Photos Available

I set up a photo share website - email me (or send one of us a F/B message) if you want to be added and view the pictures. 

Getting to Delhi

After visiting Akbar's marvelous (and void of tourists) Fatephur Sikri early on Friday morning, we got a local bus back to Agra then tried to arrange a train back to Delhi. The office at the train station, however, sold only second class tickets. They said that we could upgrade on the coach.

When our train pulled into the station, a mad dash of young men ran along the platform to literally jump on the still moving 2nd class coaches, which were packed to the gills (and had no AC). What to do? We searched the long 15+ car train for the AC carriages, which of course were on the farthest end of the platform from where we stood.

When we found the nicer class of train cars, we soon discovered that no seats were available. After deliberation, we remained on the train (the first scene from "Ghandi" popped into my head). We found an upper hearth bed in an AC sleeper carriage that was windowless and used to store blankets. The man below allowed us to store our bags below his bed, and we crammed ourselves next to the blankets, side by side, hunched over cross legged for the three hour trip to Delhi. We awaited eviction or fine from the conductor. It never came, just a few strange looks from the paying first class customers.

Here we are in peaceful south Delhi, with a full day taxi hire planned for a few more sights and shopping on our last full day. Humayan's Tomb awaits!

Agra: Taj Majal and More

It does not disappoint. Perhaps the planet's most famous building. The monument to grief stricken love. The white marble, luminous this morning as the sun fought the overcast sky...yes, India made it a pain: selling tickets a kilometer away rather than at the gate. Yes, that Japanese woman trying to shoo people out of her photo inside the no-photo shrine. And India is smelly and noisy. But the morning hue, the inlaid marble:  you made your point Shah Jahan.

We arranged a taxi to take us to the Red Fort and "baby Taj" - an earlier, less large yet still impressive and finely detailed tomb in Agra. From there we visited the tomb at Sikandra. But for the Taj each site would be a major tourist attraction and were worth the time.

We have now fought through the touts' lies and the streets of animal excrement to reach Emperor Akhbar's Fatephur Sikri. India is both easy to love and easy to hate: I hope our last few days have more of the former.

Off to Agra

Plenty of rain today in Manali but the greenery is still nice. Overnight bus to Delhi then off to see the Taj Mahal. Trip is winding down.

Off to Agra

Plenty of rain today in Manali but the greenery is still nice. Overnight bus to Delhi then off to see the Taj Mahal. Trip is winding down.

Leh, Kashmir and Manali

We ended up spending close to a week in Leh so I probably ought to explain it all a bit.  Jammu and Kashmir is an Indian state in the far north of the country, bordered by Pakistan.  The state is "disputed," meaning that Pakistan thinks some of it should be part of its country, and India thinks it belongs to them.  In the Northern part of the state, the majority is Muslim, in the southern part the majority is Hindu.  The western portion of the state is a subregion known as Ladakh.  Ladakhis are (mostly) Buddhist and are related to Tibetans - in fact, the state is full of refugees from Chinese-controlled Tibet.  They also consider the Dali Lama their spiritual leader.

On our first overnight, we needed a special permit to visit a town called Turtuk, about 20 kilometers from the Pakistan border.  Getting further away from Leh, the village was a Muslim town that was controlled by Pakistan for twenty years in the middle part of the last century (Pakistan and India have fought several wars over Kashmir).  Our shared taxi had an Indian couple, a pair of French guys, and the two of us.  The rough road first tool us over the Kardung La pass, one of the highest motorable passes on the planet.  Following various tributaries of the Indus river, the road was a lovely if grueling trip. 

Once we arrived, a steep climb on foot from the road took us to the village, which was busy with workers threshing wheat amid gardens, apricot trees and fields of grain.  The following day we returned for Leh, followed by another lovely and grueling journey to a nomadic village beside Lake Tsomoriri.

We took it easy our last day in Leh, and then began the two day journey over the Himalayas on the Leh-Manali road.

The journey was truly spectacular, with varying landscapes of dessert, rocky mountain, and eventually the lushness of Himachal Pradesh.  I would describe the road, but the folks at IRT should give you a good idea:

We spent about 4 hours waiting for the road to re-open just over the Rohtang Pass, but arrive in Manali we did, more or less safe.  Today we relax here, and tomorrow we are back to Delhi and onward to Agra and the Taj Mahal.
   

Delhi and Ladakh

Pretty much everything bad about India is present in Delhi.  Loud, smelly, with most Indians you have to deal        with trying to rip you off. But the Red Fort is pretty amazing.

The one day layover was brutal and we did not sleep but none of that seemed to matter when we arrived over the Himalayas in Leh in the Ladakh region.  The altitude was immediately noticeable but the town's inhabitants (cousins of the Tibetans) immediately came across as the most easy going we found in India.  

Since arrival, we've climbed to the Palace and the nearby stupa and just got back from an overnight in the Shyok river valley close to the border with Pakistan. The town we spent the night in has actually changed hands several times over the years between the two countries.  

Now back in Leh and off again for another overnight tomorrow.  

Cochin

Made it back from the houseboat cruise and I am enjoying the charming burgh of Fort Kochi here in Cochin.  Set on an island facing the Arabian sea, the town has been in Portuguese, Dutch and English hands over the years and has been a trading outpost since Antiquity.  Crumbling in parts, but lined with working warehouses full of rice and spices, there is also the iconic Chinese fishing nets lining the northern tip.

The old Jewish quarter is very interesting as well, even if crammed with bric-a-brac sellers.  

Off to Leh in the Himalayas tomorrow (with a one-day stop in Delhi).  More or less done with Fort Kochi so I may try to post again later.     

Buses and Indians

I have suggested a few negative things about Indians in prior posts but that is not entirely fair. Yesterday we missed the direct bus from Periyar to Allepey so we got on a bus in the same general direction. Upon arrival in that intermediate town (and after another bone crunching bus trip), we were told a direct connection to Allepey was not possible and we needed two more buses. It was a bit unsettling but a combination of helpful state bus employees and locals got us here safely. Thanks to them.

Spreaking of the state, Kerala has long been led by the democratic Indian Communist Party. Interesting to see its hammer and sickle everywhere.

Houseboat!

Just booked an overnight cruise of the Kerala backwaters for today. Boat looks good.

Periyar Tiger Reserve

<p>After our wet days in Munnar, we hopped on a bus to a town just outside Periyar NP. The bus ride was full of spectacular hills and valleys and more that the occasional bump. Perhaps most strange to me was that in lieu of windows, the bus had a sort of metal blinds to pull down when it rains.  Our lodgings abutted the preserve, allowing a lovely view of many birds, grazing bison, and the occasional wild pig.

Today we went for an early boat ride where we spotted samba deer, bison, and a half dozen wild elephants.  That was followed up by a leech-laden jungle walk where we saw deer up close, black monkeys, many more birds (including the kingfisher, parakeets, and wild chickens) and the remains of an elephant and some tiger scat.

We have made it now to Allepey - the local buses deserve their own post - but the plan is to hire a houseboat tomorrow for an overnight backwater cruise. (This is a nook post so more later I hope.)

India!

I have been a terrible blogger, but I will try to catch everyone up.

Mumubai
My friend Chase who recently went to India warned me that it takes some time to get used to India.  He wasn't kidding.  Loud, chaotic, frenetic, with no sense of personal space.  And that was just at the airport!

We found our way to our driver (I never had my name on a sign at the airport before, pretty cool) and into our room around 2 AM.  When we awoke, we had a disappointing breakfast (that was included in the room) and headed out to the loud crazy streets of Mumbai ("loud" is a theme I hope to expand upon later).  We visited the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal hotel (above, hotel in background)), which were both steps from our hotel.  (The latter, sadly, was the epicenter of the deadly terror attack from a few years back.  It has been restored, on the outside at least, to its splendor).  A walk to the CST train station (at right, in margin) revealed why the station is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It is a treat, and serves 3 million people every day (and I think most of them were there at 2 pm when we visited).   And while it was wet all day, no major showers so we got around OK.

Madurai
From there we were off to the temples of Madurai in the far south, in Tamil Nadu state.  It was about 3 hours by air on budget airline SpiceJet.  No real problems on the flight, but the boarding was (to my standards) chaotic.  No zones, no rows, just "time to get on the plane."  Like other budget carriers, nothing is free on the flight, not even water.  We arrive at Madurai airport, 15 KMs of so from the city center, and it looked to be a oasis from the hussle and bussle of Mumbai.

I could not have been more wrong. 

Madurai is a temple town, but it is a steaming, loud, frenetic, dirty Indian city.  We got a little turned around but ended up in an OK but overpriced hotel that was a 15 minute walk to the temple.  So we checked in, and off we were.

The temple complex (pictured at right) features 5, exquisitely detailed towers, with hand-painted figures of Hinduism.  Each tower is re-painted every 12 years, and the details and scenes are amazing.

 
 Inside the temple (shoes banned), a labyrinth maze of stone passageways are adorned by detailed, painted ceiling and many shrines and statues to cows and gods.  There is also a large pool (under reconstruction) within.  The smells of burning incense and devoted pilgrims give effect to this place of worship.

Unfortunately, the stones can be very, very hot, and upon dashing back to the place our sandals were stored I managed to both scald the soles of my feet and gash open my right arm on an iron gate (yes, my tetanus booster is up to date).  

We enjoyed dinner with a view of the temples, with palak paneer and chicken masala, sopped up by chipati.  Another mediocre included breakfast in the AM, then off on a 5 hour bus journey to the mountain city of Munnar, with spectacular scenes and harrowing switchbacks along the way.

Munnar 
 Finally in the state of Kerala, we found a room in a home/guesthouse a few KMs from the city center, literally surrounded by a tea plantation.  Yesterday was damp and drizzly, and we looked about the town a bit, got some fruit from the market, and arranged a tour by autorickshaw (a/k/a a tuk-tuk in Thailand) for the following day (today) via our guesthouse.  A lovely (if slightly cold, and very wet) trip via tea plantations took us to some stunning views of the valleys and mountains here, and we finished the day with a short tour of a tea museum to see how the stuff gets from the tree into your cup.   

Tomorrow we are off to see Periyar National Park.  I'll try to keep up the blog better.

Notes:  food is great, no travelers health issues, glad we packed light.  The Mrs. is getting in some shopping and coping fairly well thus far, but the roads, wandering cows, and lack of sidewalks have been a challenge. 

India is rarely subtle. 

London Update

Quite a bit of rain on our first full day in England but nevertheless made it out to the lovely town of Shere and had a peek in at the All England Tennis Club. Yesterday's weather was mostly cloudy but dry and we had a busy day at some Sunday markets. The obligatory walk around the Tower of London followed, but I was surprised to see that the Olympic rings have been hung from Tower Bridge. Wet again today but the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace should get a walkby.

Our hosts have been extremely gracious but are back at work today so we are on our own. London is not so scary so no worries.

Poor Andy Murray

We have safely arrived in the UK.  Off to see the ground of Wimbledon, near our hosts home.  More to come.

Welcome to the New Blog

This blog will cover our trip to India in July and August 2012.

We will stop to visit our friends Tom and Sophine in London en route, but the rough itinerary is Mumbai, Madurai, several stops in Kerala, Leh and Ladakh, then a long road trip back to Agra and Delhi.

I hope you enjoy following along!