Blue Mosque vs Taj Mahal by Mia

Us in the blue mosque. You can see all the little half domes supporting the big dome.

The Taj Mahal and the Blue Mosque are pretty comparable in their structure, interior decoration, and Muslim influence. The purposes are totally different though because one is a mosque and the other a tomb. The emperors who built them also had different reasons. The Shah Jahan built the Taj for his wife and Justinian made the blue mosque as part of the ongoing contest all of the Ottoman rulers took part in. Pretty much he wanted to make a nicer mosque than the mosque built by his dad. The blue mosque was made to be better than the Hagia Sophia. Despite their different purposes the Taj Mahal and the blue mosque are also similar.  

Stone cut out railing thing.

The blue mosque and the Taj Mahal are a bit similar in terms of structure. They both have multiple domes, though they are of different shapes. The Blue Mosque’s domes are way rounder than the Taj Mahal’s. The blue mosque’s extra domes also serve more of a purpose. The outer half domes are buttresses to the big middle one. In both buildings there are fake domes on the inside of the domes. The blue mosque has four ginormous columns and extra thick walls to help support the big dome in the middle and it is symmetrical on two lines. This is a little bit similar to the Taj’s symmetry, though that is more for looks than structure. Also, both buildings are made out of marble—one Italian and the other Indian marble. The marble in the mosque is much greyer than that in the Taj though.

There are verses from the Koran writin in Arabic around the doorway.

The Taj and the mosque are also similar on the inside. There are lots of intricate and colorful designs on the walls and interior dome in both buildings. The materials for the designs are way different, though (inlayed stones vs paint and tile). Also, the Taj is much less busy compared to the blue mosque. There is actually blank wall space in the Taj Mahal while the mosque has paintings, tiles, stained glass, and designs covering almost every inch of the interior. Both buildings have stone cutout things either in the form of a cage around the tombs or railings, too.

Busy but pretty stained glass.

There is heavy Muslim influence on both buildings. The blue mosque is obviously very Muslim and there are excerpts from the Koran on the walls everywhere. The Taj Mahal’s Muslim influence is the two identical mosques it has on either side and more excerpts from the Koran above the entrance to the tomb and on the walls. The king who built the Taj Mahal was a Mughal emperor and the Mughals were one of the big Muslim powers that came into India way back when. Also, both buildings were built around the 16^th century.

The Taj Mahal and the Blue Mosque are very similar in some ways and very different in others. The decoration, religious influence, and structure are comparable while the purpose and overall effect and appearance are quite different. The Taj looks very clean, white and simple which the mosque’s grey marble and busy decoration makes it look older and quite overwhelming.

India Summery by Sarah

a map of India lined were we went

         In India, we did lots of fun stuff, but we did not enjoy all of it. We landed in New Delhi, went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, then to Kalodeo National Park to see the birds, then to Jaipur to see the Amber Fort/Palace, then back to Delhi, then to Simla on the train, then back to Delhi.  It was to see the different sites, but we travelled too much and India was really dirty.

We went to the biggest mosque in India, but we did not all enjoy it. Mommy and Mia had to wear robes and mommy got mad (it was not that big).

This is the Camel Band at the Republic Day Parade in Delhi.

         My favorite place in India was Simla because it had snow and it was up high so Zander was really calm and it had really nice views of the Himalayas. Zander did not like it because he was really sick, the rest of us liked it because we weren't bothered by his usual annoyingness. On the train to Shimla we took a sleeper train and it got delayed by three hours so we had to wait in the waiting room for that time and we watched Breaking Dawn. One thing that I didn't like about Simla was that it had monkeys that stole my glasses.

          My second favorite place was Jaiphur because it had nice air and it wasn't foggy. Another reason is that it had a pond with a nice white palace that was closed because they were repairing it. On the mountains of Jaiphur they had a wall that went all the way around that was a fort I think. Inside the walls they had another walled off spot with Amber Palace in it. In Amber palace they had lots of marble carvings and crushed up semi precious stones with plants in it for paint.

 You now can see what we did not enjoy but other people would enjoy.

                                                        By Sarah and  half typed by Mia

Kayley &Zander's report on Cambodian and Indian architecture

All different countries have different materials and different ways of displaying them in buildings. Angkor Wat in Cambodia was built over 1,000 years ago during the Khmer Empire. It was built because the Emperor wanted to be remembered after he died. Shahjahan built the Taj Mahal in India around the 1331 and used weight marble for the facing. Akbar built the Agra Fort in 1565. He used cobbled stones inside the walls of his great fort. India and Cambodia used a lot of the same materials and methods when India and Cambodia built their great structures like the Taj Mahal and Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat over 1,000 years old

Cambodian and Indian temples are made of stone that is found around the building site. In Cambodia, they used volcanic stones and gray sandstone. On the other hand India used sand stone, bricks and cobles, and white marble. Cambodian builders used the volcanic stones for the filler in Cambodians walls of their temples.  They used sandstone for the outer layer on the wall because it is easy to carve. In India, they used bricks, mortar, and cobles on the inside of the walls.  For the facing, the Indians use marble or sandstone. India and Cambodia used sand stone, volcanic stone, and white marble to build their great structures, but they still need something to decorate them with.

Angkor Wat in Siam Reap

Cambodia and India used a lot of valuable jewels to show their respect to their gods and for people that have died. Cambodian emperors made lots of statues of Buddha in there temples and important places. The Buddha have a ruby or and sapphire in there head. In Cambodia most of the Buddha statues have their head cut off, because they got the precious stone stolen. The ruby is located on a statue of a Buddha in the Palace at Phnom Pen. In India they panted special places with pants made from precious stones. They also imbed semiprecious stones into the walls.  I think that India did that because they wanted to make their paintings worth a lot, but India didn’t want anyone to be able to steal the precious materials. I think that putting the voluble jewels in pant is safe r because it would be impossible to steel.

an old city in Deli in ruins

Indian and Cambodian built most of their building with the same key baselines. They made the outside look nice. The Indians put bricks and cobbles on the inside of the wall. In the Cambodian Temples like Angkor Wat, they used volcanic stones as filler behind the carved sand stones. The Cambodians carved their volcanic stones to perfection, so they didn’t have to use mortar to fill in the gaps.  The reasons that they used volcanic stones are because they are really light and because there are a lot of volcanoes in Cambodia. In India, they put bricks or cobbles on the inside of their walls, so they don’t have to carve out blocks. The Indians method of using bricks and cobbles was much more efficient then caving out each individual stone like the Cambodians.

entrance to the ruins of the city

India and Cambodia use arches and domes in a lot of their structures, but there is one thing that keep them apart. In Cambodia, the most famous temple, Angkor Wat, uses fake arches on the entrance. They built them by cantilevering blocks of stone until they meet in the center. It is not a very safe and lasting way of building a doorway.  If Cambodia had built real domes then their structures wouldn’t have collapse.  Arches and domes carry their loads through compression around an opening in a parabolic shape.  The Cambodians way was of making doorways was simply using large stones cantilevered over an opening using their self-weight to span the opening. India, on the other hand, uses real domes and arches. Indians made the walls around the dome really thick so that it will balance the outward thrust. Arches and Domes require temporary shoring while they are constructed. When you build a structure using proper methods and strong materials, then it could last forever without much work done.

The Indians inlayed semi-presiuos stones into white or black marble.

            The difference between the Cambodian temples and palaces and the Indian palaces, monuments, and forts are very apparent. India’s and Cambodia’s buildings are always filled with beautiful carvings and art. On the Taj Mahal there were carvings of flowers and inlayed stone flowers, but in Cambodian temples the carvings are usually of wars, dancers, and gods; but no flowers. In the Amber (sky) palace in India there was a mixture of Muslim and Hindi carvings on the pillars and usually there’s only one religion (Hinduism or Buddhism) in the Cambodian buildings. India’s and Cambodia’s carvings are both very beautiful. In most of the Cambodian temple there used to be beautiful paintings that are now just a couple splotches of paint as opposed to India’s powdered precious stone paint(or frescos) that has stayed on the wall for centuries and are still in very good condition.  

Some times the indians ground up preaciuos stones and made paints and the paints made paintings called frescos.

            India’s and Cambodia’s building are usually filled with beautiful carvings and art. On the Taj Mahal there were carvings of flowers and inlayed stone flowers and Arabic writing.  In the Amber (sky) palace in India there was a mixture of Muslim and Hindi carvings on the pillars. Usually there’s only one religion (Hinduism or Buddhism) or the temples started out as Hindu temples but were converted into a Buddhist temple later on.  In Cambodian temples, the carvings are usually of wars, dancers and gods but not really flowers. The Cambodians also did some inlaying. They inlayed rubies and other precious gems and jewels on the statues’ faces but the rubies and the other gems are not there anymore. India’s and Cambodia’s carvings and art are both very beautiful.

            The Indians were more into their gardens in their forts and palaces than the Khmer. The Indian buildings had beautiful gardens with fountains. The gardens were divided in to geometric shapes or puzzle pieces. Sometimes the gardens were in the middle of a moat or lake. The Agra fort has some nice gardens that were probably built for Akbar in 1565.  Also there are usually iron rings on the Indian forts and palaces for awnings and curtains. It would be really cool to see the awnings all set up with Indian royalty sitting around underneath.  The Cambodian buildings had sandstone courtyards and ponds with lotus flowers with statues of gods. The Khmer temples had four big reflection pools for the sunset. But there probably used to be lots of really pretty gardens. The gardens in both countries are or used to be really pretty gardens.   

The fountains at Taj Mahal were really symmetricalT. 

            The Indian buildings and the Cambodian buildings both had symmetry but in different places. The whole Taj Mahal is all symmetrical inside and out. For example, in the Taj Mahal the line of fountains, the main gate and the grave of the queen are all lined up. There is a mosque on one side then there’s a mosque on the other side. The symmetry went beyond function and beyond awesomeness. The Angkor wat  Angkor Wat was just symmetrical on the outside wall but it was obviously built for function, unlike the Taj Mahal which is just a really big and fancy tomb. The Hindu temples have four corners with towers and three doors for the people to go through. The middle door is for the gods to go through for the offerings. 

            All the famous and infamous building or ruins we saw in India and Cambodia were beautiful and unique in there ways. The art work and architecture we saw in both countries was just plain amazing.  The Khmer temples have lasted about 4times longer than the Taj Mahal. The Angkor W was built in 1100b.c.and the Taj Mahal was built 1631-1653 by Shahjahan.  For the most part, the Khmer sandstone temples have held strong through wars, genocide and various theft of stone heads, faces and arms of the statues and carvings.  The methods of construction, the materials and the special features that the Khmer and the Indians used on their special buildings were unique, decorative or just necessary.    

By Kayley Rolph & Zander Rolph     

Monkeys BY SARAH

Grey Monkey at Amber Palace.

           A couple of days ago, I had a accident with the monkeys. Before that I thought monkeys are nice but now I think that some are mean.

Different kind of grey monkey with a baby. In Bali.

          When we were walking up a hill to get to a Temple in the snow I was wearing  my sun glasses. Daddy was to, but I am smaller so a monkey jumped on my head and stole them! The monkey ran off , but a person saved them and we paid 30 RP(60 US cents) to get them back. When it happened I was looking at my feet because I did not want to fall down the hill. The monkey that jumped on me was a small one. There are 2 types of monkeys here, there are big white ones with black faces and really long tails (not the ones that jumped on my head). There are small brown ones with short tails too. That was the kind that jumped on me.

Grey monkeys in Shimla

        Now I don't like monkeys as much but some of them are still cute, like the babies. I think a normal sized smaller monkey jumped on my head but I saw a lot of cute little baby ones too. The baby monkeys look skinnier, smaller, darker, and a little worse at climbing. I like monkeys, just not when they steal things from me!

Shimla by Mia

The little train to Shimla.

          On Monday morning we got off the night train in Kalka to catch a different train for a long scenic ride to Shimla. We couldn't get a spot on the nice train that had reclining bucket seats so we hopped on the train with straight backed benches. Just part of the experience, I guess, I would have happily waited for the next one! We were the last ones to get on so we got the seats in the back next to the bathroom, which smelled really, really bad.

           The ride was about six hours which is about 3 times longer than it would have been by car because the train was really slow. It was more of a scenic trip than a way to get somewhere, it's even on the World Heritage list! It was really cool though because you were going up and into the Himalayas so the mountains kept getting bigger and bigger. When we stopped at the stations on the way daddy or mommy got out and bought some snacks or tea from the stands. Everything is really extremely cheap by the tracks so it was awesome. We got some musala tea (which is absolutely delicious) and pastries and stuff. That was pretty much our lunch! 

The ridgetop square in Shimla.

           We tracked our progress by the number of tunnels we passed so it was easy to figure out where to stop. There was supposed to be a little more than 100 tunnels from Kalka to Shimla and they're numbered so it doesn't matter if you miss some. On the way we passed lots of stray dogs and cows and stuff as well as people walking along them or just hanging out. Some people had little shacks on the side of the tracks too, perched on the steep hill. We went through a little town or two in the beginning, but it cleared up as we got into the mountains. It was a nice ride, just way too long to do more than once so we are going to drive on the way back!

Bagpipes in one of the parades. So Scottish!

           We got to Shimla at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. We walked up the main street which they call The Mall and got lunch/dinner at a nice restaurant on the main square thing. The restaurant was one circular room with an outdoor patio thing on the side. It's like the only restaurant we went to in this entire trip! Its really nice and really cheap. On the square they have a museum, a church (like the only one I have ever seen in this country, but Shimla has Christians, Muslims and (mostly) Hindus) and a library. There are also big statues of Gandhi and his wife and a great view on both sides because it is on the top of the ridge. There was a ton of army guys with guns everywhere, even more so than in Delhi! It was a bit scary at first because it was obvious that no one had taught then how to hold them properly so they were pointing all over the place, but we got used to it. Every single day we have been here they have done big army parades along the street up to the square and they have the most hilarious costumes. You can just see the Scottish (plaid and bagpipes, luckily no kilts!) and British (weird hats) influence!

The Viceroy's house.

           Shimla is the cleanest and safest city I have ever sean in India. It used to be the summer capitol so there are government buildings everywhere and lots of old British architecture. We went to the old Viceroy's house and it looked like a cross between Hogwarts and London Tower-- it was so cool! The Mall street is closed to cars so you can walk around really easily and shop. Also, there is no littering, spitting and plastic bags are prohibited. They use bags out of cheap fabric or paper instead which is way better than plastic. The bad thing is that most of those laws aren't really enforced. There is still lots of trash lying around, but I guess not as much as the other cities. The other thing that I think is really cool is that they have an elevator to get to the bottom of the hill! The city is on a really steap mountainside so you can we a few feet away from the place you want to get to, but it is only the roof so you have to walk forever to get to the entrance. That's pretty frustrating, but the elevator helps a lot! If I ever come back to India, I am definitely coming here and I will definitely leave space in my bags for shopping at The Mall!

The Beginning of Our Little Trip to Kill TIme by Mia



We have been doing our sightseeing way too fast so now we have 3 extra days to kill! There was some debate over what we should do. Daddy wanted to go to the Himalayas and ski, but we decided that 40 hours of travel by night train and bus through high mountains was not worth just one day of skiing. Besides, we don’t really have the gear for it. Daddy is really set on taking the train somewhere so he came up with a compromise that did not involve ten hours on a rickety bus on a one lane road winding along a steep cliff in the Himalayas. It does involve a night train, though. We are going to a town in the foothills of the Himalayas that used to be the ‘Summer Capitol’ so all the important people went there during the summer when it was way too hot everywhere else. There are lots of cool old buildings leftover so that is what we are going to see. It’s not quite as fun as skiing, but it will do!



All plugged in waiting for the trian.



This whole little side trip was really spontaneous, like we just decided we needed to go somewhere else a few days ago and the idea to go here was developed last night at dinner. I don’t even know the name of the place we are going to! Our driver and travel agent guy didn’t really like the sudden change of plans, especially because we wouldn’t need him to drive us around for the next few days. There was a lot of… uhh… heated… conversation about the bill and stuff on the ride over. He gets to drive for the last few days, so I guess that’s ok.



We saw a giant cannon at a fort in Jaipur before lunch at our favorite restaurant. We started going there yesterday and the people there are really nice (which probably has a lot to do with the fact that we go there a lot) and the food is really good! After lunch we drove all the way back to Delhi which took a long time! After we got to the train station we drove around for like twenty minutes looking for dinner.
 

We got fast Indian food for dinner which was, well, fast food, so it was not really delicious at all and really spicy. Mommy called it ‘authentic’ because it isn’t stuff that tourists normally eat (well, there is a reason for that, isn’t there?) and in the tourist restaurants they make it less spicy. There was even a world map on the wall with dots on the cities that they had a branch in. They had a few in the Americas and Asia, but mostly in Europe. It actually looked pretty big even though I have never heard of it in my life. The Delhi branch was three stories high and pretty big and lit up so mommy thought it was a supermarket at first. We were so desperate to eat before we had to hit the train station that we got fast food!



In one of our little compartments on the train. There are two bunk
beds on either side and a tiny isle in the middle. Zander and I slept
In another compartment with two old ladies.



After dinner, we went to the train station. The train station is really gross and dirty, but most of this country is. There is a really complicated train class system with all sorts of chair classes, sleeper classes, and AC classes. I don’t think any of them are particularly luxurious though. We are in either AC 2 or AC 3. Daddy ordered AC 2 tickets but it says AC 3 on the actual tickets so we are not sure. Our train got delayed three hours so instead of leaving at 9:15 pm it’s going to be leaving at around 11:30 pm. We waited it out in the waiting room (they even have a room for this!), sat on our bags and plugged in our electronics. The train ride is about eight hours long so we are going to get there at like 8 am instead of 5 am. I’m kind of glad about that because I do late nights way better than early mornings!



the taj mahal by sarah

This is me pretending to tuchthe top of the Taj.

       In Agra, we saw the Taj Mahal and it was extraordinary and beautiful.

       In the gardens in the front of the Taj Mahal, they had lots of fountains that are all symetrical all the way through the Taj Mahal. Around the Taj Mahal, they have trees surrounded by red concrete.In the middle of  two pools of  fountains, there is a concrete platform raised about four feet above the concrete walkway. One walk way went strait though and the other one curved out twice then curved in twice and that happened on both sides. The Taj Mahal looked prefectly symetrical.

      In  the main Taj Mahal, they have lots of patterns and stones embedded into the walls and they have lots of carvings of flowers.  They embedded semi-precious stones also shaped as flowers.  At the entries, they have arabic writing carved out of black marble into white marble.  The four towers that  are around the Taj Mahal are all leaning two % of  out so if they fall they will not fall on his wife and the queen who is buried inside of it. Inside of the of the walls, it is filled with red brick surounded by mostly plaster. The Taj must have really loved his wife alot.

  

      The Taj Mahal is amazing and beautiful.

Incredible India

The red rug to the left is an Indian style rug.

            A couple of days ago, my family and I went to a carpet shop. At the carpet shop the salesman/owner gave us a free tour in hope of us buying something, which I think is going to happen.

             Mommy and daddy seemed interested in buying a rug when we get back home. They even asked for the salesman’s card and the price was really good for a 10 by 12 rug and that includes shipping to your door step. Mommy said that was cheap for a nice rug like the ones he showed us.  The catch is that we need a house to put the rug in first.  Sadly, we don’t have a house right now   

The weavers use the figure eight knot.

              At the carpet shop, there were two professionals working on one carpet together. They were hand knotting the carpet and they used the figure eight knot on two layers of string going vertical. The weavers were weaving super-fast and they looked like someone had pressed the fast forward button. I learned that theft and weft in Hindi is tum and bum. Then, the guy who was telling us all this stuff took us into a different room where they keep all the finished rugs.

            There was a great many finished rugs and the salesman person showed us some Persian style rugs and some Indian rugs. The Persian rugs had much more flowers in the designs than the Indian rugs.  The sales man said that the flowers on the Persian rugs didn’t really grow and the rugs were supposed to be like a paradise thing with huge flower gardens. The Indian rugs had real types of flowers on their rugs because flowers grow in India. I liked the Red Indian rugs more because it wasn’t as busy and the Persian rugs just don’t look right to me. 

            I’m glad we did the carpet/rug tour because now not only do I know where some of the wool from NZ goes to India to be dyed and made into beautiful rugs, but I know how they make the beautiful rugs.

Rich People Build Big Buildings by Mia

Monkeys and the Agra Fort, but only a tiny bit of it. It's really much, much bigger!

Every country has a time when it is wealthy and expansive. However, this time does not last forever and many great empires are become lost and forgotten as their boundaries collapse. The great empires we remember best of all are the ones that leave a legacy that is not invisible like the undulating borders that they fight so hard to push outwards. The golden ages of the grandest empires are remembered by their beautiful buildings and monuments. The ones we have seen so far are the Mughals and Angkor. The rulers who are fortunate enough to be on the throne during the height of its power are powerful and wealthy beyond belief and they can definitely afford to focus their energy on things other than conquering. Instead, they focus on insuring their place in history in a more permanent manner. By building palaces and forts and tombs that will last for thousands of years after their empire is long gone, the rulers ensure the immortality of their name.

Akbar's Tomb

                Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom were built at the height of the Khmer Civilization and serve no real practical purpose except to gloat the wealth of the emperor with their grandeur. Angkor Wat in Cambodia was built in the 11^th Century during the Angkor Period, the golden age in Cambodia, by Suryavarman II. It was built for the Hindu god Vishnu, but was later converted to Buddhism by a Buddhist prince in the 13^th century. It was and remains the biggest and grandest religious building in the world, containing statues full of gold and diamonds and all sorts of treasures in its time. Later in the 11^th century (c. 1185), Suryavarman II’s successor and the last Angkor ruler, built Angkor Thom (Great City) as the new capitol. In the center he built Bayon, a Buddhist temple.  At the time the Khmer Empire stretched far into modern day Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Malaysia. That was the Angkor at its grandest and richest and the emperor decided to celebrate by building himself a new capitol.

                The first mention of the Agra Fort was made in 1080 AD when a Ghaznavide Force captured it. Then, it was not anything like it is today, only an ugly little mud brick thing. Much later, after several Sultans, the fort fell into the hands of the super-rich and powerful Mughal ruler, Akbar the Great. As an assertion of his great power, Akbar had about 1.5 million workers rebuild it with red sandstone, beginning in 1558 and finishing in 1573. Akbar’s reign was at the very height of the Mughal rule when their borders were at their longest and their treasuries stuffed full of pillaged loot. Akbar also built a few nice palaces and mosques for himself inside the thick, red walls. The newly constructed monstrosity of a fort was like Akbar’s name; great and immortal.

Angkor Wat

                Another huge bit of Akbar’s favorite red sandstone was shaped into his very own tomb. Construction and design of Akbar’s Tomb was begun by Akbar himself, as is tradition, and finished by his son Jahangir in the early 1600’s.  Akbar, though he was already going down in history as the greatest Mughal emperor, had to make a fittingly grand tomb for himself just to make sure he was remembered properly. The empire he had helped build and maintain would eventually crumble, but not a gigantic tomb of red sandstone.

                 Akbar’s grandson, Shah Jahan began construction on a tomb for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal in the mid- 1600’s.  The beautiful mausoleum was completed after 22 years by 20,000 expert Persian craftsmen that were paid enough money for the rest of their lives. The workers were not allowed to leave India in case they attempted to replicate the Taj Mahal and their families were transported to them. They never had to work for a living again. Shah Jahan had promised his wife to build her the greatest tomb ever and he did so. The grand building is not only gigantic and made of hard white marble; it has a romantic love story to go with it making it even more memorable. Instead of focusing on expanding the empire, which is far from permanent, he built great buildings including several tombs and mosques. As the builder and funder of the Taj, Shah Jahan’s name was preserved by the marble structure in a way that the expansion of his empire couldn’t.

Taj Mahal

                All of these great structures were constructed (or greatly renovated like the Agra Fort) at or near the height of the empire who’s emperor it was built by. Also, they seem to be a demonstration of power and wealth, an everlasting monument to ensure the immortality of a ruler’s name that could not be established by expanding an empire.  Akbar’s Tomb and the Taj Mahal really have no purpose other than being incredible. All of these rulers wished to secure a spot for their names on history’s pages and succeeded by building monuments that are far more permanent than conquering and acquiring land.

The Taj Mahal by Zander

We went all the way to India to see the Taj Mahal. I have always wanted to see it, because it is one of the Wonders of the World. I think that it is really cool that people could build such amazing buildings.  India is a really cool place and there is so much to see. Seeing one of the wonders of the World, the Taj Mahal really makes me appreciate what the people did in the Ancient times.

An Emperor during the 11^th century built the Taj Mahal for his 3rd wife when she died baring there 14^th kid in 19 years. His wife died during child birth. So he built the Taj Mahal as her grave. The Taj Mahal is a really big building, with 4 great towers. His son arrested the Emperor because he had spent most of the family’s money on the Taj Mahal and was wasting his empire. He was locked in the Agra Fort and could see the Taj Mahal out of his window. He died a few years later in the Prison.
The reason that the Taj Mahal took so long was because they used white Marble from India that is really hard to cut. All the pictures that are on the Taj Mahal are all made with imbedded semiprecious stones. It took 22 years to carve all the Engravings into the marble and assemble it. In the end it looked magnificent.

To make the pictures in the marble, people had to cut out all the individual stones  and  carve  a hole in the marble.  I takes about 4 months to finish a piece the size of a dinner plate, so the Taj Mahal took a long time because of the Stone work. The craft was invented by the Persians, so the king hired 22,000 Persian carvers working for his building. When they were done they weren’t allowed to leave Agra. The Emperor didn’t want them to make another Taj Mahal. The workers were paid for the rest of their life. You can still get some of their working the shops descendants in Agra today. We went to one off the shops and it was really amazing that people could still do this amazing stone work by hand with simple tools.

The Taj Mahal is a great example of a well-planned building and with perfect symmetry with all the building in the complex.  It also shows that the Emperor really cared about the body of his 3rd wife. There are four towers around the Taj Mahal.  They are all slanted 2% away from the Taj Mahal.  So if they fall, they will fall away from the temple. There is also a mosque that is for praying, but there was only one of them, so he built a replica on the other side of the river to keep the symetry. The gate to get to the Taj Mahal is perfectly in line with the entrance into the chamber of the burial. All the towers look exactly the same. The Taj Mahal looks exactly like stepping out of the picture. On the other side of the river was the building site of the Emperor’s Taj Mahal.  It was exactly in line with the Taj Mahal. The Emperor made sure that everything was in line. I am amazed! On the opposite side of the Taj Mahal is a really good viewing place in the Moon Gardens.  They are even symmetrical with the Taj Mahal.  You can see the plan of the next Taj Mahal when you stand there.  I am amazed that he could make such an amazing building with such perfection.

Seeing the Taj Mahal in India really makes me appreciate all the hard work that went into building this great structure. The Taj Mahal has some really amazing stone works, and I think that the Emperor must have really loved his wife or just wanted to make the people like him. It is sad that he was arrested by his own son before he could build one for himself on the other side of the river from the Taj Mahal. We went to see the building sight of the king Shahjahan’s Taj Mahal that he had planned to make out of black marble. I thought that seeing what the kings would be tomb was really amazing, but if it was built then The Taj Mahal wouldn’t be as amazing.

The Taj Mahal by Kayley

                The white marble in India is supposed to be the hardest and best quality marble in the world.  Taj Mahal (which means crown palace) is made of white marble and on the walls there were designs in semi-precious stones that are inlaid into the marble.   There were designs carved into the white marble of very real flowers that was very COOL art.   

            The 5^th Mughal emperor of India whose name was Shahjahan had the Taj Mahal built for his 2^nd wife who died after having his 14^th child. The Taj Mahal was a tomb for the empress and it is AMAZING!   It took 22 years to build the Taj Mahal and about 23,000 workers.   After the Taj Mahal was built, the workers were not allowed to leave Agra because the emperor didn’t want the workers to build a structure like the Taj Mahal anywhere else.  The emperor paid the workers for the rest of their lives and let the worker’s family’s come to Agra.  I thought that Shahjahan was sort of a nice emperor to do that, but he was selfish too.

            After seeing the Taj Mahal the guide and the driver took us to the place where they inlay the semi-precious in really pretty floral designs to make really pretty table tops and souvenirs. First the owner guy showed us the tools they use to carve out the marble and to carve the semi-precious stones. All the stone is carved by hand and it takes 2 months for two people to make one table top that is about one foot in diameter.  And I wish I knew how they make their flower leaves so constantly the same shape and size and how they know how to grind their stones into the right shape for the design. 

          The process of making the designs is really cool.  First, they cut the semi-precious stones into the right shape for the pattern.  Then, they place the flowers onto the marble palate that they are going to make the design on. Then they trace the design on the palate and start carving the hollows for the stones to go in.  When the carving is done, they fill the hollows with this mixture of plaster of Paris, lye, Portland cement and some herbs and spices and put the stones in place.  Next there was some sanding and polishing to be done and then viola finished. 

             Seeing the Taj Mahal was like walking into a post card picture, because it was so incredible.   The Taj Mahal is still stunningly white and really big and hade a beautiful garden around it.   The Taj Mahal is the most beautiful wonder of the world that I’ve seen so far.  My favorite was the inlaid semi-precious stones.  They are so beautiful! 

      

BY KAYLEY SIENNA ROLPH

The Last Hotel we Stayed at in Canbodia BY SARAH ROLPH: ) : ) : ) : ) : )

           The last hotel we stayed at in Cambodia was terrific and horrible at the same time. 

       The hotel was good because it had free breakfast, a pool, and is next to a river and Pub Street. The breakfast was good, but they did not have oat meal or cereal.  They had bread, pineapple, eggs, and Cambodian break foods like fried rice, rice soup, Kah(marinated pork with eggs and brown yummy sauce), and tea and coffee.  I ate the fruit, bread, and fried rice.  It was good.

   
    It was horrible because we had to share 4 large twin sized beds and the rooms are really small.  I had to sleep with Mia in a tiny queen bed and she stole the blankets.  I didn't sleep very well until the last night when she gave me the blanket.

    The last nights in Cambodia were pretty good except the sharing beds part which is OK with me because I didn't have to share with Zander.  He also steals the blankets. 

The flight to singapore. BY KAYLEY

           

  Unlike the most recent two hour flights, I was entertained for the whole flight to Singapore from Cambodia. For the first thirty minutes, I was untying my bracelet because I wanted the beads to make more jewelery. The first few knots were hard but the rest of the knots were really easy. I was disappointed that the bracelet didn't take me longer, because my iPod battey was kind of low and I didn't want to be bored cause that sucks. So for the rest of the flight, I listened to my IPod and played solitaire. When we landed, Mia and I were so happy that we were back in Singapore.


 BY KAYLEY SIENNA ROLPH 

going out to dinner in Cambodia by Zander

On this world tour, I will have to try a lot of new foods. In Cambodia, I got my first taste of exotic foods. I have also learned that you can't just eat anything, you have to make sure that it is cooked properly. Despite my best efforts, I have gotten sick a few times. It is not that pleasant.  My belly was uneasy and I needed to stay close to a restroom.  But life isn't interesting if you don't try new foods and get sick from it every once in a while. In Cambodia, I tried some really interesting food, and I learned how to cook it as well.

khmer food

When I chose a restraint in Cambodia I was really carfare where I ate. Eating in the wrong place can make you sick, and have digestion problems. The other problem in Cambodia is that you cant have some of the fresh veggies, like lettuce. The water that can get trapped in the leaves is really bad for you. Two nights ago we went out to dinner on pub street, My mom looks at the menu, and if it has the right price and there are tourist there, then she gives it a go. If she can see the kitchen and if it looks sketchy then she tries another restaurant. We ended up, after a couple of tries, at a BBQ your own food restaurant. My mom ordered a sharing dish that we get to BBQ our own food.  We got fish, shrimp, beef, frog legs, kangaroo, and crocodile. I was a little un enthusiastic about eating the Kangaroo, because I have seen them in Australia and they are really cute.

When they served us, they gave us BBQ's. Then they gave us raw veggies and meat. They had it stacked up. I tried not to look at it.  Because if I did, then I would find out what animal I was eating. If I found out, then I probably wouldn't eat it. The waiter filled our grill about half way up with water, so we could steam the veggies. He couldn't fill the other half because there were holes in it, to let all the juices from the meat fall into the fire.. We put the first batch of meat on the grill. It didn't take very long to cook. Its pretty cool because you can cook your meat exactly the way you want it.

BB Q shrimp with sause

Egg rolls (fried)

We put some rice in our bowl.   The veggies and the water made a kind of soup, so I added meat to it. I didn't know what I was eating so I tasted it. Thank god it was beef.. The next course was just as interesting. I think that we ate snake.  It was really stringy and I swallowed most of it hole, but I knew that it was snake. With the snake, I had pasta, which was really good. So I ate the snake and then pasta to wash it down. So it didn't taste so bad. I didn't know if I could make it, next was frog legs. When we finished cooking it. My dad gave almost all of them to me. He only had one. His excuse was that it was "to good, and that he is making a sacrifice to me." So I ate them all, grumbling about how my dad isn't fair. They went as bad as I expected. My mom was cooking another meat that looked like beef, I new that it was Kangaroo. I said that I was full seeing them in the wild didn't make me want to eat them. But I ate the shrimp after them. Eating all the interesting food and learning that they taste a lot like chicken was a real interesting experience.


Tasting all this interesting food and learning how to cook it has been a real experience for me. I have never known how to cook frog legs. My mom told us that she used to eat them when she was in Cambodia. But I never wanted to try them. But I got my opportunity. They don't taste that bad. But on this world tour, I will have to try some really interesting food.  I will definitely get sick, but it wouldn't be the same experience without it.

Rules of the Road and Surfing by Brian

Rules of the Road

Having been warned of the hazards of driving in foreign lands, I have been impressed with the general safety of roads in many of the areas we have visited recently despite extremely challenging road environments.  US visitors to New Zealand are initially challenged with driving on the left side of the road and all of the resulting changes that occur.  Using the opposite hand on the gear shift and turn signal can create some confusion but ultimately do not upset the general driving paradigm that dominates western countries.

Our recent visits to Bali, Singapore, and Cambodia has illustrated to me how in a less regulated driving environment, driving behaviors tend towards natural law.   In Bali and Cambodia where there are few traffic lights, posted speed limits, traffic cops, and sidewalks, the rules of survival are adapted so all can share the road.  In Cambodia and Bali motor scooters dominate narrow two lane roads that they must share with pedestrians, kids on bikes, a few cars, touring vans, large buses, slow moving trucks, piles of construction material,  and other vehicles beyond description.  When approaching an obstacle such as a slow moving truck in the opposite lane a driver must not only consider approaching vehicles, but also his own.  For instance if a motor scooter was approaching your van, you would continue driving down the center of the street confident the oncoming scooter would wait for you to pass before overtaking his obstacle.  However, if you were on a scooter and the oncoming traffic was a truck, you would probably want to yield your lane to the truck while he passes and then proceed.  With the variety of traffic on the roads, larger vehicles tend towards the middle of the road, and pedestrians towards the dirt strip on the side of the road.  Overtaking vehicles going your direction is common, and generally signaled with a honk of the horn.

It is also refreshing to see empathetic behavior even when not dictated by natural law.  For instance, in Bali I noticed that when approaching a bike or scooter with a child on board, most drivers would give that person a bit more space that the normal 3 inches of elbow room when passing.  Many of the ladies in Bali did not wear helmets on their motor scooter, as they also received a bit more elbow room from thoughtful drivers if they could be easily identified.   Lots of honking is required in such close quarters.  A short burst normal translates to ‘I’ll be passing 3 inches off your elbow in a second… best stick to the present course’  or multiple bursts of the horn translates universally to ‘#$%@!!’ .  Honking is much more prolific in Bali than Cambodia, as it also means ‘Hi!’, ‘Nice ride!, ‘ I think I know someone in the house I just passed.’, or ‘That looks like my friends car.”  With fewer opportunities for social connections in Cambodia, city driving is more like a game of chicken.  When crossing a road in Seam Reap, best make your intentions clear by walking out with confidence, but be ready to jump out of the way if necessary!  Despite the prevalent use of cell phones in Cambodia and Bali, there was not the same western texting and talking while driving issues that dominate western cities. Perhaps natural selection at workJ

Singapore traffic appears quite westernized as one might expect with plenty of traffic lights, crosswalks,  and multi lane highways.  Traffic behavior in Singapore is as one might expect, strictly according to the rules.  For instance, our cousin Noel who has lived there for the last year got a $50 J walking ticket last week (her second).    When walking across a street in Singapore, it is perfectly safe to go when the light is green.  However, cross when the light is red and drivers simply will not stop.  Approaching drivers might remind you to move where you belong with their horn, but they have the rule of law on their side and they are not compelled to use their brakes. 

Surfing:

As an amateur surfer, I am always looking to local surfers for guidance on etiquette and surfing strategy.  In Morro Bay, CA I found that lining up near the oldest men out there was generally the best way to catch a good wave.  The old boys have been surfing this break all their life and if anyone knows how to catch a good ride with minimal paddling it would be them.  Besides they are never in a rush and always ready to take the next wave if you look keen to catch this one.  

We visited Hawaii a couple of years ago and found the environment entirely different.  The best places to line up usually resembled LA traffic during rush hour.  There was fierce competition for each wave resulting two or three surfers sharing some of the waves shoulder to shoulder… not a relaxing ride in my book.

The local break near our house near echo beach in Bali was generally broken up into two groups.  The tourists would surf near there resort.  While the tourist surfers were skilled enough, they didn’t know each other and were thus not very interested in sharing the waves with one another.  The better break was just 100 meters up the beach where all the local boys went to surf.  The boys were generally aged around 6-10 and spent much of their days in the water.  The boys would always make the full grownups look bad as they paddled faster, read the water better, and had the best trick moves.  They attracted our interest as they were always cat calling each other, cheering on anyone with a good wave, and generally having a good time.