The Rare and Radiant Doctor Rash

Once upon a Himalaya, Doctor Rash went to staya,
To bring health and healing to many a needy Indian child, woman and groom.
While she toiled, in her treating, suddenly she dreamed of eating,
As in somewhere with some heating, heating of the dining room,
'Tis unbearable', she muttered, dreaming of that dining room,
'I need warmth and more legroom.'

Ah distinctly I recall, she was barely there at all,
When I heard her in a call, state that curry would be her doom.
Eagerly I tried to calm her, putting forth a nuanced demur,
To suggest that she might well prefer - to stick to basics and consume,
All those bland and boring dishes that we generally assume,
Will keep us from a freezing bathroom.

And the rugged, shear, demanding conditions on that Himalayan landing,
Thrilled her - filled her with fantastic moments that began to bloom,
So that now, she thinks with wonder of those weeks she spent down under,
On that cold, wet, rough, harsh tundr, and each frigid uninviting room,
Where she kept the Himalayans from their fate that seems to loom,
Of almost certain hygienic doom.

I had intended to go further with that poem but it's time consuming and I don't think I'm going to make it as a poet anyway. In case you don't recognize its origin you can check it out here or here (thank you Edgar).

I am certainly not in a position to adequately summarize what Karin experienced in the Himalayas. Parts were wonderful. Parts were difficult. It's all a rich tapestry, you know. Overall she did find it to be rewarding. It is also something that she wanted to do for a long time - and she dropped everything to do it. So major kudos for that.

If any of you plan on being in San Diego over the next few weeks do let us know. We are going to be having people over at some point for a personal Himalayas and India Show & Tell event. No Indian food will be served.

Final Himalayas And India Post Expected Soon

This has been a very interesting ride for us. The Himalayas and India were fascinating. And writing about it in this forum has been rewarding in many ways. We intend to maintain all of the posts online indefinitely.

We are expecting to receive the balance of the Himalayas pictures shortly. When we do, we plan on the following:

1. A concluding post.

2. Uploading many of our pictures to a host-site so that you will be able to see much more of what we witnessed.

3. Hosting an evening that will include a slide show and personal harrowing accounts of what we experienced and how we managed to survive (intentionally over-dramatized to stimulate interest).

4. To begin planning our next adventure!


(Also, I was just looking at Google Analytics and we have our first readers from Dniprodzerzhyns’k. Welcome Dniprodzerzhyns’kians! What? You've never heard of Dniprodzerzhyns’k? Pathetic.)

Karin Finds A Good Spot To Read At The Taj Mahal

Indian Lavatorputer Room, Police Roadblock, Automobile Repair (Using A Roof)

I wish to introduce to you the office that I created for myself, out of necessity, at Amanbagh (patent pending). I have yet to name it but leading contenders are: The Indian Lavatorputer Room, the Post-Curry-CPU-o-Potty, and the Internet-Where-and-When-I-Need-It Facility. The pictured office has the following benefits: 1. Extreme multitasking, 2. Instant relief from Mahatma's Revenge while blogging, 3. No need to leave the office for any reason ever again.

And now a story that I previously neglected to include: During the drive from Jaipur to Alwar (the one during which Karin was horribly ill), we had been following a Jeepish car that had about 14 people inside and at least eight others on the roof. I had been marveling at how this mob of people was managing to stay on that tiny vehicle on a highway when we suddenly came upon a police checkpoint. The police waived the overloaded car over to the side of the road. I found myself pitying the poor driver who was obviously about to receive the fine of his life (or, more likely, pay a small bribe). The Jeep driver pulled over to the side of the road and, much to my surprise, beckoned for more people to get onto the roof. Apparently there was a bus stop next to the police roadblock and the police were just helping to get people where they wanted go - regardless of how insanely dangerous the mode of travel.

And one last story: While being driven in an Ambassador through Agra, our driver announced that he was having engine trouble. He pulled over and popped the hood. He and the guide messed around under the hood for a minute and then walked over to a stall at the side of the road. The driver then climbed up on a small platform and started ripping things off a makeshift roof that he found. He was, of course, fixing his engine. In India nothing goes to waste. Even a crumbling roof can be used to fix a car engine, for example. The picture below that of our driver creating car parts out of a roof is of the "engine" of his car. Do you see an engine there? To me it looks like someone made off with his engine and left the battery, some cooling hoses, and a water-bottle. But that, ladies and gentlemen, constitutes the entire propulsion system of this fine automobile.

D E L H I ( f i n a l e m e n t )

Delhi became our hub in the north. Karin had flown into Delhi and had returned to Delhi following her stint in the Himalayas. I had flown to Delhi from Mumbai to meet her there. Our itinerary together ended up being Delhi - Agra - Delhi - Varanasi - Delhi - Jaipur - Alwar - Delhi. That looks like a lot of Delhi but a good portion of the Delhi time was spent either traveling or relaxing. I now present to you Jaime and Karin's Daring Delhi Diary:

On February 28, we had arranged for a “half-day tour” of Delhi through the Oberoi Hotel. They had told us that we would have a guide and driver for 4 hours. We met the guide and began our trip to Old Delhi to see the Red Fort. Forts are a big draw in India. These are enormous structures that housed small cities. They were built to protect against the constantly-marauding armies that traveled through the region in the 15^th, 16^th, and 17^th centuries. They were constructed to the specifications of an emperor who would preside over the population that lived within. The Red Fort was built by the Moghuls in the 1600's. When it was originally erected, many of the structures were inlaid with gold and precious jewels. After centuries of plunder, every last bobble has been torn from every wall, floor, ceiling, and adornment. Many of the original buildings are still standing although the British Army took it over for decades and built unsightly barracks and other buildings within.

We also visited the largest mosque in India and various Ghandi (Mahatma and Indira) and Nehru memorials (there have been a lot of assassinations in India). The tour was going very well…. Then, after almost 2 hours, the guide announced that they were done. We politely reminded him that we had arranged for a 4 hour tour of Delhi. He informed us that 4 hours was based upon the time it takes when there is normal traffic in Delhi. Because it was Sunday there was no traffic at all. Our position was that we had arranged for the tour on a Sunday to avoid sitting in traffic for 2 hours. But he was adamant – and even refused our offer to pay him extra to show us the rest of Delhi. Apparently he had to be somewhere. After protesting briefly we decided to go our own way and to take it up with the hotel later on.

We had him let us off at The Imperial, a nice, centrally-located hotel. After a quick perusal of the hotel we made our way to an enormous Sikh Temple called Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. Five minutes later, we were among thousands of Sikhs. We were directed to an office where we were told to remove our shoes and to don bright orange headdresses . We then were directed to the main temple area. There was an enormous throng of people walking barefoot on wet marble. This was not pleasant for me. While interesting to see the wild rainbow of colorful turbans making its way around the compound, I could not stop thinking that I was now sharing fungal intimacies with 10,000+ people, many of whom may possibly live in less than ideal hygienic environments.

Once we were done appreciating those local customs, we made our way back to The Oberoi and complained about our guide and driver. Two minutes later, after apologies from the hotel staff, we were set up with another guide and driver for the rest of the day. We had a leisurely lunch and headed out. This time our guide was interested in showing us as much as possible until we had enough. Unfortunately we did not head out with him until almost 4:00 PM and most sites close at 5:30 PM. We rushed to the Lotus Temple, a Bahai place of worship, whose design symbolizes nine religions. The temple itself is quite nice to look at but the operation that brings thousands of people through the structure each day is really impressive.

From the temple we made our way to the Parliament Houses and the home of the President. The buildings are enormous and impressive and are overrun by monkeys. There were at least a dozen monkeys milling about when we got there. Apparently the powers that be have decided to co-exist with what are generally regarded as nuisances (the monkeys) rather than do anything drastic to be rid of them.

One amusing Delhi episode: Karin had two enormous bags from the Himalayas trip that we did not want to lug around India. We asked at the Oberoi if they would hold them for us and deliver them to us at the airport when we were leaving. The concierge suggested we use a service by the airport and gave us the details.

Thus, on our way to Varanasi, we packed the extra bags and took them to the Delhi airport. Upon arrival at the airport we went directly to the baggage check. It was in a small building to the side of a parking lot with zero security. I walked into a decrepit room with about 10 bags on shelves and no one at the wide-open door. I couldn't believe the Oberoi had suggested this. I thought to myself: A. Is someone really going to take our dirty laundry? B. If someone does take our dirty laundry, it will probably be put to very good use, and C. I am not lugging these two enormous bags around India for the next week. And so I paid the 22 Rupees (fifty cents) per bag, took the laughable receipt, tipped the guy who had shown me what to do (lest he decide to help himself to his own tip), and wished for the best.

Upon our return to pick up the bags 6 days later, almost everything was intact. In fact, we fared significantly better than I had expected. In case you are considering leaving any fine jewelry or electronics at the Delhi bag-check, I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest you find something more secure.

Fascinating Varanasi, Awful Restaurant Experience, "Dead Body Burning", No People's Court

I loved the Holy City of Varanasi. Had I been a back-packer with plenty of time I would certainly have stayed there to take in the multitude of cultures, traditions, and it's unbelievably diverse population. Varanasi is extremely important to Hindus, Buddhists, and Jainists (whose priests go naked or wear masks to avoid inhaling organisms of any kind). One million Hindus make pilgrimage to Varanasi each year. And thousands come to die in Varanasi. The River Ganges is at the center of it all.

After arriving in Varanasi on February 28, 2007, we made our way to the site of Buddha’s first sermon in Sarnath. That Buddha first taught in the area is part of the reason that it is so revered. We witnessed Buddhists from all over the world chanting in diverse languages – often right next to each other, drowning each other out. Holy Buddhist sites are tranquil. While many religions preach peace, love and friendship, many also find ways to justify aggressive war, intolerance and, on occasion, violence. I don't pretend to be an expert in theology but there do appear to be some basic differences among major religions when it comes to how quick they are to resort to aggression and war. And for my next trick, I shall cut this thought off before it gets too controversial.

Following the visit to Saranath we made our way to the Holy Ganges River. Our guide and row-boat captain was an 18 year old Varanasian by the name of Babu – a good looking and very good-natured guy. Babu rowed us up the Ganges, pointing out the various Ghats that line the waterfront for miles. It’s an amazing sight – temple after temple high above the river, each with steps leading all the way down into the water. The steps are steep and continue deep into the water so that the water remains accessible regardless of tides, monsoons, etc.

That first evening we rowed up to the area where bodies of the dead are brought down to the water, wrapped in brightly colored materials. We witnessed the bodies being dipped into the Holy Ganges prior to their burning. Once the bodies are purified in the water, they are burned on pyres that rage by the Ganges. It is an unbelievable site to see the bodies being brought down in front of the families of the deceased (photography is forbidden so my pics are from afar). As with everything in India, nothing goes to waste. For example, we saw dogs gnawing on something in the smoldering remnants of older pyres - and I don't think they were rubber chew-toys. Our guide was narrating in his broken, yet charming, English: "Dead body burning take 3 hours."

After watching this incredible scene for a while we rowed back down to the Ghats and witnessed an Aarti, which is also performed along the Ganges. An Aarti is a Hindu fire ritual signifying devotion to god. In this particular Aarti, 7 men did their fire-ceremony in unison on stages about 40 feet above the Ganges.

It was a fascinating evening and was topped off with a walk back to our car through one of the busiest and most colorful markets I have ever seen. This is a market that deserves serious attention but we took it in quickly as our guide rushed us to the waiting car.

Back at the hotel (Taj Ganges), we decided to try the Indian restaurant. We ordered the Thali - a group of dishes that enables one to taste 6 or 7 of the specialties of the region. Much to our surprise, it was terrible. After tasting each of the dishes and figuring out that we didn't like a single one, I approached the maître d' and told him that the food was inedible. He apologized profusely and disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later the chef came over to our table. He also apologized and then asked what was wrong. Talk about unpleasant confrontations! "Well you are a terrible chef. I can't believe Taj hired you. You should find another profession." That's what went through my mind. Out of my mouth came a whisper in Karin's ear: "U-n-c-o-m-f-o-r-t-a-b-l-e."

We retired early that evening as we were scheduled to be up at 5:00 AM so that we could make it to the Ganges for sunrise and the morning bathing and meditation that takes place every day. And make it, we did. We were back on the Ganges with Babu early the next morning. As we rowed by each of the Ghats, we witnessed people bathing, dunking, praying, meditating, washing, shmoozing, and drinking (Ganges water). Yes, drinking the water from the Holy (and very polluted) Ganges is a Hindu and Buddhist Mitzvah.

After about an hour on the water, the sky darkened and we found ourselves in a serious downpour. Babu handed us an umbrella but he was getting soaked. He rowed to the shore and we found some shelter by a building. When the pelting rain slowed down, we got back on the boat but the sky was continuing to darken and we knew that rain was inevitable. We started to make our way back to the starting point. It was drizzling by the time we got there and so we decided to head back to the hotel. Suddenly the skies opened up and and we were in a torrential downpour. We ran through the market, took brief shelter by some shops, and then ran some more. We made it to the car, bid Babu adieu, and headed back to Taj. And that was the end of a short but fascinating stay in Varanasi.

The drive to the airport was also interesting. As always, we were weaving in and out of traffic at high speed. Suddenly, our driver hit a motorbike. Our driver was pissed. He stopped the car and waived over the motorbike driver, who immediately pulled over. Our driver yelled at him angrily, raised his hand, and then struck the motorbike driver in the face. The motorbike driver seemed to accept the scolding. He lowered his head, uttered a few words, and then returned to his motorbike. Our driver got back into the car and said “no problem”. Rather bizarre.

And if I may take just one moment to complain... I really disliked our hotel in Varanasi. We stayed at the Taj Ganges . Terribly run. As I already mentioned, the food was abominable. And they had major wifi issues. I had their tech guy working on it for almost 3 hours the first evening but he never got it working.... which is part of the reason I am posting so late. The building itself is run-down and located far from the Ganges. If I ever go back to Varanasi I would probably stay near the Ghats anyway but I would never go near the Taj Ganges. Thanks for letting me vent.

And now for some Non-India News: Unfortunately, I will not be appearing on The People's Court. I did try to follow up with them but, due to an unforseeable turn of events, I am no longer able to participate. This is rather unfortunate because A. They were going to fly us to New York, B. I really wanted to see how they run the show, and C. I could have played a Plaintiff on The People's Court! I will be posting the story of what has happened with that lawsuit, and with The People's Court, as soon as the case is resolved.

Happy Birthday Dr. Rash!

From Intrepid Himalayan Explorer and Physician-to-Those-Not-Born-In-The-Right-Place-At-The-Right-Time, to San Diego Birthday Girl, Karin has come a long way over the past 6 weeks.

I am taking this opportunity to wish Karin a Very Happy Birthday. The plan for Karin's birthday is for her to work very hard all day. Then, when she is completely exhausted from a combination of seeing dozens of patients and dealing with whatever else is going on at work, plus severe jet lag, and lingering remnants of her India-borne illness, she will come home and she, HM, Dave and I will possibly go out for a non-Indian dinner. If that ends up being too ambitious a plan, we will have a quiet non-Indian dinner and she will go to sleep.

And by the way, I do realize that this photo of Karin with the Taj Mahal growing out of her head (or of Karin wearing a Taj Mahal hat) is not "properly" composed. It's kind of an inside joke (not anymore) stemming from an art class Karin took years ago. She was studying John Baldessari who, as a rejection of conventional photographic methodology, would purposely place his subjects with various background objects sticking out of their heads, etc. I call this one Taj Mahrash.

Amanbagh II, Holi and Kurta Pajama, The People's Court, Whale Watching

Now that Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is appearing in the nude in Equus, exactly who will divert their attention to a blog about our travels and travails? The answer is everyone (now that I have mentioned the Naked Harry Potter)!

It's 4:00 PM in Delhi right now and I am feeling alert and energetic. Unfortunately I am not in that time zone. I am in San Diego, where it is the middle of the night. I don't know if I will be able to sleep anymore tonight. If not, I apologize in advance to my clients who may experience a somewhat lethargic interview later this morning.

And this just in: I received a letter from The People's Court upon my arrival in San Diego. They want to know if I might be interested in taking my Small Claims Case against our horrible movers to Judge Marilyn Milian. She films in New York... so perhaps we'll make a trip out of it (that would definitely be blogworthy!).

Now back to India: As mentioned in the post below, we continued our celebration of Holi on Day 2 of our stay at Amanbagh. Day 2 of Holi involves getting dressed up in Kurta Pajama and then covering everyone you can in color from head to toe. I snapped a few pics at the beginning of the fray and then a few at the end but I couldn't risk drenching the camera. Therefore the most intense part of the color war was not recorded.

Following the frenzied color exchange we all returned to Amanbagh to get cleaned up, relax, and have lunch. I had Indian food and Karin did not. In fact, I had Indian food for every meal from that time until we landed in Chicago (we were on a 15 hour American Airlines flight from Delhi to Chicago). We are both still enduring stomach issues.

Have I mentioned that travel in India is tough? Well, it is. I have traveled in Thailand, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and all over Europe and North America, and I have never before felt like the traveling itself was difficult. While I thoroughly enjoyed India, found it at times fascinating, at times stunning, and at times enriching, it was, at times, difficult. There is a steep learning curve to travel in India and I think it took me almost a week on the ground and in the trenches to get up to speed. That being said, I definitely will return - especially now that I have learned the ropes (and I have Eric's credit card number).

We are scheduled to go whale-watching with my flying club (Flying Eagles) in a week. That trip involves flying private planes down to Mulege in Baja California, Mexico, on the Sea of Cortez. On Day 2 of the trip all of us fly from the Sea of Cortez side to the Pacific side and land at Laguna San Ignacio, a gray whale sanctuary. I have not done the trip before but I have seen the pictures of fellow Eagles kissing whales as they come out to greet their human guests. Looks incredible. After the whale watching the group (22 planes scheduled) flies back to Mulege for the night.

Hey, Rash just joined me in the kitchen (3:22 AM)! By the way, it's Rash's birthday tomorrow. We're babysitting but HM says we should go out for dinner. And not to Chuck E. Cheese (phew!).

Harry did offer to order Indian food for us after our arrival in San Diego. The offer alone set back Karin's recovery by a week.

Wonderful A M A N B A G H and the Celebration Of Holi

It is hard to imagine a more stark contrast between life inside Amanbagh and life everywhere else we have been on this trip. It is difficult to believe that what we saw yesterday exists in the same country as what we are witnessing today.

As RJ, a Delhi-based Equity-Fund Manager that we met here, said to me earlier (and I paraphrase), "If you spend 6 weeks in India riding the trains, witnessing the stark contrasts in this country, you cannot help but become a philosopher." To give you some idea of what I am speaking of, the tiny village we visited today has no electricity. Now take the image you have of that village, and imagine the opposite... That's where we are today.

Our trip to Amanbagh:


When Karin woke up on March 3, she was not well. We both attribute that to the highly-recommended, yet unfortunate, lunch we had on top of the city wall in Jaipur. We had arranged to be picked up at 10:30 AM to be taken to Amanbagh. But Karin was not feeling up to it. When the driver arrived, I asked if he would wait. I returned to the room and asked Karin if I should tell the driver that she would not be able to go at all that day. She was hesitant at first, but I spelled out just how therapeutic Aman would be and she agreed to go.

We made our way down to the waiting car. As you can see in the first picture of this post, she fashioned a cocoon for herself in the car in an effort to endure the 2 hour ride. Getting out of Jaipur was particularly unpleasant as traffic was a mess. Once we were on the highway the drive was fine - but Karin was not. She had us stop a couple of times on the way to get some fresh air (euphemism).

While Karin may not have seen much more than the inside of her green scarf, the drive was very interesting. We passed through a number of villages and shared the road with many different modes of transportation. Ubiquitous were cars and trucks with many people on the roof. When the roof is full they they hang outside the vehicles. We saw cars built for 6 with more than 20 people hanging on - tearing down the highway! Those ovepacked vehicles share the road with, among other things, enormous trucks, tiny tuk tuks, and camels. Of course cows and other animals often wander into the middle of the road as well. This was the first time I've ever felt like driving myself would be unpleasant.

The roads in India are chaotic and obstacles are ubiquitous and dynamic. People drive so aggressively that any tiny mistake is a guaranteed accident. And, in fact, our vehicles in Delhi and Varanasi did touch other vehicles more than once (in Varanasi our driver got out of the car and slapped the driver of a motorbike that he had hit).

Eventually, we turned off the major roads and onto unpaved and little-used roads. We drove through beautiful, barren landscapes dotted with tiny rural villages. The contrast from the loud, dangerous frenzy of urban India to the quiet rural landscape was wonderful.

Arrival at Amanbagh

Driving onto the Aman property is striking. From a distinctly harsh and rugged countryside with nothing more than tiny remote villages populating the miles around it, we entered a beautiful, manicured oasis. We drove up to what resembles a modern palace and were greeted by the waiting staff, who gave us refreshing towels, introduced themselves to us, and then took Karin to the room so that she could sleep.

Walking through this serene and immaculate setting after the constant bombardment of our senses over the past 2 weeks was fantastic.

Karin went straight to sleep and slept until late afternoon. I explored the property and did some reading. Pure relaxation.

We happen to be here for the celebration called Holi (also known as the Festival of Colours). Here is part of Wikipedia's description of Holi:

"On the first day, a bonfire is lit at night to signify burning Holika. On the second day, known as Dhulandi, people go around until afternoon throwing colored powder and water at each other. A special drink called thandai is prepared, sometimes containing bhang. People invite each other to their houses for feasts and celebrations later in the evening. "

On our first evening here, the hotel brought us to a neighboring village to celebrate Holi with the villagers. They built a huge bonfire in a field in the village. We were then given long poles with vegetation tied to the the end of each. We and the villagers stuck our poles into the raging bonfire - a ritual that is used to encourage a good harvest. Once the poles were burnt, the men of the village danced around the fire while the women made a circle of their own and a few young girls danced in the middle.


Following that Holi celebration (which would continue the next day), we returned to Amanbagh for dinner. Amanbagh has a Western Menu and an Indian menu. As much as we adore Indian food, and as much as we want to eat Indian food, we are both hesitant to do so at this point as our stomachs have been sending regular SOS pleas to us for the past few days.

So, at each meal, we go through serious soul searching: Do we dare test our biological and digestive prowess again? Or do we order the club sandwich? Do we take that precarious step into the culinary abyss at another attempt at gastronomic nirvana? Or do we have toast instead?

Karin has not risked eating Indian food in days. I, on the other hand, have had it almost every meal. And I have the digestive issues to prove it.

Following dinner we made our way to our haveli (what they call each of the living spaces here) and went to sleep.

I awoke early the next morning and went on a trek to a nearby former tiger-hunting area of the Maharajahs. Built into the rock was a seat where the Maharaja could sit with his rifle. He would then have dozens or more villagers form an enormous semi-circle around the animals in the wild. The villagers would bang drums and make noise to scare the animals closer and closer to the Maharajah's seat. They would close in the semi-circle so that the Maharahs would be able to effortlessly kill the prey of their choice. I think our guide said the practice was called Hakata. It was so effective a hunting technique that tigers are now extinct in the area.

During the hike through the serene and stunning countryside, we came upon monkeys, parrots, camels, parakeets, peacocks, and a host of other creatures (luckily for them the Maharajahs' egos were connected primarily to tigers and other big game). Once at the "throne", the guides brought out ginger chai and almond cookies and we sat on rocks enjoying what was once the Maharajahs' personal playground.


On the way back, we passed through a few villages and saw small structures that are used as lookout towers. The pic below is of a villager on guard for wild animals (no tigers to worry about mind you).

Present on the hike were two attorneys from Sao Paolo and an equity investment manager (and his lab) who spent the last 7 years in Hong Kong and who has recently moved to Delhi. I learned all about how the court system works in Brazil and something about Asian equity management. It was on this walk that I was also told about another part of the celebration of Holi - that being the drinking of bhang. While I could not get a definitive answer about what the drink is, it sounded to me like the "special lassi" that I had read about while researching our trip. What I was told is that everyone drinks it, but only around the time of Holi. I made a note-to-self to ask about it back at the hotel.


Following the trek, we all had to get ready for the big Holi celebration we were going to attend in another nearby village. Holi is also known as the Festival of Colors because on day 2 of the celebration everyone gets dressed in Kurta Pajamas and then sprays everyone around them with bright colors and water. And that's exactly what we did. We headed into the village in our pristine white kurta pajamas and had a huge color and water fight with the villagers. I think the villagers won but they have had centuries of practice. Karin had a particularly intense color exchange with one little girl and ended up much more colorful than the little girl.

Once we were sufficiently ensconced in color, everyone gathered in a circle, bongos were brought out, and the dancing began... men only, mind you. Seems like the men and women dance separately, much like in the more devout reaches of our own culture.

The dancing lasted a little while and then the guests (us) were brought before the Village Elders. The Elders had remained outside the fray and had no color on them. I was handed some color and was instructed to put color on the Elders. I walked from Elder to Elder and placed color on each of their faces. What qualifies me to do such a thing? Excellent question. Maybe the Village Elders like the blog?

Following the crazed Holi color-fight and celebration, we returned to Aman and went for lunch. Western or Indian? Indian or Western. True to form, I went Indian and Karin went Western. The rest of the afternoon was spent by the pool and in the library reading. Very enjoyable.

I should describe the pool and the library. The pool is magnificent. It is built out of turquoise marble and is enormous, beautiful, and surrounded by pink modified-Moghul architecture. The library is also a pleasure as it contains a fabulous collection of dozens of superb coffee-table books about Indian life, Indian art, Indian religion, Indian geography, Indian history, the Maharajas, and much more. It is a tremendous place to learn more about what we have been experiencing over the past weeks and what has transpired over the last few thousand years to evolve into modern India.

At 7:00 PM, Karin and I departed on a night-trek to a temple with our guide for Aarti, a fire ceremony performed twice daily, and at the end of holidays (such as Holi). We entered the temple and two men began an interactive drumming with each other. Each of them held a circular medal cymbal in one hand and a hammer in the other. They faced each other and would each raise one hand in unison. The one would strike the cymbal the other was holding and then they would alternate. The result was a deep trance-like rhythmic sound that filled the small marble structure.

Behind the two percussionists, an older bearded man appeared (we were later told he is a local religious leader and is 130 years old). He lifted a plate of candles and began waiving them around and chanting in a little worship room that we could partially see through a marble screen. He finished the ritual in that room and then came into ours. Once he had emerged, we could see that he had a school-bell in his other hand. As he waived the candles with one hand, he would ring the bell with the other. He went up to each of the gods that was represented in the room and waived his candles and rang his bell. Once he was done with the main temple room he went into another temple room. And then to a small worship area outside. And then to another across the street. And then to a different room across the street. Each time he would chant, waive his candles, and ring his bell, and all the while, the cymbal players continued with their own beat. Karin, for much of the ceremony, sat cross-legged on the floor with her eyes closed, in mediation.

Following the end of the ceremony, we walked back to the Aman and once again faced the Western vs. Indian Menu dilemma. True to form, Karin went Western (gnocchi) and I went Indian (amazing Rajasthani lamb dish).

This morning Karin is again not feeling 100%. She canceled her morning yoga and is taking it easy. I, on the other hand, am feeling strong and healthy.

We are leaving on a flight that departs from Delhi after midnight tonight. Our trip home will involve another 2 hour drive - this time to the Jaipur airport. Hopefully Karin is feeling better by the time we leave, late this afternoon. We will then be flying Jaipur-Delhi-Chicago-San Diego. Total flying time is a bit over 20 hours.

There is much more about this trip that I have yet to post. I expect to be able to catch up a bit between flights, though it will probably not be possible to post any pictures until we are back in San Diego.

Amanbaugh is highly recommended.

Jaipur, The Pink City: Last Frenetic Stop Before Amanbagh

We have arrived in Rajasthan. It's 6:15 AM on March 3, 2007. Yesterday we took an early morning flight from Delhi. Unfortunately there had been dense fog in the morning and when it cleared there was a backlog of airplanes trying to get clearances. We ended up waiting over 2 hours to get a clearance (to contact ground!) and our 30 minute flight ended up taking 3.5 hours. It's always something it seems.

After about an hour of waiting with the door closed, ready to taxi, the woman sitting next to Karin (I was by the window and she was in the middle seat), called a flight attendant over and sternly told her that she wanted to get off the plane because her meeting in Jaipur was going to be over by the time she got there. The FA was gracious and tried to calm her down but Karin's neighbor began getting really irate. The FA said she would work on it. From that point on, every time an FA came by, our neighbor would give her an earful. Finally, the pilot made an announcement over the PA and said that although he was sympathetic, it would be impossible to let people off because that would activate a bunch of security issues which would delay us significantly and might mean losing our place in the queue to get clearance (it had taken 2 hours to get from 35th to 2nd). The woman was incensed. She called over an FA and said that she would not allow the plane to take off if she was not permitted to exit immediately. The FA said they were working on it and eventually told her that security would be by to escort her off. Fifteen minutes later, the FA came by and whispered to our neighbor that she could leave. The woman was escorted off the plane and the door was closed. The pilot then came over the PA (in a thick Australian accent): Ladies and Gentlemen, We apologize for this delay. The passenger was allowed to deplane and we managed to keep our place in the queue. We will be taxiing in 2 minutes. Just so you know, that passenger did not advantage herself in any way. She was taken away by security and will be held until the plane lands in Jaipur and is cleared. It will be up to them how to handle her after that.

About 35 minutes later we were landing in Jaipur (note that driving or taking the train to Jaipur takes 5 to 6 hours on a clear day). Once in Jaipur we grabbed a cab (through the "government prepaid office") and headed to the Sheraton Rajputana. The hotel itself is nothing to blog home about but it was really hard to get anything so last-minute in Jaipur.

We had decided to do a walking tour of the old city that is laid out in Lonely Planet Rajasthan. I had a train ticket that I had to cancel and the concierge told us that the train station was just behind the hotel - "walking distance".

Karin, I apologize for that walk. While it only took 4 or 5 minutes, it was disgusting. When people, cows, dogs, monkeys, and goats use roads as lavatories, they require regular street cleaning. As street cleaning has apparently not yet come to Jaipur, pedestrian activity is to be avoided.

We arrived at the train station, and while there was not a word of English on any of the signs, a couple of people in line immediately offered to help me navigate and I quickly ended up in the correct line with the correct form and accurate instructions as to how to proceed. People here are are constantly offering assistance (not just the touts).

Once the ticket was canceled we grabbed a cab and headed to the New Gate of the Old City. We had lunch at Ganesh Restaurant, which was recommended by Lonely Planet. Tons of tourists use the Lonely Planet guide so the place was full of non-Indians - even though it did not even have an English menu. It was actually an open-air concept on top of the old city wall itself. Food was tasty but neither of us reacted well to it. I think that is going to be our last adventurous meal of the trip... particularly since we are soon heading to Amanbagh.

Following a tasty lunch, we headed into the bazaars of the Old City. There are hundreds and hundreds of tiny shops - most with someone outside trying to pull people inside. Karin was tiring of being constantly approached by shopkeepers and others trying to sell us silk and silver and saris and... sweets (had to find something that started with "s"). But I was getting into it. I was haggling over prices and kidding with them. It's fun to see how fast the prices plummet when walking away from a shop. The further into Jaipur we got, the fewer tourists we saw, and the less we were approached. I don't think Karin enjoyed that walk as much as I did.

As you might expect, cows are all over Jaipur... but so are monkeys. It's quite something to be surprised by a dozen monkeys that show up out of nowhere and sit down to take in the view.

The walking tour ended at what I am guessing is the only McDonald's in Jaipur. We checked out the menu (click on the pic to see Paneer Wrap and more) and used it as an emergency bathroom stop. We then crossed the street to negotiate for a ride back to the hotel. Our choices were a taxi-van or a tuk tuk type open motorized 3-wheeled vehicle. Since we had paid 50 Rupees for a taxi (Ambassador) coming to the Old City, we balked at the 150 Rupees that the taxi driver quoted us. He immediately went to 100 Rupees. We told him we would pay the 50 Rupees (~$1.15) that we had paid to get there. He balked at that. After a serious standoff he was at 80. We then turned to the tuk tuk driver who was offering to take us for 50 then 40. Karin took over this negotiation. She was really standing her ground. Eventually the tuk tuk went to 35 rupees ("lower than Indian price") and Karin had squeezed the taxi driver down to 60 Rupees. We agreed to the 60 and took the taxi. The tuk tuk driver, who had been negotiating hard to get our business shook my hand warmly and smiled after we told him we'd be taking the taxi instead. I think he had enjoyed the 3-way bargaining session.

As soon as we were back at the hotel, Karin hit the bed. I, on the other hand, hit the internet. For the third time since I arrived, we failed to muster enough of an appetite to actually have a real dinner.

Overall I really enjoyed Jaipur. The haggling was fun and I like interacting with the shopkeepers and Jaipurians, and especially with the cute kids that are always interested in talking to us. I could do without the begging and the touting and the horrendous smells (I'm gagging just mentioning them) but that is part of the cost of visiting these places and one learns how to minimize that exposure after a while.

Here is the blog plan: Since I neglected to post for a number of days, I have a backlog waiting to be added. I'm going to post about all that from Amanbagh over the next 3 days. This is going to be a welcome respite following the hectic pace at which our senses have been confronted over the past week and a bit.

The pictures posted here are of some of the shops we walked by, lunch in the Old City of Jaipur, the Jaipur McDonald's, and a busy Old City roundabout replete with vehicles speeding in every direction and cows.

Thoughts About Travel In India

Sorry about the delay in posting. We do not always have internet access and often when we do, we do not have time to sit and create a post. I have been writing on the planes but some of it needs editing. For now, here are some thoughts about travel in India:

It is now 12:00 PM on February 28^th. We are on a Spice Jet 737 at 35,000 feet heading for the Holy City of Varanasi. Spice Jet is one of the many new airlines in India. This one is rather similar to Southwest in that it uses only one type of plane to minimize training and maintenance costs, has no first class section, is quite inexpensive, and is ticketless.

Travel in India is at a watershed. The introduction of multiple low-cost competitors to Air India, coupled with the availability of online booking for air and train travel and the presence of very low-cost cellular service are about to transform this country into an easy country to navigate – the operative point being that it is “about to” transform travel… It’s not quite there yet. Right now there are many growing pains: the websites are often not working properly – both for train and air booking, and the airlines do not accept foreign-issued credit cards, making it extremely difficult for us to book flights. I ended up having to use an agent for some tickets and for others Eric graciously let us use his India-issued credit card (let me know if you are booking India travel and I'll pass on the number).

Rail travel is ubiquitous and inexpensive (16,000,000 passengers per DAY!) but there are many delays, its website needs considerable rethinking, and their booking system only works properly about 50% of the time.

Travel by road is a mess. Traffic is awful, conditions are poor, and road rules are either non-existent or largely ignored. Add to all of the above that there is corruption at every turn and you can see that there is room for improvement.

But it is changing incredibly quickly right now. I think in 5 to 7 years traveling here will be considerably easier and more efficient. That is the primary reason that we have cut Jaisalmer out of our itinerary. Air travel through Rajasthan will be ubiquitous soon enough and there will be no reason to endure 15-hour train rides. We’ll come back in 5 years to test that theory on Rajasthan.

I see two primary ways to travel in India while still avoiding the constant touting and tenacious begging: Probably the best way to do it is by knowing people who live here. If you travel with locals you will see a side of India that is wonderful while avoiding the pitfalls that otherwise cannot be completely controlled (true anywhere really but more so here). If that is not a possibility, joining a tour group that has a good reputation and decent itineraries would also work. These companies arrange all travel, take care of pick-ups and drop-offs that avoid the touts, and are ready with contingencies when things (inevitably) do not go as planned. I know National Geographic sponsors travel here but there are probably dozens of decent companies that do so.

The alternative is to be aware that your taxi windows will often be knocked on when you are stopped in traffic, you will be approached and sometimes followed through train stations (not in a menacing way – but it’s annoying), and someone will often be trying to sell you some product or service that you have no interest in. It is very inexpensive to do it this way but it does cost in other ways.

I will be posting about Delhi, Varanasi and Jaipur shortly. We've seen some amazing things. And some other things too. Our flight to Jaipur is boarding.

Taj Mahal And Complete Itinerary Change

I am sitting by the pool watching hundreds of Kites hovering effortlessly above Delhi, searching for prey. They are magnificent raptors and fill the entire Delhi sky. I also saw them hovering in Mumbai but they are ubiquitous here. They must be floating on thermals because they hover for hours and never flap their wings.

Yesterday (now 2 days ago) we went to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. The Taj makes it onto most wonder-of-the-world lists, although it is not an official one of the Canonical 7.

Let's start with what was wonderful about the trip to Agra. The Taj is stunning. The stark white marble structure is breathtaking. Walking onto the grounds and from a rather dismal town of Agra and being confronted by this heavenly structure is quite an ethereal experience.

The trip to Agra was also very pleasant. I had booked an express train (Shatabdi Express) that left at 6:00 AM. The train was very comfortable. The breakfast they served was quite good, and we left and arrived on time.

Also nice was visiting the Baby Taj. This is also a mausoleum. It's not nearly as grand as the Taj but it also does not attract crowds the way the Taj does. I think there were about 4 people there with us - as opposed to thousands at the Taj Majal.

But not everything was smooth sailing. My research had yielded the following: 1. Go with the "government pre-paid" taxis and drivers by making the arrangements at the government office in Agra. 2. Since the only express train back to Delhi is at 8:30 PM, do your Agra sightseeing and then get on whatever train is leaving for Delhi when you are done (there are about 10 over the course of the day). 3. Do not bother staying in Agra as there is not much to see beyond the Taj.

And this is how it actually worked out: We were accosted by touts as soon as we were off the train in Agra - on the platform. One guy latched on to us and even though I said "no" 10 times, he followed us to the government office. I spoke to the government "official" who sold me the official ticket for the official day-tour and gave me the official paper to give to the official driver. He then pointed to the tout that had accosted us on the platform. This did not please me. Obviously the touts and the officials work together now.

We went to the tout's car and told him what we wanted to see. He was nice enough and agreed to start with the Taj Majal and then to go from there. From the beginning we felt some resistance to just doing things the way we wanted them done. He had an idea of an itinerary and while he would agree to what we wanted he did so begrudgingly. As the day progressed, our itineraries diverged. He became quite adamant that we visit some "government shops" which we would love. We had told him no a number of times. Once we made it clear that we had no interest he started begging us to go because he gets paid by the shops and that just a few minutes of our time would make a huge difference in his life. In the end we did agree to go to one of the shops both because he was getting something out of it and to alleviate some of the tension that had built up in our taxi.

After visiting the Taj, the Fort, and Baby Taj, we were ready to get out of Agra. While the sites were nice, the constant harassment by touts made everything leading up to each site unpleasant. We were constantly saying no. And they do not accept no. Apparently they have learned that "no" really means "maybe" and they milk that maybe-disguised-as-a-no as far as humanly possible.

There is much more that I could write about the day and maybe I will later - but we are leaving soon for Varanasi and I have to wrap up this post so we can get going. I'm going to skip to the trip back.

We got to the train station and bought a ticket that could be used on any train (and upgraded according to availability and bribability). Unfortunately every train was significantly delayed - up to a few hours for some of them. We made our way to platform 2 where a 3:30 train was leaving at 4:40. Platform 2 must not see a lot of caucasians because we both became aware that we were being stared at. Eventually we moved to another part of the platform where there were fewer people. While we waited we were approached by shoe-shine people. Once again the word "no" was quite ineffective as one guy went so far as to start applying some cream even after my 5th adamant "no".

Once on the train we settled into a berth. When the conductor came by he told us it would be another 320 for us to sit in the 2AC class. I paid him and he wrote out a complicated receipt. As he was wrapping up, the guy that we had been chatting with across from us, told the conductor that he had made a mistake and had undercharged us. They went through the complicated fare-book together and came up with a way to demand another 200 Rupees from us. I thanked our neighbor profusely for his dedication to setting things in India straight. Must be the fist time in history that anyone ever paid the official upgrade rate on a train.

Upon arrival in Delhi we had another unpleasant tout experience - no time to tell - but it was enough to convince us to change the rest of our itinerary in India. We will now fly to Varanasi. Then we will train only to Jaipur. We are cutting out Jaisalmer altogether. Since air service is going to soon be ubiquitous in this country there is no reason to endure the long rides that are so vulnerable to delay, touting, and other unpleasantness.

The only problem with our sudden late-date change is that this is really really high season and hotels are astonishingly scarce. We have manged reservations but they're not ideal.

I'm out of time. Email us and let us know what is happening with you all. Will write when we have more time.

xoxo