My last day in India and I find myself with access to a computer and thought I’d make two last entries. Tonight I ride to catch train to catch a plane to catch a plane to catch a plane to catch a train to (hopefully) meet a ride...home. I wanted to say something of my impressions of India as I have come to see it framed by my first shocking moments here and perhaps equally shocking though much different experiences yesterday. I have spent the last week with the family of Awad Dubey here in the town of Kanpur in central [View Full Entry]

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Scenes from IndiaTrash, refuse, garbage, refuse, garbage, trash, etc, etc,....places where you might think you stumbled on the garden of Eden (plus garbage)....some of the most generous and friendly people I have ever met....a man pushing himself down a busy street at night on a skateboard like it was the most natural thing in the world, like with all the motorcycles, buses, auto rickshaws, pedestrians, bicycles, oxcarts, cars-on a skateboard because he had no legs.....floating in the ocean....being accosted by rickshaw drivers wanting to “help” me ( I have come to take perverse pl [View Full Entry]

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Pictures? In the Ghats, visited tea growing areas today and rode an elephant....really beautiful here...these mountains are improbably rugged with an emerald green covering of vegetation.. In the town of Munnar in the Western Ghats...have been traveling with Theo who is from Germany and speaks really good English... We were lucky enough to find a room in the middle of a tea plantation run by an old man (he turned 80 yesterday) who finds nothing finer in life than to tell tourists about the area and direct them to the attractions that would most interest them... Wild elephants around here [View Full Entry]

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Just a quick update. Left Shimla by bus for Delhi, got in last night. Got up this morning trying to find a way out of this madhouse...nothing available by train for 24 hours so found a cheap flight down to Kochin which is in Kerala in southern India. Very tropical feeling...palm trees everywhere. I'm in an old section called Fort Kochin which has a unique feel....had a great dinner in a homestay....basically an old house turned hotel....kind of a dive but better than some I'v had so far. Hoping to see the ocean tomorrow...would like to just chill for a while...this [View Full Entry]

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Friday nite Late start this morning after a restless night…. I’m in the Cannaught Place section of Dellhi. Was able to get a ticket on the night running Rajastan Express and came up Tue. Night…got in early Wed morning. Was immediately approached by someone wanting me to follow them to an information center….a travel agent of course was able to use their phone to contact Prita, my neighbor Veers’ sister. Her and her husband took me out to an outstanding lunch. The contrast between the restaurant and the previous 36 hours couldn’t have been more stark. [View Full Entry]

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Thursday PM It’s a little hard to know where to begin. I feel like I’ve been gone for weeks. I’m in downtown New Delhi having arrived here this morning by train from Mumbai (Bombay). This whole experience has been a dizzying one to say the least. It’s 6:30 in the evening and I’m in an internet café…more Americans and Europeans here than I’ve seen all day. Every thing went flawlessly until I hit Mumbai. Amtrak was early!!??!! Imagine that. My plane took off early, arrived in Amsterdam early and arrived in Mumbai early. After getting thro [View Full Entry]

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Only days before leaving for India, I stumbled upon this travel blog site. So what with everything else to do, I'm trying to learn it's in's and out's. I'm not sure how to describe planning for this trip. Lots of busy work for sure but with only a carryon for luggage I'm traveling on fumes. More than anything else, its the anxiety of traveling outside of the US for the first time that accompanies the unknown. As I spend hours on the computer trying to learn and prepare myself for things I can't quite imagine I become more aware of what [View Full Entry]

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