4inindia

Going home

2008-03-02T20:54:00.000-08:00

We flew from Goa to Delhi on Feb. 26, and had one day in Delhi before we headed for the airport the evening of Feb. 27 for our flight scheduled to depart just after midnight on Feb. 28. The weather was gorgeous in Delhi, warm but not hot during the day, pleasantly cool at night. We had dinner at Sagar at the recommendation of our friend Susan, delicious South Indian Thali. We did some last minute shopping, and then headed for the airport. The Delhi airport is a model of inefficiency and misorganization. It took a full three hours to get in, have our bags x-rayed, check in, clear immigration and security. After all this, our flight was delayed an additional two hours because other passengers had not arrived early enough for all of that rigamarole. We finally took off about 3:30 AM, and arrived in Amsterdam almost two hours later than scheduled. But we still had time to take the train into the city, have some breakfast, and take a little stroll around town, even though it was quite cold. See the photo album (http://picasaweb.google.com/kasbhai/2008IndiaPics.) for some of Bea's comments on the weather and the food.

Catching up: Goa

2008-03-02T20:27:00.000-08:00

We flew from Cochin to Goa on Feb. 20, on a flight that took off and landed twice before we eventually got to Goa. It was really a puddle jumper (and had already had one previous take off and landing by the time we boarded).
We stayed at Villa Viega, which is a small guest house in the southernmost part of Goa. Goa was a Portuguese colony until 1961 (14 years after the rest of India gained independence) and has a very different culture than much of the rest of India. It has been, since at least the 1960's, a beach hangout for hippies and assorted counter culture types, as well as proculture (is that the opposite of counter culture?) more recently. The area we stayed in has developed a tourism industry only within the past 20 years.
Here is some video of Lynda, Sonia and Bea's first steps into the waves in Goa. The water, air, and beach were glorious, warm, gentle, just great. Our guest house came with a pass for the pool at the 5 star Interconinental Goa hotel, just across the street, so we swam there and at the beach. This was the first time I've ever swam in the ocean on my birthday. We had six wonderful days in Goa, hanging out at the beach, eating in waterfront restaurants, swimming on the pool, and just having a great time.

Catching up: Cochin

2008-03-02T17:24:00.001-08:00

On Feb. 15, we went from Mamallapuram to Cochin (Kochi) in Kerala, on the southwest coast of India. This was the southernmost stop on our trip, at just a bit north of 10 degrees north of the equator, well within the tropics. The intensity of the sun was noticeably stronger here. This is a fascinating area, with longstanding ties to various places around the Indian Ocean, as well as a very long established Jewish community (said to have arrived within two years of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70CE), rule by Dutch, English and Portuguese colonists at various times throughout its history, and much else. The state, Kerala, is lush and tropical, and produces much of the spice and other enticing foods which drew people from all over the globe to this part of the world. Even just in the garden of the guest house we stayed at, there were pepper, nutmeg, mango, cinammon and jackfruit growing. We did not have time to visit the hills where all these are grown commercially, along with coffee and tea. We did take a backwater tour (see photo of Sonia above), which took us through a network of canals and rivers which have been used for a long time for transportation into the agricultural interior of the lowlands of the state. We saw many birds, coconut groves (the name Kerala is derived from the word for coconut tree), coconut twine manufacturing, toddy tapping, and many other activities, on our two hour boat ride.
We also visiting the Cochin synagogue, which was built in the 1500's, but which is not nearly as old as the now almost gone Jewish community of Cochin. The synagogue is surrounded by a spice market but, unfortunately, the day we visited, there was a general strike and the market was closed. This was a major disappointment, although it demonstrated something rarely seen in the US.

Catching up: Mamallapuram

2008-03-01T19:25:00.001-08:00

We arrived very late night Feb. 12 in Mamallapuram, and awoke to a resort situated right on the Bay of Bengal, with a very nice swimming pool and easy beach access. The waters here are a little tricky, so we did not do much ocean swimming. The real attraction here is the 1000-2000 year old temples and carvings spread about this fairly small town. We were also in the south for the first time our whole trip, so the language changed (from Hindi to Tamil), and, especially, the climate. Mamallapuram is in the tropics, quite hot for us Seattle-ites. We found it was best to do our sight seeing early in the morning or late in the afternoon, which is when we visited "Arjuna's Penance" (morning), one of the most amazing bas relief carvings I have ever seen. There are several other photos of this town on our photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/kasbhai/2008IndiaPics. You may need to use the "slideshow" function to see all the pics.
This was the first place in which we were really in the tourist ghetto as well, which meant that we were also eating western food fairly often including the excellent coffee served at the French run "Nautilus" cafe.
Sonia absolutely loves swimming, to the point where she told us, as we were eating lunch at our poolside restaurant one day, the she was "demented" when she actually meant to say she was distracted.

Catching up: Varanasi

2008-03-01T19:09:00.000-08:00

Note: these posts are being written after the fact. We arrived in Benares Feb. 9. Beatrice promised gruesome details about our arrival in Benares, but I will most likely not deliver in the same detailed vein in which she would have. Suffice to to say that after our taxi driver from the train station intentionally or cluelessly confused the name "Rashmi" with "Lakshmi" we had to walk through the early morning alleyways of Benares to our hotel. Anyone who has been there before knows that it is best to avoid the alleyways (galis) until after the sweepers have been through to clean up the cow/dog/whatever waste left behind overnight. So, the bottoms our our suitcases got a little dungy (is that a word?). We did eventually arrive at our hotel, and very much enjoyed its riverside location, with a marvelous view of the river Ganga, easy access to walk up and down the ghats, and a simple trip out our second morning there to take a boat ride and observe the city from the river, which is by far the most scenic way to do so.
We also were taken to a Saraswati Puja (a ceremony honoring the goddess of music and learning) by my tabla guru, A. Ramchandra Pandit, at the home of his music partner, sitarist Goswamiji. We were there for the prayers, the offerings of food and sweets, a concert by Goswamiji's students (accompanied by Ramuji on tabla), and lunch. It was definitely a unique experience which I think the girls will not soon forget.
I also had an early morning meeting with my Hindi language guru, Virendra Singh, which we were unfortunately not able to schedule at a time when I could also introduce him to the rest of my family.
Aside from simply not leaving enough time to visit all the wonderful friends I made in Benares when I lived there in the late '80's, we had an absolutely wonderful time in Kashi, the city of light, much to the surprise of some of us.

Home in Seattle

2008-02-28T19:59:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that we arrived safely home in Seattle after what was actually close to 36 hours of travel. We'll post more about our last couple of weeks in India, and will update the photos as well. The photo with this post is of our bags lined up ready to leave the guest house in Delhi, on the way to the airport.

Goa tropical paradise

2008-02-22T06:46:00.000-08:00

We are in Goa now, sorry we haven't posted much. Not easy access to computers and very easy access to a beautiful pool and beach. We'll post more soon, but this is just a note to say that we are all having a great time.
-Keith

Now we are on vacation

2008-02-15T22:39:00.000-08:00

Sorry we have not posted more frequently. We arrived in Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu, in South India 4 days ago and have been having a wonderful time here. We've stayed in two different places with swimming pools and have had to drag Sonia out of the pool in order to do any sight seeing. And sight seeing there is here. There are marvelous rock carvings which are all at least 1300 years old, including one that is about 75 feet wide and 30 feet tall called "Arjuna's Penance" which has some of the best representations of animals, such as cows, elephants, chickens, monkeys, cats, lions and others, I have seen in India. The weather is very warm here, and we have packed away all the sweaters, jackets and jeans we were having to wear regularly up north.
We fly today to Cochin on the west coast, and spend the remainder of our time there, with the exception of the final day during which we will once again be in Delhi.
The computer access here has made photo posting difficult, but we will find a way in Cochin to post some pictures.

A special time in Varanasi

2008-02-11T23:56:00.000-08:00

Varanasi is the holy city of the Hindu religion on the banks for the Ganges river about halfway between Delhi and Calcutta. I was a student here 20 years ago. Our arrival three days ago at about 6 AM was not particularly auspicious, as our taxi driver dropped us in the wrong place and we had to wind our way through assorted alleyways which, at that hour of the morning, had not yet been cleaned from what the city's various bovine and canine occupants leave about in their wake. But it was all uphill from there. Our hotel is very nice, with a wonderful view of the River Ganga, which meant that we could see the sunrise over the river in the morning, and very small flaming devotional lamps dotting its dark surface at night. We took a boat ride on the river yesterday morning, on our way to meeting my tabla guru, Ramu-ji. Beatrice and especially Sonia absolutely adore Ramuji, and I had a wonderful time reminiscing with him and introducing him to Lynda and the girls. Sonia and Beatrice say they want to come back here and live with Ramuji. I also got to meet with my Hindi guru (teacher) Virendraji. We had to meet early in the morning, due to his teaching schedule, so unfortunately he was not able to meet Lynda or the girls. But now they all have new family members here in Varanasi, Ramuchacha (uncle) and Virendra Dada (grandfather).
We have lots of great pictures, but have not had time or the ability to post them to the photo blog yet.
We leave in about 30 minutes (it is now 1:30 PM on FEb. 12) to go to the airport to fly to Chennai via Delhi, and then take a taxi to Mamallapuram. We will not arrive there until very late tonight, probably after 1:00 AM.
A note on names: Many Indian places have more than one name, either because of differing pronunciation between speakers of different languages (India has 23 official languages) or because there really are different place names. For instance, the city from which Sonia came is Lucknow (pronounced exactly as it is spelled) but some people, including our taxi driver in Agra, pronounce it Nucklow. Similarly, though less commonly, the city we are in now is officially called Varanasi, but many locals call it Benares, and some even call it Nebares. We fly to Chennai, which used to be called Madras, and then taxi to Mamallapuram, formerly Mahabalipuram. Eventually we get to Cochin, sometimes also called Kochi. But then we are done with multiple nomenclature, as we visit Goa and Delhi. Someone please inform me if these places have new names as well.
We'll try to post pictures soon.

orphanage and going to Varanasi

2008-02-08T21:02:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, this is Bea. So we visited Sonia's orphanage in Lucknow two days in a row. The first day we got to see a member of the board of trustees and our lawyer for the adoption, both of which were there when my dad picked up Sonia. We also got to see the two women who live there and take care of the children (Didis). We talked with them for a while and gave them some pictures of Sonia over the years. After the main greetings had been made, we proceeded out to the rooftop play area. At first the kids were pretty shy around us, but they soon warmed up and were eager to play with us. They loved having our attention, and they especially liked playing "Ring around the Rosie". As you can see from this picture, they also loved being held, and at some points, there were even mini fights for attention! The next day we went back and took the main Didi, Sunita, out shopping for some needed things for the orphanage. We were happy to be able to buy them a special battery to help with power outages since the kids get scared when the lihts go out. We also bought six new cribs as their old ones were falling apart. And last of all we got a DVD player. The thing that we did the most while we were at the orphanage was EAT. They loved feeding us, especially Sonia. The food was spicy, and i ate it all! For those of you who know how Indian food is not my favorite and that I am pretty sensitive to spice, I'll have you know that this was a credible feet. Anyway, we said goodbye to Lucknow and headed to the train station to go to Varanasi. More on this later. WARNING:Do not eat anything before you read about our journey, it involves a lot of rolling our suitcases through cow poo, among other things.

~Bea

Visited the orphanage, now in Varanasi

2008-02-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

We spent the last two days in Lucknow, part of the time visiting the orphanage which took care of Sonia until she joined our family. We had a very busy, but wonderful visit with them. i'll leave it to Beatrice or Lynda to give some more detail, but suffice it to say that the visit was well worth the effort to make it.
sorry we haven't been posting more regularly, but now we will probably have better computer access and may be able to post. not sure about updating the picture album.
The next post will be from Beatrice and she''ll have more to say about Lucknow and especially about our trip to Varanasi and our pleasant stroll to the hotel.
Best,
Keith

Photo Album

2008-02-03T17:39:00.001-08:00

OK, photos are not working very well on the blog, so we've crfeated an online album. Its at http://picasaweb.google.com/kasbhai/2008IndiaPics. And if you are wondering where we are, remember to refer to our map below. We are in Delhi right now, stop #1 on the map.
More posts later.
-Keith

Arrival and First Day in Delhi

2008-02-03T06:34:00.000-08:00

After only about 26 hours of travel time door to door (thanks for the ride to the airport, Mike!) we made it to our hotel, the Shree Nanak, at about 1 AM local time on Sunday. Part of teh duration was simply waiting to deboard once we had landed in Delhi, as we were in row 68(!) so had a lot people to wait for before we could schlepp down the aisle.
The Hotel Shree Nanak is fine, even if the neighborhood is a bit noisy. Its a convenient location if you happen to need an alternator or some seat covers for your car, though, as it is surrounded by auto parts stores. We were worried that we would not be able to sleep as it was mid-afternoon in Seattle and we thought maybe our body clocks had not yet adjusted, but we zonked out right after we took this picture.
Today, after a delicious breakfast in the hotel restaurant, we hired a driver and went out to sight see and shop. We saw the Qutb Minar, which is the tallest stone tower in India, and was built between the late 1100's and mid 1300's. There is also one of the oldest mosque sites in India there, which was constructed from pieces from 27 Hindu and Jain temples.
We also went to the World Book Fair (checking out a little Jen and Jameel history) and the capital grounds, including Parliament House and President's House. More pics in the next post.
-Keith

2008-02-01T00:11:00.000-08:00

It is the night before our departure and we are staying up late in the hopes that we'll be able to sleep on the first leg of our journey tomorrow from Seattle to Amsterdam.
Where are we going? Glad you asked. Here is a map of India showing our planned stops. (Click on the map for a larger image).

1. Delhi
2. Lucknow
3. Varanasi
4. Mahabalipuram
5. Cochin
6. Goa
and then back to Delhi.

We may refer to this map again (we may even post it again) so don't forget it!
-Keith

Last minute details

2008-01-28T20:37:00.000-08:00

We leave on Friday, Feb. 1, 2008, for a 4 week trip to India. This is the first time for Beatrice, in effect the first time for Sonia (she remembers nothing from her early life), and repeats for me and Lynda. We're going to too many places - Delhi, Agra, Lucknow, Varanasi, Mahabalipuram, Kochi, Goa, back to Delhi. We'll try to post here somewhat regularly, and all 4 of us will post at some point.
-Keith