Italy 2016 – And away we go..

Posted on May 18, 2016 by herktrav

Buffalo, NY

Eighteen months of planning and coordinating and the day has finally arrived.

We’re packed and are just waiting for the taxi to arrive to head to the airport. Leaving early since the reports are that the security lines will be long. Hopefully things will be smooth as the travel day will be long enough. Airport check-in went smooth and the security line, while somewhat long, went quickly. No hassles, now we just have to get through JFK.

Flight from Buffalo was on-time and before long we were in JFK. I should have bought a lottery ticket. We landed in Terminal 4 and our flight is from terminal 4 – no additional security lines. Woo hoo!

Tried to get into the Delta Sky Club, but they wanted no part of riff-raff like the Herkeys. Instead, we ended up at a restaurant called Uptown Bistro. It’s the Marcus Samuelsson (of Aquavit fame) restaurant and was some of the best airport food we have ever had. Simple, delicious and actually, reasonably priced.

Our flight to Venice is scheduled to leave on-time. Looks like it’s gonna be a full flight. It also looks like an AARP flight. Jeez – don’t young people fly? Boarding and leaving as scheduled – I definitely should have purchased that lotto ticket.

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Italy 2016 – Lots of preparation for a month long trip

Posted on August 19, 2015 by herktrav

Buffalo, NY

Sometimes planning for an extended trip can be an arduous task. For me, it is fun. I like to research all the places we are thinking about and then put all the pieces together like a huge puzzle. And just like a puzzle, it’s always a treat to see the finished picture. In the case of travel, the result is to go and enjoy each step along the way. Though, unlike a puzzle, you can make changes along the way and still have a terrific finished picture.

On this trip we will be meandering our way through Italy. The plan is to spend a little over a month moving from north to south. We’re going to fly into Venice, then take the train to Perugia, pick up a car and drive to the town of Gubbio in Umbria. After a few days, we’ll drive to southern Umbria and stay in the town of Todi. We drop the car off and then take the train to Sorrento. We’ll explore a bit of the Amalfi Coast before heading to Positano. From Positano, we’ll travel to the Isle of Capri before heading to Rome to conclude the trip.

There’s no John Candy and Steve Martin, but we will definitely be using planes, trains, boats, buses and automobiles throughout our stay.

So why are we going to the places I mentioned above?

While we have been to Venice before, we didn’t get to see everything we wanted to see. We only made it a couple day stop because everyone had told us negative things about it. When we got there, we loved it. So we’re starting there so we can see some things we missed the last time.

Umbria is Tuscany’s neighbor to the east. Everyone wants to go to Tuscany, but Umbria is equally beautiful – just not as well known. We have decided to base ourselves near the town of Gubbio – a small town in the northeast quadrant of Umbria. If our timing works out, we will be there for a local festival where the people dress in Medieval garb and compete for community honors in a competition of crossbow archers. It is similar to the Siena Paleo, but no horses.

We’ll travel through the “green heart” of Italy for a few days before heading down to the town of Todi. We selected Todi as our southern Umbrian base town because it will give us easier access to Orvieto and Assisi.

Next will be a train journey to Sorrento. We’ll have to travel through Rome and Naples to get there, Once there, we’ll explore the city a bit, see some small Amalfi Coast towns, venture back to Naples, Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii.

After Sorrento, we get a little water time as we travel to Positano and then Capri. Looking forward to the Azure blue seas, boat rides and beach sights.

Afterwards, we’ll head to Rome to explore it’s rich history, arts, food and the Vatican. At that point, we should be full of more culture then we can stand and will be ready to head back home.

There are many items to coordinate and I can’t wait to start coordinating.

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Reflecting on our trip to India

Posted on October 20, 2014 by herktrav

Buffalo, NY

Wow, where to begin? India was such a fascinating place to visit. It far exceeded my expectations, mostly because I didn’t have many expectation when we left. I wanted to see the Taj Mahal and everything else I would learn as we went along.

Despite reading prior to leaving, I was still shocked by the way people live. There are the rich people, who enjoy all the finest things. A middle class who get to reap some benefits and then there are the poor people.

There are just so many poor people struggling to eke out a living. Not to pay their mortgage or car payments, but to actually survive. No homes, not enough food and no real jobs to be had. That was difficult to deal with and accept. People said “you can’t fix it, so you have to accept it for what it is” – that’s not easy.

Even more interesting are the children. They are growing up in such difficult conditions, yet you still get smiles. As we passed by on the train, I would sit there and get waves and smiles from the kids and I would wave and smile back. Sometimes it would be the whole family waving – I’d wave, but I felt sad.

I wondered what they were thinking when they saw us. I hoped that they saw us and the train as a bit of a boost to the merchants and the town. We did our best to present ourselves as friendly, appreciative people; respectful of their culture. We didn’t judge, we learned and tried to understand.

The architecture of the buildings and the various monuments was all spectacular. We have seen many buildings, palaces, castles and churches in our travels, but this was different. We’ve never been exposed to the Hindi – Muslim style buildings and I found them to be wonderful. The things I liked the best were the intricate carvings, the domes and the curved arches.

I loved the blend of people and cultures too. Arguably, my favorites were the Sikhs and Rajputs with their huge beards and mustaches. When paired with their colorful turbans – let’s just leave it at Cool!

Have I mentioned the chaos on the streets? Cars, trucks, buses, rickshaws, bicycles, camels, cows and people all seeking to get where they need to go. Horns constantly being blown as people try to merge, try to pass or want to go faster. I promise all who know the area that I will never complain about Transit Road traffic again.

And I will certainly remember the kindness of my new “girlfriend” – Aradhna. She made us feel so welcome when we arrived and throughout our stay at the JW Marriott. I know that it is her job as a hostess, but we thought she went above and beyond. So nice, so pretty, so genuine – Thank you, Aradhna!

Would I ever return? I don’t know. There are still many other places that I want to visit. I know that visiting India has prepared me to go to many other places. My comfort zone was stretched more than just a little bit and I liked it.

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Day 10 – Back home to Buffalo

Posted on October 19, 2014 by herktrav

New Delhi, India

We wake up, and clean up as we will need to check out by 12:00. We started packing last night, so this morning should be easier. Sue ran down for a quick bite of breakfast while I finished up in the room.

Check out was quick. We had arranged for transportation to the airport the day before, so now we just have to wait until 5:00 pm. The lobby has plenty of comfortable seats and couches, so we just passed the time away there.

I do have to say, the JW Marriott was an excellent choice for our hotel stays. Being brand new it has all the modern amenities, is spotlessly clean and has some of the best staff we have ever encountered in our travels.

So 5:00 pm rolls around and our transport is ready. It only takes about 10 minutes to get from the hotel to the airport. Once there, we get to wait as the gate agents aren’t open for our flight yet. Security is tight around the airport, in fact we had to show our passports and tickets just to get in. After about a hour, we can check in for the flight.

We passed through passport control and security in no time at all. Since we are flying Business First, we have access to the lounge. It’s great to see how the other half lives. Instead of sitting at the gate, the lounge has comfortable chairs, a small buffet, beverages, snacks, power outlets, computers, and quiet. There are even showers and changing rooms besides the bathrooms. This is a one time treat for us, so we’re going to take advantage of it.

It’s finally time to head to the gate. There is another security checkpoint at the gate. Not sure why there is the extra security or if it is just the way they handle it all the time. No matter, we are through in just a few minutes. Shortly thereafter, it is boarding time. The flight does not appear to be jam packed, there are a few seats open in first class and economy plus. Lots of upgrades available and people are being seated.

Everything is going smoothly except for the Cathay Pacific jet that is stuck and blocking our departure. They should just put horns on these things. It worked in Delhi.

Soon we are off and enjoying a smooth flight. We have a delicious dinner – rosemary lamb au jus and then settle in for the long flight. We both slept for a while, me longer than Sue. I awoke to her watching a movie. I have to say, the flat bed seats were very comfortable. Normally I might doze off and on during long flights, this time I was able to sleep soundly coming and going.

When we arrived at Newark, we zipped right through passport control. They have the new electronic passport kiosks and they really helped speed things up. It took no time to get our bags and go through customs. We actually brought back a couple things this trip, but nothing that required duty.

We had about three hours to kill before our flight to Buffalo. A snack, a beverage and it was just about time to board. The flight was on-time and went fast. Before we knew it, we were landing in Buffalo.

We grabbed a taxi home and it felt good to walk into our own house. It really is true – there’s no place like home!

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Day 8 & 9 – Goodbyes and a day in Delhi

Posted on October 18, 2014 by herktrav

New Delhi, India

We woke up early to shower and finish packing. The train was already in the Delhi train station when we awoke. After finishing up, we went down for a bite of breakfast. There were a few people in the dining car and they were talking with the staff and each other – saying goodbye, saying thanks and talking about moving on.

We went back to the salon and gathered our belongings. The porters took our luggage and loaded it into the van for us. Before departing, we caught up with the two bossmen. Mr Singh had a copy of the group photo for us and after handshakes and hugs, we were off.

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Since there was plenty of time, we would be dropped off at the hotel first and then they would continue on to the airport. Delhi was relatively quiet as we navigated our way down the streets. Not sure if it was because it was early or it was Sunday or both.

It was hard to say goodbye to our friends, but we had such a great time with them. For an out of the blue invitation, this turned into quite the life experience. Hugs, kisses, handshakes and goodbyes…

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We were early, but there was a room available for us. Pretty much the same as the room here last week, so that made it perfect.

We checked in, had some breakfast and then went back to nap and rest. It was also my first good quality wifi in a while, so all the blog updates needed to be posted. We ended up skipping dinner and just being lazy – it felt good after being kept busy all week.

We are in no hurry, so we slept in a little bit, then cleaned up and went down for a nice breakfast. Beginning to think that there is a competition between the groups to get people to eat. The breakfast buffet has an Indian, Asian and Continental area and they will fresh make just about anything you would want.

This is Diwali week in India. Diwali – the Festival of Lights – is a big holiday and is celebrated by stringing up lights and giving sweets and gifts. The actual holiday is Thursday, but people are out in droves shopping for gifts at the market places and stores.

Without the holiday Delhi is somewhat overwhelming. With the holiday, we decided to limit our time away from the hotel. Besides, we discovered a Delhi Baking Co store off the lobby of the hotel with some delicious pastries to keep us happy for the afternoon.

We had our final dinner in India and celebrated with a bottle of wine. I asked for a suggestion on the wine and was surprised when a Chateau Ste Michel Riesling was suggested. Needless to say, it was the right choice with the Indian spices.

It was a fun dinner as we were being looked after by both the Tuscan and Indian sous chefs. A plate of Italian cheese, sausage and breads started us off. The Italian chef then insisted on making us a small fresh pizza. We took our time chatting with him and between ourselves before trying some Indian food.

Everything was delicious, but there was a special marinated and grilled chicken that was superb. So our new Indian chef friend then made us fresh garlic naan to go with our meal. Buried on my plate, I came across what I thought was a green bean, but turned out to be a pepper. WOW! Glad we had lots of water and wine to put out the fire from that one.

We were both full, so there was no chance that we could enjoy any of the desserts they were offering. We thanked everyone for their kindness and then headed out. We ran up to the room to grab the camera and come back down to the lobby.

I was determined to see Aradhna and get a picture with her. We saw her and she came right over to us. She is just the sweetest young woman. She insisted we sit down and just chat a little bit. She was interested in our trip and even ran to get her phone so she could show us pictures of her family and friends. She was telling us that her parents are looking for a groom for her now that she is 20, so she will likely get married next year. We really enjoyed talking with her and then took our pictures. She also wanted a picture taken on her phone. Said she was gonna tell everyone she has a new boyfriend.

With that, we said goodbye and exchanged hugs. We’ll miss her. She will be one of my fondest memories representing how nice everyone treated us here.

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Day 7 – Agra and the Taj Mahal

Posted on October 17, 2014 by herktrav

Agra, India

Our final day on-board the RROW takes us to one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World – the Taj Mahal. But first, we will see the Red Fort and have a nice lunch.

We load up the bus and start our day at the Agra Fort. The fort was built by Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1565 and contains numerous palaces and a white marble mosque. It was a quite impressive structure.

In his later years, Shah Jahan was “imprisoned” here by one of his sons who took over the rule from his father. As the one responsible for the building of the Taj Mahal, it was sad that Shah Jahan could see the Taj from the fort, but not visit his masterpiece.

Upon leaving the fort, we went for a final lunch at a luxury hotel. Our last greeting with flower leis.

After lunch we headed to the Taj Mahal. It was exciting knowing that we would be seeing it in person. We would catch glimpses of it as we traveled nearer. We had to park down the road a bit as they try to keep the exhaust and noise away from the building. We didn’t have to walk though as the RROW provided us with electric vehicles to take us to the gates.

Entering through security, there are many items that you can not take into the area. Apparently, people have tried to chip off pieces of the marble and extract some of the gem stones. Then, the really dumb ones have tried to scratch or carve their names into the marble. Personally, I think they should have stupid detectors instead of metal detectors.

Once through security, you walk down past some guest houses to get to the main square. We were entering through the western gate, which is the main gate. As soon as you get close you can see the Taj through the opening and after passing through – there it is in all its glory.

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Words can not describe it and pictures do not do it justice. It is such a beautiful building. There is a feeling that comes over you that is hard to describe, but it is a very good feeling. Our guide reminds us that this is a building built by love.

The structure was ordered built by Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child. It took some 20,000 laborers 22 years to build the Taj, and every detail is beautiful: the gardens, the reflecting pool, the elaborate patterns of semi-precious stones decorating the white marble, the carvings.

But despite all that, there is a simplistic beauty that is striking.

The Taj Mahal is so important that more than 200 factories in the area have been shut down to prevent air pollution from discoloring the marble. To walk on and through the building you must remove your shoes or wear shoe booties to prevent extra wear on the floor and steps.

Our feeling was that it was at its most beautiful when gazed at from a distance. In that way you get the full magical effect.

The RROW arranged for a photographer to be available to take individual pictures and also a group shot. The pictures were taken sitting on the Princess Diana bench, which was the bench from which she had her photo taken when she visited.

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It was a fitting finale to what has been a great week aboard the Royal Rajasthan on Wheels.

Headed back to the train for our final dinner and to say our goodbyes. We’ll be leaving a little earlier then some others so we wanted to make sure to catch up with everyone.

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Day 6 – Varanasi and the Ganges River

Posted on October 16, 2014 by herktrav

Varanasi, India

Today we will be visiting Varanasi, the oldest living city in India, if not the world, and the holiest city for the Hindu religion. Located on the Ganges River, it is a pilgrimage site for the Hindu faithful. Cleansing one’s self in the waters is to cleanse the spirit of sins and negativity. Being cremated and having your ashes scattered in the river ensures passage to Heaven.

I started the morning with a bit of a belly ache. Not full blown Delhi belly, but rather an upset tummy from last night’s Chinese food. Unfortunately, they still use a lot of MSG here and we think that was the culprit. The good news is, with dry toast and ginger ale, I recovered quick enough to be able to go on the tour. Unfortunately, we have five or six people on-board who are down with stomach issues and can’t go out today.

Our first stop is a short distance from Varanasi in the city of Sarnath. It is here that Gautana Buddha is said to have first taught about the dharma after attaining enlightenment. There is a Buddhist Stupa and temple located in the area where Buddha first preached and lived.. They are located in the same area as one that was previously destroyed by a Mughal ruler who believed that great treasure was hidden inside – there was no treasure.

Also located in Sarnath is an 80ft tall statue of a standing Buddha. It is the result of a joint Thai-Indo effort that it was created. It was built between 1997 and 2011 and is located in the middle of a beautiful garden setting. It is interesting to note that there are no actual pictures or paintings of Buddha.  All the statues, carvings and T-Shirts only reflect the artist’s impression.

Continuing our drive to Varanasi, we made a stop at a temple to Mother India. Our guide was telling us that Hindus worship many gods, in fact there are over 30 million gods that they worship. Different groups will worship different gods for different reasons. The three main gods Vishnu, Shiva and Ram are the only ones that everybody worships.

We came across a snake charmer outside of the temple.  Not exactly as I remember being mesmerized as a kid watching movies, but still interesting to see.

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On the way back to Varanasi, we stopped at a silk weaving mill for today’s shopping adventure. We stayed on the bus with a few others who were also shopped out. Ended up watching a group of young workers carrying brick up at a construction site.

Lunch was next on the agenda and it was a good one. All of our lunches and dinners off the train have been good. Nice variety of food and the locations have all been at luxury hotels.

Since we ended up eating lunch a little later, we headed to the Ganges for our boat ride. We will take a ride on the river up to the site of the evening Aarti and then head back to the train for a late dinner.

The bus ride through town to get to the Ganges was somewhat shocking. The chaos and poverty were overwhelming and quite disconcerting. Having said that, once we were on the boat there was a whole different feeling. It was calming and spiritual.

We made our way up the river with the sun setting and had a chance to see people going through their daily activities. We stopped near to the Cremation Ghat and while it may seem shocking, it was really peaceful. We then made our way up to the temple area where the Aarti is held.

The Aarti is a nightly ceremony performed by priests to worship and ask Mother Ganges for blessings. People cram into the area, including tourists and many boats float nearby to watch. It all seems very chaotic and noisy. Not something that would help one to pray and ask for blessings.

We moved up river a little ways and participated as a group in our own way.

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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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