Day 5 – Temples of Khajuraho

Posted on October 15, 2014 by herktrav

Khajuraho, India

After yesterday’s busy schedule, we were able to sleep in this morning. The journey from Jaipur to Khajuraho is a long one, so we had some time to just relax this morning en route.

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The town of Khajuraho is a small farming community of 15,000, yet they have an airport and a train station. Driving into the town, you can see more modern looking dwellings and signs of construction and infrastructure work. There are also five top notch hotels, all to support the tourism related to the temples. Quite impressive!

Khajuraho is a town famous for it’s many Hindu and Jain temples. Many people have only heard about the one temple with the Kama Sutra type images, but there are many more. The temple area is divided into two sections – east and west. There were once 85 temples that stood here; today, there are 25. Time and nature have taken away the others, but the remaining temples are gorgeous.

We are to start with the eastern temples. There are six temples located in this section. It is not a UNESCO World Heritage site like the western section we will see later. The path from the bus to the temples is a gauntlet of “friends” trying to sell souvenirs. It’s not an easy navigation, but we make it unscathed. Our guide leads us to the temples for our first close up view. First reaction – Wow!

The temples are intricately carved with Gods and Goddesses and life scenes from the Rajas. Though a little different, they remind you of the temples that you see in Cambodia at Ankor Wat and in Mexico. Our guide tells us about their creation and meanings. He is a local and quite passionate about the temples.

After our lunch break we’ll be heading over to the western temples. The western temples have been added to the Unesco World Heritage List and deservedly so.

The western group of temples is a beautiful complex in a park-like setting. There is one active temple there (it’s separated from the others) and eighteen others. They were all built before the 12th Century, probably between 900 AD and 1070 AD.

We walk around and talk about them a bit before heading over to the Temple with the Kama Sutra carvings. There is much more to the carvings then the eroticism. The detail allows the sculptor to express emotions with body language and subtle gestures. But, when all is said and done, he was all about the treble – no bass!

After walking around the temple, we had the opportunity to go inside. The steps leading up are steep and tall. We had two people who started to enter without removing their shoes and people stopped them quickly. Inside, there is not much. It is a solemn space to pray to the Gods.

We were then given about a hour to wander and take photos around the grounds. Sue and I wandered around and then found a place to sit for a bit. The security guy started chatting with us and helped pass some time. He was very nice, probably in his 20’s and interesting.

As the group started to gather at the gate, it was time to head for an afternoon beverage break. The break was at a small handicraft market where once again many people took advantage of the shopping while others just chilled out.

Next came a cultural program featuring a group of young traditional folk dancers. They were very energetic and very entertaining. There dance and music program told a story about Vishnu. Nice job!

After the program it was back to the bus and back to the RROW for dinner.

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Day 4 – PM – Jaipur City Palace

Posted on October 14, 2014 by herktrav

Jaipur, India

Just a short ride back from the Amber Fort to the city of Jaipur. We have two places that we will be visiting.

The Jantar Mantar or city astronomical observatory was first on the agenda. It was constructed between 1727 and 1734 by the Rajput King Jai Singh II. The name actually translates to Calculation Instrument and it is a collection of measuring devices, including two huge sundials that are accurate to within 12 minutes and 2 seconds, respectively. All without electronics of any kind, just precision mathematics. Very cool.

There were five of these observatories built and I believe they said there are still three that remain today.

From the observatory, we walked over to the city palace. The palace includes museums containing artworks and weaponry, in addition to the royal residence. They have two large (900 gallon) silver vessels that were filled with water from the Ganges when the Maharaja visited England. Of course, they were filled high upstream where the water is pure as it melts from the Himilayan Mountains.

It had been a long day and people were getting tired, so we headed for the buses to drive to the hotel where we would be eating dinner. The traffic was incredible. Horns blowing, people weaving in and out of lanes – yikes. Occasionally you would catch the eye of a rickshaw passenger or person on a scooter and inevitably get a smile.

We made a stop so some folks could use an ATM machine and watched as a sidewalk barber worked on a customer. No fancy salon or product, just scissors and a razor. The guy was pretty quick too and the final cost – 200 rupees – $3.00. Michele and Tom – Franchise opportunity?

As we continued up the main road, it actually started to rain and there was lightning in the distance. Since they don’t get much rain, they were happy with it.

Dinner was at the Clark Hotel, a nice hotel in the newer part of the city. They looked a little frantic as we arrived a bit early and they were still finishing their setup. Nobody in our group cared, we were just happy to sit down somewhere cool.

Prior to dinner, some local artisans performed traditional Rajasthani folk music and dances. They even invited members of the group to join in the dance. Many people didn’t want to participate, but not us. I wowed them with my fat old guy moves.

Dinner was good, but everyone was even more tired by now. When we walked upstairs, our bus was missing. Apparently the driver got caught back in traffic on the way to pick us up. Then, when we arrived at the train station, our train had not arrived back yet either. Some were grumbling, but it wasn’t like we would be living on the streets.

When the train did arrive, everyone pretty much packed it in for the night. We both had a good night’s sleep and had visions of our safari still in our heads.

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Day 4 – Mid – Jaipur Fort

Posted on October 14, 2014 by herktrav

Jaipur, India

The train ride to Jaipur was pretty quick or maybe we just thought it was because we were still giddy from our safari sightings. Once we arrived, we went through our reception and then departed for our afternoon and evening in Jaipur.

We will be starting out at the Amber Fort. Along the way to the fort, we pass through the city and see the Hawa Mahal or Palace of Winds. It was built in a way that the women could see out through the angled window openings, but they could not be seen by the men below.

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The last portion of our journey to the fort will be by elephant. As our bus arrives, the elephants make a dramatic entrance parading to the embarkment platform.

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We get a helping hand from the handlers to board, a send off picture and then away we go.

It’s a fairly steep, zig-zag climb to the top. Our elephant was a younger one named Carey. At 30 years old, she is considered younger. The elephants work from an age of about 25 to about 65.

Our Carey was a speed demon. We were passing the others and though we left about fifth, we were the second one to reach the departure platform. Personally, I think she rushed just to get us off.

The Amber Fort is a huge complex. There is not only the fort, but also a palace, lake and gardens. The huge walls surrounding the fort look like a smaller version of the great wall of China.

Our guide for the day walked us through, explaining the history of the fort and the Maharajas that lived there. After exploring the fort, we moved on to the palace

How do you get to the Palace? Pillage, invade and conquer. None of that practice stuff!

The living quarters were just the right size for the Maharaja and his 12 wives. Oh, and his 300 concubines. Busy man!

Next stop was lunch. There is a cafe called the 1135 AD Cafe in the fort and we had a very nice lunch.

After lunch, they loaded us into jeeps to head back to the bus. As we had ascended via elephant, there were people taking pictures of us and they showed up as we were leaving to sell you the pictures.

Lots of haggling going on as they were asking 1000 rupees for the set ($15). As the bus was getting ready to pull away, people were getting their photos for as low as 100 rupees.

Our next stop would be the city palace in Jaipur proper.

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Day 4 – AM – Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve

Posted on October 14, 2014 by herktrav

Sawai Madhopur, India

Today is one of the days I’ve been waiting for – Safari Day. Crossing our fingers that we see more than just birds and squirrels.

So we get up at 5:00 am to leave at 6:00 am for our visit to the Ranthambhore National Park and Tiger Reserve. The chances of actually seeing a tiger is low, but that doesn’t keep us from being hopeful.

After passing through the gates and driving for about five minutes into the reserve – Tiger!

Resting not far from the road side is a large tiger. Though we, our sister vehicle and a couple others stop for photos, it stays relatively still for about fifteen minutes – Cool!

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We continue driving through the preserve and see many animals along the way – deer, an eagle, owls, lemurs, chitalls, monkeys, peacocks, peahens and nilgai. There is also a huge old Banyan Tree or Walking Tree as some call them.

The scenery within the reserve is beautiful. Lush grass and trees, a stream and surrounding hills.

As we are continuing, we hear a loud animal call that our ranger says is a warning from one of the animals to the others. Then, our great white huntress – Sue – spots a leopard in the brush.

Our ranger / guide slows down and we watch as it gets nearer, stalking a future meal. Surprisingly, it comes in our direction and crosses within twenty feet of where we were quietly sitting. Talk about luck.

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Everyone was excited, including the ranger, who said he has never seen a leopard come so close ever. We were able to take some great pictures and Sue was the hero for having spotted it. Had she not, we would have driven the opposite direction and missed it completely.

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We finished our journey around 9:00 and as we were passing by the ranger stations, everyone was excited to hear about our leopard spotting. If only they had seen how close the spotting actually was.

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When we returned to the train, our vehicle had bragging rights all during breakfast. They told us that no group has ever seen both a leopard and a tiger, and never has a leopard come so close.

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Day 3 – PM – Chittorgarh Fort

Posted on October 13, 2014 by herktrav

Chittorgarh, India

The second half of our day would be spent in the town of Chittorgarh. Chittorgarh basically means the fort in Chittor. It’s a fortified town that resides high in the hills. It has been invaded and conquered three times in its history. It is also the largest fort complex in all of India.

Upon arrival we are met by two ceremonial guardsmen mounted on horses to welcome us.

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Our guide was a pretty, young woman who is one of the 5,000 residents of the town within the fort. Her name was Parvati and, like our previous guides, was very good. Royal Rajasthan on Wheels (RROW) has thus far been impressive with its choice of guides and Parvati would not be the exception.

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Our time in Chittorgarh was spent touring the fort, including Padmini’s garden, the reflection room, and then the Temple to Shiva.

The story of Padmini, and I’ll paraphrase, is that she was a very beautiful woman and wife of the Raja. Another Raja learned of her beauty and wanted to take her away for himself. Padmini has no interest in him, but agrees to let him see her but only via her reflection. Raja wants more then a peek, so he kidnaps her husband. She comes up with a ploy to get him back by having soldiers dress as ladies in waiting and visit the Raja. When they get there, they spring out and save their Raja through the deceit. Evil Raja is infuriated and chases husband to kill him. Rather than be taken away, Padmini kills herself. It really is much better then my abbreviated version. She is very much beloved to this day.

We walked around the temple to Shiva. Shamefully, fanatics have destroyed some of the beautiful carvings around the outside of the temple.

There is also a 37m tall Tower of Victory that was built in the 1440’s and dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

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We took a break for beverages before attending a sound and light show on the history of Chittorgarh. The show was interesting; it was a bit buggy out, which took away from the show.

It was a long day and everyone was getting tired by the time we boarded the bus and headed back to the train.

Dinner was ready when we arrived, though Sue was ready to crash rather than eat. I went down to dinner myself and sat with Mick and Joanne. They are a nice couple from the UK and he is a heavy object lifter by trade – moving all sorts of heavy or odd shaped items.

Back to the room after eating, as tomorrow is our early day on safari.

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Day 3 – AM – Udaipur

Posted on October 13, 2014 by herktrav

Udaipur, India

Today would be a split day with a visit to the White City of Udaipur in the morning and then the Chittorgarh Fort in the afternoon and early evening. We are having a great time with our friends and many of the others on the train. We’re lucky to have a fun and interesting group of people along for the ride.

The morning starts out with breakfast on-board the train before we load up the bus for some sightseeing in Udaipur.

Udaipur is known for many things – the white color of its homes, the many lakes surrounding the town, the Maharaja who wouldn’t buckle to the Brits and the lake palace which was the exile location of a young Shah Jahan, who would later build the Taj Mahal.

It is another hot, sunny day. Hopefully our boat ride to the Lake Palace will help provide some cool relief. Our guide was another great choice. He was probably in his early 20’s, very knowledgeable about his city and very proud of everything Udaipur. We had fun with him.

Our drive from the train station to the fort and palace was beautiful. There are many man-made lakes around Udaipur that were created by damming the rivers. We stopped along the way for a photo op at one of the lakes before continuing on. The fort and palace are located on Lake Pichholi.

Our first stop was at Sahelion Ke Bari or “Courtyard of the Maidens”. As the story goes, one of the Maharaja’s daughter was upset that she could not feel the rains of the monsoons whenever she wanted. So her father builds this complex of fountains and ponds so she and her friends could feel the water like the waters of the monsoons. Talk about your basic spoiled rich brat. But the place is lovely and lush.

Next would come a tour of the Udaipur Fort. Lots of interesting architecture, views and stories kept us all engrossed. We even had a chance to see the chair famously left empty when the then Maharaja decided not to buckle under pressure from the British King George and skipped an important meeting in order to keep Udaipur free and independent.

After the fort, we headed down to the lake for a boat ride that included a visit to the Lake Palace for beverages and biscuits; with great views around the lake and back to the fort and palace. The boat ride was very pleasant with the water helping make it feel a bit cooler.

Arriving back on dry land, we headed over to the city palace for a tour and then a walk through the Crystal Gallery. The crystal gallery is a collection of furniture made for one of the Maharaja’s – yep, you guessed – out of glass crystal. Chairs, couches, tables even beds. Sadly, he died before they were completed and then when delivered, they were stored away and not used.  They were found in storage and are now on display in the gallery.

Next came lunch at the City Palace restaurant. It was a delicious buffet lunch in a beautifully appointed room. The food was good, mostly Indian, and very tasty.

On the way back to the train, we stopped at an artist’s gallery to see their age old painting techniques. We actually ended up buying a painted silk piece and two scarves. We also reconfirmed that we are not so good at negotiating as others paid less than we did for similar objects. Once we finished, it was time to head back to the train for our next departure.

We had some time back on the train, so I was downloading pictures from the camera and writing the blog entries in a note pad since the wifi on the train only seems to work when we are in one of the bigger stations. Once we are underway, there are few towers to help bounce the signal along. Needless to say, it’s a slight annoyance, but just a slight annoyance.

We chugged along and arrived two hours later at the train station in Chittorgarh.

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Day 2 – Jodhpur

Posted on October 12, 2014 by herktrav

Jodhpur, India

The trip from Delhi to Jodhpur is about 625 Km in length with most of the travel in the overnight hours. The first night of sleep on board the train was interesting. Like a lullaby played at a rock concert, the train made its way through the night to Jodhpur. There was quite a bit of rocking as we sped along. Sue and I had the giggles as we held on for dear life. Maybe not quite that bad, but it sure wasn’t the gentle rocking we were expecting. We didn’t sleep well, but as we would find out later, nor did many others.

After showering and dressing, we headed to the dining car for breakfast. That’s where we heard others laughing about the rocking and rolling last night. The good news is that everyone was smiling and not worried about it.

Breakfast was very good. Lots of choices – all freshly prepared. Sue was able to get her tea in quantity, so she’s raring to go. Just relaxed a bit as we are nearing Jodhpur. We’re a bit behind schedule due to the overnight train traffic. Since we are just a tourist train, the other trains that run on a schedule get top priority so we had to wait at times for them to go by. We were scheduled to arrive in Jodhpur about 9:15, but actually arrived around 10:30.

Once we did arrive, we were met by a reception of live music, marigold garlands, and more dots on our foreheads before loading on to a bus for our excursion.

We started with a visit to the Umaid Bhawan Palace, home to the reigning Maharaja Gaj Singh. It is a beautiful combination palace and museum that was built in 1929 by British architect Henry Lanchester for Maharaja Umaid Singh.

Our next stop was a neighboring location – Jaswant Thada. It is a memorial to Maharaja Jaswant Singh II. It was a very peaceful and beautiful setting with all around views from the hilltop location.

Our final visit was to the imposing Mehrangarh Fort. The fort was built back in 1459 by Rao Jodha. It is built of red sandstone with high walls – some of which were actually carved out of the rocky cliff it stands on. It has been open for tourists since the 1970’s.

From the top of the walls, you can see why Jodhpur is called the ‘Blue City”.

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The reason for the blue colorization is two-fold. It started out as a way to identify the religious priests or Brahmin during the war times. The later on, it was adopted by the non-Brahmins and Muslim community. The Muslims believe that the devil fears the color blue.

Our next stop was a luxury hotel in Jodhpur for lunch.It was a nice buffet in beautiful surroundings. The doorman there was a really cool guy. With his uniform and bushy mustache, he reminded me of the characters often seen in the movies. He also didn’t outwardly seem annoyed by all the people pushing cameras in his face.

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Afterwards, we made a stop at a market for some shopping. While I understand the reason, the shopping part we could do without. On the other hand, there are members of the group that absolutely love the shopping. Anybody need a flying carpet?

Our guide for the day was very informative and really tried to provide insightful information about the places we visited. He was also funny, throwing in a couple of anecdotes along the way.

Like the three things you need to drive in India – a car, a horn and luck.

But he also explained a bit about cremations, religion and chakra’s for you yoga folks, as well as history about the area and surroundings.

Jodhpur was an excellent way to start out our exploration of Rajasthan.

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The Royal Rajasthan on Wheels

Posted on October 12, 2014 by herktrav

New Delhi, India

Started off with breakfast before checking out of the hotel. We had a driver to take us around before we head to the train station.

Our first stops of the day were two Hindu temples and a Sikh Temple. The first of the Hindu temples was a smaller temple in the older part of Delhi. It’s a sad world we live in as we had to go through security screening before entering. Inside stations for various gods and goddesses were available for prayer and worship.

One must always remove their shoes before entering a temple.

The second temple was a larger one with a similar set up. There were multiple rooms in the temple for people to worship various gods and goddesses. In addition, there were holy men there to talk about the faith.

Outside, there were many poor people begging for money. Once someone gave them some money, others would flock to the person. It was really difficult to ignore the beggars as they were quite persistent, but you’re told not to give them money as it encourages people to continue and not work.

Our last stop was at a large, ornate Sikh temple. In addition to removing your shoes, you are also required to wear a head covering in the temple. Inside, people were being lead in prayer and worshipping towards an altar.

Once our spiritual journey was completed, the women needed to do some retail worshipping. Our driver took us to several shops to get good deals. The way it works is the drivers are connected to certain shops. They get a tip for bringing people to the stores and extra if people buy things.

We ended up at a jewelry store and two saree stores. The women were not pleased with any of the stores! So no purchases were made. It was a lot of driving around on a hot day with loads of traffic.

With no luck shopping, our next stop was the train station. Though we were early, it was exciting knowing what was to come.

As time went by, others arrived and then so did the train.

Our official welcome was a marking of the forehead and a long flower lei made from marigolds. There was music playing and everyone was excited for the journey.

We were given our car and cabin assignments and then led to our rooms.

We are in the car named the Moti Mahal and our room is the sapphire room. Like a sapphire, our room has a blue decor. There are two single beds, a small desk, a side chair, a locking clothing bureau and a nice sized bathroom. The room is very clean with two big windows to bring in plenty of light if desired.

We have two personal minders to care for our three couples. They make sure we get whatever we need and will make sure we are where we need to be at all times. Their names are Ram and Kesar and both seem very nice.

Once situated in our room, we were called by Prem to join them in the lounge car for a get together. Introductions were made and punch, wine and tea were available. The group is only about 30 people, 8 Malaysians, 8 Brits, 4 Caucasian Americans, 6 Indians and a few people we didn’t meet yet. Interesting mix.

During our little gathering, the train started off right at 5:30 pm. The excitement begins!

Dinner is at 7:30, so we have a little time to rest before being beckoned. The menu consists of many courses – both continental and Indian. The servers bring out each course and you can request it, sample it or pass it by.

Tonight, we started with a Cream of almond soup. Then a variety of salads and the continental choices, which were fish and chips, a pasta and a creamy vegetable casserole. Next came the Indian selections. Butter chicken in a curry, gobi aloo, Palak paneer, dal, naan and tandoori roti. Afterwards, dessert and beverages. It was a very good meal with lots of choices.

After dinner, we decided to call it a night. While we sleep, the train heads to our first destination – Jodhpur.

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Exploring New Delhi

Posted on October 11, 2014 by herktrav

New Delhi, India

Today would be our first full day in India.

I guess we were both still tired as we fell asleep pretty quickly last night. Maybe it was the jet lag or maybe it was the wine. Whichever, we both slept until about 6:30. We got up and showered before checking to see if our friends had arrived at the hotel.

Since I’m a rank amateur at using my phone internationally, I finally figured out how to get calls without roaming data. Once I figured it out, we saw that we had a message – thinking our friends were still in Dubai. We headed down to the restaurant and had a wonderful breakfast. It is an international buffet with foods from India, Asia, Britain and then some continental items. Just like the evening before, the staff were great. Seeing to our needs, describing the various foods and chatting a little bit about our trip and things to see.

After we were both full, our server pushed us to try a dosa – he promised it would be a small one. It was and it was delicious. It’s a very thin, steamed dough (made from lentils and chick peas) that you dip in a semi spicy vegetable stew. You can add various chutneys to it for a very flavorful treat. Enough – we’ll burst. :-)

Walking out of the restaurant, we came across our friends in the lobby. Seems that their messages were not sent this morning, but rather they just came through this morning when I adjusted my phone settings. It was a happy re-acquaintance and made even better by the addition of our friend’s sister and brother-in-law. It looks like it should be a good traveling group for the week ahead.

They had made arrangements for a van to take us into some of the shopping markets for the day starting at 11:00 am. It arrived on time so off we went. The ride over was a real eye-opener. Traffic was heavy with cars, motorcycles, tuk tuks, rickshaws, bicycles and trucks all vying for the same space. Horns were beeping constantly with people cutting into and out of traffic, zig zagging their way down the roads.

We arrived at the market and came upon a hectic scene. Lots of people, lots of stores and street stalls and vendors walking down the street persistently pushing their wares. If you wanted it, you could find it. The women were geared up for shopping, with Sue only slightly interested. Again, it was a real eye-opener. It is probably like that in many places, but we tend not to visit them when we travel unless we need something – like pastries or wine!

After some shopping, we stopped for something cool to drink. The place we stopped had sweets, light food and ice cream. Sue and I were still digesting that big breakfast so we just grabbed some soda pop to drink. Our friends indulged in some sweets besides beverages.Afterwards, we were headed to another market, but instead our friends had the driver go to the Lotus Temple. It was one of the places I had mentioned that I wanted to see. Despite us saying we would go when we returned from the train trip, they insisted that we go. It was very nice of them.

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The Lotus Temple is a structure built by the Baha’i Faith as a place for meditation and prayer. It’s called the lotus temple because of its architecture. As with all temples in India, we were required to remove our shoes before going to the temple. There is a shoe check spot along the way to the temple. The temple was quite large with rows of benches for you to sit and pray. It really was a beautiful structure – one of many that we will see along our journey.

After the temple, we headed back to the hotel. Lots of traffic, but we returned safely to relax and rest up before dinner. When we arrived back, my new friend from the night before Aradhna was there and waved as we arrived. We thanked her for the wine and told her how much we enjoyed it. She is just so nice. I’m going to see if she will take a picture with me before we leave.

Up to the room for a little rest before dinner. We’ll be eating in the hotel restaurant this evening. Much like breakfast, they have an international dinner buffet. The selections included Indian, English, Asian and Italian food. Everything was delicious and we all were full from the meal.

My friend Aradhna gave us another gift, a 25% food discount coupon that the restaurant used for all six of our meals. We made sure to stop by the lobby and thank her again and to say good bye until we return next Sunday.

Upstairs to get some rest. We meet for breakfast in the morning before the start of our train journey.

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Traveling and arriving in India

Posted on October 10, 2014 by herktrav

New Delhi, India

So we’re sitting here enjoying a glass of Indian wine in a beautiful hotel in New Delhi. Needless to say, we’ve made it here safe and sound. It was a long day of travel, but we’ll get a good night’s rest and be ready in the morning.

We started off by leaving Buffalo an hour late. We gave ourselves plenty of time, so it really was just an annoyance rather than a problem. While waiting for the plane, we met two women who were also making international connections, one was actually on our flights straight through to New Delhi. The other was going to Hong Kong and then on to Melbourne, Australia. Flight to Newark was uneventful and no problems.

Our flight to New Delhi was on time and we were ready to go. For the first time, we actually booked first class since it was such a long flight. I have to say, the amenities that go along with the seat are nice. In particular, boarding separately without the crush. Once on board, it was cool to see how the other half lives. The seats were large and very comfortable, reclining within themselves to turn into a flat bed for sleeping. The flight attendants were all very friendly and most helpful. Especially the one who brought over the starting glass of wine. :-)

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The meals were delicious. Sue and I both had the lamb chops with Indian spices as our entree. They start you out with a cup of warmed nuts and a beverage. Next, they brought around a chilled appetizer of smoked salmon. Next was a salad of mozzarella, greens and tomatoes, then the entrees, cheese platter and ice cream sundaes for dessert. Add in wine with dinner and a choice of after dinner drinks and wow… we we’re full. (For the record, we both skipped the cheese plate and sundaes).

After a little conversation, we both settled in for a little snooze. Pillows out, blankets out and seats reclined – see you in the morning. We were even able to plug in my cpap machine for a very restful night’s sleep.

Woke up with just about two hours to go until New Delhi. It’s funny, since we left Newark at 8:40 pm and with the travel and time change, we’re arriving in New Delhi at 7:30 pm. Lose a whole day, but we’ll get it back on the way home. Breakfast is served after an offering of coffee or tea. We both had the cheese and broccoli omelets, with fresh fruit and yoghurt, plus a croissant. That will be dinner, so we make it disappear. :-)

Seats up, gadgets stowed – we’re ready to land! The lights of Delhi are visible out of the windows. It looks like such a huge city. I suppose with 25 million people it is a huge city. Great landing and we’re here!!!

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Thank you’s to the crew and then out into the airport. You can feel the heat of the night air. It’s about 84 degrees when we arrive. We make our way down to passport control and it’s empty. We get to go through the first class line but it really wouldn’t have mattered. Passports good, visas good – we’re in! Now down to baggage claim, again no trouble getting our bags. We head over to the currency exchange to get some rupees before heading out into what we’ve heard is a chaotic scene.

Through the doors and… nothing. There is a guy with a sign that says Susan Herkey and Thomas Herkey – how cool. I always wanted to be one of the people with someone waiting.

We get his attention and off we go. The ride was set up by the folks from the Train Tour, so we didn’t have to worry about going to the hotel via Istanbul. The driver was very nice and told us about some things to see during our short stay in New Delhi. He was really nice. When we arrived at the hotel, we had to pass through a security checkpoint and pass through metal detectors to enter the hotel. This after the terrorist problems they had in Mumbai in 2008.

Once we passed through, we were greeted by Aradhna and led beneath a canopy of orange to wish us happiness and good luck. The hotel lobby is gorgeous. What a great choice of hotels by Seema. After our greeting, we were led to our room. Aradhna would check us in there and said she would have a surprise for us.

When we arrived in the room, we were told to make ourselves comfortable and she poured us both glasses of water. She was able to check us in right in our room. A hand scanner to gather the paperwork and a quick phone call and we were done. The surprise was a welcoming bottle of wine. It was an Indian wine – a merlot and was very good.

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Even more of a surprise, for Aradhna anyway, was when I said ‘thank you’ in Hindi. I was telling her that we try to prepare and she actually was quite taken that we would try Hindi. She was just the cutest and nicest person. She said she felt all “googly-woogly” inside when I was talking to her. Connecting with people half a world away is really what travel is all about. :-)

After she left, they delivered our luggage and we settled in to relax for the evening. This is a perfect way to start a vacation.Seema and Prem and their in-laws arrive in the morning. Until then, we’re gonna rest and catch a little more shut eye.

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