Entry #44

This is it...that's all she wrote...It is time to finish up and move on. Just wanted to choose some pictures that we had not used before. A little panorama of our time in India. India is a feast for the senses; the things that you see, hear, smell and taste. We are grateful for the time that we could spend here. But it is always about the people.

Independence Day Service Project

August 14, 2008

Araku Valley

Village home interior.

Ceiling inside temple.

Kabini River

Swaroopa

Laundry day.

Church and monastery of St. Augustine, 1602

Goa

Baseball caps.

Truth Orphan Home.

George Benaji family

Outside garden wall, detail
Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal

Agra, India

Golconda Fort in Hyderabad

Sri Lanka

climbing a coconut tree

washing a water buffalo

advanced basketweaving

fishermen at sunrise

Bay of Bengal

The End

Entry #43

Obviously I am running of out steam...It is time to finish our trip home. We arrived in Salt Lake City on December 9th, 2009. It was so cold that we thought we had landed at the North Pole!


After picking up our car, which we had left in storage, we went to the MTC (missionary training center) in Provo, Utah. And look who we found. The last time we saw these ladies we were all in Rajahmundry. They are Sowjanya Gorrela (l.) who is now in the Washington Tacoma mission and Aparna Vuppada (r.) who is in the Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission. Even though they are in scarves, winter coats and boots, they are shivering.

Lobby of the Joseph Smith Building

downtown Salt Lake City

Evening view of the Salt Lake City temple.

Carol had never seen the lights on Temple Square

during the Christmas season.

We arrived at Jason's house in Las Vegas

just in time for making and decorating gingerbread houses.

Left to right: Ashlyn, Katherine holding Reese, and Ellie.

Ellie, Katherine, Reese, Ashlyn and Jason Wood

Las Vegas, Nevada

Next stop: Kansas City, Missouri.

What would Christimas be without the Nutcracker!

Thought we would take in one more performance.

Lauren, as the Sugar Plum Fairy.

The car knows the way!

A very quick trip to Nauvoo, Illinois as we cross the country going east. This is where the pioneers began their trek, crossing the Mississippi, and heading west to the Salt Lake valley.

This is the historic Nauvoo Illinois Temple.

We arrived at Sarah's and Jeremy's house in Fairfax, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C. just in time for Santa's arrival. McKenna, Parker, Madison and Allison are holding their wooden elephants that grandma and grandpa brought from India.

Kent's sister lives nearby and we got together for food, fun and photo-taking. Back row (l to r): Jeremy Dastrup holding McKenna, Kelly, Jesse, Cari and Niki Gaskins. Front row (l to r): Allison and Madison Dastrup, Kent and Carol, Sarah and Parker Dastrup.

* * *

We can't bear to close. Think we'll do one more entry.

Entry #42

They finally let us out! On Sunday, December 6, we flew from Delhi at 3:30 in the morning to London on British Airways with very comfortable seating. Never mind the line for check-in and seating, the line for passport and visa interrogation and giving up our FRO's (that's foreign registration). We soon found that the flight was delayed, so we sat and I did some people-watching and Kent did his usual wandering, but not too far. Finally got settled in on the plane with our blankies, pillow, socks, earphone, newspapers, t.v. screen and much more room than we ever thought we could have. After arriving in London, we got in another line for "UK border". They wanted to know why we came, where we were going and where we had been. Turned in our Indian rupees for English currency. Naturally we weren't prepared for the rain and cold, (who had room for a winter coat?!) but we braved it and enjoyed London and a beautiful room at the Marriott County Hall.

The London Eye

The Marriott is tucked into the building to the right.

There is also a McDonald's where Kent had his first juicy cheeseburger!

Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

Buckingham Palace

Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery

The National Gallery has lots of paintings; Gainsborough,

Rembrandt and da Vinci.
No picture-taking allowed inside.

Harrod's had their windows decorated in the Wizard of Oz theme. This was a great place to keep warm, and have lunch, which cost us $70.00! I also purchased a pair of very warm and fuzzy socks -- very cheap.

The British Museum

Many items from Greece, Africa, China and Egypt.
Lots of wows.
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We also enjoyed the Victoria and Albert Museum. They have rooms and rooms devoted to helmets, fabrics, silver, fashion and the most amazing collection of jewelry. The National Portrait Gallery was also a favorite. Kent wasn't real excited to go museum hopping, but in December you don't have much choice! We reaquainted ourselves with the underground and wore layers.

Tower Bridge

* * *

We enjoyed our visit to London, some rest and relaxation, while we adjusted to the time change, had some good food and before our next leg of the trip back to the States. We do not look forward to packing up our eight pieces of luggage...

Entry #41

Agra and Agra Fort...Our guide guided us to a rug-making shop. It is a way for the local people to make a living and for the tourists to spend their money!

This man has lit a match and the flame gets rid of all those fuzzies.

This is where all of their yarns are stored.

This is the rug that I had shipped home. The travel book said, "If you see something you really want, buy it. If it is specifically local or particularly good, you may not see something similar again." -- so I did. The pattern is called "Taj Mahal".

A craftsman checking the knots for accuracy. These rugs take thousands of hours to weave and have hundreds of knots within one inch. They have to memorize the pattern and could be apprentices for several years.

* * *

The Agra Fort was built by three of the greatest Moghal emperors. The construction of this massive structure began in 1565, under Akbar, and continued till the time of his grandson, Shahjahan. Armed with massive double walls, punctuated by four gateways, the fort houses palaces, courts, mosques, baths, gardens and gracious pavilions within its premises. Among the fascinating structures that are to be found within the fort is the red sandstone Jehangiri Mahal built by Akbar for his Hindu queen, Jodhabai, was one of the earliest constructions illustrating the fort's change from a military structure to a palace. The palace is also notable for its smooth blending of Hindu and central Asian architectural styles. The Diwan-i-Am, the Diwan-i-Khas, the Khas Mahal, The Palace of Mirrors, The Pearl Mosque, the Nagina Masjid, the Garden of Grapes, and the Fish Pavilion are the other monuments in the fort complex (in case you are writing a term paper!).

The main gate (with our tour guide to the far right).


A walkway to another inner entrance.

Indian women, each wearing a sari or chudidar.

This is actually a residence inside the fort.

An intricately carved arch.

Interior of a room inside one of the palaces.

This is when my battery ran down -- I had taken so many pictures.

Our next entry, we'll be in London.

Entry #40

If in India...you had better see the Taj Mahal. After flying from Visakhapatnam to Delhi, we took a two-hour train trip to the city of Agra. Taj Mahal means "Crown Palace" and is the most well preserved and architecturally beautiful tomb in the world. It stands on the bank of River Yamuna. It was built by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in 1631 in memory of his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Muslim Persian princess. She died while accompanying her husband in Burhanpur in a campaign to crush a rebellion after giving birth to their 14th child. Construction began in 1631 and was completed in 22 years. Twenty thousand people were deployed to work on it. The material was brought in from all over India and central Asia and took a fleet of 1,000 elephants to transport it to the site.

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December 5, 2009

The Great Gateway prepares you to "leave chaos for order".

Inside the main gate, this arch frames the Taj. This was the "WOW" moment. You are not prepared for how large the Taj is. It symbolizes entering Paradise.

You then emerge in char bagh (four gardens) , which is how paradise is described in the Koran. You can enjoy the well-planted, walled garden divided symmetrically by water channels.

To the left of the Taj stands the Masjid (mosque).

To the right is the Mehmankhana (guest house).

Sandstone walls and octagonal pavillions at the corners surround the garden and grounds.

Interior of the guest house with detailed inlay.

View of the Taj Mahal from the gardens. The color can change during the day; pink in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden when the moon shines.

The Taj rises on a high red sandstone base topped by a 313 square foot white marble terrace on which rests the famous dome flanked by four tapering minarets. The dome is 60 feet in diameter and rises 80 feet over the building with verses of the holy Quran inscribed on it. Semi-precious stones are inlaid into the marble in beautiful patterns and with superb craftsmanship in a process known as pietra dura.

One last look.