Travel Blog Posts
January 4th 2009
Our long journey back to the US starts tonight! We are spending the last few hours in Delhi. Steph found out that one of the best Italian restaurants is at the Hyatt. We went straight to the hotel as soon as we landed from our Varanasi-Delhi flight with about 5 hours to spare. Last night, we met the astrologer who looked like an Indian version of the French actor, Gerard Depardieu. I was informed not to wear red and black together on the weekends. My mom was told to avoid yellow and green together during the week. Steph's lucky number is 5...coincidentally that is the number she programmed in earlier in the trip for the password to our hotel safe. Here are our final thoughts on the trip: Steph - I'm impressed with how gracious and ... read more
January 3rd 2009
We are completing the last days of our journey in Varanasi, the "Holy City" or city of light. It’s the religious capital of Hinduism and the most popular pilgrimage destination in the world. Some scholars consider this the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth and a contemporary of Babylon. Hindus come to Varanasi to purify their body and soul in the Ganges River and if possible, to die here in old age and achieve moksha, a release from the cycle of birth and cleansing of the soul. As soon as we stepped out of Varanasi’s airport, we were overwhelmed by huge crowds of men dressed in white robes. Our guide told us that this was a very busy day at the Varanasi airport. A special international flight had just arrived from Mecca, transporting many of the ... read more
December 31st 2008
Yes, we got hugged! We started the day with a journey to Amma’s ashram - the famous hugging guru. The ashram is one of the most peaceful places I’ve ever visited . . . and it’s really beautiful to watch the community work together to make the place function. Once we received our “darshan” (token) to meet Amma, we waited in line for her to show. After 30 minutes, a huge procession moved through the ashram. Amma made a rock star entrance! As she walked on stage, she touched the hands of the people lined up on her left and right…her 40-person entourage following quickly behind her. When it was my turn to hug Amma, she smiled, embraced me, chanted in my ear and kissed my cheek. Remembering what our friends in Udaipur told us about ... read more
December 30th 2008
If you want to see something bizarre and hilarious, please check out my video on this blog. This morning, I decided to try an Ayurvedic treatment which originates from this region, called Kerala. The therapist applied hot herbal oils onto my head to begin the massage, and then showed me to a wooden table where she poured medicinal herbal oils on my limbs with sweeping gestures to improve circulation. I felt invigorated and ready for an afternoon of sightseeing in Kochi...that is, after I showered twice to rub off the oils marinating my skin so the mosquitos wouldn't eat me alive! We spent the majority of the afternoon exploring Kochi. It is a coastal city, and one of the chief trading cities for spices and gold, dating back to the Phoenicians in 700 BC. In the ... read more
December 29th 2008
This morning we arrived at the Udaipur airport at 7AM for our flight to Kochi (SW coast of India) via Mumbai. Due to the fog in Delhi where our plane was coming from, our flight was delayed for 4 hours. Udaipur's airport is ultra modern and pristine (another reason why I love this city!). The head of the airport's customer service quickly found us in line at check-in and told us that he was trying to reach us all morning to tell us about the delay. He rolled out the red carpet for all of the passengers on our flight, setting up complimentary food and beverages at the airport's restaurant. We spent the next 4 hours talking with Joel, a film editor and his girlfriend, Denise, a vintage clothing owner from Venice Beach, CA and her ... read more
December 28th 2008
Udaipur is our favorite city so far. It is described as the "Jewel in the Crown" of Rajasthan (mining is main industry here). Today we had a full city tour and yesterday we drove 95 kilometers to visit one of the most important Jain temples in the world- Ranakpur. On the way to Ranakpur yesterday, our soft-spoken guide - Pinu - suggested that we visit a famous healer in a small village outside of Udaipur. Pinu said that the healer could fix Steph’s ankle, so we decided to check it out. Steph was a little nervous, especially when we heard the woman screaming on the other side of the door. The healer touched Steph’s ankle, twisting it swiftly back into place. In just a few hours, the swelling went down and steph was walking normally . ... read more
December 26th 2008
Over lunch, our guide Vikki explained his take on why Indians are the happiest people in the world. They forget about the past and believe that the future is destiny; therefore, they focus all their attention on the present... on today. In addition, he explained the entire process of Indian arranged marriages - and why there is only a 3% divorce rate in India. In his own experience, he never met his wife before they married - but they did exchange pictures. Over 100 family members were involved on his side in the arrangement and they turned away close to 45 women. Several factors were involved in choosing his wife - such as age, height, personal values and tastes, the backgrounds of their families (wealth, social standing) and their castes (both are warriors) and the astrological ... read more
December 25th 2008
We woke up early this morning and took a yoga class with a yogi named Kamal. His accent was incredibly hard for me to understand. Steph is our translator - she can understand any kind of dialect here. My mom and I look at people and can't make out what they say from the waiters, tour guides, even our driver Kuljeet - found out that's his name not Johad...see? On our 4-hour trip to Jaipur from Agra, Kuljeet stopped at a rest stop for us to have lunch. When it comes to random food places in India, I'm a little suspicious...I have a fear that I will wake up with an awful stomach flu, parasite, whatever and then not be able to enjoy the rest of the trip. That's why I brought 20 balance bars with ... read more
December 24th 2008
We started our journey from Delhi to Agra early this am with our spectacular driver, Johad. He weaved in an out of traffic like a dance, occassionally honking at the random scooter, tractor, taxi or rickshaws trying to cut us off. Lane markings seemed to be more suggestions than requirements. If there were 2 lanes, you would see at least 3 cars sharing the road. At one point, we were stuck behind a 30-car pileup due to a scooter accident and he maneuvered around it - driving on the sidewalk as other cars were turned back to drive on the wrong side of the highway. Ocassionally, we saw a truck or car driving down the highway going the wrong way - and our driver simply stated that they missed their turn.... It took us about an ... read more
December 23rd 2008
So far, none of us have the so-called "Delhi Belly" and are doing very well eating Indian food nonstop. We drove past India Gate, Parliament and the Presidential palace on the way to Old Delhi for our exciting rickshaw ride (bicycle taxi) through the narrow & bustling streets. Each street in the crowded market is devoted to a different theme - weddings, books, saris, fruit, etc. After the market, we visited some of the historical sites from the Mughal reign - Friday Mosque (1650), Humayun’s Tomb - Delhi’s Taj Majal(1560), and Red Fort. Liz’s blond hair was a big hit with the school boys visiting Humayun’s Tomb from the countryside- they followed her in a pack, asking if they could take her picture and generally staring. Then we headed to a beautiful park to visit Gandhi’s ... read more
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