Happy 60th Independence Day India!

Today is India’s 60th Anniversary since gaining independence from the British in 1947.

Millions of its Indians are celebrating it around the world. As part of its Diaspora, I thought it would be good to share some photos with you from my second visit to India, a recent trip with John to Northern India in April 2007.

India amazes me each time I go there. As at the end of this month, I would have been there 4 times in the last 2 years… There are people living first world lives next to those who have not been taught to read and write.

There is so much to see in the golden triangle. We limited our trip to the Agra, to see the Taj Mahal. Northern India is littered with Palaces that we actually had to tell our driver to drive past a few as there were so many. The view of the Taj, built for love, is very appealing. The marble work is so intricate, no wonder it took such a long time to build.

The colors: For a desert region, it was refreshing to see the striking colored saris worn by the Rajasthani women.. The brightness against the back drop of the desert makes the attraction all the more enticing..

And then there are the…

Royal Bengal Tigers: We has two sightings in a space of 12 hours. We had seen 2 cubs earlier that day in a different part of Ranthambore National Park. (South Africans, our game drives are made easy, with our graded roads and sun canopies). We watched her (we were told it was a female) for some 20 minutes.. its was absolutely amazing as to how close she came to our vehicle.. and yes, if we put all our photos together, we could create a video clip. I will have to upload these seperately.

Udaipur: My favorite city in Rajasthan.. So peaceful and absolutely beautiful, with its picturesque lakes.. For all you 007 movie buffs, Octopussy was filmed here and you can still get to see the show over dinner at some restaurants. We opted out of that experience.

Udaivillas: Our digs for our stay in Udaipur. This is probably the most amazing hotel John and I have ever stayed in.. Its worth every rupee with its impressive service, excellent food, and rosewater drinks.. As you can see, John could easily live the life of a king here.. I hope we get to go back..

These photos will come in the next post..

To all our Indian friends, we wish you a happy 60th Independence Day. You come from a beautiful country, which we hope to continue visiting often enough, that I will finally learn a few Hindi words.