Rajasthan countryside	The fortress hotel, Devi Garh, in the town of Delwara near Udaipur			The balconies of the suite were a favorite perching place for parrots
	In the small village of Delwara monkeys lounge on a Jain temple	Village life in Delwara...
					The 14th century Jain temples of Delwara
					From the Monsoon Palace above Lake Pichola
	City Palace in Udaipur
The Lake Palace Hotel, where we had dinner one night	Our sunset excursion in a solar-powered boat	Jag Mandir, a structure that inspired the Taj Mahal
					The Himalayan spa Ananda shares the hilltop with the current Maharaja's mountain retreat
On a hike to the Kunapuri temple high above Rishikesh with a view of the snow-capped Himalayas					Heading to the ashram on the Ganges
The aarti Hindi ceremony at the ashram	where orphaned boys help out with the chants			Rafting down the Ganges
	waiting at the Ganges river crossing			Spontaneous repair of the footbridge as pedestrians climbed around it
Taj Mahal in Agra					On the Taj Mahal perimeter overlooking the Yamuna River
		Fatehpur Sikri, a Moghul fort (and former capital) built by Akbar in 1571 on the road from Agra to Jaipur	Making a wish at Saint Chishti's tomb who fulfilled Akbar's wishes with miracles	homemade ferris wheel at the fort complex	stopping for petrol
Outside Alwar in rural Rajasthan	Ajabgarh fort near Amanbagh
					at the abandoned city of Bhangarh
				at the tiger camp in Ranthambhore park	huge crocodile
			we got to run our camels across the open terrain		camels are quite willful creatures, as dan discovered
but once at a gallop they will run forever!		At Humayun's tomb (1565) in Delhi	our bags!

We began in the vicinity of Udaipur (Rajasthan) visiting small villages and temples and exploring the palaces around Lake Pichola.  Monsoon rains were phenomenal this year, and the Rajasthan watering holes were full - a welcome contrast to the dry, rugged, cactus-dotted Aravalli hills.  We stayed in a hill fort palace in the village of Delwara that was built in the 1760's and recently renovated into a small hotel called Devi Garh.

In the Himalayas we did some hiking and rafting on the Ganges (class 2 & 3).  We were high in the foothills above Rishikesh staying for several days at Ananda, a modern spa.  Our yoga teacher from California was leading a retreat at the Parmarth Niketan ashram at the same time, so we participated in events there, including the aarti ceremony on the banks of the Ganges.  Dan installed wireless at the ashram and helped them on other computer and communications support.

From there, we went to Agra and saw the Red Fort and Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri, a spectacular Moghul fort complex.  Outside Alwar, we stayed adjacent to rural villages and explored Ajabgarh fort ruins and Bhangarh (an abandoned city built in 1631 that is currently being excavated) and did yoga on temple ruins.  We also had a lovely early evening on the ruins of a palace overlooking the local lake which had been lit up by a profusion of candles at the site and on the surrounding hill-top fortress ruins.  We had delicious Indian appetizers prepared right on the terrace for us.

We ended our trip in the Ranthambhore tiger park where we stayed in bush tents.  A highlight was a camel safari through the countryside with the two of us at the reins of our camels.  We were able to bend the camels to our will and experienced the fully range of camel paces as we covered dusty ground swftly.

Places to stay: Parmarth Niketan (ashram) in Rishikesh, Amarvillas (next to the Taj Mahal) in Agra, The Manor in Delhi, Amanbagh (fantastic pool pavilions), Aman-i-Khas in Ranthambhore.  (Special thanks to Sally & Phillip at Amanbagh for a truly peaceful and memorable stay.)