Mandawa & Back to Delhi

Left Bikaner early this AM & after a 5+-hour, 130 mile drive (much of it on very bad roads) arrived at Mandawa. I am staying at the Mandawa Castle originally built in 1755 - see www.CastleMandawa.com then click on Castle Mandawa <- be sure to check out all pages of the "Photo Gallery"! Not much to see here & really nothing worth photographing except maybe the "castle" - but web site pics are far better than anything I could take!
This is the last stop on my 15-day, North India, Golden Triangle tour. Tomorrow we have a 6-hour drive back to Delhi - total mileage = just over 1,800. It was an amazing journey through Rajasthan.
Tomorrow, July 24, I will stay in Delhi overnight & the next day, Sunday, July 25, I will fly to Bangalore to begin a 15-day tour of South India.

More Old Delhi

The top pic is me in front of Humayun's Tomb built in 1565 by a wife to honor her husband who was the great grandfather of the man who used this tomb as the model for the Taj Mahal. It really contains 100 tombs.
The lower is a pic of me in front of the largest mosque in India - the Jama Mosque built in 1650. Jama means Friday = Muslim Holy Day. Note my "dress"! I had to "rent" & wear one because I had shorts. Also note the "official designated area" for feeding pigeons!

Oldest Mosque in Delhi

The top pic is of me amongst some of the columns taken from many of the Hindu temples destroyed to construct the Islam Mosque built in 1195.
The below pic above is of the Qutb Minaret or Tower built in 1199 near the Islam Mosque.

India

Following an arduous, grueling, long 16+-hour trip from Saigon, Vietnam to Bangkok, Thailand (6 hour layover) to Delhi, India, I finally arrived in Delhi late last night.
Today I begin my 14-day, private-chaffeur-driven "Golden Triangle" tour of Rajasthan - points of triangle being Delhi, Agra & Jaipur - all in northwest India (see www.goldentriangleindia.net/).
This journey will cover a wide range of topography including jungles, mountains & deserts & hopefully many critters such as elephants (my favorite), camels, tigers, & many monkeys. In addition to triangle destinations I have added Sariska National Park - a tiger refuge.
Most of the places where I will be staying are "Palace Heritage" hotels - meaning that they are current or previous palaces of maharaja's & maharani's.
I spent the entire day today touring both New & Old Delhi. The top pic is of the India Gate built in 1921 by the British to honor Indian soldiers who died fighting for the British Kingdom. I much preferred Old Delhi. Bottom pic above is the ruins of the Islam Mosque built in 1195 - the oldest mosque in India.