India
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![Dave and Lolo at the Taj]()
India Notes for Budget Travelers
Dave and Lolo at the Taj India is a budget traveler’s dream. It’s certainly one of the cheapest countries on our itinerary. Our daily budget for two is probably less than you spent the last time you went out to dinner.
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![Gateway to India]()
Back to Mumbai - Indian Wrap Up
Gateway to India We’re back in Mumbai awaiting our flight out of India. Driving in from the train station it was hard to recognize the town as the big dirty smelly place that shocked us when we flew in two months ago.
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![Buddhas at Ajanta]()
Ellora & Ajanta
Buddhas at Ajanta As we were making plans for our final week in India, we really wanted to find a way to visit the caves at Ellora and Ajanta – World Heritage Sites located in the state of Maharashtra.
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![Wedding Season]()
Wedding Crashers
Wedding Season It doesn’t take a Vince Vaughn scheme to crash a wedding in India, especially during wedding season. We actually had one gentleman befriend us on the streets of Udaipur to “practice his English” and subsequently invite us to his wedding party the following evening.
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![One Pen]()
Coming From? - Common India 'Engrish'
One Pen There are a few phrases that any visitor to India will become familiar with rapidly. Here’s a quick run-down of common “Engrish” you’ll come across:
Coming From? – The most benign, they just want to know what country you’re from.
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![Join Us, Won't You?]()
The Cult of Lonely Planet & Lodging in India
Join Us, Won't You? Our time in India is starting to wind down, so we would just like to pass on a few words about lodging here. We’re using the latest edition of “Lonely Planet – India” as our main guidebook and it’s great of course, very well documented, written, and well thought out.
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![Octopussy, Every Night]()
Notes From Octopussy's Lair
Octopussy, Every Night Udaipur is a great place to go if your extremely rich, or a fan of James Bond films. Actually, if your a fan of one James Bond film in particular: Octopussy. A large part of the film was shot here and even though it was released some 25 years ago, every restaurant in town still shows Octopussy every night at 7PM sharp.
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![Monkeys at Jaigarh Fort]()
Monkeyin' Around
Monkeys at Jaigarh Fort I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising, but there are monkeys everywhere in India. We’ve spotted a few in the wild, but most have been hanging around rooftops and historic forts. When Dave or I would spot monkeys on our safari in Corbett Reserve, all the locals just shrugged as if to say, “just a monkey”.
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![Astronomical Clocks in Jaipur]()
Pink City - Jaipur
Astronomical Clocks in Jaipur Rajasthan, in northwestern India, is kind of what I had always pictured India being like – desert, lot’s of castles and old forts, monkeys all over and people in Turbans. And so far it is not disappointing me.
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![Mmmmm...Masala Popcorn]()
Queen of the Hills
Mmmmm...Masala Popcorn After our relaxing time in Rishikesh, we were still longing for some cooler temperatures so we made our way further north to Mussoorie, also known as the Queen of the Hill Stations. It certainly lives up to its name.
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![Masala Dosa]()
A Few of My Favorite Things
Masala Dosa During our time in India, I have been making a list of my favorite things. Not surprisingly, most of them are food related! But there are a few other things unique to India which have also won our hearts.
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A Disclaimer
With all of our frank musings about India, we realize that we might seem ethnocentric or judgemental to some. That is not our intention. And yes, we do like it here most of the time.
As you travel through any developing country – or any country that is just different from your own – you’re faced with all kinds of different experiences.
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![The Beatles Slept Here]()
Hippy Dippy Do - Rishikesh
The Beatles Slept Here Rishikesh is a smallish town set on the Ganges at the foothills of the Himalayas. In part due to it’s “auspicious” location it’s a pilgrimage site for Hindus. But of late there are a lot of other people here besides Hindus.
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![The Ganges River at Rishikesh]()
'Oh Dirty River'
The Ganges River at Rishikesh As I stood at the edge of the Ganges in Rishikesh, I couldn’t help but hum the final lyrics to Sleater Kinney’s “Light Rail Coyote.”
Oh Dirty River, Come Let Me In Except, I have no desire to dip into the Ganges.
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![Satellite TV, On a Black and White TV]()
The World Cup (of Cricket)
Satellite TV, On a Black and White TV One of the things we were excited about was being in India during the World Cup of Cricket. We arrived in Mumbai just a few days before the first match and were anticipating a huge outpouring of support for the national team from India’s billion plus people.
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![Elephant Safari Jim Corbett National Park]()
Elephantitis: Corbett National Park
Elephant Safari Jim Corbett National Park Leaving Delhi, we set off for Corbett National Park about 250 km north in the state of Uttarchanal. Our mission: elephant safari! And maybe spot some other wildlife as well. We were partially successful.
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![Fatehpur Sikri Gate]()
Mughal Mania
Fatehpur Sikri Gate During our time here in northern India, I have developed a particular fondness for the Mughals. Mughal is the Persian word for Mongol. The Mughals claim decendency from Genghis Khan and their empire ruled much of India and its surrounds during the 16th to 18th centuries.
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![The Obligatory Shot]()
A Tail of One City: Agra
The Obligatory Shot “It was the best of times and the worst of times.” Mr. Dickens could have been been talking about one city in India, rather than two cities in Europe.
Agra, a few hours outside of Delhi is a study in contrast.
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![India Gate]()
Several Million Do Make A Difference
India Gate After a long, chilly train ride, we arrived in Delhi last Thursday. Delhi is India’s second largest city after Mumbai. And though I can not find consistent population numbers, it is a fact that several million fewer people live here than in Mumbai.
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![Hair is a Universal Language]()
Bazaar Haircut
Hair is a Universal Language So I needed a haircut some kind of bad. I haven’t had my ears lowered since before Christmas. I’d been holding out for some time, but the 110 degree heat in Delhi, combined with to opportunity to get a haircut on the street was too good to pass up.
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![Beef Anyone]()
Holy Cow!
Beef Anyone Ok, so you may know that cows are considered sacred animals in the Hindu religion. Very little beef eating going on here. Even McDonald’s has a sign stating “No beef or beef products served here.” (This is a surefire way to see a failed McDonald’s in the midwest!
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![Travel in 2nd Class]()
Life on the Rajdhani Express
Travel in 2nd Class A forty two hour train ride isn’t really something to be looked forward to. But after the better part of a month spent traveling further and further South, LeeAnne and I decided it was time to knock off a few of the “Must Do’s” in India – The Taj Mahal etc – so we had to find a way from Trivandrum (near the southern tip of India) to Delhi (in the North of the country).
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![The Main Drag in Thiruvananthapuram]()
Three Nights in Thiruvananthapuram
The Main Drag in Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram: the small town with a really long name!
Formerly known as Trivandrum, the town elders decided to change the city name for brevity’s sake to Thiruvananthapuram in 1991. We’re in town for a few days waiting on a train to Delhi.
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![Kerala Backwaters]()
Cruising The Kerala Backwaters
Kerala Backwaters A highlight for many travelers in Kerala is taking a leisurely cruise through the 900km network of waterways known as the backwaters. The waterways vary from narrow shady canals fringed with homes and rice paddies to large lakes filled with fishing boats.
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![TP is Good!]()
Gastrointestinal Update: No. 1
TP is Good! To appease our readers I will report that there have been no major gastrointestinal incidents in India as of yet. We are very careful about water, but have been enjoying a variety of local foods, juices (no water and no ice used) and veg (no lettuce) with little to no adverse result.
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![Beware of Monkeys!]()
Kumily & The Tiger Reserve
Beware of Monkeys! After a few days cooling off (literally in Munnar) we’ve headed down south to Kumily which we’ve used as a base to visit the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Count yourself extremely lucky if you see any tigers here.
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![Sabu Elias & DeerVilla Home Stay]()
A Homely Stay
Sabu Elias & DeerVilla Home Stay Since arriving in India a little over three weeks ago, we’ve run the gamut on lodging options. We’ve stayed in overpriced, run down hotels, a rodent infested beach shack (Yes, we weren’t the only ones sharing that great view!
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![American Giants with Indian Honeymooners]()
Run For The Hills
American Giants with Indian Honeymooners Ok, so technically we didn’t run. We took a bus. An old, well worn bus that wound its way back and forth around seemingly endless switchbacks for the 130km trip from Kochi to Munnar.
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![Bananas...]()
This Forks for You
Bananas... I’m currently working on a theory about the relative prices of eating out here in India. After a couple of weeks here we’ve been in big cities and small cities. Touristy places and less touristy places and we’ve been trying to come up with an explanation of the wide range of cost on what is basically the same food.
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![Kochi Coastline]()
Hot Time in Kochi
Kochi Coastline First off let me say we did not do Kochi justice. Kochi (formerly Cochin) needs to be seen in December or January – before it gets too hot. In late March it’s just too hot and too humid.
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![School Days]()
God's Own Country
School Days No, we didn’t come up with this, the State of Kerala did. Signs and brochures are quick to coin Kerala as God’s country. I imagine much of this is due to its beautiful scenery, which in all honesty we haven’t had the chance to see much of as of yet.
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![Big Day Out in Goa]()
Scootin' Around
Big Day Out in Goa Just to make sure we didn’t get totally bored of reading and relaxing on the beach all week, we decided to take a little day trip and see some sites beyond Palolem. We rented a scooter, bought a few liters of petrol and headed north.
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![Passport Please]()
Papers Please
Passport Please One of the more frustrating things here in India has been the India love affair with red tape. Fair warning to all those who come to visit: memorize your passport number. You will need to produce it at many (unexpected)turns.
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![A Room With A View]()
Go, Go Goa
A Room With A View Following our escape from Mumbai, we decided to head south, where according to various parties it’s “less crazy.” We chose to come directly to Palolem Beach in southern Goa for a little chill time.
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![Tuk Tuk'ing Along]()
Escape from Mumbai
Tuk Tuk'ing Along When is a 12 hour train-ride in tropical heat with no air conditioning worth it? When it gets you out of Mumbai.
Our journey began before dawn at Mumbai’s Central Station and would not end until just after night fell on us and our Auto-Ricksaw driver on a beach in Goa.
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![Bolliwood Stardom]()
Hooray for Bolliwood
Bolliwood Stardom Jokingly one of our goals on this trip was to get cast in a Bolliwood movie: Mission Accomplished!
It was surprisingly easy. There are some 700 movies made in Mumbai a year so the numbers are working for you if you want to be cast as an extra.
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![Fishermens Village, Mumbai]()
Mumbai Madness
Fishermens Village, Mumbai After a pleasant 9 hour flight from Darwin, we arrived in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) on Wednesday evening. Our arrival was as smooth as could be expected at any international city. Breeze through immigration, pick up our bags, change some money and walk right through customs.
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![Passports at the ready]()
Passage to Mumbai
Passports at the ready So we’re getting on a plane bound for India this afternoon, and we’re full of excitement and anticipation. We’re also sadly saying good-bye to things like clean tap water, salads and the ubiquitous first world flush toilet.
