek.

Kadek welcomed me just as kindly and, after giving me one of his traditional dresses so I could enter the temple area, even offered to take me in and show me the inside of his family’s temple. We had visited a few temples in Indonesia at this point and I knew that non-Hindus were not supposed to be in the temples, so I politely refused, but was very humbled and touched to have been asked.
The ceremony commenced and was quite a sight to behold as different family members who had been secretly selected came out in full costumes dressed like some of the Balinese gods and demons. They shared stories, told jokes and overall made sure everyone was having a great time. They even made some jokes about me as I was the only white person and maybe wasn’t sitting quite right with my dress spread open or something. It was all in Balinese, so I am not exactly sure but I heard “American” as they motioned towards my legs and then everyone laughed, all in good humor.

I had to leave the ceremony a little earlier than it ended as Valerie was waiting for me at the house, but made sure to give Kadek my email before going so that we could keep in touch. Before I left, he also introduced me to his sister who also spoke perfect english and was a pleasure to meet.

The next day Kadek emailed me and we conversed back and fourth and set up a time to meet again and shared pictures from the ceremony.

A couple days later Kadek let me know that his sister whom I had met at the ceremony was getting married and wanted to know if Valerie and I could come to the wedding. I told him we would be honored and we asked if we could bring food, presents or anything else, but he said having us there was special for them and no presents or food would be needed. He did ask for us to bring our cameras and help document his sister’s special day and we were more than happy and excited to do so.

About a week later we met Kadek at a local supermarket and he showed us the way to his house. He again lent me some traditional dress as well as a headdress this time and also had a dress for Valerie (which she of course looked stunning in;-).

We arrived in the morning before most of the family were there and got to see the beautiful bride as she got ready for her special day as well as all the preparation for the food and drinks for the reception. The ceremony lasted about five or six hours as the Groom arrived and they were blessed by a priest and then the bride went into one room maybe to get advice and things from the women, while the groom stayed outside and was surrounded by elders who seemed to go around the circle giving him advice, sharing stories and maybe just letting him know about what an important role being a husband is and how he should honor and cherish his wife. After this had finished, most people ate the delicious lunch provided, left some offerings in woven baskets and went home. We stayed around for another hour or so as some more ceremonies took place and got a quick picture with Kadek and his girlfriend Acik before heading home to rest at about 3PM.

After we left, the family and the bride and groom were to drive the two hours to the husband’s house and continue the ceremony there until well after diner time. We also were fascinated to learn that part of the ceremony for becoming a husband in Bali meant that the groom has to have his front tooth filed off just a little presumably so others will know he is taken.

We really enjoyed our time in Bali and a lot of it was because of the friendship of Kadek and his family. Many people have visited Bali before and many will visit after us, but one of the things we love about traveling a little slower and with a lot more flexibility in our schedule is amazing friendships and experiences like this one that cannot be planned for, paid for or booked in a tour package. This is one of the main reasons we enjoy travel so much is because of the opportunities to make new friends, experience new cultures and see things from a different perspective. We hope to visit Bali again in the future and when we do, we will look forward to meeting up with Kadek and Acik again and would be honored to have them as guests in our country as well.

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Photos taken using a Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens

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After a good night’s sleep, we headed up to meet our hostel owners and have some breakfast. Krishna, the hostel guy not the Hindu god, gave us the run of the city over eggs and toast.

We decided to book a full day tour of the city with Krisha for the following day, meanwhile taking care of some errands.

Our tour day started early as we made our way to the Ganges River for a sunrise boat ride. As you approach the Ganges, there are several things you will notice immediately. Although the Ganges is the holiest river in India, it isn’t treated very well. Garbage swells in every inlet and touts are everywhere trying to sell you some good karma. As Christians, we’re not too worried about karma, but found it funny when a girl became frustrated with us for not buying her flowers and stated, “Whatever. It’s your life.”

Cows are considered holy by Hindu people, and so are permitted to rome the whole of the country freely, including cooling off in the Ganges. Somehow, I always thought that was a myth, but I can assure you it isn’t. So, in the garbage filled river cows drift happily by.

As our boat driver rowed us silently up river, we approached one of several important places in the life of a devout Hindu. They are called Ghats, or more specifically “burning Ghats.” A Ghat is an embankment along the river, but a burning Ghat is basically a holy crematorium. As a tout told us vying for a guide job, “Burning is learning. Cremation is Education.” According to Hindu beliefs, reincarnation occurs over and over until a person dies in the holy city of Varanasi and is cremated at a burning Ghat along the Ganges river. Unless they have great Karma, this is the only way for a Hindu to finally reach Heaven.

You can see the smoke from the Ghats from several hundred yards away and as you get closer you can see the fires burning. Usually there are at least five bodies burning and several more families waiting with the body of their loved one. The families don’t seem sad at all and instead seem happy and relieved as they go about preparing the body and fire.

We were told that in some cases the bodies aren’t burned, but are simply rowed out to the middle of the river and unceremoniously dropped in. In those cases, the person can still reach heaven, even though they weren’t cremated. Examples include the bodies of children, pregnant women, victims of leprosy or snake bites, holy men and those who commit suicide. We did witness a body being loaded up onto a boat, but we got distracted by a guy trying to sell us something, and then we noticed the boat coming back to shore without the body. When we asked our boat guide about that, he said, “snake bite.”

So, let’s see what we’ve encountered so far. Trash, Cows, ashes and dead bodies… oh, and one more thing… people bathing in the river. Now, I know that this river is “holy,” but bathing in there? I’m quite sure I wouldn’t be caught dead in that river.

After the sunrise river tour, we headed back to our hostel for breakfast. Then headed back out check out the rest of the city.

Our first stop was the largest university in the area, Banaras Hindu University. The university is beautiful and has a unique arched campus. The temple in the front serves as a place of worship for its students.

Next we headed to the Durga Temple, also known as the Monkey Temple. We love a good monkey temple! Hundreds of monkeys came to greet us and stalked everyone for food. Note: no cameras or bags allowed inside.

We visited a local silk factory where we watched as some workers used a loom to hand make embroidered bedding. We were taken to a shop and shown the beautiful silk products available to purchase. Sadly, we couldn’t fit any of the duvet covers into our backpacks. =)

Afterward, we were pretty tired due to our early start time, so we passed up another temple and headed back to our hostel.

The next day we boarded the Indian Railway for New Delhi.

Stay tuned for Part II of our Train Tour of Northern India.

See more of our picture from Varanasi in our SmugMug gallery here.

Travel Points:

Hotel: We stayed at the Sabh Laxmi Guest House in Varanasi. It’s truly a family run place. The food is great and the staff are extremely friendly and even game me a free Henna Tattoo. It’s not that clean, but what it lacks in cleanliness is makes up for in friendliness. The owner knows that the place is run down, and he’s working on it as he has the money to do so. Overall, we recommend it.

Transportation: Train trips can be booked online at cleartrip.com. Be warned, the trains fill up weeks in advanced and should be booked accordingly. For more information about the trains, including types of cars and train routes, check out seat61.com and click on India under the Asia category on the left.

Daily Budget: Our daily budget in Varanasi was around $40 (U.S.) for 4 nights and 3 1/2 days. This includes the following: hostel, taxi from the Nepal boarder to Gorakhpur, train from Gorakhpur to Varanasi, full day tour, all admissions and fees, rickshaws and food.

Photo taken using Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens

While touring North India via the Indian Railroad, we spent some time enjoying the beautiful and detailed architecture of the walled city of Jaisalmer witch is located about 100 miles west of the Pakistan border. While there, we made an afternoon trip out to the Sam Sand Dunes about 1 hour away for sunset.

The dunes are not as expansive as we had hoped and, due to the culture of India, were littered with trash. They were also spotted with people trying to get paid for singing & dancing or selling camel rides, cold drinks or strangely, something we would never really crave in the desert from our experience – potato chips.

Because of all this, it was not as beautiful or as peaceful as we might have hoped a subset sand dunes visit would be, but it was a unique Indian experience all the same and, we felt, worth a visit if you are in the area.
The picture here is of one of the dancing women with a boy selling potato chips from his bag walking towards some other travelers to offer their services in hopes of making some money for the day.

Travel Photo Of The Week Sponsored By Tamron USA.

For more information about Tamron and the lenses we use, check out our sponsors page here.

Photo taken using Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens

While in Varanasi, India, we were told about a religious ceremony that happens every night in one of the ghats on the Ganges. We decided to go check it out one night and were quite surprised at what a production it was.

There were 7 young men all performing the same rituals while music and bells were join on in the background. The ceremony starts around 7PM and last about an hour. If you come to the ghat before 6PM you can usually get “free” seats at on of the temples for a good view but will be asked to give a donation at the end. We decided not to go for the donation seats, but were able to get a decent views even after showing up at about 5 minutes after 7.
Valerie has written a post about Varanasi that we will post soon, but for now, let’s just say it is a very interesting city.

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For more information about Tamron and the lenses we use, check out our sponsors page here.

Photo taken using Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical [IF]

For our last week in Korea, we were excited to have some family and a friend come visit as we took a final tour of Korea with them.  We visited the markets of Busan, the historical temples and palaces of Gyongju, Our home and schools in Ulsan and did some sightseeing in Seoul before heading out.  In Busan we stayed in a hotel right next to Nampo Dong Market and the Jalgashi Fish Market.  One of the Ajjumas (middle aged woman) in Jalgachi was kind enough to pose for me as I snapped a picture of her fish.

We are already missing many things about Korea.  First and foremost we miss the friends we left behind there.  Some other, much less meaningful things we miss are fast internet, and reliable power/infrastructure which we have found to be lacking in Nepal and India in many cities so far.

Travel Photo Of The Week Sponsored By Tamron USA.

For more information about Tamron and the lenses we use, check out our sponsors page here.

Photo taken using Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical [IF]

After a brief, but enjoyable time in Malaysia, we headed out to Kathmandu, Nepal where we are getting ready to climb to Everest Base Camp. We had initially given ourselves a few days to get everything in order and then head up the mountain, but Griffin’s camera broke on our last day in Malaysia. It has some kind of software error and all the repair shops in Kathmandu are closed due to the biggest festival of the year here, so we have been in the city for about a week, so far. Kathmandu is an interesting city to explore. Lots of noises, sights, and smells, but not all of them very peaceful or enjoyable to put it lightly. There is a lot of history to be seen and some of the buildings have real charm to them. The people here, from our experience so far, are very kind and helpful and even in the touristy area of Thamel where our hostel is, seem to genuinely appreciate and like talking to us as visitors and friends.
This week’s travel photo is of the man in charge of selling candles at one of the many Hindu temples sprinkled throughout Kathmandu. I chose to photograph him because I felt like he had a kind look to him and the lighting from the candles seems to light up his features and age nicely. I wonder what sort of things he has seen in his lifetime and the changes he has seen in Kathmandu since his birth. The Hindu devotees give a donation to the candle lighter and then put the candle in front of one of the temple idols, possibly saying a prayer in the process. Sorry, I don’t know much about Hinduism, so feel free to let us know more info in the comments if you know more about it.
This photo was taken with the Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical [IF] lens which is the first wide angle lens I have had and I am really enjoying it. I feel like it pulls the scene into the camera and shows more of what you can see in reality than an 18mm lens can. Hope you enjoy.

Travel Photo Of The Week Sponsored By Tamron USA.

For more information about Tamron and the lenses we use, check out our sponsors page here.