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India 9 – Varanasi 2 – City of Light

In addition to being known as the city of Death, Varanasi is also called the City of Light, and renowned as a city of learning for centuries. In ancient India, its name is derived from the Sanskrit verbal root Kashi, meaning “to shine”. The city has 8 universities imparting traditional religious education. Also, many come to study philosophy, Sanskrit, astrology, as well as modern sciences. This city has a 79.2% literacy rate, compared to 79% in the USA. Varanasi is considered one of the oldest cities in the world (at least 10,000 years old) and you can see the ancient architectural styles as you float along the river.

Ganges River is a source of water to 40% of the people in India, and is considered a lifeline in India. It is sacred to Hindus and has many cultural and practical significance. For some people, it’s their livelihood, including bringing food to market up and down the river, source of many jobs (including our boat captain), cremation, cleaning. For others, it’s their place for socialization and for others, it’s a place for meditation. More significant is that the fertile soil grows the crops that serve the area. Yet, it is threatened by severe pollution. Hopefully the Indian people will rally to clean up their river.

Varanasi is also known as the spiritual capital of India and the birthplace of Buddhism, where Buddha conducted his first sermon at a Buddhist Center called Sarnath. Around the Buddhist Temple are many educational phrases on placards (upper left and lower right). Currently, 80% of the Indians are Hindu, 14.2% Muslim, 2.3% Christian, and 0.7 % Buddhist. The balance includes Jain, Sikhs and other smaller groups.

India is comprised of 14.2% muslim, and we had a chance to see a mosque which is nicknamed “Baby Taj” (right), designed by the same architect as the Taj Mahal. There were great reflections, and we learned the reverence of ayatollahs from Iraq and Iran (middle left). The fastest growing religion in India is Muslim, primarily people from Pakistan.

Varanasi is a center of arts, crafts, music and dance. Its musicians and dancers have gained international fame. Varanasi is considered the cultural capital of India, and famous for its saris, gold and silver jewelry, and opulent embroidery, as well as dance and music. We were introduced to the classical Kathak Indian dance form above, which was astoundingly mesmerizing. When the dancer performed, her movement was characteristic of flamenco dancing combined with tap dancing, but she was barefoot, slapping the white marble floor instead of hard sole dance shoes with metal taps. Incredible. Watch the video below to see and hear her in motion.

Varanasi is such a diverse city with something for everyone. In 2023 it was declared as the first Cultural & Tourism Capital of SCO. This designation will be a boost in tourism and showcases what this city offers. We saw very few western and Asian tourists in this city. Most appeared to be pilgrims visiting from other parts of India, and we enjoyed seeing many characters.

We admired how ornately dressed the Indian women are when they are in public. We also found that women are fully dressed when they go down to the Ganges to cleanse their souls. (left middle)

What is always fascinating is the huge loads that are carried by bicycles around the country.

This is the final blog for the Ultimate India Photo Tour with Fantastic Tours We want to thank Mehmet and our guides, Singh, for showing us places we would never have explored on our own. Next stop is Gujarat, located on the western coast of India, for our second tour of India this year.

Classical Kathak Indian dance, Varanasi, India, performed by local artist. We were surprisingly impressed when watching her perform in a private show for our group.

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India 8 – Varanasi 1 – City of Death

Varanasi is considered the religious capital of India and the mecca for Hindus. This is where many Hindus come to die and where they want to be cremated, since those who believe in reincarnation believe that it will free them from the cycle of rebirth and lead to salvation. Imagine not having to return in the next life as a scorpion or a pet monkey. It may be worth the pilgrimage. Varanasi is also known as the City of Death, where about 100 people are cremated daily. The corpses are carried through the streets to the death ghats (cremation platforms) leading down to the holy Ganges River. The great cremation ground is known as Manikarnika Ghat and can be seen above throwing out the most smoke (top right).

Hindu cremation rituals are quite public and have become quite a touristy event, with people on charter boats wearing life jackets rowing past (top right) numerous and simultaneous burns. We did not hear chanting nor drums beating, nor gasps of shock and awe though, so it appears quite respectful. There are also long cues of dead bodies waiting for their turn to be cremated in several locations along the Ganges River (Top Left). The ritual includes taking bodies to the riverbank, blessed with holy water from the Ganges by a priest (bottom left). Once cremated, their ashes are released into the sacred Ganges River. Beforehand, families negotiate the amount of wood needed for 3-4 hours needed to turn a body into ash, and negotiate with a priest to bring the special fire from the temple to light the pyre. Boats with tourists go up and down the Ganges to witness these spectacles, as Varanasi is considered an extremely holy site. There is more relief than grief.

The Ganga Aarti is a devotional ceremony that takes place both night and morning and performed by priests every day. At dusk, thousands of people as well as hundreds of boats from canoes to party boats crowd around the ghats (platform) where 7 priests perform the traditional rituals. “Amid blowing of conch shells, the ringing of several bells, the clanging of brass cymbals and the chanting chorus of mantras, the priests venerate Ganga, the lifeline of Varanasi, with brass lamps that rise several tiers”. This ceremony offers fire to the gods and it is a spectacle not to be missed. See video below to get a flavor of the experience.

It is SO crowded on the river that the boatmen are accustomed to wedging themselves in for the show, and people are walking across boats to get closer to the performance or sell their wares or food. We saw a girl selling balloons, who would jump across several boats (bottom right). Another priest was offering blessings, marking clients with color on their foreheads, lit in candlelight as he traversed across several boats. Boatmen were constantly pushing other boats away from crashing into each other, yet even with hundreds of boats all jammed together, it all seemed so normal to be this crowded together.

Varanasi is the holiest city in India and one of the top seven cities for Hindu pilgrimages worldwide. People can be seen bathing along the holy Ganges River to wash away their sins. Approximately 81% of Indians are Hindu. The water in the Ganges River is reported to have 25 times more oxygen than any other in the world, and thus has purifying powers. For Hindus, they believe that life is incomplete until they have bathed in the Ganges at least once in their lifetime. The Ganges is ranked as the 5th most polluted river in the world. No, we did not step into the river.

Veranasi is also considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. After attending the sunrise ritual, we toured the market area. There were lots of activities, including family members hiring priests to perform blessings for their deceased, meditation, and private family ceremonies.

Priests in Varanasi perform the Ganges Aarti ceremony every day. This video was shot before sunrise on shore, and the show is mesmerizing. Tourists worldwide come to experience this performance and absorb the spiritualism and energy, which is unlike anywhere in the world.
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India 7 – Taj Majal & Agra

When you think of India, the image of the Taj Mahal emerges near the top. A UNESCO World Heritage Center and one of the new seven wonders of the world, the tourists line up starting around 5 AM. It’s considered the greatest love monument ever constructed. Taj Mahal, Crown of the Palace, is an ivory white marble mausoleum built in 1643 for the wife of a maharaja, then a tomb for himself. It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983 for being the jewel of islamic art in India and considered regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture. More than 8 million people visit the Taj each year, and the Taj is in the most recent new Wonders of the World. It has been photographed so often that our challenge was to add something unique and distinctive.

The top image is what most tourists see at sunrise, the beautiful dome with crowds of people. When entering, there’s a security line, and men and women are in separate lines, getting patted down. The alternate image (lower-left) is right across the river, unknown to most except the locals. Farmers, motorbikes, and locals walking home were all using the road for every day, living with the monument in the background. On the lower-right is a shot with the Indian flag.

Here are some more interesting images of the Taj that we captured this time. When you want reflections, you can bring your own bottle of water and create your own tiny pool (Top Left). Then there’s framing the building with other architectural features across a courtyard (top right), using leading lines toward sunset (bottom left), and the straight shot from across the river. Of interest, the four minarets were designed to tilt away from the dome in case of a disaster, and not fall into the dome. By getting in line well before dawn and beating the crowd, we were able to capture a number of images without tourists.

Unfortunately, the river in front of the Taj is full of garbage, which is a major eye sore throughout India. With so many people needing work, it seems like setting a goal of clean and green could be a tremendous boost for tourism and help create jobs in India, which has become the most populous country. Unfortunately, 83 of the cities in India have been designated the most polluted in the top 100 list in the world. It took China a decade to clean up their air quality, and get off the list.

In the past, you could hire a boatmen to take you on a sunset ride in front of the Taj. Now, there are boundaries controlled by the coast guard where no boats can enter in front of the Taj for security reasons. Mehmet managed to hire one old boat captain with a rickety wooden boat, where he was baling excess water from the bottom of the boat before we arrived. There were no seats except literally sitting on the top deck of the boat(with no benches nor seats), and the balance was sensitive. To capture the reflections, only one person was allowed to stand at a time, and the boat would rock, and we worried whether we would fall off into the current. There was a strong current, so it was not an easy task for the boat captain to get back to the other side of the river. Apparently, he has no mobile phone, nor any easy way to contact him, and he does not legally have a permit. He is unofficially “grandfathered” in, and guards turn a blind eye to his small daily trips out to the river. The location with the Taj in the background was great for instagrammers and wedding shoots. The TV show the Amazing Race Film Crew was there, setting up to film their next segment.

Nearby was a marble shop demonstrating how precious stones are inserted into the marble. This shop follows the traditions originally used by the Taj Mahal creators. Each stone is finely ground (top-middle). When the artist showed us the gem (upper-right), I was amazed at tiny the piece was. It is then precisely placed onto the piece being created (upper-left), to result in a finished product, such as seen lower-left.

Of course, we had to have our own memories of the Taj Mahal, so we bought this cutting board (lower-right).

Chand Baori step well is one of the largest and deepest step wells in India. There are 3500 steps leading down this 13-story well, with a palace on the back side.l As mentioned before, we had never heard of step wells until this trip, and they turn out to be architectural masterpieces. Mehmet was always searching for models to walk up and down the stairs to show the scale, though many of the wells had barriers and guards to prevent anyone from entering the steps.

These people were hanging out next to the Stepwell. The boys were in a contest wanting us to take their photos (lower-left).

Agra was once the capital city of India, so you will enjoy seeing forts, mausoleums, and other monuments. In Agra is the Agra Fort, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal Dynasty until 1638.

We last visited the Taj Mahal in 1995, before we got serious about photography. This time we were able to see this monument from many more viewpoints, including one where we walked across nylon fighting kite strings across the field to see reflections of the Taj on a river filled with garbage (the string and garbage was carefully edited out of the photos we shared).

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India 6 – Ranthambore Bengal Tiger

Seeing a Royal Bengal Tiger in the wild, a fantasy or reality? At the Ranthambore National Park Tiger Reserve near Jaipur, we spotted our first wild tiger by sheer luck and Mehmet’s lucky bangles. After three 3-hour game drives, we had all given up since the park closed in 30 minutes. Our guide got a phone call, which is not allowed, and asked us to hang onto our seat belts. After bouncing over the long dirt road, we spotted four jeeps all lined up on the bridge, which meant there was no place for another jeep. One by one, the jeeps started to leave, which meant the tiger was leaving. From our obscured position, all we could see was brush moving and heard roaring sounds. We were deflated. The driver took us to paths they anticipated the tiger might travel, but no luck.

Finally, driving back toward the bridge, the driver saw tiger tracks and yells out that he thinks the tiger moved across the road. We flipped a U-turn and turned down a side road, and there was our tiger standing on the road, marking its territory, then finally walking away! It was an incredible shock to see a tiger totally unobstructed. We felt so very lucky, after almost giving up hope of ever seeing one at the end of the third game drive.

Being able to see a Bengal Tiger in the wild is like winning the Lottery. Ranthanbore National Park has one of the more complex game drive system we’ve encountered. We were told this was the same system for all Indian Tiger Reserves. Apparently, the ticket counter opens at 9:00 am for the morning drive, and ticket holders get in iine to get their assigned guide and jeep (+driver), which may take another 30 minutes. You cannot make a request for a specific driver nor guide nor route. Then you get assigned one of 20+ trails by a random generator, and cannot deviate. It is rumored that it is more likely you will see a tiger in zones 1-6, so we were deflated to get assigned zone 11. A couple of times, we were within 200 meters of a spotted tiger in the adjacent zone, yet chains and cameras prevented the drivers from crossing their assigned zone without substantial penalties. There are also rules where you cannot do a u-turn to return to a site, so we saw several jeeps driving backwards. You also need to check out on time, even if the ticket office delayed your start time.

There are fewer than 75 Royal Bengal Tigers , the largest and most majestic species, in existence in the wild in the world. They are scattered in this 515-acre park, of which only 20% of the park is accessible to the public. Note that each tiger is territorial, so there has been a naming system developed. Our tigress above was named Aishwarya, and is recognizable by her different shaped eye. When we finally caught up with our other jeep, they found the tigress perched on a hill (center bottom), watching some deer below, who were unaware of the tigress’s presence.

There are many types of animals you can see along the way. For the most part, we had tiger on our minds and determined to spend most of our time searching for the elusive tiger. Every drive started with seeing the cute tree owls (top row). There were hundreds of little birds everywhere we turned. Ranhambore is one of the largest national parks in Northern India, and was once considered as one of the major hunting grounds of the maharajas.

Other animals along the way included monkeys, crocodiles, spotted deer, sloth bears, sambar deer (the favorite meat of the tigers), wild boars, squirrels, mongooses, and other mammals. Going on a game drive is not as romantic as it sounds. It involves miles of boring driving around on a dusty bumpy road seeing nothing but whichever animal randomly crosses the road, because the jeeps cannot go off road. Occasionally, you spot an animal or bird that is close to the road and unobstructed by tree branches and brush. Being in the wild, the animals have no set times when they cross the roads, and you can easily miss seeing an animal within minutes, since there’s no communication for the drivers to contact other drivers to locate the animals. Then, you’re not allowed to deviate from your assigned route, even to an adjacent zone. This is SO different than our experience in Africa.

Our group had two jeeps with two rows of seats, plus the driver and guide in front. This image shows Tim with his large lens, while Alene looks on.

When doing the game drives, this is the type of environment we found. Mostly barren, which allows the best unobstructed animal viewing. There are few places for the animals to hide.

Interesting items we found in some of the shops in Pushkar.

Enroute to the National Park, we stopped at Pushkar. It has changed a lot since our last visit. When we attended the Pushkar Camel Festival in 1995, the streets were not yet paved and the vendors were not as well organized.

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India 5 – Jaipur, The Pink City

Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan and holds the distinction of being the first planned city in India. It is also called the “Pink City” and is a destination for romance. This metropolis combines the advantages of a new city with the charm of an ancient heritage city. It has magnificent palaces, forts, temples, parks, and step wells. In addition to the heritage and rich history, Jaipur is also known for their textiles and colored gems. As mentioned before, we visited Jaipur in 1995 enroute to see the Pushkar camel fair and only remember seeing Hawa Mahal and the silly tourist elephants riding up to the fort. It’s funny how you can return to the same place and not recognize it.

Above are images of the Amber Fort. Perched high on a hill, it is the principal tourist attraction in Jaipur. Amber Palace and Amber Fort are considered as one destination. Both structures are connected by an underground path which was built as an escape for the Royal Family.

We just got introduced to our first stepwell in Rajasthan. We had no clue these architectural gems existed. It turns out that Stepwells are wells, cisterns or ponds with a long corridor of steps that go down to the water level. These structures are quite ingenious in a desert environment or under drought conditions, and provided year-round access to ground water in ancient times. They were often quite decorated with ornate designs, and became monuments. We saw our first stepwell in Jaipur, Panna Meena Ka Kund, which was built in the 16th Century to store water. Located near the Amber Fort, it is an 8-story gem. It’s quite an engineering feat as it appears endless and is quite mesmerizing. It is now closed for people to walk down due to a tragic fall by a visitor.

Here are some views from Jal Mahal, a stunning palace known for its unique architectural beauty and picturesque setting on a lake with strong reflections, as well as images from the interiors of the Amber Palace.

You can walk up to the Amber Fort or ride an elephant up on baskets. There are also wonderful musicians with their hat out to collect donations.

Jaipir is known for their textiles, so we saw several demos by craftsmen. This is one form. The cloth material is embedded with crystals that change color with time. In normal production, the stamped cloth is placed in the sun for up to two weeks to reveal the final pattern. This demonstration used special solutions to speed up the process.

The artist first uses a single color dye on a stamp (upper left), and shows us the red elephant scene (second row-left). After rinsing the cloth to accelerate the normal sunshine treatment (third row-left), he cleans it with water (bottom-left), then holds up the image in its final multi-color form (right).

Local Markets have a lot of crafts and textiles for sale.

Hawa Mahal is a 5-story palace adjacent to the royal ladies quarters. Built out of red and pink sandstone, there are 953 windows, where the royal ladies could peek at life outside the palace, including seeing parades and local people without themselves being seen.

In 1995, we only saw the facade in a mid-afternoon harsh light. This time, we had a chance to climb up to a restaurant across the street as well as steps inside, to see the palace from different perspectives. It looks somewhat like a honeycomb and considered a must-see when you visit Jaipur.

Indian women dress well, even when they’re out in the field. These were women that we stopped to photograph enroute to Jaipur (bottom). It’s always startling and jaw-dropping seeing how bulk items are transported along the roads in India (top).

In a city known for their textiles, Evelyn decided to see the different ways to wear scarves.

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India 4 – Jodhpur, The Blue City

Jodhpur is the second largest city in Rajasthan and popularly known as the Blue City of India, for its blue painted buildings in the old districts. Jodhpur is also filled with forts, temples, palaces, murals, friendly people, havelis(mansions with historic and architectural significance), and located in the arid Thar Desert. It is a strategic military site for the Indian Air Force, as it is only 250 km from the Pakistan border. Jodhpur has a population of more than a million and now declared as a metropolitan city.

We last visited Jodhpur in 1995, but didn’t see the same places. It is amazing how having a different focus gets you to see more. Back in 1995, wee were on a trekking tour to see the Pushkar Camel Fair, and on this tour, we were on a photographic mission to discover many of the hidden visual gems from a totally different perspective and under great light conditions. We frequently skip regular meals times on this type of trip, to capture the best light.

Above is an image of our photo group shooting from the hill facing towards Jaswant Thada, an architectural marvel made out of intricately carved white marble and known as the Taj Mahal of Marwar. It was built as a memorial to the Maharaja Jaswant Singh II, and a graveyard site for the subsequent Marwar rulers.

At sunrise, you can see the white marble masterpiece in the foreground with the Mehrangarh Fort located above at the highest point overlooking the city. In the late afternoon, we again photographed the view over the Blue City with the Mehrangarh Fort in the background.

We then went to the neighborhood located at the very end of the Blue City. There is a helmet law for people on motorbikes, but it is ignored by about half the riders. In particular, it is common to see a single motorcycle with entire families including as many as 3 children plus 2 adults… and no helmet in sight. We did see two collisions between cars and motorcycles, but they were always low speed accidents where the there was never more than a bruise or two resulting. After some harsh words between the drivers, both always went on their way.

Continuous horns can be heard. We have heard many explanations for the constant honking. First we were told there is a law that if a car hits a pedestrian but honks first, the car is not at fault, since the pedestrian was warned. However, I can find no verification of such a law, and one driver told me that the driver is automatically at fault in any such collision, regardless of circumstances. Others have said (and personal experience supports) that it is a way to notify others nearby that you are there. Given the chaotic driving, where lanes are totally ignored as vehicles go in every possible direction, there is some logic to that. And there, there is the simple frustration fact. Traffic in India is almost always at a logjam and standstill, and people honk when they are angry at the delay — just as they do in New York or any other city in the world.

In short, India is a very noisy place. Do not expect to find much quiet anywhere in the cities here…!

Carrying large loads is often a balancing act. You will sometimes see a large flatbed cart filled with bags and wonder how any person can push it. More often though, the streets are so crowded that the people just carry their large loads on their heads, as they weave through the heavy street traffic. Though large loads are usually balanced with at least one hand (top row and lower-left), we also often saw people (usually women) walking with perfect poise and balancing their load on the head with no support from any hands.

We toured the neighborhood that is popularly known as the Blue City. The neighborhood was once painted exclusively blue as a visible symbol of the caste of those living there. The rule requiring such obvious display of caste has been abolished though, and many people chose to change the color of their buildings. As such, blue buildings are now only found in small clusters. It is another chaotic part of the city, filled with people, motorbikes, tuk tuks and cars. Pedestrians beware.

in Jodhpur, we photographed the vibrant market known as Sardar Market. This is also the neighborhood located in the very beginning of the Blue City. You see lots of fresh produce and large vats of street food being prepared at the market.

Everything is for sale, from fresh fruits and vegetable to dry goods. We have seen open markets like this worldwide.

Many handicrafts were being made in small stalls along the way, with the artisans happy to demonstrate their techniques, hoping you will then buy some of their wares. Above are a few artisans weaving baskets or decorating clay pots.

Universally, you can see the loving parent and child bond. In India, we noticed a lot of children and very young people. Nearly half of the country’s population is below the age of 25. Also, 25% of the population are in the 0-14 year old category. This year, India surpassed China as the #1 most populous country. India’s GDP is growing around 7% a year, yet you wonder where so many young people will find jobs in the future.

The women in India always dress quite well. They dress up to go to the market, getting water from the well, and even when they’re working in the agricultural fields. You continually see a display of bright colors and beautiful embroidery in traditional clothing whenever you visit the local markets. The men, on the other hand, are generally dressed in drab, western pants and shirts.

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India 3 – Amritsar – Golden Temple and Border Ceremony

One of the highlights of our trip to India was seeing The Golden Temple in Amritsar. Amritsar is the center of Sikhism, and the Harmabdir Sahib (aka the Golden Temple) is the holiest shrine in Sikhism. It is the chief pilgrimage destination of the Sikhs living abroad and outside the city. Amritsar is the heart of the state of Punjab and the second largest city in Punjab housing 1.4 million people located in Northern India. There are more than 150,000 visitors who come to worship daily.

We visited both at sunset and again the following sunrise, hoping to capture some quieter moments. We often target our destination visits during the golden hour and the Blue Hour, to capture the best light. The Golden Hour is the hour after sunrise and before sundown, while the Blue Hour is a bit before sunrise and after sunset (so called caused because the sky turns into a deep blue to the camera).

It is a long way to walk before reaching the Sikh complex. We had to take a tuk tuk from our bus to the boundary of the town, then walk through the town. It is quite crowded on the streets, before you reach the entrance of the Golden Tempe. Once you reach the Temple, neither socks nor shoes are allowed due to the religion’s requirement of purification and sanitation. The water through which you must walk bare-foot is cold and slimy, and the marble slippery. As such, westerners like us pause before stepping across the threshold. After passing through the purification pool, you must walk barefoot directly on the cold marble or the walking mats for the remainder to your time in the temple. If you are not accustomed to walking on hard, cold marble, your feet will tell you the next day

Once inside the temple grounds, we walked the circumference of the pool to get our bearings and decide which would provide the best night-time angles. The complex is quite large, and the block of images above are only a portion of the images we captured after the sun went down and the lights went on.

Right around 6:30 pm, the building lights are slowly turned on, and the complex slowly lights up, until you see mesmerizing building reflections on the pond. It seems surreal, especially against a dark, blue sky. The pond in front of the Golden Temple is called Amrit Samovar, or the Pool of Nectar Immortality.

There are security guards all dressed in blue with their javelins (top-left) who appreciated posing for the tourists around the temple.

We returned the following morning to capture images without as many people in the scene. The Sikh religion prides itself on community service, and one of its most visible works is feeding the poor every day. Anyone can walk in and ask for a free meal, regardless of your origin or religious beliefs. We first stopped in their community kitchen to watch them cook these meals and hand them out to anyone who asked. It was raining when we left the community kitchen to watch the cleansing ritual, and the tile was extremely slippery, especially around the bathing area.

Devotees dip into the holy manmade pool known as Amrit Sarovar, and the water is believed to have healing powers. Women come in fully clothed, whereas men don bathing shorts and robes. Many also hold a heavy chain to lower themselves into the water. The turbans above are decked out with a small machete on top. This Sikhs welcome women as well as outsiders to bathe in the pool.

Anyone can take a dip in Samovar (pool of nectar), but the use of soap and shampoo is prohibited as is swimming. Before entering the Temple, an important step is washing your feet to keep the floors clean.

Pilgrams come to pray at the holy shrine 24/7, and many sit along the edge of the pond to pray and meditate. After 3:00 AM, the crowds have dissipated. This is a spiritual pilgrimage site, holy and pure, and in the early morning hours, the reflections of the buildings and energy are incredible. A note that the Temple is built with marble but plated with real gold.

Every day is a colorful, boisterous ceremony of the changing of the guards at the border crossing between India and Pakistan, called Atari-Wagah Border Ceremony. Just before sunset there is a blustery parade by Border Security Forces from both countries, which ends with the lowering of the flags for both sides. It feels like watching a finale at a high school football game, with both sides cheering. Even the cheer-leading patrol soldiers get into it by high stepping then leading the crowds to chants.

The Indian crowds can be seen in the left column, while the right column includes a few images of the military that was keeping order in our part of the stands (where the foreigners received premium seating).

The Changing of the Guard is a highly choreographed event held daily by both the Indian and Pakistani armies on their sides of the border gate. Though our seats were considered premium, it was actually hard to see much of what was going on, due to the copious security fences places around the parade grounds.

Both sides emphasized much high-stepping marching, with the solder’s foot reaching all the way to his nose. We could barely see through the Pakistani side, though a small gap in the security gate allowed the image of their building (top-middle), The Pakistani also had a one-legged person doing some whirling dervish dancing, though we were barely able to see it from our side (top-left).

In essence, there were no photo taking opportunity like the event documentation we saw on YouTube, which was clearly shot from the stands above. That excellent view of the events was blocked off and only only available to military VIPs.

The audience was boisterous through the entire event. Many of them showed their patriotism by painting Indian flags on their faces.

Attari-Wagah Border Ceremony at the India/Pakistan border , also called Beating Retreat border ceremony. Because of crowd control, we were not able to move away from our assigned seats, but this video hopefully can show the atmosphere of the ceremony.

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India 2 – Old Dehli

The sounds of honking motorbikes, tuk tuks (auto rickshaws), and cars were incessant in Old Dehli. We were told that if a vehicle honks its horn and there’s an accident, then the driver is not at fault, since he warned the other person. People say to the other party that they’re sorry and move on or simply hit and run. The traffic was chaotic, and it’s a wonder why there are not more collisions and incidences with serious injuries. Many times, we were gently pushed aside while walking down the alleys as two tuks tuks were trying to get by from opposite directions down alleys meant for only one vehicle. Of course, the motorbikes simply went in-between both. See video clip below for a sense of the traffic.

Old Dehli is the most historic part of Dehli, while New Dehli was designed by the British during colonial times. Old Dehli officially became New Dehli on 13 February 1931. The British destroyed membrances of the old moghal past by destroying mosques, gardens and other historic features during its rule.

Dehli was destroyed 7 times through its history. However you can still see parts of the walled city and the fort. The older part of Dehli is quite colorful and photogenic. Just don’t get caught in the line of rickshaws carrying 72 tourists from Trump supporters coming the opposite direction! (yes, they came through as a caravan of 36 tuk-tuks, totally bringing all traffic in the narrow alleys to a standstill)

There are many street food eateries to try out — if you have the nerve to do so. We took a street food tour on an earlier visit to India in 2019 and were assured at the time that each eatery had been vetted, and sanitized, and did not get sick.

Some of the alleys had so many electric lines running above ground, that it was a photographic moment (upper-left). You can still see people getting their ears cleaned (center) and haircuts in public view.

A note– India has just surpassed China as the most populous country, now exceeding 1.4 billion people. Though India is 3 times smaller than the US, it has more than 4 times the number of people (1.4 billion vs 337 million). It is difficult to create enough jobs for all the young people entering the work force. India has done an amazing job of economic growth in the past couple decades, but if jobs cannot be created fast enough for this new generation, trouble is likely on the horizon.

There are signs everywhere stating no videos or photography is allowed at the Sikh temple. Apparently, instagramers have been posting videos with the reliqious buildings in the backgrounds and there has been a backlash against disrespecting of the religious site. After listening to a brief lecture on the Sikh religion, the Sikh leader told us that it was acceptable for us to photograph if we were praying, which explains the poses above. We were required to cover our hair and to wear neither socks nor shoes. Others in our group included Mehmet (upper-right), and Pansi with Tim (middle-right).

View a quick 60 second segment showing the traffic chaos along the streets of New Delhi. Believe it or not, actually being there feels far more chaotic than the video can communicate! (This video looks better if you click the “watch on YouTube” link in lower-left)

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India 1 – New Dehli

In 2019, we passed through Dehli, enroute to the Holi Festival. At that time, we stayed in the Old City and took a culinary tour tasting the Indian Street foods at hole in the wall eateries where much of the food was deep fried. On this current photographic scouting tour with Mehmet and his Fantastic Photo Tours, we had a chance to explore a number of other landmarks in Dehli. Humayum’s Tomb, a mausaleum belonging to Isa Khan, and a mosque with an ancient minaret where the women in pink was gracious to pose walking between the columns.

We had a chance to explore the Jama Mosque, seen above. It was fun photographing the Indian people as they welcomed us taking their photos. The family brought bird seeds to feed the pigeons, and the mom asked if we could photograph her and her 3 kids (upper right). At the mosque, we were required to take off both shoes and socks, so walking on the pebbly hard kernels of corn and bird seed ached. Capturing shadows across archways (upper left) and capturing reflections (top-middle) enhanced the experience.

Before sunset, we photographed the Sikh temple known as Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. Sikhism, which has influences from Hinduism, became a separate religion 500 years ago. Only a small portion of the Sikh live in Dehli with the majority living in Punjab. What is special about the Sikh is their generosity and universal acceptance of all humanity, regardless of religion or lack of religious belief.

At the Blue Hour (an hour after sunset), we had a chance to photograph the India Gate (to commemorate fallen British soldiers from 1914-1919). There is also a canopy where the statue of King George V, a deceased Emperor of India, is on display. As with many national monuments, there are rules about not allowing photographers to use their tripods. Part of being on scouting tours is that the rules aren’t known until a government official chews you out. On this long day, we ended with more than 25,000 steps and we were sore the following day.

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Tokyo 3 – Jellyfish, Buddhist Temple, Vending Machines

After watching the sumo wrestler’s training session, we visited the Sumida Aquarium in Oshiage, located on the 5th and 6th floor of the Tokyo Skytree. We almost skipped this aquarium as we couldn’t find the entry from inside the Skytree building. It turns out you can only enter from an outside courtyard, but there were no directional signs we could understand. We’re glad we made the extra effort, as it is a beautiful medium-size aquarium with a wonderful display of jellyfish. What is unique is the use of artificial sea water (instead of transporting ocean salt water) making it easier to maintain the aquarium.

The aquarium also has a surface pool with jellyfish. Burt is having fun photographing the pool (top middle).

We also enjoyed seeing the 50+ Magellanic penguins, turtles and other amphibians. At feeding time, the penguins line up for their meals.

We watched tourists riding the old fashion rickshaws touring the Asakusa district and posing for their shots in front of the Tokyo Skytower. We also went bar hopping in Shinjuku, and Burt even sang an Earth, Wind and Fire song at a Karaoke bar, all part of celebrating his birthday (and trust me… you do NOT want to hear a recording of it !). All it takes are glasses of Sake to get into the mood to celebrate.

The Asakusa Sensoji Temple is one of the most visited sites in Tokyo. This is Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple. Although touristy, the architecture is quite intricate and you get a chance to meander through the shopping street filled with eateries, crafts, shops. There are various rituals required before entering the temple, including getting a fortune(op left), and cleansing routines, such as spreading smoke from burning incense(top right) or water.

We toured various Buddhist temples in the Yanaka Ginza neighborhoods. It was raining the entire period we were in Tokyo, sprinkled with a few hours of sunshine. The air always felt clean, but we were wearing our thermal underwear in this unseasonably cold stretch. In Japan, we always felt safe and there was the sense of politeness, calm, elegance and friendliness we love about Japan. There was no trash, no graffiti, no homeless. We plan to return and explore other parts of Japan.

In Tokyo vending machines are everywhere, including at bus and metro stops, in apartment buildings, in the middle of parking lots, in public parks, office buildings. They are prolific. You can find vending machines for snacks, soft drinks, coffee, water, tea, beer. You can use your credit card everywhere. Even at the airports, the scan machines are efficient, with face recognition.

The jellyfish display at the Skytower Aquarium was a delight.

Before entering a temple, one is required to cleanse themselves. One option is to use smoke from the burning incense to clean; another option is to use water.

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