The Christmas Eve service was a wonderful experience.(The only problem was there was no snow and it was about 86 degrees) There was a lot of Indian singing, scripture reading, and a few cakes. It seems that in India whenever there is a special event it warrants a cake cutting. We also sang a few Christmas songs and dad preached a short message. The hostel children joined us for the evening. After the service and the boys polished off all of the cake we headed back to Lanka's house for fireworks. Every Christmas Day shortly after midnight the children shoot fireworks and sparklers.
The Hostel boys really enjoyed that we were there and even made us a Christmas present. After all of the fireworks had been fired we went to bed for a few hours sleep and woke up for the Christmas morning service. The service was very similar to the evening service with singing, a message and another cake. After the service a few of the church members wanted pictures and all wished us a Merry Christmas and wished us good travels as we make our way to Delhi and then back home. After lunch at Lanka's the boys and I packed our things and went outside to play with the boys one more time before we left for the airport. Around 6:30 we said our final goodbyes to the children that had not gone home for Christmas and left for the airport for our flight to Delhi. We arrived at the airport with a little over an hour before our flight and breezed through check in and security, and discovered that our flight was delayed 30 min. The skies were smooth and the flight uneventful, most of us caught a nap. In Delhi our plane unloaded on the tarmac due to all of the gates being full. As we walked down the stairs we were hit in the face with a blast of Himalayan air that had us drawing in lungfuls of chilly fresh air.
As we walked through the terminal we noticed that many if the native Indians had on coats, hats, and other forms of outerwear while the three boys were in t-shirts. Walking from the terminal to the buss stop we relished the feeling of cool air and watched our breath condense in big fluffy clouds. We met our driver at the other end of the bus ride, and made the 20 Km (12.6 miles) drive to our hotel where we will stay for the next two nights. After a short night we woke up this morning ate breakfast and prepared to make the drive to Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located, which is about 4 hours away. The weather hear is chilly even by our standards, it was 45℉ this morning which, as I hear, is colder than Sugarcreek. As I'm typing this I am sitting in the van with nothing else to do so excuse any unnecessary rambling. :)
Part 2
We arrived at the Taj Mahal and I have never seen that many people in one place at one time. Everyone was trying to get to the front of the line without waiting in line. A friend of Lana's went with us and he knew some workers at the Taj and was able to get us tickets and through the security checkpoints with minimal time wasted. After passing through the security checkpoints we walked toward the main entry gate. Pictures can't tell how massive the structures are but they are absolutely massive.
Through the gate opening we caught glimpses of the familiar white dome. Just on the other side of the gate we took some pictures of our family and got a few wide angle shots. One of the Men that was with us told us that the Taj is 240 feet tall, and the towers are 160 feet tall and are constructed so that they lean slightly outward so that if they fall they won't hit the main building. After our short history lesson we walked around the side of the park toward the main building. We put on small protective bootie things and went to the main building. As we squeezed our way into the main chamber, there is one 48 inch doorway that is split in half that all of the people bottle neck through and no one wants to give way to anyone else. Eventually we worked our way through the crowed and walked around the inside if the mausoleum and came out on the back on the building. From there we took a lot of family and individual pictures. By this time the light was beginning to fade so we hurried to the front of the building for a few more pictures and then we made our way out.
On the road from the Taj there were some touristy type shops were we obtained a few souvenirs. Then we had supper at a very good local Indian restaurant and then made the long journey back to our hotel. The drive back was interesting due to very heavy fog. At times you couldn't see the lines in the road in front of the bumper, but we made it back safely. Today we plan to tour some of Delhi before our flight to Dubai tonight. This is our last post, unless we decide to do another one.
Thanks for reading.
≈Friedrick
PS: To answer the question about caroling the church members ask the group to come to their house and sing.
The Hostel boys really enjoyed that we were there and even made us a Christmas present. After all of the fireworks had been fired we went to bed for a few hours sleep and woke up for the Christmas morning service. The service was very similar to the evening service with singing, a message and another cake. After the service a few of the church members wanted pictures and all wished us a Merry Christmas and wished us good travels as we make our way to Delhi and then back home. After lunch at Lanka's the boys and I packed our things and went outside to play with the boys one more time before we left for the airport. Around 6:30 we said our final goodbyes to the children that had not gone home for Christmas and left for the airport for our flight to Delhi. We arrived at the airport with a little over an hour before our flight and breezed through check in and security, and discovered that our flight was delayed 30 min. The skies were smooth and the flight uneventful, most of us caught a nap. In Delhi our plane unloaded on the tarmac due to all of the gates being full. As we walked down the stairs we were hit in the face with a blast of Himalayan air that had us drawing in lungfuls of chilly fresh air.
Just Inside the Delhi Airport
Our Plane
As we walked through the terminal we noticed that many if the native Indians had on coats, hats, and other forms of outerwear while the three boys were in t-shirts. Walking from the terminal to the buss stop we relished the feeling of cool air and watched our breath condense in big fluffy clouds. We met our driver at the other end of the bus ride, and made the 20 Km (12.6 miles) drive to our hotel where we will stay for the next two nights. After a short night we woke up this morning ate breakfast and prepared to make the drive to Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located, which is about 4 hours away. The weather hear is chilly even by our standards, it was 45℉ this morning which, as I hear, is colder than Sugarcreek. As I'm typing this I am sitting in the van with nothing else to do so excuse any unnecessary rambling. :)
Interior Of Our Van
We Were Very Tired
Part 2
We arrived at the Taj Mahal and I have never seen that many people in one place at one time. Everyone was trying to get to the front of the line without waiting in line. A friend of Lana's went with us and he knew some workers at the Taj and was able to get us tickets and through the security checkpoints with minimal time wasted. After passing through the security checkpoints we walked toward the main entry gate. Pictures can't tell how massive the structures are but they are absolutely massive.
The Main Entrance Gate (To Scale)
Through the gate opening we caught glimpses of the familiar white dome. Just on the other side of the gate we took some pictures of our family and got a few wide angle shots. One of the Men that was with us told us that the Taj is 240 feet tall, and the towers are 160 feet tall and are constructed so that they lean slightly outward so that if they fall they won't hit the main building. After our short history lesson we walked around the side of the park toward the main building. We put on small protective bootie things and went to the main building. As we squeezed our way into the main chamber, there is one 48 inch doorway that is split in half that all of the people bottle neck through and no one wants to give way to anyone else. Eventually we worked our way through the crowed and walked around the inside if the mausoleum and came out on the back on the building. From there we took a lot of family and individual pictures. By this time the light was beginning to fade so we hurried to the front of the building for a few more pictures and then we made our way out.
Just Inside The Main Gate
Our Family
On the road from the Taj there were some touristy type shops were we obtained a few souvenirs. Then we had supper at a very good local Indian restaurant and then made the long journey back to our hotel. The drive back was interesting due to very heavy fog. At times you couldn't see the lines in the road in front of the bumper, but we made it back safely. Today we plan to tour some of Delhi before our flight to Dubai tonight. This is our last post, unless we decide to do another one.
Thanks for reading.
≈Friedrick
PS: To answer the question about caroling the church members ask the group to come to their house and sing.
6 comments:
Very, very interesting! Praying for safe travels home ! Yes it has felt more like April than Dec Bert and Mary
Fireworks and big puffy clouds sound fun but I'm thinking the idea of bottle-necking within a large group of shoving people makes me feel a bit claustrophobic! Sheri
Praying for safe Travels!!!! Hurry home we missed you, cant wait to see you all again and hear your stories!! Mina
Wow awesome experience!! Glad you had such a good time! Yes we
have almost balmy spring weather...praying for safe travels!
Blessings and prayers! Ed n Joyce
Wow! What a beautiful structure! Sounds like a good way to top off a good trip!! Wishing you safe travels back!
Enjoyed all the pictures and posts! Welcome home! Praying for safe travels. -Ruth
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