Our arrival in Agra was a little apprehensive, because there was a possibility of rain predicted for our visit to the Taj Mahal. Although we were travelling at the end of the monsoon season, we had encountered no rain, and the heat was daunting at times. Our hotel was on the main road, not far from the Taj Mahal, and provided a little oasis from the dusty and crowded Road. On our way there, I had been wondering about the amount of dust that might actually settle on top of the foods being sold at the endless stalls along the streets. The roads are dirt in many places, and a small cloud of dust is not unusual due to the heavy traffic. Agra is not as large as Delhi, or even Jaipur, but it is still ... read more

Our second full day in India we traveled to Jaipur, in the state of Rajasthan. The drive was entertaining as the road passed through inhabited villages and interesting landscapes. Although I had experienced the bewildering sight of cows laying down anywhere and everywhere on the roads, this time we also saw camels, and even monkeys on the way. Again, I kept cringing watching those motorcycles carrying whole families, and none even wearing a helmet. I must say, though, that I failed to see any accidents on the road, in spite of the suicidal cows creating obstacle courses, or daredevil motorcyclists avoiding them. As we approached Jaipur, we passed a couple of hill forts that I would have loved to have been able to visit, as they looked amazing. We also passed the dazzling white sights of ... read more

On Monday, we met for breakfast at 7 AM, to be ready for our pick up at 8 AM by Kahuak Tours and our high mountain guide for the day. This guide turned out to be Martin, who had a constant smile on his face, laughed easily, and was joyful of an opportunity to go into his beloved mountains. Unlike the wine tours, the Aconcagua Experience was not a private tour, but we were lucky that there were only two other people joining us that day, a young Brazilian couple from Sao Paolo. Small world, we all soon found out that we all, us, Martin, and the young couple, had been at Andeluna the day before. During our drive, Martin spent the time giving us a detailed background of this area of the Cordillera, their formation, ... read more

On our second day in Mendoza, Saturday, we started early with a heavy breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Much to my delight, their buffet had what I call Happy Hour food. That is, delicious bread, cold cuts, and cheeses. I always end up eating more than I should at these type breakfast bars. Our wine tour guide from Ampora Wine Tours was picking us up at 10 minutes to 9, to take us to our first winery in Lujan de Cuyo Valley. This valley has some of the oldest, most established and classic wineries. In this instance our Ampora Tour guide Floreana (Flor) showed up punctually to pick us up in a very comfortable van. Flor was a pretty young English teacher, who enjoys wine and working for Ampora on the weekends. She appeared to be ... read more

On our last full day in Montana, we chose as our morning hike Patterson Creek. We headed higher into the mountain for this hike and, this time, encountered a vehicle when we interceded into a side road before accessing the Patterson Creek trail. It was a ranger patrolling the area, with a highly energetic dog that gave us a momentary anxiety, but was obedient to his handler, thank goodness. Afterwards, we chose Bigfork as our daily excursion, with a very fun stop at the Flathead Lake Brewery overlooking the lake, where I happily sampled several of the local beers, one of my favorite pastimes, specially when the beers are excellent like the ones I had. Then we meandered through the lovely little town's shops and streets, and also enjoyed looking at some of the cars at ... read more