WARNING- Avoid Sundays in India

In India, some people work 6 days, so the one day off is SUNDAY. When we planned places to see, we didn't notice we put the most crowded, and free, sites to visit on Sunday: Lal Qila (Red Fort, Delhi) and Akshardam. Whoops! Not to mention, it was raining in the morning...and then very humid. So we started off our day, wearing our rain jackets. They don't really wear rain jackets here unless they are wearing a full rain suit on their motorcycles, and even those are black, grey, or clear. We really stood out this time...in our bright lemon, lime, and watermelon colored jackets (which were sticking to us- thanks humidity).

The Lal Qila (Red Fort in Delhi) must not be a popular tourist attraction because the people looked at us like we were aliens. The fort (which means palace in India) was not well maintained, so it was hard to capture the true beauty and imagine how grand it must have been. It was built by Shah Jahan in the 17th Century and is known to be the Moghul's greatest palace-city in Delhi. There was a beautiful garden (although the grass was brown) and fountains (which weren't filled) surrounded by the large red stone walls and dirty white marble terraces. A lot of stray dogs were running around and one followed me the whole way back...which is pretty rare so people we laughing at us.

Next stop: AKSHARDAM. I can deal with the hours and hours of lines at Disneyland, but what we encountered at the Swaminarayan Akshardam was a nightmare, literally. We jumped of the car to get in line, realized we couldn't take our cameras, and ran back to the car. Then we got in line for Akshardam, and were informed we couldn't have a purse either! So we made another trip to the parking lot. Then we finally got in one of the 10 lines (the ques) where over 1000 people attempted to file into, sandwiching each other, dripping in sweat for the next hour in line, (luckily we were taller than most people around us and could breathe) anxious to reach the beauty of the Akshardam temple. Akshardam is a brand new, Swaminarayan temple finished in 2005. The temple serves as a religious emporium for devotees of the Swaminarayan faith and has beautiful, ornate, golden statues, marble walls, and multiple gardens and fountains. I compared it to Disneyland because it had boat rides, shows, movies, and a musical fountain show. Rianne loved the lotus garden filled with inspiration quotes about spirituality from notable American, European, and Indian figures.

Fun Fact: Rianne's hair, out and blowing wildly in the wind, caused a lot of attention...they looked so confused! I don't think we walked by a single person who didn't do a double take. In line for Akshardam, there was a fan that blew her hair around and she laughed because we all noticed the people staring...did another head shake on purpose, and the entire crowd burst out laughing! It was so silly because their reactions were hilarious.