Taj Mahal

The drive from Delhi is really long, about five hours from the airport down a two-lane freeway



There were monkeys in the city, but they were on leashes....which was pretty lame.



Finally made it into the city where the Taj is located, first checked out the "red fort."



This thing was pretty cool, and stretched for as long as I could see.



While I try my hardest not to compare, none of these forts stack up to the Edinburgh castle



Walked into the area where the Taj is, and this place is so damn nice.



When I walked through the door of the building above, I couldn't believe it. It was like the first time I saw the Eiffel Tower.



All the pictures and footage just don't do this place justice. You really are in awe when you see it.



I took about 100 shots of this building, but I'm only gonna put up a few.



Shot taken of the other end, standing on the steps of the Taj.



The level of detail in the marble is very impressive



There's a river that runs behind the Taj Mahal; caught these cats fishing out back



There are lots of mini Taj's that were built at a later date, all surrounding the Taj Mahal



On the road back to the airport, caught the gate of India.



Also checked out the President of India's pad - pretty nice. Right in this area were the ministry buildings and embassies for as far as you could see; the road and buildings stretched for miles.



And on that road, tons and tons of monkeys. I really love seeing these guys just running around like they own the place.

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang Mai is such a friggin cool city in Thailand. It's the 2nd largest (behind Bangkok), but has a completely different feel



One similarity to Bangkok is the pictures of the king everywhere; this dude is seriously loved in this country



I dig the architectural styles here



There are a ton of really cool temples in this city; I walked around the corner from the much smaller and more modern temple above and stumbled into this one



Inside the temple above was a massive gold Bhuddah, this thing was huge.



There were also really cool elephant statues surrounding the temple



The monks' robes hanging out to dry



Inside another Bhuddist temple, with another really cool huge Bhuddah



Strolling down one of the back streets in Chiang Mai - a lot of cool little shops (no I didn't try any food that looked like it had been left out for a while)



These were particularly favorite spots for me. The areas with lots of foliage here are just beautiful.



Had to head up to Doi Suthep to check out the views.....it was a long walk



When I finally got to the top and saw this, plus the view of the city, made it all worth it.



More gorgeous sights of trees and foliage....I miss this stuff



Shot of Doi Suthep from just outside of the main area for prayer



I stayed at this temple (Doi Suthep) for a really long time, it felt so comfortable and peaceful there.



Also made it up to the highest spot in Thailand.....Doi Inthanon.



Up on Doi Inthanon, there are all kinds of cool forest pockets that you can just walk right into



On the way back down from the peak, caught this amazing waterfall - I stood there in awe for over an hour



As I was walking through the night market, I saw all of these lights up in the sky (look closely) - apparently this is a religious tradition here. Pretty cool.