India so far...

Hi Everyone,
I haven't had a chance to update my blog so I'll start from the beginning. As you know, I flew out on the 26th. Well, my flight did not go as plan. Our 2 hour stop in Paris ended up being a 24 hr stop. Let's just say, the Charles De Gaulles airport is one heck of a maze and it took us a few hours to get out of the place. I got a free hotel and some meal vouchers. Jen(my flight buddy) and I decided to go out to explore the city of Paris. We ended up meeting to awesome girls named Estzer and Julia. They are from Hungary and the United States. Their dad actually lived in Paris and they knew Paris well. All four of us piled into a taxi and headed out from the hotel. Our first stop was the Arc de Triumph. It was a spectacular site at night. It was all lighted up and I ended up taking a few pictures. After that, we hit the Aux Champs Elyesses to look at the shops. The streets were all light with lights and the avenue was gorgeous. Our first stop was in an everything shop and that had jokey stuff in it. There was also food and a magazine shop. Then after that, we looked at a few car shops. They had some amazing cars in there. I enjoyed looking at them very much. We also went to a clothing shop where I could have easily spent some money. I saw some pretty shoes that I almost bought but didn't have enough money for. We then went to a cafe, I had a gallete chocolat. It was delicious. After the cafe, we hopped the metro to go to the Eiffel Tower. It was gorgeous. The whole thing was lighted up and it also twinkled. I didn't get to climb up the Tower because I didn't have the proper clothing and it was so cold. In the park, they had a winter carnival and we looked around. All the stuff was so cool and I wish I had money to spend. Off to the hotel, we went after seeing the Tower. We were cold and hungry. So we had dinner with the girls and headed off to bed because we needed our sleep!

We got up and got on the shuttle to catch our flight. Our flight finally departed after a 4 hour delay. We arrived in Delhi early morning and at our hotel even earlier in the morning.
We got up and ready to go for our day in Delhi. We had breakfast and then headed to the ATM to get some money. I have never seen so many dogs, cows or goats in the street before. After our little trip to the ATM, we loaded the bus. Our first stop was an arch dedicated to Indian armies who fought in WWI and some other wars. The arch was beautiful. Anyway after that, we went to the Red Fort. It was gorgeous even with most of it stripped. We learned that it was built by a Mughal emperor. The Mughals were Islamic and it was laid out in fashion to what heaven would look like. We also took a walking tour of Old Delhi. Oh my was that exhausting. I have never seen so many people in my life. I'm surprised we didn't lose anybody. Again, lots of cows were present. The walking tour was cool because each market has a theme and Delhi's street food is famous. Too bad, I couldn't eat any! After our tour, we ate at a place called Kareems. It was a kebob place. The mutton was delicious. After that, we headed back to the bus and we had to jump onto the moving bus because there was no where for it to stop. This is basically the end of day 1 because I zonked out for the rest of the bus ride.
The next morning we left for Rajahstan. We took a flight to Jodhpur. I feel like I'm going to be a great flyer at the end of the trip. When we landed, the airport was so cute. We had to walk down the steps to get off the plane. After the plane, we went to the Mehrangah Fort. The guy who gave us directions was a hoot and we ended up taking a audio tour. I again learned a lot about the kings of Rajasthan. All the rooms of the fort were beautiful. A lot of them had gold and ivory inlay. The views from the fort were majestic and worth the hike. After the fort, we went back to the hotel. Our room was very pep to pink and we had a very good laugh about it. We ended up having dinner on the roof top. The views were beautiful. You could see the fort and the palace from that point. After dinner, we all headed to bed.
In the morning, we got up and went to Jaisalmer. This was New Year's eve. It was about a five hour drive there and the scenery was beautiful. It was intersting to see rural India and get a feeling for the difference. All the people's clothes were so brightly colored and beautiful. We made a pit stop at a beautiful resort for a bathroom break and tea. The tea was delicious. The resort was just beautifully laid out. After we left, we did make another stop for lunch and I ate vegetable noodles. It is India's version of Chinese and it was good! We finally made it to our destination at the Mindar Palace. Yes, I stayed at a palace hotel! The hotel was amazing! After checking in, Kia and I went exploring in the city by ourselves. There were so many cool things to see! We looked at a lot of clothing shops and saw a lot of neat stuff! That night, we had a New Year's Party. It was so fun!!!!!!!! We danced and laughed. There were some cultural dancing as well. A male dressed up as a women danced. She pulled our whole group up and had a blast. We shook our hips and did everything she did. We had dinner and continued dancing until the New Year. They set fireworks off for us and that was so neat.
On the next day, we had our camel safari planned. I do have a video to share with you guys. It took about 45 minutes to get there. We arrived and got settled. The tents were gorgeous! Nothing like I was expecting at all. Our camel ride was an experience. Before getting on our camel, I had my head wrapped traditionally and that was an expereince. I had a camel named Babaloo(sp?). It was neat to see all the desert landscapes. The camel was actually really good and I was surprised. The ride was nice and our guide was cool. He made us laugh a few times. Then, we stayed in the desert to watch the sunset. The sunset was beautiful. It was gorgeous! After that, we headed back to camp. We sat around in a half circle and listened to folk music. They also had cultural dancing. I got pulled up twice. The first time was with a man than with a woman. It was quite the experience. After that, we had dinner. Madhu decided to have story time with us. The guide at the fort mentioned seti and she wanted to clarify it for us. It was really sad to hear about all the women who went to their deaths. After our story, we all went to bed.
We headed back to Jaisalmer for another stay. It was a free day for us to do what we want. We just ended up looking at shops for the whole day.
The day after, we headed back to Jodhpur to catch the train. We took the train from there to Delhi. It was an overnight train and we were in sleeper class. I slept most of the trip and felt so good!
After we got back to Delhi, we had lunch. After lunch, we went to visit the Gandhi Memorial. This is where he took his last steps. You have to take your shoes off to go in and see the place. It is cool because all around, there are Gandhi quotes and sayings but in hindi. It was so peaceful and full of such spirit!
This has been my trip so far in India! Tomorrow, I head to the Taj Mahal(Jan 5). I hope to write again soon and give you another update!