Helen Stephenson's India Trip - June-July, 2006 - Highlights

My visit to India was primarily a business trip to teach our local RPG programmers the ropes about IRIS. Xchanging paid for me to stay at the Trident Hilton in Gurgaon, which is just down the road from our offices. The hotel was lovely, with a comfortable room, excellent restaurants, and beautiful surroundings

The entrance.

My room.

I had two weekends in India, and was able to go out and do some sightseeing then. I tried to pack in as much as possible, but was to some extent limited to where my driver thought I should go!

The first place I was taken was Qutab Minar, which is a major historic Islam site.

I saw the Lotus Temple of the Bahai faith.

After the driver announced that sight-seeing was over for the day, he stopped on the way back to the hotel for me to view the big Hindu statue of Lord Shiva.

During my Saturday of sight-seeing, I also took in India Gate, the President's Palace (photographed through a gap in the locked iron gate) and did some shopping.

My Sunday of sight-seeing wasn't as jam-packed as my Saturday.

I took a rickshaw ride past the largest mosque in Delhi.

The rickshaw rider showed me some painted houses that I never would have found by myself.

I visited the Rajghat, which includes a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, seen on the left. I liked the picture on the right of the couple strolling along one of the paths.

The Saturday of my second weekend in India was taken up with all things wheeled.

I was fascinated by the motorcycle as a family transportation option. Note the child on the petrol tank - and mum riding sidesaddle on the pillion! Sometimes I saw a second child between mum and dad, but not in this picture.

However, my main objective was the National Railway Museum, where there is an impressive collection of predominantly steam trains, most of which are painted with beautiful designs.

I went to Agra on the Sunday of my second weekend in India in the company of my colleague Ashima and her husband Nitin.

Along the way, we came across a Jai Guru Dev temple which we stopped to have a look at.

Here is the Taj Mahal, along with some of its surrounding buildings.

I managed a few pictures out of the plane window on the homeward journey. They had a few reflections in them, but I did what I could in PhotoShop and am reasonably pleased with the results.