Pictures!

I have uploaded 130 images into the slide show that you see to the left. Any picture can be clicked on to see a larger view! There is MANY more! we took 2700 total! I hope you all enjoy.. I'm still sorting them all out!

Going Home...

I'm sad to say that today is the day that we are heading home. I have such mixed emotions about going home. I'm excited to be in my bed, be with my family and have some home food again but at the same time I'm going to miss every thing we have experienced here in India. Our flight leaves at 11:40 PM from Mumbai airport. From the outside it appears that we have the whole day here but we really don't. We have to leave Amit's house by 3:30 because the 2 1/2 hour drive it took to get here will take about 5 hours during the day due to increased traffic. We will arrive at the airport at 8 pm and amit says getting through security takes a lot longer here and that this will barley be enough time .


I can't believe Amit is married! We all really like Manju. We didn't get much time with her but amit seems really happy and that make me very happy. Over the next 3 days they will be traveling around India to many religious shrines as part of the marriage ceremony. Then they are off on there honeymoon to a remote islands called Lakshadweep in the Arabean sea. He won't be back in the US till 15th of March and hopes to have Manju with him. If so then we will be showing HER around the town :)

Well we must be going to go get ready. i will see everyone on Wednesday!

Got the internet...

I just got the internet for the first time this trip. I'm going to start back posting from the trip. To start things might had lots of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes but i will be working on them as i got. I just want to get the material up as quickly as i can for everyone. This have been so busy that i have barley had enough time to out line the basics of the trip never mind proof read them or edit. Also, keep in mind that there are 3 of us needing internet so that will also limit the amount of time we have it. The speed isn't to great either but I'm not going to complain about anything at this point! Everyone can leave comments on posts as well!

Day Two at Amit's

Last night we got back from shopping with Amit and there were people working on setting up a festive looking canope the small driveway. They also had to girl he doing Henna designs on everyone. They quickly ushered me downstairs obviously picking up on willingness. They were asking me what i would like to have and point out a few examples on the whole family in the living room. I had no idea what to get so i just asked her to go nuts with anything she wanted. I ended up with an entire hand and writ design. DJ eventually caved and got one as well. I thought it was a lot of fun. I kept the paste on over night and it came out nice and dark on my pale skin. The darker skinned Indians came out much darker than mine.

This morning we went to the Barber. This is a completely different experience that getting your hair cut at home. This shop was very excited to see three Americans coming in and ushered us right in to the second floor. Starting with a hair cut Amit explained to the guy what i wanted done and he quickly got to work.I went for my issual hair cut, short on hte sides and back and long enough on the top to gel it. They do not use clipper it's all done by had. Only using different size comes to help with the lentght. When he was done he used a straight blade to clean up the back of my neck. It was not time for a shave. This is just like the barber shops back in the 50's. straight blades and the shaving cream brushes. I have to say it's the nices shave i have ever had. He even trimmed my goatee very nicely.

Now he moved on to given me a head message.Starting with oils, he started rub it through out my hair.These guys are not shy use force at times and genral at others. Then after a couple minutes and used a vibrating head messager. This was followed by a back messager that he used on my back and arms. Dj got a shave and a message as well which he found a little weird. They even cleaned up Ryan. Now we are looking good the the engagment part tonight that starts at 7. In the mean time we are going to have lunch here and head out on hte town. Amit has arranged deepaks cousin to bringus out. He just asked us to be back for 5:30.

I think we are excited for this party tonight. We picked up a pair of shoes for Amit last night that matches is tradtional indian outfit. A hand made shoe that resembles a slipper. It's hand made and dececrativly designed. Thinking that they might be to slippery we stops at a small street peddler to ad a sole to the buttom of the shoe. It didn't turn out as amit expected but he still seemed happy enough. I have also picked up a trational looking sandles. Handmade leather sandles. I needed somthing that would go with my tradtional outfit, sneakers just wouldn't cut it! lol

Day 8 - Amit's house!

Today is our first morning at Amit's house. This place is nice. I could definitely live here. Amit's house is three levels, three bed room, three bath bungalow. Solid concrete construction. Bedrooms are large and have built in closets and beds. There are man family guest here already for Amits wedding. This morning Amit's family cooks us breakfast while we sat in there living room watching the flat screen. Amit taught us about the game of cricket. We were served a "Indian pancake". You dipped it in butter and the ground spices that they had on the plate.

The afternoon we plan on going shopping with Amit. Ryan needs to get some clothing for the wedding. I still want to take a look at a birthstone ring you commonly see India. I think I also purchase a belt. My belt broke the first day in Delhi.

Day 6 - Jaipur and traveling to Mumbai

It's morning and today is going to be a busy day. I don't think I will have time to post anything so I thought I would talk about our planed agenda. This morning Nag will be picking us up around 9:30 AM. We plan on seeing another city palace(Picture one) and Jantar Mantar (Picture 2, us standing in front of a very large and precision sun dial.. The rest of the day we are going to be shopping for Amit and Manju's wedding present along with various other items. Later we need to return pack and get to the airport to catch our flight to Mumbai. DJ is planning on buying a rug and other stuff so we need to strategically pack our stuff lol.

Day 5 - Jaipur tour

We just got back from today's trip. Today was probably the best day in the trip so far. We started the day by traveling a long distance to Samode palace(Inside garden pictured to the left). Samode is an out laying town of Jaipur. On the way we picked up Anju Rose. She holds a post as the head of programs in this area of India. She will be accompanying us through her parts of India. We turn off the main road is start through a small little village. The roads are narrow and commonly you see goats, pigs, Buffalo, or camels walking them. There kid population is very large in this area and as in other areas of india, they are very interesting in waving and say hi to Dj and I. They love it and they start gigling and chattering. This road quickly gains an incline as you begin your ascend toward the old palace. We didn't know much about because it wasn't in any book. On the way up we past through many gates on the windy road. Nearing the top we pulled over and parked. From here we walked and started taking picture as we were just outside the main gate. Was we walked in I realize we were going to like this palace. Gardens were very green and well maintained. The mountains surrounded the palace and provided a great background for photos. However i have to say I looked though the pictures that I have taken today and nothing compares to what i saw with my own eyes.

Once in the palace they served us tea. The government have established nice restaurant inside . Anju and Nag have arranged a guide to take us through the palace. It was a short tour but nice. He brought us to a section of the palace that was not on the tour which was really nice. I believe he only did that because Anju wanted to wee it Once back outside they brought us to the next location. when we walked in we realized that this was a much larger garden than the last. Similar fountains that you would see at the Taj Mahal. As we stepped inside we realized there was more here than what met the eye. This place 4 kilometers down a tiny road had been converted into the nicest resort. Tent lodgesd lines the sides. Nag told us it cost 6000rs a night here. it was beautiful. I would stay here for that. Kendra would love it! 6000rs is about 130 dollars. Along our tour of this place Nag had mentioned to someone about our short Camel ride last night before dinner, he found it hilarious and was mimicking the motion in which a camel stands up from his loading potitions which was on his knees. The resort asked us if we wants to go on a camel safari back to the palace 4 km away! So we road an hour on a camel to the palace. I loved it and couldn't stop laughing at my self. Along the way we got a few interesting looks from the local working their farm land but it was still fun. Two white guys on camels... It will prolly make the news.

Back at the palace again Nag suggest that we get lunch and we agreed. The restaurant in this palace was top notch by American standard and unheard of in Indian standards! Beautiful! The food was amazing. While we were there a group of tourist from spin joined us for lunch.

On our way back we stopped at Anju's office to have tea which we got the grand tour. At this point we are making good friends with Nag. He's teaching us hindi, and making jokes. On the way back to the hotel we share what American money looks like and passports. He wants us to show him around American now! :)

Arrived In Jaipur

We just got to our new place that we are staying. I'm not even sure of the name of the place yet because we were just dropped off. Our room is similar to the last one but in much better condition, especially In the cleanliness area. I would say that this makes DJ much more comfortable. Our TV is plugged into cable but doesn't seem to get any channels. Again there is no internet. A bummer for us. So I'm still just blogging into notepad on the computer and will post them all at once once we do have the Internet.

Day 3 - Lunch

We just got back from our first successful trip Into Delhi on our own. We walked to McDonalds on knaught circle. We had not eaten yet today and was excited to have food. We thought that we would go find a fast food corporation that was present in NH to see the contrast. When we walked in it was a narrow place but consisted of two floors. On the lower floor that had a similar counter you would find in any McDonalds and two Indian girls waiting to take orders. The menu consisted of only a few items. McChichen/McVeggie was the Big item on the menu. Realizing that all the food In India was really cheap, they could afford to sell meals for 5 dollars. our meal was 109rs/2 dollars. As we walked way from the counter I noticed that there wasn't any seat open... this place was packed! Not even on the second floor could we find a seat. So we stood at trash receptacle and ate. We were so hungry that we could careless at this point! The fries and McChicken tasted EXACTLY like home.. It was a little creepy. I had one sip of the coke before realizing that it's prolly made from tap water like at home... which we couldn't drink it without getting sick. When we got back to the Keralla house we were all excited that me got out on our own.It was short lived NagIs here now to pick us up. Begining our trip to Jaipur.

Day 3 - Delhi

Today we slept in. Well, it is a vacation you know! We also took the time to orginize our luggage because our stuff was everywhere. We missed breakfast but we got adventurist and thought we'd go for walk around the time. Being a Monday it seems much quieter around the city but that means there are less tourist so we were quickly targeted. Some times It's hard to tell If they are just being nice or If they are trying to get stuff out of us. One guy out right told us that he wants us to go into a shop near by so he gets ten rupees so he can get some food.. at this point we already were walking back to the Kerala house.

We talked to Nag who is arranged to pick us up and he isn't planing on being here till 8 pm tomorrow night. Not happy about this we called Amit and he had Manju change his plans. hes now going to be here at 5 pm today! :) Off to Jaipur.

Day 2 - Taj Mahal

Today we started for Agra at 6 AM. We got up at 5 AM. Thank god this was the first night we
slept well but again we didn't get breakfast. Now we are really hungry after not having dinner. Standing out by the road at the main gate to the Karela house, the tour bus picked us up. Today the bus was already loaded and we were the last ones on. We settled in for the long drive. We were expecting a 3 to 4 hour drive. This bus was ready for the road with satellite TV and DVD player. Didn't seem like the satellite ever had a signal but we did watch a Hindi/Bollywood movie. No subtitles. on our way through the city a vendor jumped on the bus selling snacks. DJ and I we excited to see food and bought cookie and cream cookies for 20 rupees... that's 4 cents American.

Once out of the city, we stopped for breakfast. We went from not eating anything to twice in an hour. We haven't befriended anyone on this bus yet so we were on our own to order. Intimidating isn't the work to describe how we felt about this unfamiliar process. There was about 75 to 100 people crowding into this restaurant at once. The way these restaurants are setup in a very long counter with a register at one end. you order there and take the slip the corresponding section of counter, snacks, breakfast, South Indian, and so on. We stood in line till we we almost the last person in line.I picked the only thing on the menu that I knew what it was, Samosa. This is a dish made with homefry style potatoes with Indian spices wrapped in a fried outer similar to Crab Rangoon.

The first stop was Agra Fort. As usually it cost a lot more for an American to enter than an Indian. 600rs/$12 whereas it only cost 20rs/40cents for an Indian. DJ and I decided that we would save our money and just view this location from the outside. We only had 30 minutes
and its a large location to view outside alone. As soon as we got off the bus we had five to 6 people following us trying to force sell us post cards, batteries, film and marble Items. As usual we just blew them off and continued down the road with the rest of our tour. This was a busy little street. lots of little vendors and tourist. AS we walked up to the front walkway to the red fort there was tons of these force selling vendors. Regardless of face DJ and I walked they swammed In on us because we were easily the only Americans In the crowed.. they we so close they were pushing us. now I see there strategy, as a group they cornered us. Most of these places there are Indian police to help with these push little guys. The police has one of these barriers about 10 feet away so we just pushed our way through.

Second stop was UP Handicrafts and Lunch. We have done this before but this time we knew what to expect. We know how they sold thing. This shop was different though because it had different products. This is a a Marble shop. This is a government show that makes marble product that are reproduce the technique that was used to construct the Taj Mahal. They educated us on how to tell the different of real marble and fake. The street vendor that our pressure selling us all the time generally sell fake marble. and the only way to tell the difference is to see if it allows light to shin through I\it. Real marble will illuminate! They showed us through there work shops and how they were inlaying gems into the marble. Of course they knew we were American and took DJ and I into the Expensive/ upper class show room. I did buy something from her.I had selected a elephant in the previous show room and they had em Inlays. Kayde will love It.

Lunch time now. This restaurant was In the basement of the hotel. This was an up class
restaurant. They had waiters and a menu unlike any other place we have been yet. This Is a
first. Thally I believe Is the dish that we had. With a Banana lassi. It was DJ's first Lassi, which Is like a fruit smoothie.

The last stop was the Taj Mahal! What we have all been waiting for! AS we are getting closer to the Taj the roads are getting narrower and narrower. Suddenly I was feeling that our bus was WAY to big for this road. Lots of horn blowing to get through all the rickshaws. A rickshaw are taxi bikes. When we start notice there are lots of parking and the speaker was prepping the group for the stop. We got off the bus and jump on to a battery bus that brought us up to the west gate but we walked around to the south gate. The lines to get inside was very long and a lot of pushing and shoving. Our tour guide on the bus has some some waiting for DJ and I. this tour guide went and bought our ticket into the Taj and cut most of the line... which pissed a lot of people off. the guy behind me was tiring to pick pocket me which was rather uncomfortable. after holding my butt the entire time and a few elbows into the guy behind meI made It in!

This tour guy was running us through taj. We were only given 2 hours till we needed to be back on the bus and we can not be late because the bus will leave without us. The guide brought us to everything that he thought we should see and helped take some awesome pictures. he escorted us back to what must have been his shop on the streets outside and had someone bring us back to the bus. This help brought us the back way through the alleys where there were no vendors or tourist. When we stepped out the door we were back at the west gate. Before leaving the tour guid he had told us that the ride in the rickshaw back to the bus Is Included In our ticket. So when we found one the diver asked for 25rs but I showed him the ticket and he said "Ok, get In."I replied back to him "Free right?"and he said "Yes sire please get in." When he dropped us off he asked for 25 ruppes tell us that the battery rickshaws are free so I stuck to my ground and told him no. he threatened to get the police and I offered him 4rs In good faith and he refused so I walked away to the bus. we were on the bus for about 10 minutes when our bus tour guide came on the bus with the drive and we explained to him what happened. the driver settled for 10rs. I was pretty pissed off with this because I know we were still being screwed. but we brushedIt off to settleIn for our long ride home. We got back around 10:30 pm because there was TONS of traffic commingInto Delhi and many accidents. But we got to talk to amit when we returned who was just landing In Mumbai. That makes me feel better to some familiarity from home here in India.

Day One - City of Delhi

At this time we still have no Internet. However we did just get a power converter to charge
our cell phone and other devices. We are so excited but realized that the outlets offer support for BOTH American and Indian plugs... But we are still much happier now.

We didn't see much of India on the way from the airport to the Kerala house. Best of India - This place Is a government shop which are more tourist friendly shops. They have fixed prices opposed to the bargaining setup at all other shoppes. The government helps these shows with subsidies and in return they follow some strict rules. The India selling techniques are WAY different than in the US. They are way more personal about it with makes It really hard not to be rude if your not interested. This is prolly the point because they sell more this was. The first room we walked into is the Textiles.India makes allot of there our closes by hand. Around there entire room is shelves going to the ceiling and small couch like future in front of them. They quickly ushered us in and sat us. They start showing us different garments and as what colors we like. DJ actually was the first to get sucked in when he found something he thought his mom would like.I was say what now so that I don't ruin the surprise.

:)

I took this opportunity to find what I was going to wear for Amit's wedding.It took a while to
find what I was looking for but I did.I hope Amit likes It but I think it looks great. Deepak had given me money to purchase such a garment so I had a price limit and this fit into this price limit. Before we left they dragged us into the jewelry section of the store which had a similar setup as the textile section. Same selling strategy be we made it out without buying anything. The prices are really cheap however and gives me some ideas for gifts.

Red Fort

Lotus temple - This has to be the most enjoyable location that we have gone to. When we were walking his there was a group of school kid very excited to see a group of Americans and want us to take there picture! So we did and boy did it make there day! It lighted our moods as well. This sight of this temple is breathe taking!




India Gate - Comming soon












India President Palace - This was a quick stop for a walk through the front grounds to take
the photo opportunities. The ground were very nicely kept.

Gandhi Museum - This museum was made in Gandhi's house . They made her rooms viewable from the outside.It appeared that they built a couple extra rooms to showcase the history.

After this first day i India I feel tired.It was a long day and so much to take in at once. I think we both missed home. We both wanted to call home. I called home to Kendra and got to briefly talk to her and KD. Sometimes just simple things like that make everything better. DJ also called him mom and dad.

Landed In Delhi

Our first night in India and I'm laying in my bed at the Kerala House in Delhi. Today was a crazy day. When we arrived at Logan airport they immediately rebooked us for the next available flight out to Newark to catch our connecting flight. I guess that the air traffic is bad today so everything is running delayed. So we grabbed some food and walked on the plane. It was a short flight to Newark on a 737 which they served us a chicken with pene,It wasn't half bad for airplane food. DJ thought I was crazy by the time we got to Newark because I had already killed the battery on Wendy's camera by snapping pictures. What can I say, I want to remember everything! lol

We got to Newark around 605. We found our gate and found one of the few places that offered power outlets to charge the camera. We couldn't use the laptop because we forgot the charger in DJ's bag that we had checked.

When we landed in Delhi around 10:30, the first rememberable thing is walking onto the loading gate and into the Indian air.I remember being able to see signs written in Hindi out side the walkway windows. The air is heavy and thick. Smog. We have grow relatively comfortable with the people we have been with on the flight but now I felt like we were the only two americans. Everyone is very nice so far. Took us about an hour to get thought customs, baggage, and currancy exchange. Then the fun began. Standing in front of a double door with a hand railing on both sides holding back a very large crowd of people..I think every single one opf them had a sign with someone name. As soon as you get to the end of the railing there were taxi drivers mobbing you to give you a ride. Everyone warned us about this part but no one said anything about them not understanding or speaking English. the comment I would always get back was "Yes sire I know you have arrived but where do you want to go?" which I relied "We already of a ride" so realizing that this Is what was causing his confusion.

Let me give you a run down of the driving laws in India...if your going to pass someone, honk.If you about to hit someone, honk.If no one is in front of you then go faster, and don't forget that lines on the roads are just guide lines! I decided it would be best to wear my seat belt.

My last observation for the night is that language IS going to be a barrier regardless of what anyone says. Getting into the Karela house was interesting because we did understand ANYTHING! lol regardless of having help!

Today's the day

Last night I was so tired that i could barley keep my head up at the dinner table. We had my mom, grandmother, Adam, and Becca over for dinner because i was leaving today. Mom cooked spaghetti and meatballs... Adam and I's favorite! :) Surprisingly last night flew by. i don't know why because normally when your waiting for something to come the next day time seems to slow down. Prolly because I have this feeling I have a million things to do an not enough time to do them in.

I think i'm caught up on sleep now so that is good! Next time we are doing the bachelor party a week before my trip. But I'm still sticking to the fluids, and no have had no soda or coffee! as Adam said to me.. " And your not dead?!?!"

This morning I'm backing, repacking, checking and double checking... HERE WE GO! :D

Forecast for Pune, India

Tonight Feb 5 Clear N/A 52° 0% High not valid after 2pm Fri Feb 6 Sunny 92° 53° 0% 92°F Sat Feb 7 Sunny 93° 56° 0% 93°F Sun Feb 8 Sunny 93° 58° 0% 93°F Mon Feb 9 Sunny 93° 59° 0% 93°F Tue Feb 10 Sunny 92° 56° 0% 92°F Wed Feb 11 Sunny 91° 55° 0% 91°F Thu Feb 12 Sunny 89° 55° 0% 89°F Fri Feb 13 Sunny 90° 58° 0% 90°F Sat Feb 14 Sunny 90° 59° 0% 90°F Last Updated Feb 05, 7:44 PM Local Time

Party time...

Last night was Amit's bachelor's party. He knew we going out but had no idea what we had in store for him. We started out by bring him down to the Outback for dinner with Brian, Del, Jitin, Deepak, Adam, Porter, Dj, and Ryan. Obviously drinks were had along with the normal appetizers. Most remember able part of the night is when Adam told Amit" Yeah, were going down to the Outback but don't expect to get an envelope full of money" which he has referring to the gift I got for my birthday! We all had a good laugh but that got Adam and I's creativity flowing. We ere bringing him to Mark Showplace and what better way to tell him than with an envelope full of ones! :) If i remember his exact response was " Oh my god, what is this for!" Which we told him that it will be useful later!

Our shy little Amit had no problem taking in the sights! Brian let the cat out of the bag that we were there for a bachelor party. Soon the manager had Amit up to the stage with all the girls deeming him the " Oldest virgin in the state of New Hampshire!" If only we could he him blush! But they gave him a white Marks Showplace shirt and a black marker that he could get everyone to sign it! Which he did while keeping the shirt in his lap and asking them to sign! As there sign his crotch i would hear " Don't worry, that just my wallet!"

What a great night. I will never forget the big smiles on Amit's face all night.

Bring on the fluids..

Why is it that just before you leave on a vacation everyone around you seems to be sick. Maybe it's paranoia of such a simple thing ruining a great trip. My wife is home sick to day and she's been fighting it for a week now. Wendy K has also been sick for a while and found out she had strep throat. Obviously I will be more prone to get sick in India from the lack of immunity for there common germs/viruses so i don't want my immune system low from fighting something from home. My solution is try to boost my immune system as much as i can while I'm here. Eating healthy with lots of vegetables, fruits, and liquids. I'm even going to cut own on the Mountain Dew and drink more water...... (Yeah, i know what your thinking... i don't think i can do it either :P) Doing it all for the good of Amit's Wedding!

Speaking of health, I have called my doctors office to find out about any immunizations that i should get before going. From the suggested list that i found online i have all of them except Hep C and A which is suggest no matter where you are going.. even the US. Just waiting on them to call me back.

Four More Days

Excitement is starting to build. Four more days and I'm going to be on a plane to India. I don't even think that it has sunk in yet and become reality. DJ got his passport back with his Indian visa on Friday, we booked out plane tick from Jaipur to Mumbai. There's nothing left to do but pack. Which i have gotten a good start on as well. I have been looking at multiday packs meant for hiking but they are out ridiculously priced. Never stops from looking anyways. I was so excited when i found a 130 dollar back for 30. So i bought it even though i didn't have the money to spend on it but came home and it's packed for my trip.