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

The Reunion, Italian Dinner, Debate, Farewell

We're together! Amazing as it may seem, all of our planning actually worked out and we ended up in Delhi at the same place at the same time. When I pulled up at The Oberoi I grabbed my bags and started for the entrance - through the 30 or so guests and staff cajoling for cars. I hadn't seen Karin and Anjum standing outside but luckily Anjum spotted me and called out my name just before I disappeared into the abyss. Here's the scene:

I heard my name and turned to see Karin smiling in the distance. Our eyes met, and suddenly everyone went silent, stopped moving, and turned their attentions intently on us. Then some classic Bollywood tune started playing. All the men gathered behind me and all the women gathered behind Karin... and started dancing. Oh how they danced! Time slowed down and we started running into each other's arms. Karin's hair was blowing in the wind, her sarong falling particularly beautifully in the moonlight... and I looked dashing in my Armani suit and white tie. As the dancers became more and more frenzied, we ran faster and faster into each other's arms, culminating in an incredible passion-induced embrace that seemed to last only a moment but in fact went on well into the next number. I wish you could all have been there (can never hurt to have more back-up dancers, you know).

Well, it was great to see Karin - and Anjum. They were outside because Anjum was just about to leave. And leave she did. After three and a half weeks together, Anjum and Karin bid each other adieu and Anjum drove off, leaving Karin with me! We made our way into the hotel chatting about what her trip had been like.

We then went upstairs and [PORTION EDITED OUT IN THE NAME OF DECENCY BY THE INDIAN MINISTRY OF INTERNET DIGNITY AND BLOGWORTHINESS]. Harry came back from the spa soon thereafter and by 10:00 PM we were having dinner in the ITALIAN restaurant here. Karin and Harry are apparently done with Indian food for a long long time (that's what Karin thinks). Dinner was delish. Inspired by a particularly good pasta dish, Harry will be learning Italian next year and we intend to parlare solamente in italiano thereafter.

We discussed their impressions of the trip, of India, of capital punishment, and of legalization of drugs. Harry is going to send out an email eventually but here is a brief summary of what they (primarily Harry) expressed to me (correct me if I'm wrong) in the form of debate and dialogue:

1. The ratio of lack-of-comfort to difference-they-were-making was too high. While they were willing to endure being cold and wet, without toilets and plumbing and general rudimentary conveniences, they would have preferred to make those sacrifices somewhere even more remote, helping people who had even less access to health care. You just can't satisfy these people when it comes to helping people in need.

2. Harry had his fill of India.

3. Harry supports a basic libertarian view of how governments should be approaching legislation in general.

After an enjoyable meal and at around midnight, we gathered Harry's things and accompanied him to the lobby for his farewell scene (fewer dancers but still good energy). He then left for the airport for his 2:30 AM flight (international flights arrive and leave at crazy times in India - usually in the middle of the night).

By the time he left I had been totally exhausted for hours... following my 2 hour sleep the previous night (if you call 6AM to 8AM "night") and no nap! We got back to the room and I passed out. I think Karin was using the internet at the time. I slept for almost 6 hours! I think I have finally acclimatized.

It's 9:30 AM now. We will have breakfast and then will explore Delhi. We are scheduled to do a day trip to Agra tomorrow and then to leave for Jaisalmer in western Rajasthan the next day. Karin and I have not had a chance yet to finalize our itinerary but will do so by tonight.

Tea with Tibetan Monk, Bus Ride From Hell, Delhi Haven

It's 3:15 pm in Delhi. We arrived early this morning. Recap:



Yesterday morning A and I awoke at 5:40am to catch morning prayers at the Namgyal monastery near the Dalai Lama's palace. Before entering the temple we removed our shoes and placed them on the racks. The sign above the racks said, "make sure that your shoes are not stolen by someone."



We watched rows of monks chanting in the low-pitched gutteral tones interspersed with bells ringing. It was very spiritual once my stiff body got accustomed to sitting cross-legged on the wooden floor for an hour. It's amazing what six straight nights of camping does to your flexibility. I did manage to meditate for a few minutes at the end. It was surreal.

After that we strolled on the footpath around the complex. We got a bit lost and walked back (we were walking in the wrong direction, or as is written on the signs, "circumambulate this way"). [Oh, and on the roads in Himachal there were speeding signs with interesting wording like, "If married, divorce speed"]

Yesterday's highlight was having tea with our monk friend Gelek. After a yummy Tibetan lunch on the patio of Chonar House, A and I decided to check out the monastery office to see if he was there. Luckily he was, and he invited us to sit for tea. It was awesome (both the tea and the experience).

The rest of the day was spent wandering around Mcloud Ganj. It was a beautiful sunny day so we basked in the sun. It was great to feel some warmth at last.



Ok, onto the bus ride. We were due to get on a 12-hr overnight bus to Delhi leaving at 6pm. Our luggage was strapped on top of the bus, and we crammed inside. The bus was not chartered for us alone, and we were asked to leave the first 10 seats empty. Which we did. But once the 10 additional passengers got on, their tickets showed seats 11+12 (where A and I were sitting). Even though there was room to shuffle them around to fit, they refused, and after much debate, A and I decided to just suck it up and sit with strangers one row ahead. It was not really a big deal until Anjum realized that the woman next to her would need the window wide open for the entire trip (due to motion sickness). It was quite cold by then. So we offered her a dramamine, and by chance the lady accepted (what a relief!) She was asleep 10 minutes later and Anjum reached across and closed the window. Where else would someone accept an unknown drug from a total stranger?

Ok, so we thought we were set! But then the roads were windy and within one hour five of our team had vomited in make-shift barf bags (including one in the row behind us). The windows were opened. We were cold again. After three hours the roads were less twisty. But we were not in the clear, because our inconsiderate passengers had reclined their seats back to their fullest, leaving about one inch of leg room. I'm not usually one to complain about that sort of thing, but the seat was touching my knees! Me! I took another dramamine to put myself in a coma. It worked until my freaking tiny bladder woke me up to go. Picture this: six American (and Canadian) women lined up on the Indian roadside squatting as oncoming traffic passes by.

The only reprieve from all this was my neighbor Tenzin, who turned out to be a really nice Tibetan guy on his way back home to Delhi. He escaped Tibet nine years ago with his brother on a six week trek across the Himalayas with a group of 40 people. They ran out of food, shoes worn through, but still managed to reach Nepal with the entire group in good health and without frostbite! He was somewhat clausterphobic so I offered him some dramamine. That drug is a life-saver.

We finally reached Delhi at around 6:30am and at Harry's insistance headed straight to the lovely Hotel my mother had reserved for us. That was a great move. The first thing I did was go to the lobby restroom to wash my hands and face and dry them with a perfectly white, soft, face towel. Bliss...

A's friend Ritika later picked us up for some brief shopping for gifts, followed by a hearty (non-Indian! non veggie!) meal of pizza and pasta with fries on the side. Yum!

Jaime will be here in a few hours. We will have dinner with Harry and send him off to the airport at midnight. Then Jaime and I we will begin our Rajastan holiday. Yay!

The medical expedition is over. It was a great experience that has had a profound impact on me. I do not necessarily feel transformed, but I certainly have a greater appreciation of my luxuries back home; namely, clean, potable, heated water, and accessible quality healthcare. Obviously I have a lot more to say, but will leave that for individual conversations with all of you.

:)
Karin