No lions, no tigers no bears, but...

... you know you're not in Kansas any more when :

-- a man leads two camels past as you walk along the street. They are muzzled with rope nets, but clearly they are thinking of spitting as they peer down their long noses at you.

-- monkeys perch on top of the security office as you wait your turn to be patted down outside the Taj Mahal. One has a banana, and the other cavorts around him, hoping to find the posture that will get a share.

-- troops of green parrots flit in and out among the trees, calling to one another conversationally.

-- a horse whose ribs you can count waits in harness to draw a cab along the city's cobbled streets.

-- a mother pig trots by, inches from the side of your bus, purposeful and intent on business of her own.

-- a humped cow with beautiful, languid eyes looks up at you from the city sidewalk, secure in its god-nature and willing to offer you blessings and peace.

I missed seeing elephants on the streets. They aren't common in the areas I was in, and the only time some were visible -- possibly for a festival or a wedding -- I was on the wrong side of the bus..