http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , India , Maharashtra en-us Thu, 10 Dec 09 01:44:50 +0000 Thu, 10 Dec 09 01:44:50 +0000 So to start off I will say yes we made it to Goa for my birthday after 3 days of traveling not washing and no sleep we got hereBombay was interesting On the train on the way there me and Russ had top sleeper bunks which was above a lady with a small boy of about 2 who cried pretty much the entire 12 hours with the occasional break to sleep which the silence was then filled by mister nutcase http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-458523.html Sorry for the delay in posting......didn't realize how unreliable the internet would be here Anyway....Aurangabad. This was our first stop mostly as a base to explore Ellora Ajanta caves. Aurangabad itself was a very strange mix of urban and rural.....mass traffic jams caused by people dogs goats and cows. People on cell phones digging through garbage. very strange.Our first day we spent http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Aurangabad/blog-458096.html Hi I am conducting a survey to understand the travel related habits and requirements of people in India. As we know traveling has become a significant part of our personal as well as professional life.However we understand that there are a lot of infrastructural and other constraints that tourists generally face here. So please take some time and fill this questionnaire.. To open the survey ple http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-456276.html In Bombay bleibt mir nur noch ein Tag. Ich laufe durch die Stadt und gucke mir die Sehenswuerdigkeiten an und verprasse mein letztes Geld in Cafes. In einem wird mir deutscher Stollen angeboten. Ich soll probieren ob er authentisch schmeckt und muss Tips geben wie sie den Geschmack verbessern koennen. Unterwegs treffe ich Nora. Wir laufen gemeinsam zum Chowpatty Beach um den Sonnenuntergang zu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-455226.html Back in Pune nach 2 Jahren wieder hier und es hat sich fast nichts veraendert. Die Paud Road ist immer noch wie sie vorher war.. Eine Menge Geschaefte fuer Kleidung. Ebenfalls der nahe Deccan Corner hat sich nicht veraendert. So koennte ich jetzt noch einige weitere Orte und Plaetze in Pune aufzaehlen welche ich vor 2 Jahren besucht hatte Heute aber noch genauso aussehen. Aber was sich aufjeden http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Pune/blog-454728.html On Thursday we travelled from Mumbai to Pune pronounced Poona by train. We opted for 2nd class air conditioned for our first experience of Indian trains just to be on the safe side. The 4.5 hour 100 mile journey cost us less than 4 each a real bargain. We had spacious seats and the 2nd class area was mainly filled with business types and families. Men constantly came through the carriage o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Pune/blog-454111.html I visited my parents in the town of Ahmednagar a few 100 kms from Pune in summer 2008. Western India is blessed with fabulous weather all year round and one of the better parts of India to spend the summer in. It also has a rich history. Ahmednagar is very close to the Ajanta and Ellora caves UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Ajanta and Ellora are actually a collection of caves. Ajanta is known for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Ellora-Caves/blog-452686.html Mumbai formerly Bombay Saturday 31 October Sunday 1 November If you saw ldquoSlumdog Millionairerdquo and watched the recent terrorist drama unfold here in Mumbai yoursquoll have already seen where we spent this Sunday. As we sipped our 500 Rupee GBP6.50 beers at the luxurious Taj Mahal Hotel on Colabarsquos waterfront it wasnrsquot lost on Lajpal that wersquod just experienc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-451327.html I may be taking a short hiatus from posting blogs. It's not that I don't want to post but I am so unbelievably busy at work that it may be difficult to have time to write the blogs. I am working on a training manual that consists of 13 one hour trainings. I have two weeks to finish writing and researching the trainings then I'm doing a test implementation over two days and reviewing and making http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/blog-449122.html Dad has left now. For the few days after Kathmandu the two of us lounged around our luxurious hotel room at the Grand Goodwin in Ram Nagar. For one of the days my Dad went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort while I ordered room service and watched ldquoMortal Kombatrdquo and ldquoGet Me Out of Here Irsquom a Celebrityrdquo reruns on television.We had a great time and more t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-447775.html Tuesday Oct 20thFinally I got sit down and writehellip Wersquore in the airport and waiting for our plane to Goa. The past couple days in Mumbai were crazy. We left the ashram on Saturday early morning and got on the train to Mumbai. Wersquod booked just regular seats nothing fancy but lots of fun. Its hard to describe but Irsquoll try Picture tons of people trying to get into one car http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-447697.html Ajunta Caves Khuldabad Daultabad fort and Ellora caves.Trains trains and more trains. When I travel alone I always play it safe and travel what we would call first class but Pete and Debu like to go native Interesting for me. The hawkers that come on at each stop are amazing. You can buy all sorts of food and drinks books and magazines newspapers cigarettes chains and locks for your suitc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Ajanta-Caves/blog-447661.html A couple things I feel I havenrsquot talked aboutPeople are very proud to be Indian and being from the same country is a uniting factor just like in the US however each state has its own identity that might even override their patriotism. More people turn out for local level elections than national elections and an Indian person will always identify where they are from. Each state has its o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/blog-447244.html 105106Today I went on my first field visit in rural Maharasthra the state that Rajgurunagar and Mumbai are in. I went with a field officer Sanjay who was going to be conducting a training in a nearby town approximately 25km away. We took the bus early in the morning and arrived to the town 1 hours later it takes awhile to travel small distances here because the roads are so bad. When w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/blog-447243.html On Tuesday the 29th of September Sandhya the coordinator of my program came to take me to Chaitanya. I was unsure if Chaitanya was a town or the name of the organization I was going to work with and basically unsure of anything where I was going. We went by a car and drove through the most beautiful scenery. We kept rising in the mountains and went through a beautiful mountain pass. The spar http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/blog-447241.html Today technically was the last day of work prior to my sabbatical... the last official call was with few colleagues... tried to be largely in listen mode on that call... letting go feels good... a happy feeling knowing work is in good hands... Tough to describe the feeling... but yes peace is the closest i word for it...Bought a DSLR finally will get to do some good photography... especially for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-447017.html Ajanta Rindi arrived on 4th October and we left on 5th October to Aurangabad Maharastra. This was the first stop on our trip. We were delayed about 80 of all flights on our trip were delayed and we missed our connection to Aurangabad. We had to spend one night in Mumbai at Hotel Airport International. I ordered American Chop Suey here which was the worst decision I made regarding food during http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Ajanta-Caves/blog-446583.html It was Diwali time in India. Time to please the Goddess of wealth prosperity time to pay respects to the elders time to welcome business New Year time to feast time to cheer with friends relatives and the time to take a break. For my friends who are unaware I have a brief description of Diwali the festival of lights as a foot note. Since schools are closed for a couple of weeks famil http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Karla-Caves/blog-446064.html Its Diwali night 2009hellip. On my terrace watching the panorama of Mumbai city lights all over firecrackers going offhellip.its beautifulhellip and I ask myself why I am where I am My decision to take a break from work was made in 2007hellip on an evening post many client calls with a drink actually after many drinks I asked myselfhellip ldquowhere do you go from herehellip http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-445952.html Mumbai honestly was uneventful. Unless you count the car ride through the crowded bazaar where my driver locked the doors told me I wasnrsquot allowed to use my camera and then proceeded to repeatedly tell me how unsafe it was. Or the minor car accident we got into after picking up Jared from the airport. Or the inadvertent drive by the slums where Slumdog Millionaire was filmed. So http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-445457.html