We made it!

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After our impromptu (but fun!) layover in Chicago, our 15-hour flight to Delhi was smooth and relatively easy. We arrived pretty much on time, and were pleased to see that our bags did too. There was a bit of a glitch in that we couldn't find the guy who was supposed to take us to our guesthouse, so we hopped in a taxi instead - this is where 2010 started for us - in the back of a taxi on a hair-raising ride to central Delhi - a memorable one for sure! Connaught Place (the area where we were staying) was blocked off to all vehicle traffic because of new years eve, so we had to walk in to where our guesthouse was. It was a bewildering maze of hazy, poorly-lit streets filled with new years revellers and fireworks going off around us. After some wandering around and some sketchy directions, Mel skillfully navigated us to Ringo Guesthouse.

We spent a chilly and fitful night on a hard bed, we decided to escape the air pollution at chaos of the biggest city in India. We hopped a flight down to the state of Kerala in southern India, and made our way to a smaller, much more laid-back area called Fort Cochin. The weather is sunny and much warmer (temps in the high 20's - aaahhh! We've been exploring the area and settling into the groove.

We're packing a lot of fun into our time so far: Tonight we're going to a traditional Indian dance ('kathakali') performance. Tomorrow we're doing a full-day houseboat/canoe tour through an area called the Backwaters (we're still planning on doing an overnight houseboat trip on our own boat, but thought we'd get a guided taste of it). Tomorrow night we're going to see a sitar/tabla concert, which I'm really excited about.

On Monday, we're heading to a wonderful sounding beach town south of here called Varkala. It's going to be a 4-hour train ride. It sounds even more laid back than where we are now, so I'm looking forward to that too.

So that's a brief update of the past couple of days on our end. Our trip is off to an awesome start - we're loving it here in the south. Interesting sights everywhere we look, lots of fun and exciting things to do, delicious food, and really friendly people everywhere. These are my first impressions of India.

We're out of time here at the internet cafe - stay tuned for photos of this leg of the journey next time! ~

We hope that 2010 is off to a spectacular start for you too! Until next time...
Love Jeff & Mel

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Comments

[frankie]

Happy New Year
Wow, awesome beginning. I'm a little envious of the food, dance, excitement people dang, real jealous then. Be Safe Frankie

[Steve]

Ringo hotel...wow I think I was there in 1982

[sandy Deby]

Enjoying the pictures
Keep em coming, loving seeing India again.........Love Sandy