Final Preparations... and Compiled Itinerary

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Wow, maybe I'm really heading overseas tomorrow. My luggage certainly thinks so. Though I wanted to just take a travel pack --and though everyone gave me the pragmatic advice to "finish packing, then walk around the block, then walk up a big hill, then go home and unpack half of it"-- I'm planning to fly to Qatar with a travel pack and a duffel bag which I'll admit are not terribly comfortable worn in tandem.

However, in my defense, I'll point out that the contents of my pack are not mine alone. They're meant to be shared with my brother as we travel together, and some things I can leave in Qatar, which I'm flying through on either end for a few days.

Given many iterations of advice rehashing "don't stay in the cheapo hotels" I think we may have over-reacted and might be staying in hotels nicer than we've ever been in before. That's the beauty of having the trip only half-programmed, we can correct it mid-stream.

ITINERARY:

• December 12th-
  Leave home at 7:45 am to fly Seattle/Chicago/Paris
  
• December 13th-
  Fly Paris/Doha to arrive at 11:15 pm
  
• December 14th-
  AM-Rehab or breakfast out
  PM-Dune ride (if we also find three others)
  Eve-Horseracing (if it's happening with the Asian Games in town)
  
• December 15th-
  AM-Drive the Corniche and go to Rik's, an American Diner
  PM-Attend the Asian Games' final match of soccer and the closing ceremonies
  Eve-Dinner on a dhow in the bay
  
• December 16th-
  AM-Souqs, city center, and camel races
  PM-Free
  Eve-Dinner with my brother's students
  
• December 17th-
  1:00 AM - Qatar Airways flight leaves for Thiruvananthapuram/Trivandrum (TRV)
  Stay at Hotel Mascot in Trivandrum
  
• December 18th-
  Travel Trivandrum to Madurai (known for the Sri Meenakshi Temple), detour by Padmanbhapuram Temple and Kanyakumari on the way.
  Stay at Fortune Pandiyan in Madurai the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st.
  Day trips possible to Rameshwaram, Thanjavur/Tanjore, and other Tamil Nadu sights.
  
• December 22nd-
  Travel Madurai to Thekkady (known for the Periyar Wildlife Preserve).
  Stay at Mickey's Cottage, a homestay, the 22nd and 23rd.
  
• December 24th-
  Travel Thekkady to Cochin (a port town near the Keralan backwaters)
  Stay at Harbour View the 24th and 25th.
  
• December 26th-
  Travel Cochin to Cherthala to stay in a place that used to be Mela's sister's home.
  Stay at Anthraper Gardens.
  
• December 27th-
  Fly to Delhi
  Stay at Hotel Alka in Connaught Place the 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th.
  
• December 28th-
  Dia's wedding lunch
  Half day sightseeing tour of Old Delhi?
  
• December 29th-
  Half day sightseeing tour of New Delhi?
  5pm- Dia's wedding Solid Ground
  
• December 30th-
  Free time
  
• December 31st-
  Travel Delhi to Agra (home of the Taj Mahal), detour to Mathura and Sikandra.
  Stay at hotel Deedar-E-Taj the 31st and the 1st
  
• January 1st-
  Tour Agra.
  
• January 2nd-
  Travel Agra to Bharatpur, detour to Fatehpur Sikri on the way.
  Stay at Udai Villas.
  
• January 3rd-
  Travel Bharatpur to Delhi. See the Keoladeo National Park and world renowned bird reserve in the morning.
  Stay at Hotel Good Times/Metro the 3rd, 4th and 5th.
  See the sights we weren't yet able to and attend a reception for Cornell alumni given in conjunction with Porus' CAU trip.
  
• January 6th to 15th
  Unprogrammed time to explore.
  Maybe we'll swing through Mumbai/Bombay, see the caves on Elephanta Island, then go to the painted carved caves of Ajanta and Ellora.
  Maybe we'll visit Hampi.
  Maybe we'll visit Chennai/Madras and Mamallapuram/Mahabalipuram as originally planned.
  
• January 16th
  Travel Thiruvananthapuram to Doha, 9:15am flight
  Stay in Doha January 17th and 18th.
  
• January 19th
  First flight at 12:35am. Doha/Bahrain/Frankfurt/Portland/Seattle. Arrive 2:30pm.
  
• January 20th
  Decompress
  
• January 21st
  Decompress
  
• January 22nd
  Back to work, only Fremont Public Association will be called Solid Ground.
  
  

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Comments

[hannfor]

what an itinerary!
I bet you'll gladly go back to the better hotels for the last 10 days. Who likes possible bugs and/or not so clean sheets? Not to mention those backpacks which will be safer left in a better place while you go sightseeing. That will be money better spent than on Indian "chatschkes" (a Hindi word). Do you really remember all those names of places without looking them up each time? Anyway, it all sounds too exciting for words! ENJOY!