december 14
better get the site uploaded so we can get on the plane.. more content soon..
december 15
yup, these lowlands sure are low.. from the plane, canels everywhere..
december 16
everybody moves fast in amsterdam.. when a traffic light turned green, a mass of pedestrians literally sprinted across the street, leaving us to fend for ourselves.. i think this is only the beginning of the chaos we will encounter on the trip..
december 17
the four of us took a tour of Delhi.. Poonam was a very friendly, knowledgable and elegant guide.. Mr Singh managed to drive us safely through the frantic disarray of traffic.. an overview of some of the impressive ancient structures we visited....
- Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque) is the largest mosque in India, seating 25,000
- Lal Qila (The Red Fort) is a fortress/palace overlooking the city
- Mahatma Gandhi's cremation memorial is simple and elegant (not ancient)
- Quatab Minar Complex
- Victory Tower 73 meters tall with 5 balconies
- Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque made of demolished Hindu temples
- Iron Pillar 99.9% pure, beyond human technology
- Humayun's Tomb is an grand predecessor to the Taj Mahal
later we drove past some newer monuments without stopping....
- India Gate commemorates Indian and British soldiers who died in WWI
- Government Buildings designed by the British, an interesting blend of eastern and western architecture
december 18
lunch at Embassy on Connaught Place with the Gatik partners.. pretty fancy.. good company and the food was perfect..
dinner at a southern indian restaurant.. at a fancy hotel, but the restaurant was modest and reasonable.. we weren't familiar with any of the food; had the waiters explain it four times; still donno, but good..
december 19
when we'd arrived in Delhi, we could smell the smog before we landed and see it down the airport corridors.. the air has veen improving since then.. today the sky is actually blue..
we are continually impressed with Gatik Ventures.. today Mr. Navin Pandey himself accompanied us to the Delhi train station.. he is personally interested in assuring we have the best possible experience in India..
december 20
hazy glimps of sunrise as the train nears varanasi..
walking around the city, it's hard not to seem unfriendly when everybody wants something..
varanasi is a pilgrimmage center for those wishing to bathe in the holy river ganges.. the riverbank is lined with ghats, which are steps used for bathing in the river.. a ghat near our hotel is being cleaned (ie excavated) for the first time since the monsoons of 1978..
december 21
boatride on the holy river ganges at dawn.. tour of temples at Varanasi and Sarnath.. see glimpses of myself in the paintings inside Jain Temple at Sarnath.. our guide Rahi is a beautiful person..
DAT recorder dies for the second time this year.. *~*%# sony *#}%" *&#@* sony *@+=*&.. however, according to hindu beliefs, by passing within the sacred city of Varanasi, my recorder has attained instant enlightenment, ending the cycle of death and rebirth..
december 22
walking along ghats, shopping.. good lunch and plenty of munchies to go from Bread of Life Bakery..
outside of a good shop in delhi, we are having trouble finding a good internet connection, let alone a place where we can connect the laptop.. seems like dozens of shops offer internet access.. however, when jen, dex and i tried logging in simultaneously at one, we basically brought down the network.. it took me a half hour to read five email messages.. jen read a couple, and dex never got logged-in.. we suspect that the entire city is sharing one connection..
got sick waiting for train for five hours in cold.. rats in first class waiting room weren't so bad after all.. amusing books for sale at station..
december 23
arrive in Agra.. many camels around town.. second consecutive hotel bathroom that gave me an electric shock..
tour of the Taj Mahal with Amar, a true lover of the Taj, "the most beautiful building in the world.. Jennifer!! stand here and look at the Taj!"!
Raj from our travel agency called to make sure everything was fine.. i'm certain everything will continue to go well, with him looking over us like a caring father.. all interested parties should most definitely contact Gatik Ventures for any and all internal travel arrangements within India.. reasonable rates.. to me, the greatest relief is having someone waiting for us at all transit points..
december 24
enjoying MTVIndia and other music channels.. interesting to compare production values of videos, like dancing ability optional..
december 25
drive to Jaipur with our wonderful driver and companion Mr. Singh.. he has been with us since the beginning, except in Varanasi.. we've grown quite attached to him and have decided that we'd like to take him home with us.. jen likes his "devilish smile.".
december 26
our guide in Jaipur, Pradeep, is very professional, personable and insightful..
elephant ride up to the Amber Fort.. most of us enjoyed it; jen survived it.. very nice fort..
the friendly folks at Gems Paradise provided internet access to me and reasonably-priced gems to the ladies..
december 27
the very kind people at Images of India allowed us to access the internet and upload our latest trip reports.. in addition, Pradeep and his family served us a delicious home-cooked meal..
december 28
drove to Delhi, flew to Chennai.. much more humid and warm in south..
december 29
our guide is Sunithi, who became the first female tour guide in India in 1955.. our agent Raj calls her the "mother of all indian tour guides.". her knowledge is without limit.. together we visited:
- Kapaleeswarar Temple
- San Thome Basilica, where the remains of doubting thomas remain
- Fort St George
- where the city was started in 1640
- including St Mary's Church (1680) where Elihu Yale of the university was married
- Kirk of St Andrew's
- a botannical garden
tried at several internet shops to upload trip reports.. no sucess, but had a good time trying..
december 30
visited Chennai Snake Park and Higginbotham's, the largest bookstore in the country..
december 31
amusing new year's eve party at Hotel Pandyan in Madurai..
january 1
in Madurai, visited Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple..
january 2
drove to Trichy in the morning, visited temples:
- Srivangam Temple - Vishnu, in process of expansion and painting, good views from roof
- Rock Fort - Ganesh, very cool, bunch of steps up a hill for sunset
january 3
day trip to Thanjavur, visited:
- Big Temple is about 1000 years old, quiet and sunny. big lingam
- palace art gallery has many old statues
january 4
drove to mamallampuram, visited carved monoliths..
january 5
in Kanchipuram visited two Pullova sandstone temples from the 7th century:
- Kailasanatha - Shiva, means "mt kaila's lord"
- Vaikunta Perumal - Vishnu, means "paradise lord"
january 9
glad to find a nice, fast internet cafe on the first try in amsterdam.. got connected easily thanks to my friend davB telling me what'swhat.. uploaded trip reports..
january 11
in amsterdam, adding more videos.. i'll add more to this diary soon..
january 13
back home in san francisco.. seems like waking from a dream.. hills outside my window are greener..
march 28
see our latest photo flipbooks..