Monday, October 5, 2009

India and Nepal!!!

India was an experience unlike anything I have ever done and I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!! India took a piece of my heart and I miss being there SOOO much!!! I want to go back right now!!!! We also we to Nepal which was fun!!! The Himalayas were gigantic!!! It was breathtaking when we finally got to see them!!! Im so grateful to be able to go to India... I love traveling and hope to continue to do it as much as I possibly can!!!

We visited Temples and had to follow there customs, of course by making the "visitors" wear bright orange it helped us stand out more than we already did :)

We had so much fun on the Rickshaws... They could go anywhere and did go anywhere... sometimes it was a little scary...

The train station was something else... people got on and off the train there... some people slept there... and some people lived there... pretty much people lived wherever...

I thought the train was a fun experience... a little dirty and the toilet was horrible... I mean what do you expect... Its no "luxury" train... that was part of the fun!!

Udaipur was gorgeous... its the venice of India, The palaces were built on lakes... AMAZING!!!

It was fun seeing all the gorgeous buildings!!! They were so old but still looked really amazing!!!

Riding elephants was a blast!!! It was not a smooth ride though... It was really bumpy!!!

It was so much fun having all the girls there!!! Grandma even rode the elephant!!

Another gorgeous palace... marble and precious stones... wish that was how my apartment looked

Monkeys were everywhere!!! It was crazy... you would be walking around and suddenly one would run past you... It never got old seeing them... Our tour guides would just laugh at us cause we would get so excited!!!

The Taj Mahal was spectacular!!! I have high expectations of my future husband one day... he better building something better than this to prove his love to me :)

This is the Stupa (in the background) where Buddha gave his first sermon... and the rest is History...

On the holy Ganges River getting ready to send our wishes afloat down the river!!! really such an amazing place to visit!!!

walking the little streets of Varanasi... being followed by people trying to sell stuff... ALWAYS!!! they never went away!!!

Getting a Henna tattoo!!!

Mine on my arm and Amy's is on her foot...

The Place were Ghandi was assassinated... He is such an amazing man and did nothing but good for the world... I can't believe someone would kill him... It was such a moving experience to be there... You could feel his goodness!!!

Getting on the plane to fly past Mount Everest and the Himalayans...

So excited!!!

Seeing Mount Everest was such a huge moment for me... I have loved Mount Everest since I was little and seeing it was so unreal to me... Seeing it made the dream of hiking it come alive again!!! So I guess I better start training and saving up!!!

Sending my prayers up to the heaven... Who knew praying was so easy... You just spin a wheel... I would pray more if it was that easy!!!

All the Temples in Nepal had a Asian feel to them... Notice how they look like Pagodas???!!!

Tallest Hindu Temple in Nepal...

Last meal!!! I sure will miss the Indian food!!!

This is literally how people lived (not all) they would sleep wherever they could... tables, stairs, their rickshaws or cars, on top of trucks and sometimes just on the sidewalk... It was crazy and such an eye opener to me...
Im so grateful for my "easy" life and Im so grateful for my mom, sister (pregnant!!!), grandma, aunt and cousins that joined me on a trip I had been planning for months and dreaming of for years!!! Thanks girls... I had a blast!!!