Hello Jordan, Goodbye Jordan

We have made it safely into Israel and are enjoying the sites but before we made it here we spent a few days in Amman, Jordan. Sadly we were not able to spend much time there because the cost for travelers was much higher than we had expected!  We did not, however, leave the country without getting a few surprises. Overall we really enjoyed our short stay in Amman. It is a much calmer capital city than most of the others we have seen and is also very walkable. Even though it rained everyday we were there we still walked around and saw the Amman citadel, an old fort used throughout history by almost everyone that lived in this area, and a very nice archaeology museum. One of the most surprising things about Amman was the food. We ate some of the best hummus and chicken we have ever had! We also found out that drinking is not a big thing in Amman but tobacco bars are. We treated ourselves to a nice dinner and finished our meal with a tobacco shisha. What was interesting was the fact that EVERYONE (women and men alike) were smoking flavored tobacco out of these pipes. It was nice but not something I could get used to everyday. We did a little reading on shishas and found out that its like smoking 22 cigarettes in one sitting and is just as additive. Overall, we enjoyed our stay very much and are already planing another trip there in the future.

Turkish Delight Part 2

The Hagia Sophia is a beautiful building!  Originally a Byzantine Church (finished around 360 AD) and later converted into a mosque, it is now a great museum/monument that has been restored and maintained over the years.  Istanbul was such a wonderful place...the history literally surrounds you on all four sides!  We also visited the Blue Mosque and the Basilica Cistern, built during the reign of Justinian in the 6th century. It was too dark to take any good photos, but is definitely worth a visit! Also worth noting is the Modern Art Museum and the Archaeological Museum near the Hagia Sophia.  It was one of the best museums we've seen yet!  We also took a ferry boat up the Bosphorus Strait and visited the Asian side of Istanbul (literally on the Asian Continent).  After walking for 2 hours we realized we were lost, but finally reached the market area that was our original destination....we were only a few kilometers off!  Overall, Istanbul was great. The food was to die for and we could have spent weeks seeing all of the sights!

                   The Blue Mosque Exterior and Interior

Turkish Delight!

Well we are headed to Jordan this evening and wanted to share a few more photos. We have a bunch on the camera, but those will be blogged tomorrow! Here's a peak at the Hagia Sophia....what a beautiful place! We also did a little shopping for some less traveled clothing ( see Ashley below), got some neat photos of the streets and antiques and celebrated 6 months of traveling and 2 years since we met! More to come later... Enjoy!!

Fun Day at the Market

Taj Mahal and Final Thoughts

India, we have found, is a land of contradictions.  The monuments, tombs, palaces and forts have been some of the best sites we've seen so far on our trip.  The cities, however, leave a lot to be desired.  It's a hectic country and the never ending sound of cars honking (WAY too loudly) will frustrate anyone.  Poverty is an ever present sight throughout the country and it's disheartening to see that in a country with one of the worlds largest economies (in the top 10 based on output) at least one third of it's people live on less than $1.25 per day.  P.s: India's population is now only130 million less than China's- not a lot when you consider each has over 1.2 billion people!
Here is an interesting page that highlights some statistics about India:
http://www.devinit.org/reports/indian-poverty-and-aid-briefing

Holi in Jaipur

We were lucky enough to experience Holi (India's famous color festival) in Jaipur.  The city is most famous for the elephant festival during Holi.  However.....thanks to a PETA related organization the festival was cancelled the day of.  Lucky us. But, we celebrated Holi in true Indian style: get covered from head to toe by perfumed powder!  We also visited the Amber Palace and Jaigarh (sp?) Fort, which were pretty amazing!  We then went to Pushkar, an all vegetarian town on a holy lake.  We only spent one day here, but managed to find time for a camel ride!  That sure was interesting...Chantal's saddle malfunctioned and she found herself hugging the camels neck!  Our camel decided to try and bite the guide and chased him (at a full run) around the dunes!  Camels are not the most stable animals when running....a very bumpy ride for passengers.  We also had some of the best food of the trip in Pushkar and have been missing it since we left.

                                                              In the Pink City (Jaipur)

                                    HAPPY HOLI!

A Few Days in Delhi

Well we are finally updating you all on our adventures in India!  Since Ashley has taken so many photos, we have decided to break the posts up by location.  After Derek's mother arrived to meet us in Kathmandu, we took a short flight to Delhi.  After a slight mishap with our original hotel (they overbooked) we found ourselves in a great hotel and began preparations for our tour of Rajasthan.  We spent 2 days seeing the city and some wonderful temples and tombs.  See the photos below!