Home Safe & Sound

Kavita and I arrived home last night, travel weary but thankfully in one piece. The 30-hour trip back home was taxing to say the least but we are enjoying a weekend of rest and relaxation after such an amazing three weeks.

I downloaded all the photos from my camera this morning and found that I managed to take over 600 photos! This includes over 30 short videos taken at different periods during our travels. I plan on uploading the best videos to YouTube and will have to figure out a good way to organize the rest of the photos on Flickr. For now, you can enjoy this video of a snake charmer we met just outside the Amber Fort in Jaipur, India.

All things said, it's good to be home. You can't beat that first night back in your own bed. I'm sure that given a few days I will miss being on the road, but for now I'm just enjoying being back.

On our way home!

We are back at the Amsterdam Airport, but this time we have a 9 hour layover. We tried to get on an earlier flight but no luck. As Justin mentioned, we can think of a lot worse aiports to be stuck in.

Our India trip has been absolutely fantastic! We have see and experienced so much, its hard to recall all the events off hand. I am looking forward to loading the rest of my pictures and sharing them with everyone.

When I look back at the trip I cannot believe how many places we have been, from Mumbai to Jaipur to Agra to Delhi and so on!

I am sad that our India adventure is over but I guess now we'll just have to brainstorm and think of where to go next!

Homeward Bound

We said goodbye to India at 1:20am this morning as we departed from Mumbai International airport to begin the journey home. This has been an amazing voyage, the full meaning and effect on me I don't think will be fully digested for some time to come. Due to the very scant net access we found and the quite ambitious schedule we kept, many things that we saw and experienced have not yet made it into the blog. After returning home I hope to gather my thoughts and expand on some of the information here, making the blog a more comprehensive description of our trip.

There are also many more photos and videos to share with all of you. I hope to get those uploaded with complete descriptions in the coming weeks. While I'm sure they will not capture the true essence of being in such a vibrant, exciting country, they should serve to give a taste to anyone who is interested in the region.

As for now we are staring down the barrel of a 9-hour layover at the Amsterdam airport. All things considered, there are much worse airports to be stuck at for such a long time and we are just happy that we only have one flight left until we are home.

Looking forward to seeng you all soon.

-Justin

Relaxing in Goa

We arrived in Goa on Friday night after some lenghty air travel delays. Our "vacation from our vacation" began yesterday when we woke up in this small fishing village here on India's coastline in the state of Goa. It is very tranquil here and Kavita and I enjoyed the first morning by having breakfast on the beach and watching the fishermen haul in the day's catch. Benaulium is in South Goa, away from the hectic party atmosphere of Anjuna and Vagador to the North. We are relishing the chance to get away from the crowd and have been treating ourselves to long lazy days on the beach and wading in the Arabian Sea.

The prices of food and beverages here have not been inflated by tourism so we are essentially living like millionaires. Last night, Kavita and I split a whole Sea Bass (likely one we saw hauled in that morning) prepared in Tandoori style. We had a gigantic feast with plenty of drinks and the total bill was only about US$20. This morning I enjoyed a nice big breakfast with two tall glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice, a pot of tea, eggs and beans on toast for 120 rupees ( about US$3). Large 22oz bottles of beer are only 40-50 rupees (aboutUS$1) each. Wine drinkers should note: though we have found relatively inexpensive beer and liquor in each state, wine has remained consistently expensive at 350-500 rupees per glass (about $9-10).

We are overjoyed to have finally found a spot that has speedy internet access and should be able to upload some additional photos for your viewing pleasure. Also, keep an eye on my You Tube page for some new videos including a belated holiday greeting we filmed in New Delhi!

Agra, home of the Taj Mahal

We are having a wonderful time as Justin said in his post. We are at the Clark Shiraz Hotel in Agra and surprisingly their business center has a pretty fast connection so we were able to post more pics.

We saw Fatehpur Sikri yesterday which was amazing, and the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal was breathtaking. I had seen it in 1986 but had no idea at age 9 how amazing it was. Now 20 years later I was really quite in awe of the monument and surrounding gardens.

We have posted more pics and have included the links in the "other links" section on the left hand side of this blog.

Our travel mates Cali and Steve have also been blogging, the link is also on the left.

Enjoy!

-Kavita

Quick stop in Agra

We woke up yesterday morning and piled into our Tempo Traveler for the four hour road trip to Agra in Uttar Pradesh. Along the way we saw many villages and Indian countryside. It was quite sobering to see how some people live after seeing life in larger cities like Mumbai and Jaipur. Along the way we stopped to see the abandoned city of Fattehpur Sikri (sp?) where Akbar ruled India during the 16th century. It was an amazing site, built completely of red sandstone. There are some photos available in my India Preview photoset on Flickr. Following our tour of this city we drove into Agra and toured the Taj Mahal. One of the most photographed buildings in the world, it is true that you can't really appreciate its beauty until you are standing before it. The sheer scale of the monument is breathtaking as are the rarely seen details that adorn its walls.

Today we will visit the Agra Fort where Shah Jahan (the king that built the Taj Mahal) was imprisoned by his son. Tonight we are catching an express train to Delhi for more sightseeing and exploration.

We are having a fantastic time, all the hotels and english-speaking guides have been top-notch and the food is second to none. One disappointment: the two hotels we have stayed at in Jaipur and Agra have actually been playing Christmas Music in their lobbies and restaurants. Christmas Music, in India. I guess you can't escape the season. Even halfway around the world.

-J

Elephants, Cobras and Palaces

Having a great time in Jaipur. We rode up to the Amber Fort on elephants this morning and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the old city palace. Tomorrow morning we are off to Agra where we will tour the Taj Mahal.

Gotta run as we are just about out of internet time at the hotel. Check out my India Trip preview photos for some early shots of our trip! Kavita also has some photos available on her Flickr account.