Bucharest was once referred to as “Little Paris.”

When we arrived in Bucharest in the evening, all we saw on the way to our hotel were old, gray, square, Soviet-style buildings. Even the train station looked old & needing repair. But, the next day when we started touring the city, “Little Paris” began emerging.

As you get closer to Old Town, beautiful, old, baroque buildings seem to be everywhere. Most of these gems were built at the end of the 19th century up until WWI. With a little imagination you can see women in their fancy dresses with stylish hats & men in suits with bowler hats walking in the streets much like in Paris at the end of the 19th century.

One highlight was visiting the Roman Athenaeum which is grand concert hall. It is built in the Neo-Classical style & was finished in 1889.

The most iconic structure fitting with the “Little Paris” theme is the monument that looks almost identical to the Arc of Triumph in Paris.

In Old Town, we visited the Cărturești Carousel which is considered among the world’s most beautiful bookstores

It was built in 1903 by a family of wealthy Greek bankers & they used it as their bank headquarters.

In the 1950s, the building was confiscated by the Communist regime & used as a general store ending up being forgotten over the years. 

After legal battles lasting many years, in 2007, the building was returned to the original owners & fully restored.

Bucharest has a very nice Village Museum where old homes & churches from around the country have been moved & displayed to show how life was once lived by people in Romania’s different regions.

Nicolae Ceausescu was Romania’s communist dictator from 1967 until revolutionaries captured & executed him on 25 December 1989. His Communist government was considered to be the most repressive in the Eastern Bloc countries.

Revolution Square Today

Ceausescu was a highly paranoid man with only a 4th grade education. He began building the Palace of the Parliament in June 1980 after forcing 40,000 people to relocate.

The structure was only 70% complete when Ceausescu was killed. For 9 straight years its construction consumed one third of Romania’s national budget & almost bankrupted the country. Without a doubt, this massive spending to erect a building to satisfy his vanity along with his abusive government lead to Ceausescu’s demise.

After his death, the Romanian people had the choices to destroy the building, sell it, or finish it. Funny note: the only 2 possible buyers were Rupert Murdoch & Donald Trump who who wanted turn it into a hotel & casino.

Since it was cheaper to finish it rather than to tear it down, the Romanians chose to complete what they could & use it as Romania’s Parliament. Smart choice. However, there are still many areas such as the indoor swimming pool that will never be completed.

Today, it is the world’s 3rd largest building & at 4.1 million pounds, it is the heaviest building because it is completely made from marble. It’s so heavy that it sinks half a centimeter a year. It was much more impressive than I was expecting.

Every country has something that I fall in love with. In Romania, it is the lemonade. Every restaurant & even small convenience stores sell a wide variety of lemonade drinks. The most common varieties are mint, strawberry, & plain. I also saw mango & lavender flavors. All are made with fresh ingredients.

I have always had a weakness for anything with embroidery or looks like it has hand stitching. Maybe this is because when I was a teenager, I embroidered my own clothes, Regardless the reason, a few of these lovely peasant blouses are going home in my suitcase.

One day while sitting in the park enjoying the lovely weather I thought about how different Romania would be today had it not been for two world wars & being placed under communism for almost 45 years.

When you compare Bucharest to places like Vienna which greatly benefited from the American Marshall Plan to rebuild war-torn Europe, you can easily see how events can drastically change a country’s future.

Our trip has now taken us to Ranthambore National Park which known for tigers. We were told that if you see a tiger picture taken in India, it is probably from this park. At one time, it was the royal hunting grounds for the Jaipur maharajas. It is located next to Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan.

On our first afternoon, we arrived at our hotel Khem Villas. Unlike our other hotels, this is an eco lodge with only 12 rooms that was started by the son of the man who started Ranthambhore National Park.

The next day we started our game drives into the national park. The only disadvantage to our hotel is the 30 minute drive to catch the arranged jeep for the wildlife safari drive.

We had 3-4 hour drives in the morning & again in the afternoon.

The park is divided into 10 ea. different zones. The park service assigns the zone you see each day. We visited zones 10, 7, 8 & 6 (in that order.)

Each zone starts at a different gate into the park & has its own territory through which your assigned driver & guide take you.

Sometimes we drove through the town of Sawai Madhopur. Walls are decorated with tigers & the people are always interesting to watch in their daily life.

Once in the park, you share the trail with other tourist vehicles all hoping to see a tiger.

Seeing big cats is not easy in any national park regardless if you are in the Americas, Africa, or India. Just like going to Yellowstone National Park in America, you are more likely to see antelopes & birds.

We spotted tigers on 3 out of 4 game drives; but only once was a tiger close enough to get a good picture. The other times it was too far away. One time it was laying down sleeping about 50 meters away & the other time it was walking through the woods about 80 meters away with the dense bushes & trees causing the tiger to disappear & reappear in our line of sight.

To find the tigers in the late afternoon, the guides listen for the sambar deer to make a loud barking sound they use to warn each other that a tiger was spotted. Each time we were heard this warning call, we saw a tiger.

A few weeks ago, these articles were in the Times of India newspaper paper about tigers in Rathambore.

Last Posting for this Trip

Tomorrow we start our journey home. We drive back to Jaipur in the morning with an afternoon flight to Delhi before flying home. So this will be the final posting for India.

India always surpasses my expectations. It never disappoints. It is among the most colorful countries both literally & figuratively. It is one of the few places left where things have not become Westernized. Women still wear saris out of choice & traditional Indian food is still the main diet.

Mixed in with dirt & grime, you hear music playing from temples & can smell the incense burning in them. The people are extremely kind & warm. I have no idea how many times we were asked to pose in pictures. Some people even asked us into their homes.

Here is a quote I recently read that sums up my own thinking about India:

“Nothing is tucked under the carpet. The well-to-do and the poor are living side by side. It’s all in the open, and you can’t run away from it.” Artist Veena Bhargava

Some things need to be improved in India such as a better education for all, especially for girls. Trash is still a huge unsightly & unhealthy problem. But, if you can accept that this is India, it is impossible not to love the country. I’m sure we will come back here.

Jaisalmer is located In Rajasthan’s western region bordering the Thar Desert. In the early morning & early evening sunlight, the honey colored sandstone buildings appear to be made from gold which is why it is known as the Golden City.

This city is on many lists of places you must visit before you die for good reason. It was once a key stop along the southern Silk Route. The city taxed all exporters traveling into the city. For this reason, money was raised providing Jaisalmer with a spectacular fort & amazing intricately carved mansions all made from local sandstone.

Unlike forts we have visited in other parts of Rajasthan & all over the world, Jaisalmer Fort is a “living” fort with 4,000 inhabitants along with their homes, businesses, & temples inside the walls.

The massive sandstone fort dominates the city below. It is easy to imagine what it must have looked like when camel caravans carrying gold, silver, gems, silk, tea, & spices came through the city in the 16th through the 18th Centuries.

Today the fort has many tea houses, old homes converted into hotels & Jain Temples. Many homes have beautifully carved windows & balconies.

The fort has many shops selling various trinkets . Plus, many hawkers simply drape the walls with clothing & textiles to display their wares.

Outside the fort we walked through narrow streets to view beautifully carved homes called Havelis. The word “Haveli” means “Big Winds” because of all the windows & openings in them which provided much needed ventilation & air flow in the hot summers. These luxurious mansions were built by the richest citizens who profited the most from the Silk Road.

In the city we visited Gadhisar Lake. It is a beautiful man-made lake that once provided water for the locals to wash in & drink; but, now it is a recreation spot.

When we were not touring Jaisalmer, we enjoyed our exquisite hotel that was built in the style of a fort.

At sunset, we enjoyed a camel ride in the Thar Desert which is the world’s 10th largest desert.

Back to Jodhpur

After a 5 hour drive, we returned to Jodhpur for one last afternoon.

Our guide took us to the Umaid Bhagwan Palace where the current Jodhpur Maharaja lives with his family. This large structure was started in 1929 & completed in 1943. Along with the traditional Hindustan architecture, it has a small Art Deco design influence which was all the rage back then. It has 346 rooms & was the last major palace constructed in India before its independence in 1947. Today it is still home to the Jodhpur royal family; but, part of it is an exclusive hotel & a museum.

We were extremely lucky to have a wonderful guide in Jodhpur. We learned that he loved the show “Friends”, & we enjoyed sharing favorite moments together from the show. And, today we wished him a “Happy Friendsgiving”.

I learned that he was also a fan of my favorite photographer, Steve McCurry. One of his cousins had been Steve’s guide here in Jodhpur.

On the night that we stopped at the Hindu Temple, he told me he hoped I now had a Steve McCurry shot. 🤞I’ll know once I get home and look closely through my images.

I wish I could have taken the peacock feather healing stick gift home; but, our guide checked with a friend who worked for India Airlines & they said per national law, peacock feathers are not allowed to leave India.

Peacock feathers are considered to bring good luck & health, so I am glad it will remain in India with a loving family & put to good use.

After a short lunch break, we boarded the back of a jeep & headed to Jodhpur’s outskirts.

Our experiences out there were by far the most unique on the trip.

After a 20-30 minute ride, we reached a pottery maker’s home. We watched two potters at work- a father & his son.

The father was busy pounding jars still warm from the kiln to round them into shape so they can be used to hold water.

The son then demonstrated how he first kneaded the wet clay with ash before molding it into pots using an unusual potters’ wheel. The pottery wheel is like a top that he got up to a very fast speed by using a stick to turn it. This ingenious wheel spun for a long time! He made three objects & decorated them on the wheel before it stopped spinning.

The mother was busy stiring a pot of dough that would later be made into poppadom.

Our next stop was a Bishnoi farmer’s home. The Bishnois date back to the 15th Century & are members of the Jain religious group. Jains are vegans & will not eat any vegetables grown in the soil including carrots, onions, garlic, etc. They do this so as not to kill any insects while harvesting such crops. Some Jains wear masks; not to stop diseases, but so they don’t accidentally inhale a bug & kill it. They are very loyal to preserving the environment & protecting all animals. Our guide told us the Bisnois will even fight to the death to save a tree.

They also have a history of mixing small opium amounts with water to drink to enable strength & endurance to work in the fields. While visiting this farm family, the father demonstrated how they administer opium in a ceremony.

The man also demonstrated how to tie a turban which is formed from a 9 meter long piece of fabric.

He then dressed us up like the locals.

From there, we visited a family who makes hand woven dhurrie rugs. Usually two weavers work together- one on each side of the loom. One rug can take 2 weeks to two months to make depending on its size, pattern, & number of thread colors.

We we were happy to support this small family craftsman by placing a rug order for our home.

Along the way, we saw a young man on a camel herding his camels.

Our last stop was unplanned. On our way back to Jodhpur, we saw a group of 30-40 people gathered at a small outdoor temple under a large banyan tree. I asked our guide if we could make a quick stop to take a few pictures.

The women were all seated on the ground outside while the men were grouped close to the priest under the tree. Once I removed my shoes & approached the women, they motioned for me to come closer.

The priest then saw me & asked for me to come and take their pictures. I was very surprised by how happy they were to have me join them. My husband was also welcomed & asked to join.

Before leaving we were given a box of sweet soft candy, a lantern, marigold flower garlands, & the priest’s healing stick made from peacock feathers. We both felt very humbled & blessed by the experience.

These are the kind of experiences you never forget. Connecting with others around the world is always special & very rewarding.

Our guide had a short conversation with the priest. He told us this group meets twice a month according to the moon’s phases. This group was meeting to commemorate a local Bisnoi hero from hundreds of years ago who was killed defending cows from being slaughtered by invaders. It is said although his head was cut off, his body continued fighting to protect the cows. The priest is known in the area for healing various sicknesses. There was also a man there around 80 years old who had the ability to speak with the dead.

Their only request was for us to leave a US $1 bill as a donation. No more was needed.

Mumbai is India’s 2nd largest city with almost 22 million people. It’s home to Bollywood movies & is a major business center. It’s a little like LA & NY combined India style.

We learned that the city was created by the British who mangled the local place name & called it Bombay.

At first glance Mumbai seems like a very modern Asian city on par with Hong Kong or Singapore. But, over the two days we toured it, we realized it is still very much India, just with more skyscrapers.

Like the rest of India, temples & holy sites are very much a part of Mumbai.

In Mumbai, cows are not allowed to roam the streets due to safety concerns. Rescue cows are kept at one temple making them “Holy Cows” where people can visit & feed them.

A highlight was visiting Mani Bhavan which is the house where Gandhi lived for 17 years.

We visited various parts in the city where life goes on the way it has for many years.

The Crawford Market sells everything including food, pets, & spices.

We just so happened to be in Mumbai on voting day & saw many people working on the election verifying people’s ID so that they can go to the polling place to vote.

Always good to take some time to have fun with the locals.

One evening we visited the famous Victorian Terminus Station which due to its unique construction is also a UNESCO site. With gold inlays & plating along with intricate carvings & statues, it was the most expensive structure the British built in India.

One morning we got up early to visit another fish market.

Next we saw the laundromat… Mumbai style. This area is Dhobi Ghat which means “a place where washer men clean clothes & dries them.” It is the world’s largest open air laundry. Clothes are collected in neighborhoods, then labeled by number by customer. The clothes are then washed, dried, ironed, & delivered back to the owner.

No trip to Mumbai is complete without seeing the Gateway to India. The Gateway to India was finished in 1924 to commemorate the 1911 visit to India by the British Monarch George V & his wife Queen Mary.

Our last major stop was to one of the various Mumbai slums. The slum we visited is where over a million people live & is also where their jobs are. Because labor is VERY cheap, everything from having your vegetables chopped to having clothes made is done in the slums.

This is also where America’s plastic goods come to be recycled. China no longer takes this waste, so now it comes to India to be washed, sorted, & chopped into small pieces before going to factories to be melted & reused.

We ended our stay in Mumbai visiting the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel which is next to the Gateway of India.

The beautiful Taj Mahal Palace was built in 1903. It is just as beautiful in the inside as the outside is grand.

Some may remember it for the 2008 terrorist attacks. For this reason every hotel, we have stayed at has very high security.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner in the US, this means Black Friday is coming too. Here in India they have something different. 😂🤣🤪

Festivals are always fun; but, meeting people & seeing their culture is even more enjoyable.

We spent three days in Kalapathy, India. One morning we got up extra early to watch the women do their daily front door entrance decoration with intricate designs called a Kolam.

First, the woman of the house cleans an area outside her door which has the previous day’s design. She cleans it simply by using water & a straw broom.

After the area dries, the woman of the house then makes her daily design using two methods- using dried rice flower is called Arikkolam, or using a liquid paste of rice & water called Maskkolam.

On our first day we met this woman who sold candy & cookies from a small table cart. I told her she was beautiful. That made her day! She then told all her friends what I said. She told us she had always been told she was too dark to be beautiful.

We stopped & visited with her each day.

The festival also features unique fortune tellers. For less than a dollar, a tame parrot picks a card & the seer tells you about your strengths & weaknesses based upon the Hindu God picture on the card that the bird picks.

With our guide’s help, we were able to meet a local family & visit their home.

Each traditional home is built exactly the same. They have relatively small widths; but, they are very deep with a straight, unbroken hallway running from front to back to provide ample cooling & ventilation. They also all have a sump in them to drain the massive rainfall from the annual monsoons.

The front area is like a covered enclosed patio which leads inside to areas used for sitting, eating, & sleeping. Each house also contains the family’s Hindu Shrine for daily prayers. The last room in the house has the kitchen. Many years ago, the last rooms in the house were used to house their cows; now they are used for storage.

These homes only contained the basic essentials. The most modern appliance we saw was a flat screen television.

While visting, we had a chance also to see the family preparing for the festival & learned how they made ground sandalwood to make a paste that is painted on the body.

This family also lived near a small temple of which they were very proud.

Each temple also has a spirit animal that they decorate to carry through the streets. This temple’s spirit animal was a mouse.

Other temples had an elephant & horse as their respective spirit animals.

In the evening or morning, locals sit on their small porch to chat with passerbys.

The family invited us to return the next day for the daily lunch sponsored by their temple. We first saw this in Delhi where volunteers from the temple cook food for the community.

All the food was served on a giant banana leaf & eaten by hand. Unfortunately, we chose not to eat the food because we were afraid we might have tummy problems later; but, our guide said it was very tasty. In any case, it was nice to be invited.

The festival also brought in many vendors who sold their wares along the streets. They sold food, kitchen items, jewelry, bangles, shoes, seeds, toys, & much, much more. Most are not from the area & slept by their stalls.

One huge surprise was how many people of all ages approached us to talk & asked to have their picture with us. Some spoke English & others communicated through our guide. At times the requests for taking photos with us were so constant, our guide very politely asked them to leave us alone so we could watch the festivities. Then they would just take our picture without them in it.

I tried my best never to say no to children who wanted a photo.

Then there were the guys I called the paparazzi. A group of men constantly took pictures of us everyday at the festival. On our last day, I saw them photographing us, so I asked them to be in a picture with us this time.

The chariot festival was an experience we will never forget. This is because we had an excellent guide who made sure we were always safe in the crush, in the right location to see & photograph the event, & got to meet so many friendly people.