Geo: 27.2156, 77.4902 Of all the wonderful places and palaces I have seen in India there is one thing that has truly impacted my enjoyment of exploring here, and that is that in this country, to all men I must be invisible. At first I thought our guide's only looking at and speaking to my young roommate was an older man thing, where he was infatuated with a young woman and flattered by her attention. This was bothersome, and I mentioned it to him, but he denied it vigorously, and tried, after that, to look at me occasionally to make his point, and when he did, I felt acknowledged, a powerful thing. He is a lovely man, extremely generous and very kind, but although he is a professional guide and is 69 years old, he has ... read more

Geo: 24.5823, 73.6882 Udaipur: the Venice of the East, the City of Lakes, the most romantic city in India. These are not undeserved superlatives for this lovely old city. We are staying at the Lake Pichola Hotel, sitting right on one of the largest lakes in India. Our room is absolutely beautiful: ancient different colored glass lamps hanging from the ceiling, a porch opening directly to the water below, a very large bathroom with lots of hot water, and the most wonderfully comfortable beds and pillows. A glittery embroidered Indian quilt hangs over our beds and paintings done by local artists grace the walls, plus I have internet available right in our room! Such luxury. One of the places we visited nearby is the Animal Aid sanctuary. Here any street animal, small or large, can be ... read more

Geo: 20.5937, 78.9629 Yesterday evening we had the pleasure of the Raja's joining us as we headed out into the desert in a 1945 WWII jeep to watch the sunset. The driver and the Raja sat up front, so we slid into the sideways benches behind them. The ride through the desert was not comfortable, but that could have been the rough, mostly unpaved roads or the lack of (or bad) shocks on the old jeep, or a combination of both. But the air buffeting us was lovely; the temperature perfect for an evening ride in the desert. The Raja is a very pleasant man. He greets all guests who come to stay at his palace residence and makes sure they are comfortable and well fed during their visit. He has only been Raja for two ... read more

Geo: 28.0199, 73.3176 Last night we slept in one of the old royal palaces of a Maharajah, the Hotel Basant Vihar Palace. It is another beautiful very old building, gated off and set far back from the crazily noisy, busy road. We heard nothing as we slept last night, not even the stealthy scurrying of the large cockroach I found dead on the bathroom floor this morning. Today my roommate and I plan on exploring this palace before we head out to Singjy's nephew's home for a Rajput family breakfast (vegan: vegetable oil will be used instead of ghee), one that we will help make. The first chappati or naan or roti is always fed to the cow; if a family does not have a cow, it is fed to whatever cow happens to be walking ... read more

Geo: 28.6137, 77.1834 I arrived at the Delhi airport late Friday night after a surprisingly fairly pleasant day of travelling. One big surprise, on the second flight from Kuala Lumpur to Delhi was that I was in the first row behind first class: lots of leg room, space for overhead luggage, more room to move around, all things passengers now pay extra for when purchasing their tickets. However, I quickly realized that the other three seats adjoining mine were to be occupied by a family of four, including a baby who had made himself known back in the waiting lounge. The flight was about six hours long; we were to arrive before 10PM, so I thought everything would be okay as it was not an overnight flight. The baby turned out to be delightful. He had ... read more