Archive for the Indian Subcontinent Category

Taj Mahal

March 28th, 2007 |

By Lee |

The Taj Mahal is the most beautiful building in the world, period. It’s funny because you have seen the same picture of it a thousand times and it always looks the same. When I was on my way to go see the Taj for the first time, I figured it would be all hype and wouldn’t be such a big deal. As a jaded traveler who has seen a lot of things and most of the worlds great sites, it takes a lot to impress me.
I am a big list guy. I love to rank things. One of my great criteria to ranking great sites is “shock value”. Meaning the way you are in awe of something when you first see it. Examples of this are the Pyramids or Petra where when you see them for the first time you feel very insignificant in the history of the world. The Taj is like these. When I walked in, I was blown away. The photo above was my first view of the Taj Mahal and in my opinion the best picture I have ever seen of the Taj. I spent hours in the park just staring and touring around the Taj. It is rare that I will find something that can do this to me. I was in awe and still am. Everytime I look at my pictures from Agra, it puts me back there and the initial shock still gives me goosebumps.

Category: Indian Subcontinent

Tags: India, Indian Subcontinent

Sri Lanka After the Tsunami

March 28th, 2007 |

By Lee |

1 Comment »

I was in Sri Lanka in October 2005. It was always a place that I had always wanted to visit because of its remoteness and mystery. When I hear about all of the violence that is going on now it makes me sad because of all the trouble and hardships that the people have had to endure in the past few years. Sri Lanka was affected greatly by the massive tsunami that slammed into Southern Asia at the end of 2004. The southern part of the country was devastated and thousands were killed and displaced. International aid failed to reach the people who needed it most and they have basically been swept under the rug and forgotten about. It is very unfortunate to me to know this but from my experience most Sri Lankans have a much more positive and upbeat attitude about the whole thing. They have rebuilt and moved on. They are strong people and have passions for many things. The biggest national passion is cricket. I was fortunate enough to attend a test match when I was in Colombo at the national stadium. I enjoyed my time there and I know this much; I am rooting for Sri Lanka in the current Cricket World Cup. The picture above shows a barren and deserted resort beach south of Colombo that was once thriving with vacationers and tourists. The picture below shows the national cricket team practicing at the national stadium. To read more about my trip to Sri Lanka, click here.