Pre-trip Jitters

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i leave in 39-days for my vacation to india. i haven't applied for my visa yet but plan on going to vancouver to get that next weekend. my passport and shots are updated, i have all my international and domestic flights booked, confirmed my hotel accommodations in delhi and my hut on the beach in kerala.

i've arranged a car & driver for the time i'm in rajasthan & hope to stay in as many havelis as i can afford. i thought about traveling by train but decided i'm too much of a chicken-shit to do that on my own. besides, it'll be way to hot at that time of year to wait around for transportation in the desert, and i'd hate to come back all grumpy & swollen.

i fly into delhi at the end of april and the very next morning i fly to kerala for ten days - 7 of which will be spent in a hut on the arabian sea, facing somalia as the crow flies. each morning and each evening, i'll get an ayurvedic massage as part of my panchkarma treatment while i'm in kerala. the reason for the ayurvedic treatment is two-fold, on one part i'm doing research for my work, and on the other, i hope it will help me finally quit smoking. I have left 3 extra days free to poke around the region, hopefully checking out the more rural backwaters in a dugout canoe.

then back up north i go, to the state of rajasthan for 20- days. i'll be booting it along in the desert in a cute little ambassador, a car that looks like a throw back to a 60's austin of some description. looking forward to the freedom to stop where i want & when i want in the smaller villages along the route for a chai, a nice lunch, or a peek around at an ancient temple or ramshackle fort.

india is packed with interesting history, culture, and architecture and i look forward to learning more about the two regions that i'll be visiting. not sure what i'll end up getting out of this trip.

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