Yesterday on the drive to Kandy we stopped in Pinnawela to visit the elephant orphanage. Deb and I went there 13 years ago when it was just an open field and a coffee can asking for donations. Now they have a visitors center, sit down restaurant, tons fo souvenir shops and a stinking hotel--A Hotel!!--just to look at the baby elephants. They also have a $10 admission charge. These Sri Lankans know a commercial opportunity when they see one. We stayed for about two hours and saw a feeding and the march to the river for a bath. Today we [View Full Entry]

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Sorry. Don't know if I'll get back to cover Jaipur and the India road stories. Computer access is a little harder to come by these days, so I thought I would stay current and fill in the gaps later. I'll leave some stories to tell when we get back. We arrived in Sri Lanka safe and sound. The first full day here we retraced our steps and found Rachel's orphanage. Two of the workers (a nun and a civilian) were there when Rachel was processed through in 1994 (They don't remember her, but they recognize their handwriting on the documents. [View Full Entry]

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We are in Delhi getting ready to leave for the airport. I have two more posts about India to add, but the computer is slow (it took an hour to post those 8 pictures from Agra). We had two days in Jaipur (post 1) and I'll have some general comments about traveling in India (post 2). I'll try to get to those in Sri Lanka, but since we are no longer in the posh Hyderabad Marriott, with its complementary executive lounge (laptops included), posting is a little more difficult. Sticky keyboards and intermitant server connections are the norm. Just know [View Full Entry]

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Agra, Part II Asia » India » Agra By HenryT July 4th 2007 Henry DunbarSo as to not give short shrift to one of the greatest marvels of the world, here's a little more on our visit to the Taj Mahal and Agra. [View Full Entry]

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This is a must-do stop on the India tour. It was amazing and spectacular and all that, but honestly, it looks just like the post card. Once we went inside and viewed every nook, I tried to just take it all in for 20 minutes or so, to contemplate its magnificience, but it was just too hot to think about anything. Obligatory photo attached. [View Full Entry]

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Just a few final thoughts and notes on Hyderabad, with additional photos. We got our first taste of "Tourist Tummy" here and i spent half a day in the hotel recuperating. The economy in this town is booming and there is plenty of work for you IT types who are thinking of relocating. this, along with Bangalore, is the example of the rising midde class and we saw lots of new upscale development in this city. One magazine article I read said that while India still has a huge poverty problem, there are now 61,000 millionaires in India. We spent [View Full Entry]

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by: Rachel Ok, just and F.Y.I, I was not haning on for dear life in that tuk tuk and my opinion of the traffic here in India does not involve me sticking out my toung. More like waving my arms around franticly and screaming bloody murder! Seriously, pedestrians don't even have the right of way here, I think that's extreamly dangourous! And there are like no traffic lights here, it's more like a guy in a uniform with a wistle telling cars to stop and go. Like they listen! Anyways, If I were a citizen of India I would try impose [View Full Entry]

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by: Nam so we just finished up day three, we didnt really do that much to but we still feel tired. um well me, my sister and my mom went back to the Charminar Bazzaar. I like it there because people look at me and want to shake my hand cus they think im Jackie Chan. But today, i heard Jet Li. When you're driving by the Bazaar, you see all the stuff and think you want them all but when you actually walk around and see the things up close, you dont want to buy any of the stuff. [View Full Entry]

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Entry by Debbie: Our second day in Hydrabad started off with a great breakfast and a visit to Golconda Fort. The fort is over 400 years old and in an area with a great mix of Hindu and Muslim influence. We climbed the stairs to the top of the fort where we tried to get Rachel to smile for some photos. She finally did after we told her that we'd climb even higher if she didn't smile. Lydia needed a bathroom lesson today because she wasn't quite sure what to do when no toilet exists but she got the hang [View Full Entry]

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Today was a travel day to Hyderabad, home of Lydia's orpahage. But first some adventures in Hotel-land and the hazards of booking through unknown travel agents. We left our Delhi Guest House at 4 am for an early flight. We arrived in Hyderabad. Immediately we were struck by how much greener and quieter --relatively--it is to Dehli. We arrived at our hotel to find a sparkling lobby, beautiful buffet spread, and Akon playing on the Musak in the dining area. Things were looking good. Then we were shown to our rooms. The immediate smell of mildew was nearly over whelming. Further [View Full Entry]

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