Much Love

Day 242- It was a short rest after the long drive from Dharamshala before we had to wake up and hit the road to Agra. For most on our group, their flight home was looming and there was no time to waste with a silly thing like sleep. Agra was a destination many of us had circled on our calendars. This is of course because Agra is home to the world famous Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal was constructed by the reigning emperor, at the time, as a token of love for his favourite wife... no not for his least favourite wife, she didn't get a marble castle, only the favourite ones get castles. He had so much love for his favourite wife that he commissioned this costly project, which took over 11 years to complete and the equivalent of 827million US dollars! The emperor's wife was not even alive to see it, as she had died during their 14th childs birth. In her final moments, she requested that her emperor not take anymore wives as well as give her a grand gift to honour her life. He fulfilled both of these requests and this beautifully symmetrical structure stands as a testament to their love. All Mike ever got me was a ring and a few flowers. Then again, I am shy of the 14 children so perhaps I won't bring this up to him... yet.  

The bus ride to Agra was not terribly long but many of us were still feeling the affects of our long drive from the night prior, so we were all a little groggy. For Mike and I, our tiredness definitely affected our experience at the Taj Mahal. It was beautiful, magnificent in size and there's no question that it looks like a mirage in the sky but we found ourselves walking around too quickly snapping a few photos, here and there, as opposed to marvelling in the size and detail of this grand structure. Although, the amount of people present at the sight was also a little overwhelming. Combined with the hot weather and our tired eyes, it definitely wasn't as spectacular as I had envisioned. I was still happy to see it and if I could do it all over again the only thing I would do differently is to first yell 'Fire, FIRE' and then take my photo with just the two of us. <evil shifty eyes> 

Trying to catch it from different angles. 

Honeycombs.

Excited to finally wear my indian outfit.

                      

A view from below.

Mike and I are getting real good at taking selfies.

                       

                  

I needed to share this photo of Chris and Melissa on the back of the tuk tuk that took took us the rest of the way to the Taj. Their both just so darn happy! The guy to the right however... not so much. 

Another drive home with a quick stop for food left us sleepy and restless but we were glad to be back in Delhi. The streets were familiar and the hotel room was clean. We did a little main bazaar shopping and met up with the group at the hotel to go out for an extra special final group dinner at Metropolis restaurant. 

Not only would it be the last group dinner for us all but it also happened to be a special someones birthday. Chris smiled like a little kid when his cake came out and it was nice to celebrate with such great people when he was so far away from his friends and family back home. 

It was a bitter sweet moment to hear everyone's stories and take aways from their journey in India while knowing this was the end of our time together. Such an inspiring group of people that Mike and I are so grateful to have met. Life long friendships were made and unique experiences lived because of each and every person on the Breathe in Life trip. It was our first group trip experience and it definitely won't be our last. The trips success can largely be attested to the people on it.  This experience offered us a new way of travel that allowed me to sit back and enjoy each day without planning it. It also pushed us to try new things that we probably wouldn't have otherwise. 

We ended the night with a Bridesmaids movie slumber party in one of our hotel rooms, while sharing foot massages and watching Kailie mix G&T after G&T. Super fun last night. 

Day 243- After a long and wonderful sleep and a few goodbyes, the remainder of us spent the morning shopping and walking around Connaught place. Mike and I were supposed to book our flights and train tickets for the next leg of our trip but we were too tired and lazy to make the move. I think we had been spoiled over the last 3 weeks and we were not sure if we remembered how to plan for ourselves anymore. Eventually it was time to say a sad goodbye to the last of our friends but it was nice knowing we are all only a short plane or drive away from reuniting one day soon... Some of us live only five minutes away!!!! YAY!

Mike and I wanted to show our thanks to Melissa, Chris and Jordan for a great trip so we treated them to dinner back at the delicious Metropolis restaurant.

Day 244- This was a day of fun for Mike and I and it was much needed. We were in need of a western refresher, so we went to Delhi's nicest mall, City Select Mall. This need for a refresher materialized after checking out of our beautiful Breath in Life sponsored hotel and into our new, economically friendly hotel for the night. That's right, our nasty sheets, broken bathroom, blood on pillows, 'homely' hotel room. Yes, homely, it's even writen on their business cards, it's like their trying to make it less desirable. 

Rooms not as shown on business card.

Next we needed to book our life for the next 3 weeks. We had no real plans for the rest of our travels in India and it was time to figure it out. We booked a flight and some train tickets to get us to the south. That would have to be good enough for now. 

                      

The man in this photo was peering at me while we finalized the details with the agent.... he looked oddly familiar. 

                      

Get us to the mall!! It took some patience to get us there as our first taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong mall. It was not the western mall we desired but it had A/C, so that's pretty sweet right? 

                     

When we finally arrived at the correct mall, it was exactly what we'd hoped for. Clean white tile, soap in the bathrooms, air conditioning and best of all, North American food options. First up, Krispy Kream and Starbucks please. Can you taste the love...

                    

Next up, time to get pampered. Mike got himself a hair cut. 

                   

And I got something done that I grew up doing at the Indian hair salon in my neighbourhood, often with my good friend Meghan. I got my eyebrows threaded by an Indian in India. Mike was awe struck as the skilled beautician worked her two hands and head in perfect rhythm to manipulate the string with pinpoint accuracy. 

                   

Then Mike and I got our feet taken care of and I must say, I actually felt bad for the poor souls who had to touch our soles... 

We left the mall feeling refreshed and ready to head back into the craziness of Delhi. I was on a mission to find a fabric store for my mom and on the way home we just so happened to pass buy a store with a ton of fabric. 'STOP THE TUK TUK!' It was pretty funny to walk into the local store, in the non touristy part of town, and have eight Indian men stop what they were doing to look at us with their full attention. Mike broke the ice with some joke that no one got. But it did the trick because immediately after they all wanted their chance to help us and I had everyone suggesting fabric. In the end I chose a few that I thought my mom would like and the experience alone was worth it. 

                     

We got back to the Pahar Ganj (the area of our hotel) and finished our last task of the day. We sent a package home at some corner side shop. A shop that didn't take a list of our items for customs, gave us no tracking number, or receipt of any sorts, however, promised with extreme confidence that it would make it to Canada without issue. As I am writing this in hindsight I can happily say, my skepticism aside, the package arrived safely just a few days ago. Yay! 

                     

Now it was time to rest up before our flight in the morning. This was hard as our homely hotel room did not exactly invoke a sense of calm. We could actually hear plaster from the ceiling in the bathroom falling off during the night. 

Ok just going to tuck into these stained sheets for a cozy sleep...

                   

Goodnight.