Tamu's Last Day

Today is the day that I ship out of India.

It was a sad departure since Vicky was not accompanying me, but we did have a lot of great times. The poverty and poor sanitation was difficult to deal with, but the monuments and time away from it all, with my lovely wife, more than made up for it. Plus have I said how delicious their food is? It is fantastic! You can really tell that India was the nation that invented spices and shared only part of its knowledge with the rest of the world (they will forever be imitators).

I love you, Vicky and I'll miss you tons.

Enjoy the rest of your journey. I'll be online and I'll see you soon.

Mwah!

Rainy Days in Puskar

Howdy Folks,

Here is the last city of our joint trip. It's name is Pushkar. I can' t say we accomplished much here, but at least we enjoyed the hotel. It was a garden style hotel and we were given a nice little bungalow to ourselves (pictured above). There were some beautiful murals throughout the lobby and some other nice features as well. Oh... yeah... and they had pizza! Delicious vegetarian Extravaganza Pizza'. It was so good that after we took our first bite, we called room service and ordered seconds.

We spent two nights here, and pretty much just lounged about. The town was small and had a market street, with a few temples to explore but we skipped most things because A) we were sick and B) it was raining. To combat the illness we took advantage of the hotel's ayurveda treatments. Vicky got a head, scalp and shoulder massage while I received an herbal treatment through my nose (this was also accompanied by a massage). Ayurveda is what we in the West would call "alternative medicine." The spa's menu included everything from yoga to acupuncture and body wraps. We just had a half hour of treatment and went back to rest.

The rains made us miss our scheduled camel ride, which was a bummer considering how much we enjoyed the elephant ride in Jaipur, but that was OK. We almost were able to replace it with some quality time in front of our TV, but alas, this town's electrical infrastructure was a mess. The power went out at least a dozen times while we were in our room. Luckily I had spent the day before our trip ripping a dozen movies onto our laptop and those were able to fill the gaps while the power was down.

One last thing about our stay

Our favorite city - Jaipur!!!

Today was a blast!

We saw a lot of cool stuff and did a few cool things, including... riding a elephant! The elephant ride turned out to the the highlight of our trip, but other elements of Jaipur were cool as well.

Last night we did some wrestling with Bank of America, because they locked down our account. I guess they forgot that we were going to be in India, so when we had trouble with an ATM yesterday morning they thought some international identity theft was in progress and locked us out. Those losers. Well today is a new day. We started off with a great breakfast from our hotel's restaurant. And then we were picked up by our driver and guide. He is a different guide that the one in Agra and a much better one at that!

We stopped by the Hawa Mahal for a brief lesson and photo opp. It is a pretty impressive building and was constructed at a time before glass so their windows instead were solid stone but had many intricate holes and designs cut into them to allow the residents to look out but street people to not look in. This building was also unique because it was the location of the of the sultan's harem.

Next up was the Amber Fort. Jaipur (the Pink City) was once one of the three capitals of the Mughal Empire. And as the city furthest to the NW, it was susceptible to enemy attacks at any time. They built a great wall all around the territory and a beautiful fort near the top of a mountain ridge. Instead of hiking up to the top we did what any good tourist would do... we rode an elephant! Aha! So cool. It took an hour to get to the elephants, but 'twas well worth the wait. Vicky had never been on an elephant and I had never really ridden one, so this was a treat. We wobbled our way up the mountain at a very slow pace. Plus because the beast waddles, every other step sent us rocking over the edge of the cliff. This was quite scary, but we had some railings to nervously clutch onto and we came out the other side alive. So all was well. I'll scan in the pictures of us on the elephant soon. This fort was financed by one of the Mughal sultan's great generals who had a power sharing agreement. During all conquests, the sultan would take control of any lands gained, while the general would keep all riches pillaged. That money is the reason why his fort is so beautiful. There was wonderful artwork installed throughout and he had identical apartments built for his twelve wives.

Next, we were off to Jantar Mantar, a place of science, math and astronomy. My nerdy inner core felt right at home. Here, our tour guide took a back seat to one of the men for the facility. The structures there were fascinating and our guide was very knowledgeable. He explained to us the function of each oddly shaped stone device with ease and detail. There is no way to quickly describe what we saw, but I'll try. Imagine walking into an astronomers office and taking a look around his desk and shelves. Surrounding you are strange objects through which he stares at the stars. Many look as if they were created using French curves, while others are perfectly straight. There are sundials and telescopes, gyroscopes and spheres. Now imagine them expanding and scaling to the size of a modern park. They still surround you, but now they drawf you with both their size and peculiarity. Now you have Jantar Mantar. No pictures do it justice, but it is a very cool place where scientist once studied the heavens through calculation and observation and others made predictions for humanity based on the movements of the stars. There were structures for each of the astrological signs (Taurus, Aquarius, etc) and our guides explained that Indians take these sorts of predictions very seriously. We don't, but were impressed by the forethought at which it was all designed.

Finally, we had a quick lunch and then visited the Prince Albert Museum. It was dedicated to him after one of his visits to India and displays a lot of national treasures, as well as a few relics from around the globe (Egyption mummies, European pottery, etc.).

After our long day, we collapsed in out hotel and fell soundly asleep.

Detour Up Ahead

Hey Folks,

Today's trip was a doozey. A local transportation union went on strike over unfulfilled job promises. They commandeered a railway and the interstate... so we had to go the long way around. Unfortunately this route became an even longer was because our particular road's condition was no where near the level we were previously travelling on. In the end our trip took about 12 hours and it was a rough, slow, bumpy ride.

We stopped along the way to eat at a local out door eatery. This is a scary proposition for any international traveler, but especially for those touring developing nations. As our driver pulled over, Vicky and I exchanged fearful looks while we surveyed what was essentially and open air kitchen surrounded by drunken men and a few fly littered plastic tables. The food was surprisingly tasty and the sweaty cook was very friendly. We spent about 40 minutes chowing down and swatting flies. But we were happy to do so, because in rural India, we knew that this was just about the last eatery we'd see for the next 50-100 miles. And our stomachs were settled after we down a couple of Pepto-Bismal tablets. Those little pink beauties are a truly a traveler's best friend.

We were exhausted and night and long fallen by the time we arrived in Jaipur. We cruised through the busy town while our driver gave us some interesting facts about the town and then it was onto our hotel. The Dera Rawastar was lovely (by far Vicky's favorite hotel). It had a walled off complex, boutique style and a nice pool. Plus, free wifi!

Namaste!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

For those who celebrate... Merry Christmas!

For those who don't... Happy Everything!

To family and friends... We love ya'll and wish you the best!

First Day on the Road

We headed out for Agra pretty early. I think we were on the road by 7:30am. Our driver seems really nice. His name is Pushan and he's from Nepal (he says his hometown is the birthplace of the most recent Budha). He says that he actually still lives in Nepal, but travels to India to work 6-8 months out of the year. Coindcidently, our previous drivers were also from Nepal. Maybe there is some social or economic advatage for foreign drivers. It would be interesting to see how they fit into India's caste system.

Either way, the drive felt much longer than it actually was (4.5 hours). I think this is mostly because we had stayed up late in excitement for the roadtrip. We saw a few intersting things while on the road. First off, we stopped at several tolls, which I just was not expecting to see in a developing country. Second, while we were at the tolls numerous peddlers surrounded our car in an attempt to get our attention. They were selling bracelets, carved figures, paintings and food. But they were also selling pictures with their animals, which were mostly monkeys, snakes and camals. Were were fascinated by the leashed primates and boxed reptiles but did our best to ignore them, least we'd be charded inordinate fees for our smiles.

We were fast asleep when our driver pulled off of the interstate an into the Sikandra Fort. It was a pretty nice fort, but was very similar to the others that we'd seen... and considering that we were awaoken from fairly deep slumbers... we kinda wish that we had skipped the site.

Next, it was on to the Taj Mahal. Everyone is right, the Taj Mahal is (without a doubt) beautiful. It is even more remarkable considering the era when it was built (the 1600's). We had to wait in line outside the the place grounds for about an hour. After that our guide explained the history of the place while we toured the gardens. There was then a second line within the complex which led up to the palace itself. This line took forever... it must have been about 2 hours before we were allowed to go in. Luckily, our guide was the one who did the waiting. Vicky and I wandered around snapping pictures. It is a definit must see for all tourists, but that also means it was a true hassel due to the crowds. I suggest anyone who is heading there go as early in the day as possible (they open at sunrise).

Seven Day Tour

Howdy Folks,

So this just turned into the Best Honeymoon Ever! After speaking with the travel agents in our hotel, we have finished organizing the remainder of our trip. From Delhi, we'll be visiting Agra, Jaipur and then Pushkar. Here is our itinerary:

Dec. 25th:
Around 7am we will travel from Delhi to Agra (200 km / 4 hours). We'll visit the Sikandra Fort en route, then in Agra, we'll tour the Agra Fort and Taj Mahal. We will spend the night at the Crystal Retreat.

Dec. 26th:
After breakfast, we'll depart for Jaipur (250 km / 6 hours). En route, we'll visit Fatehpur Sikri and spend the night at Dera Rawatsar.

Dec. 27th:
We will tour Jaipur and visit the Amber Fort (complete with an Elephant Ride), City Palace, Jantar Mantar, Hawa Mahal, and Laxmi Narayan Temple.

Dec. 28th:
We'll head out in the morning for Pushkar (150 km / 3 hours). When we arrive, we'll visit the Pushkar Lake, Holy Ghats, and Bhrama Temple. We'll be sleeping at the Master Paradise.

Dec. 29th:
Camel Ride!!!! Nothing else, but that should be fun.

Dec. 30th:
Back to Delhi from Pushkar (365 km / 7 hours) and back to our current hotel.

Dec. 31st:
I sorrowfully say goodbye to Vicky and fly back to the US, stopping in Frankfurt and Toronto.


Whew! It will be some ride!

Full Day in Old Delhi

Hello World,

 

Just got back from a full day tour - Lakshmi Narayan Mandir Temple, Red Fort, Chandni Chowk, Jami Masjiid Mosque and an amazing baazar! Very excited about our tour and gift purchases;) And we're getting quite good at bargaining over here if I must say so myself...

 

For anyone going to India, we highly recommend the Laksmi Narayan Mandir Temple over the Jami Masjiid Mosque.  It was breathtakingly beautiful and it was free.  Pictures were not allowed, so the above picture was 'borrowed' from the web (more pics here).

 

We'll hopefully post some new pictures soon.  If we can't they probably won't be posted for a bit, since we have no idea what the internet situation will be in our new cities.

bye! vicky

Out and About in New Delhi

Hey Folks,

We traveled around New Delhi today (Delhi is divided into old Delhi and New Delhi). In New Delhi we visited their government's center (President house and Congress), the India Gate national monument, National Zoological Park and Humayan's Tomb. We also bought a few gifts.

The highlight of the day of the day was definitely our productivity. Who would have thunk that we could do so much? It has been pretty difficult to adjust to this new time zone, but we are slowly working in the right direction. Yesterday we slept till 4pm, today until 12 noon. Tomorrow: 9am? We can only hope. Tamu (that's me) also loved seeing Humayan's Tomb, which was apparently the architectural inspiration for the Taj Mahal. Of course the Taj improved the original design, but it was great to get a taste of what's to come. And Vicky was flabbergasted when she saw the Zoo's rhinoceroses. As she put it... "it was like staring at real live dinosaurs!" Very cool. Especially since her burst of excitement was only seconds after she questioned the very reason for zoos.

That's all for now. We'll check in later. Peace and love - Tamu

We Made If Safely to Asia

Tamu asleep at hotel

Hey All,

After a very long flight, we finally made it far east to south Asia.  Aaah feels good to not be traveling on a plane ;).

The weather here is pretty warm and the people here are very kind.  Our first impressions are that this part of India is safe and fairly easy to get around.  Right now, our hotel is located right on the line of New Delhi and Old Delhi.  It's great because it's in the center of all the activity and we get to be among a lot of locals and a good amount of tourists as well.  We've met people traveling from all parts of the world, China, Germany, Spain and more.  It felt good to know that we are not alone in seeing the beauties of India for the first time.  In fact, there are more hotels on this one road, than we could count.  It took a couple of loops of the street just to find which one was ours.  I would guess that there are about 40.

The Hotel Delhi City Centre is nice.  And we have the Western accouterments that we are used to: flat screen cable tv, wi-fi, a mini fridge.  Not bad for $40 a night.  But it did take us a while to get the wi-fi working.  This may have been because we kept falling asleep and missing the hotel's calls.  We needed an access card from them to log into their network.  But we slept until 4pm Delhi time (6am Boston time).  That is definitely something we'll have to work on tomorrow.

Now that we are up, it is time to explore!  Post back soon...

Flying Across the World

Howdy Folks,

We flew across the world today, crossing timezones and hopping boarders while trying to reach India.  The flight out of Boston was a little more turbulent than we'd have liked, but it didn't bother us at all because we were flying in Business Class.  That's right! Anyone smell a free upgrade?  I do.  Business class is great.  We had an amazing three course meal, individual TVs with video on demand, free magazines/newspapers, automatically adjustable seats (with built in massage modes, and did I mention leg room?  It was unbelievable.  And because of it, we giddy like little school children.  Fun stuff.

We were scheduled to transfer in Frankfurt, Germany, however, because of weather conditions, we had to first land in Munich.  Luckily for us, we were both in the upgraded seats and had a 6 hour layover.  So while we waited for the Frankfurt airport to open, we were more than happy to put our chairs into 'bed mode' and take a nap.  We arrived in Frankfurt with plenty of time to make the next flight.

The next leg of the flight was to our final destination: Delhi, India.  This time we were in regular economy class, but it was still nice and we had our first taste of authentic Indian food.  Delicious!  Not as good as our previous 3 course meal... but definitely got us excited for the cuisine ahead.  In fact, we asked for (and received) seconds.  We finally landed into Delhi's beautiful airport at 2am local time.  Customs, etc was pretty quick and after prepaying our taxi fare we were out to the street in a run down, black and orange.  But it had character and our driver was great; weaving in and out of danger with ease on roads where the painted lanes are just suggestions and roaming animals may decide to cross at any moment.

That is all for now.  Its off to the hotel.

Hours Away From Travel!!

 

We are so excited for our trip!!!  Just a few hours away, we are finalizing our last bit of packing and combing through our to-do lists. (Yes there are multiple lists tehehe)  There seems to be so much prep to do just in order to leave. Thank you to you all who have helped us think of everything and are wishing us safe travels!

Praise the Lord for what will be a beautiful opportunity to experience a drastically different culture and population.  It is so exciting that we have the ability to travel and increase our list of adventures!  Who better to do it with then my husband, who is not only my best friend, but my travel buddy. We'll be finally going on our honeymoon beginning today, in India and will both vacation and work while there.  We'll be traveling to New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, then back to New Delhi, Agra for the second part of the trip which will take place in Delhi, Agra, Bangalore and Mumbai.

We'll keep you up to-date on all of our happenings up until we return in January. 

Peace and Love!

We're going to India!

We're flying out tomorrow. So excited. Can't wait for our honeymoon to begin! Wohoo! We'll keep you posted on all the happenings.