Due to flight delays, we arrived in Delhi late (and the hotel even later).

3:30 am outside the Delhi airport

With 2.5 hours of sleep, we still made it to church at the Vasant Vihar Ward in the basement of a non-descript building. They had a very nice Mother’s Day service and gave us flowers.

After a quick clothing change, we headed out to the Gadodia spice market. It was closed due to the election, but we could still walk up the narrow stairs several floors to the roof. It was very hard to breathe—so many spices, especially chili peppers in the air.

After lunch we had a long bus ride to Agra and dinner at the hotel.

We got up early for our sunrise tour of the Taj Mahal. Our guide Raaj had traditional Indian clothes for the faculty leaders and our daughters.

We got the “high value tickets” and tour of the mausoleum—but no photos allowed there. Intricate carved marble.

We had a tour of Agra Fort, just down the Yamuna River from the Taj Mahal.  Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal, was imprisoned here by his son. You can glimpse the Taj Mahal out the window.

We had a tour of the Akhbar marble factory tour and demo about inlaid stone carving used in the Taj Mahal.

We got to visit one of Mother Theresa’s Sisters of Charity organizations. It was really sobering to visit the children’s and women’s wards. The community helps provide support.

Our drive to Jaipur was long!! (8 hrs instead of 4.5). Traffic was heavy with lots of toll booths, cows, big trucks, scooters, tractors, etc.