journeywithmadonna

…….and I have no idea why but the post on Mumbai and Cochi was dated in January and is now the very first blog of the trip.   So you have to scroll down and it will look as if it’s the first blog I did just before the blog ‘India’.  All I know is that the internet cut out as I was posting today, Feb. 23, but somewhere we lost a month or so……go figure!

We travelled to Udaipur by car and our driver, Aziz, was also the same driver we had the previous two days as he brought us into the desert, spent the night and then brought us back to Jodhpur and on the third day to Udaipur.   So glad we had him, even though his English wasn’t great,  because he was so calm behind the wheel in this crazy traffic and terrible roads.   Our trip took about nine hours as we had a couple of stops along the way and a short lunch.  Our first stop was in Rankapur to visit the Jain Temple built in 1439, actually that was the year the building started – not sure when it was finished.  All the carvings are from milk white marble and it truly was something to see.

Jain Temple in the middle of nowhere……built in the 15th century

The picture on the left was where we stopped for lunch at a resort and the one on the right is the famous Fort  Kumbalgarh built around 500 years ago and it has 360 temples,  all of which we did not visit!  The stone fence was 36 kms long and we had quite the hike to reach the top.  An couple of hours later we arrived in Udaipur, approximate population over 600,000.  It was highly recommended as one of the neatest places to stay in India so we all agreed to adding it to the list……and so glad we did!  Tourism is quite big here, as is agriculture, but the handicraft and  cottage industries are becoming increasingly important to the economy.  In 2009 it was voted the best city in the world by Travel and Leisure magazine and is known as a favourite wedding destination not only for Indian nationals but foreign nationals as well.  We did experience a couple of wedding celebrations in terms of the noisy music, the parade, and groom on the horse right outside our hotel…..India is indeed the noisiest place in the world!   They do have a lot of fun, however, when celebrating and picture below isn’t great but just put on some loud Indian music as you look at it and you will get the idea……..if you don’t have Indian music just play some rap music that you hate very loudly………and oh yeah, dance!!!

Indian wedding parade with loud music and people dancing in the circle – they do have fun!

Of course while here we had to visit another palace, The City Palace, which was monstrous and glorious and also the local museum.  The truth is I am getting tired of visiting palaces, forts and temples and have all the info scrambled into my brain and no longer can distinguish one from the other in terms of information stored – and we’re not even half done!   And Sri Lanka is still to come!

We’re like rock stars here! Can’t count how many times people come up and ask you if they can have their picture taken with you – on this occasion it was a whole class who were also visiting the city Palace

On our second day in Udaipur we took a well-deserved break from forts, palaces and temples and decided to walk around Fateh Sagar Lake which was fabulous, reasonably quiet and took us three hours.

A camel joined us for part of our walk

Another request for a picture-happy to oblige!

Jim and Yves cooling off in our Hotel Lavitra pool after our walk around the lake – Dawn and I were as well but decided to share a cool one on the roof top patio from where I took the picture

Udaipur has been great and we truly have enjoyed our stay here!  It’s been the cleanest city yet and you can actually walk around without looking at your feet, in fear of stepping on something dropped by a cow, dog, pig, sheep, etc.  We’ve had good food generally, and sometimes excellent food, and so far no intestinal problems, thank the Lord!   We’ve been pretty cautious with what we ate and drank and the plan is to continue with this as it’s been working so far.  The weather has been excellent and  not too hot although this will change as we’re headed further south.  It hasn’t rained since we’ve been here and that’s not a good thing but typical.   When we were in Jaisalmer the hotel owner told us it rains approximately fifteen minutes a year – yes, a year!   Water is pumped in from Delhi and while we were checking out of our hotel the water truck arrived – as you can imagine water is at a premium and often hot water is available only early mornings and early evenings so showers have to be planned!

Time to say goodbye to Udaipur and Aziz who will drop us off at the airport as we head to Mumbai for a couple of days – wonder what excitement awaits us there!

Aziz taking us to the airport as we head to Mumbai – what a super young man he is – and a hard worker!

All dressed up for our last dinner date in Udaipur

Jaisalmer sunset at our hotel, Mystic Jaisalmer,  and supper at the hotel rooftop restaurant

Another rooftop supper and sunset…….great food!

What a treat – we arrived in Jaisalmer ahead of schedule!   This ‘golden city’, with a population of approximately 70,000, is our favorite yet.  It is known as the golden city because of the many havelis, ie.mansions, made out of golden sandstone and absolutely amazing architecture.  We arrived mid day and spent the afternoon wandering around, visiting the man made lake and returning to our hotel for cocktails, i.e. Beer, and supper.

On day two we woke up to a great breakfast, toured around the market and made our way to Fort Jain Temple which of course was exquisite!   Hopefully the pictures below will show its beauty; I added one each of Dawn and I just in case.

Fort Jain Temple, Jaisalmer

Next stop, the Thar Dessert, where we slept in tents and had a camel ride – this of course has been a highlight!   It’s actually a little scary because once you get on the camel and they stand up you realize how high up you are with nothing really to hold on to……..well Jim’ s shoulders and praying he doesn’t fall off.  We were taken out to another part of the dessert, dismounted for the sunset, and then back on for the journey back to the tent.  Never thought I would actually do this and so glad I did…….now that it’s over!   It was a quiet night at our tent as we were the only guests so we sat around a fire, enjoyed live traditional Indian music and danced, yes us too!  Then a great supper and crashed in our tent underneath the stars……..life is good!

Camel ride was awesome………even though I was scared to death!

Sunset in the Thar desert

Ready to leave and move to Udaipur which we hear is one of the neatest places in Rajastan……….going by car and driver!

Hey that wasn’t so bad!   Finally we’re starting to leave our North American Values (from hereon our NAVs) behind because the train left 15 mins late and we arrived only 35 mins behind schedule.   It’s like when we go to our doctor’s office and if he sees us within 45 minutes of our appointment time we think he’s on time.   This train ride was great and of course it was during the day so we did get to see a little of the countryside and once again met a few interesting people. Jodhpur is Rajasthan’s second largest city, population over a million, and is set in the Thar Dessert.    It is often referred to as the Sun City because of the sunny weather it enjoys all year round and sometimes the Blue City because of the blue colors decorating many of the houses in the old city which is bound by walls and gates.  Here handicrafts is the biggest industry with textiles, glass bangles, cutlery, carpets and marble products being part of a vibrant cottage industry.  This is followed closely by tourism.  Jodhpur lies about 250 kms from the Pakistan border so it is also here that you will find the Indian army, Indian Air Force and Border Security.  Unfortunately our hotel, Hotel Madhuram Royal(not that royal) is out of the main city which is both a curse and a treat.   It’s quiet at night for sleeping but is a half hour tuktuk ride into the old city and onc again crazy traffic as you get close to the city.

Jodhpur clock tower and massive market

Although Jim would probably disagree I don’t really enjoy shopping much, but really like to browse and check things out.   In India that is a nightmare!  As soon as you stop to look at something several vendors descend on you and if you happen to touch anything then vendors come from adjoining stalls to pull you into theirs.   No way do they take “no thank you” for an answer and keep saying “make me happy mam”, “good price for you mam”, “cheapest in India mam”,  “my family make this man” and so on.   At first it’s a little humorous but wears thin very quickly.  However there are a few things I do want to purchase so am looking occasionally and trying to be patient and enjoy the experience.    Also wandering the streets makes you hungry as there’s so much street food that we have been avoiding every day…………except today that is!   Delicious it was and hopefully we won’t pay a price for that later.

Today we decided to visit Jodhpur’s famous Mehrangarh Fort, 1459 A.D.   At first my thought was “Oh God, not another Fort” but I didn’t say this out loud and glad I didn’t because it was the best one yet.  Once again I won’t bore you with lots of details as I know how you like to google, but basically the foundation for this Fort was laid in 1459 by Rao Jodha and became one of the mightiest forts of all time.   It was magnificent as the pictures below probably won’t show and we wandered around for over three hours.

Jim showing us all how to take a selfie!

The two pictures following Jim’s selfie demonstration were taken inside the fort.  The picture of the two young men was taken after we took a little time out of our crazy day to do a music meditation, which was wonderful, and the bottom picture shows why Jodhpur is called the blue city.

Rather than go back to our out of town hotel we decided to go for an early supper at one of the very well recognized rooftop restaurants in Jodphur called Indique……and so glad we did.   We started with beer and appetizers of course as by the time we got there we had been on our feet for six hours and had not eaten much.   Our waiter was in no rush to hurry us through as we were early and the place was not busy.  This was followed by lamb and chicken curries, always with rice and naan, and we all agreed it was the best we’ve had since coming to India.  From here we were able to take a picture of the sunset.

Sun setting over Jodhpur

Following sunset and a short walk we returned by Tuktuk to our hotel where there was an Indian wedding taking place the following day.   But on this day it was the bride’s party and the place was all decorated for the party and the wedding.   Given that we were the only people in the hotel who were not there for the wedding and who stood out like a sore thumb we were quickly put on the invitation list. We had to refuse not only because we had just eaten dinner but also because we once again had an early morning train.  Oh yeah, slow learners we are!  We had learned through our browsing through the stores that they don’t take NO for an answer very easily and the same is true when you’re invited to a wedding celebration.   So off the four of us go to the downstairs party where the bride was being presented with her many saris, money and gifts.   The groom and family do not come to this event and all were to arrive the following day.  The bride’s cousin was the young woman who invited us, stayed with us and ensured we had a drink – mineral water/no booze and tried to get us to attend the dinner and dance which we refused after much pressure.  She was an absolute delight as were the others who were interested in our joy at witnessing the celebration.  A few pictures to show the fun!  The young woman sitting next to Dawn in the pictures is the “bride’s sister’s cousin” which would make her the bride’s cousin we thought, but she kept referring to herself as “the bride’s sister’s cousin”  so we were a little confused – what else is new as we’re in India after all!

Dawn and Yves at the bride’s party the night before the wedding

Bride’s sister’s cousin!

Next stop, Jaisalmer,  and hoping our train is on time tomorrow!

Oh, what a night!

To the tune of John Lennon’s “So this is Christmas”

So this is India, what have we done     Another day over, and a new one has begun

And so this is India, we’re still on the train      If we don’t get off soon, we’ll all go insane!

This is what happens to you when you become delirious and start to have strange things pop into your head in the middle of the night…..and JohnLennon’s Christmas song popped into mine as we so very, very, very slowly moved along the track.  Our train from Varanasi to Agra was to leave at 9:50am but was delayed until 1pm, then 2:30, then 4:00 and we left at 4:45 for our 8  1/2 hour train ride.  Before we left Canada we decided not to ride the night train but guess what?   Yup, we’re on the night train………..and for the whole night as the train ride didn’t end until 10am the following morning……..hence Oh, what a night!   Or more accurately “Oh, what a day” as it was 24 1/2 hours.   Fortunately we brought some food with us – bread, cheese, rice,  oranges and bananas and we ate pretty well everything.   We also had a few beer but drinking is very frowned upon so we didn’t dare bring them out as to be thrown off the train would have made this a real nightmare.  All in all it wasn’t too bad as it was air conditioned but a little noisy as people were constantly on their cell phones.  This meant  you heard all the different ring tones and conversations which meant nothing,  as well as the young boy going every five minutes with “coffee, chai, chai, coffee, coffee, chai” and on and on and on.   We were able to catch a little sleep, on and off, as there were berths that you could climb up to and although initially we thought “no way” as we became more tired and they passed out clean sheets up we went!  We got off exhausted, were picked up by the driver who brought us to the hotel, Siris 18, ate a quick breakfast, had a shower and were taken to the Taj Mahal and all of a sudden  it seemed like the train ride never happened……well kind of!

Taj Mahal made it all worthwhile

Agra, also known as the city of Taj, is home to the Taj Mahal, the mausoleum built for the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan’s wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth in 1631 giving birth to their 14th child.  It is another big city with a population of approximately 1.3 million people and a major tourist destination because of many Mughal-era buildings, mainly the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri – all three are UNESCO world heritage sites. It is also part of what is known as the Golden Triangle which also includes Delhi and Jaipur and for many tourists the Golden Triangle is the reason they visit India and where the tour begins and ends.  We had a wonderful tour guide, Javid, who was Muslim, and he was a fountain of information which I won’t type here but you can easily google the Taj for all the info especially the Mughal era.   He told us that on the weekends there are 50,000 visitors a day and of course security is extremely tight because of threats from extremists –   basically he said extremists are everywhere and not just in America and Europe.  We were saying after he left us that we learned so much from him and what a bright young man he was and very up on current affairs.   He expressed concern about the new US president and also was quick to point out that Canada was first to stand up to welcome……..and also mentioned about the Seattle judge who blocked  Trump’s request.  We had a long conversation about the many challenges India faces with pollution, poverty, lack of supports and how difficult it is due to so many people, many of whom are uneducated.  With young people like Javid, who’s about to be married,  one does get a sense of hope.  Anyway off we went to the next monument, the Baby Taj, which was built before the Taj Mahal and some of the architectural

Baby Taj

features used in the Taj were taken from there.

Next stop the Red Fort which was started around the 10th century and was added onto by different dynasties right up until the 17th century if I remember correctly.  It was 2.5 square kilometers but we could only visit 25% and every bit was amazing as he told us the history, how royalty lived and once again explained the architecture.

Marble is translucent so when sun shines this is how it looks – absolutely beautiful

The Red Fort

The next day we set off for Fatehpur Sikri, which was about an hours drive from Agra and we stopped here  on our way to JAIPUR.  It was once made the capital by King Forgot His Name and it lasted as a capital for 16 years until they ran out of water and then moved back to Agra.   In the meantime he and the Queens lived there and as our previous guide said the Kings loved the letter W -why we asked being good tourists?  Women, Wine and Wealth…….and he laughed!

Fatehpur Sikri

And so we continued, and fortunately not by train…….this time with car and driver as we headed to Jaipur in Rajasthan.  Agra was amazing with the highlight being the Taj Mahal and once again the people with their never-ending smile.

JAIPUR – Our drive to Jaipur was excellent with our very experienced driver in an air conditioned new van – life is good!  Once we got into this city of over three million he did have trouble finding our hotel, Whispering Palms, but did find an ATM after several tries(more about that later) and a beer store and we checked in around 6:30.  We also bought our first bottle of wine, a merlot from India and think it will be our last.  It wasn’t so bad that we couldn’t drink it but not good enough to try again – back to beer!  Jaipur is the largest city in Rajasthan with a population of over three million, is part of the Golden Triangle and is about 260km from New Delhi.  The economy of Jaipur is based largely on tourism, the manufacturing of jewelry and textiles, gemstone cutting and information technology.  It is also known as the pink city, the old part, because the color pink denotes hospitality.  In 1876 the Prince of Wales and Queen Victoria visited on a tour and the whole city was painted pink to welcome them and hence the name ‘pink city’- actually it looks a little orange today but no doubt was extremely beautiful back in the day!     Here we visited the museum, the astronomy center and Hawa Mahal which is a palace with a high screen wall so that the royal women could observe festivities but would not be seen by the performers.

Lunch on the patio across from Hawa Mahal

For our tour of the palace and observatory we had another wonderful guide whose name was Raj.   He spoke so fast we couldn’t believe it and had to pay very close attention.  When I mentioned this to Dawn her response was “now you know what we’ve put up with over the years listening to you!”  He was very passionate about the observatory in particular and said he’s been fascinated with this since he was a boy.   At one point he asked us our birth dates to figure out our astrological signs  and I told him I used to be a libra – he looked at me strangely for just a moment and said “and what are you now?” I told him Scorpio and he rambled on a bit about that sign.  I thought he didn’t understand that my mother had mixed up my birthdate until later when we were walking he said “I am one of six and when I asked my mother my birthdate she said I was born in the rainy season”.  We had a great laugh and I thought being off by only four days was not a big deal at all!

Raj explaining the sun, moon and stars to his Canadian students – he was super interesting!

Another great day, a couple of good meals and hopefully a good sleep as we have to be up at five to catch the 6am train to Jodhpur…………what have we done?????  More to follow!

Dawn and I at  Jama Masjid Mosque in Delhi

Jama Masjid Mosque – Delhi

Humajun’s tomb – Delhi

When we were planning our trip to India we all agreed that Varanasi, the spiritual capital of India located on the banks of the Ganges, was a must.  It has approximately 23,000 temples and just over a million people and has been a cultural centre of Northern India for thousands of years.   Hindus believe that death in Varanasi will bring salvation and this makes it very popular as a place of pilgrimage. There are about 84 ghats which are embankments that are made in steps of stone slabs and run along the river bank. Most of these ghats are used for bathing by pilgrims and a spiritually significant Hindu ceremony called puja – a few are used exclusively as Hindu cremation sites.  Silk weaving is the biggest industry in Varanasi and this is followed by tourism.  Our flight from Delhi, although delayed for an hour, was great and it is worth noting that Delhi airport has been named the #1 airport in the world three years in a row – it was a neat haven from super busy Delhi.  Flying out of Delhi and into Varanasi was awful as we came out of, and later into, the smog – reminded me of flying into Newfoundland except there it was fog.  It is quite the problem here and just horrible breathing in the air.  Our trip from the airport to our hotel took over two hours because of traffic which seemed to be worse than Delhi.   Lots of construction as Prime Minister Modhi has promised new roads to the airport and it has begun and looks like it will take forever.  Once again the people are patient as they manoeuvre their way along narrow streets built for two way traffic with two cars and in actuality it’s two way with several cars, trucks, tuktuks…….you get the nightmarish picture!  But our driver was amazing and got us to our hotel, actually more of a guest house called The Yoga House, without any major incident.  It is right on the banks of the Ganges, the third floor of an  open air building with rooms to the side.   Very basic, super thin towel each, no toiletries, small kitchen from which they make breakfast or a quick snack but once again very clean and a few wonderful and polite staff.  Got there late and were very tired so we crashed early and then it began – the music, but I will rant about that later as there are too many important things to tell you.

View from The Yoga House -can you see the buffalo?

We thought Delhi was crazy for the business and the noise and felt because Varanasi was so much smaller, with only a million plus people vs. almost 25 million, that it would be less so.   However, this was not the case because the traffic, the noise, the people on the street along with the cows and dogs, almost drove us crazy!  It might be the spiritual capital of India but it also must be the noisy capital as well.  Having said that it was an experience we will never forget and once again are in awe of how the people live with so little and yet always there’s a smile and they are so polite.  The pictures will never capture the energy and  the emotion but I will post some nonetheless.  We took both a morning and an evening boatride on the Ganges for different events.   The morning boat ride was to see all the ghats from the water and observe people bathing in what they believe is holy and unpolluted water.  People watching is a past time here as kids and teenagers play cricket, hundreds of people bathing, many washing clothes and hanging them on the steps or whatever they can hang them on to dry.  Others are washing their buffaloes, selling flowers, offering blessings, doing yoga and the list goes on.  In addition to all of this there are the cremations that take place in the burning ghats and very much in public – about 80 per day.  You can see the funeral procession, only men, carrying the body wrapped in very colorful shrouds to the water and they dip the body in the Ganges for spiritual healing and then they unwrap it down to the white shroud, I believe, and place it on the wood fire for cremation.  Not sure how much this costs but if you’re very poor there is also an electric cremation that is a lot cheaper and in both cases the ashes are thrown in the Ganges.   It was quite the site to see as we witnessed a couple and our tour guide explained the importance and significance of the ceremony.  Basically by dying here you are offered liberation from the cycle of birth and death making Varanasi the center of the Hindu universe.

Ganga River

Our driver…hard work

Witnessing cremation

Dawn and Yves

Jim on the Ganga

The evening boat  ride is all about the river worship ceremony, known as Ganga aarti, where boatloads of people come to watch the show and listen to the music.  The ghats are also crowded but watching it from the river was quite spectacular with the whole event taking about 2 1/2 hours including boat rides to and from our accommodation which, as I think I mentioned, is next to the Assi Ghat.  All the boats were pulled together and attached to each other as you sat and watched – there were hundreds of people on the water and it dismantled in a very orderly fashion.

Ganga celebration called Ganga Aarti

We also walked the Ghats to and from The Yoga House and this was a different experience as well as you mingled with a few tourists but mostly local people bathing in the Ganges, selling their wares, playing crickets, or just people watching as well.   And of course there’s the street beggars and mothers and children who follow you around asking for money and although this is very sad it is also emotionally draining because there is no end………I have hardened, sad to say.

Everyone welcomed on the ghats

Picture doesn’t capture the steepness of the ghat steps but our thighs did

We also wandered through some of the narrow side streets to get away from the cars, cows, dogs, dung, tuktuks, buffaloes, etc. but those motorcycles and buffalo go everywhere so finding a relaxing place to walk is pretty difficult.

Walking the streets

Fortunately I am not a person who gets headaches and I feel bad for those who do because in this city it’s difficult to find a quiet space.   However I think it was worse when we were there because of a festival that was going on from Feb. 1-3 which brings me back to my earlier comment about the music and our accommodation.  When we picked The Yoga House for a place to stay it was appealing not only because it was on the Ganges but also because it was described as a quiet place to come back to after a hectic and noisey day touring the city or the Ghats.  Also they offered yoga and of course I was looking forward to this during my stay in Varanasi.  Due to the festival, however, a temporary music center was put up just outside our accommodation and if you can imagine Indian music that you don’t like or understand being played the loudest you’ve ever heard from 7am-11pm daily then that’s what we had.  Sleep was almost impossible if you went to bed before 11pm, which is not difficult when you are on the go all day, and at 7am if you weren’t already awake then that’s what you woke up to.   I thought I was going to go mad and because no one had mentioned this in the reviews I thought it must be something new and that’s when the young man who runs the place told me there was a festival which ended at 11pm the night before we left.  In addition there was no yoga offered which I assume was also due to the distracting music.  Anyway such is life – you win some, you lose some.   We totally enjoyed our stay overall because Varanasi is like nothing else we’ll ever experience again I am sure…….but as usual ready to move on to Agra and the Taj Mahal and  our first India train experience.  Here’s hoping the notoriously late train is on time!

At least that’s what I think it is! For some reason I can no longer download pictures because, we believe, the system is too slow so will try again at our next location………..if we ever get there! We were just notified that our 9:50 am train is delayed until 3:30pm which means arriving in the middle of the night – long day ahead. India is indeed a place where you have to go with the flow and practice mindful acceptance!

“Why India?”someone recently asked and it took me a little while to answer.  However I do remember when I first put it on my bucket list although I think it’s always been on Jim’s, but then what isn’t?  During the 1990’s one of the books we had to read in a book club I belonged to was A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, and although I don’t remember the story that well all these years later, I remember finding it fascinating and thought maybe one of these days I/we would go to India. The reason it took us this long to go there is partly because of our travelling companions on this trip, Dawn and Yves, as they kept saying “wait for us, we’ll go there when we retire” – and that took a little longer than we thought. But in the fall of 2016 they both retired and we were already well on our way to planning our trip and today we’re off! Actually they’re already there as they left yesterday and we’re sitting at the airport in Toronto awaiting our plane and the 14 hour trip ahead – exhaustion is setting in as I type!  However to kill some time I thought I would tell you a little about India and what we have to look forward to.  I will not, however, during this blog be writing about the history of India as it way too vast but if you’re interested at all just google it as there is so much information available.
India is the world’s largest, and oldest, continuous civilization and is the world’s largest democracy.  It is the second most populated country in the world(China is first) with nearly a fifth of the world’s population, about 1.3 billion.  It is known as the land of spirituality and philosophy and 80% of Indians are Hindus – other religions include Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and Judaism.  India got its independence from Britain in 1947 and up until the time of British rule it was one of the richest countries in the world.  The number system was invented in India, as was chess,  it has the second largest pool of scientists and engineers in the world and is the largest English speaking nation.  India also has the largest number of post offices, has the highest bridge(Baily Bridge) and is home to the world’s largest religious pilgrimage destination – Vishnu Temple in Tirupathi.  Martial arts were created in India and spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.    It is also interesting to note that Indian Railways is one of the largest employers in the world with over a million employees!   And last, but not least, is the fact that yoga has its origins in India.

So those are some of the reasons we are going to India as truly it sounds quite fascinating and then, of course, there’s the food and the weather both of which we are so looking forward to…………and so glad to be leaving behind winter in Canada!   The weather in India this time of year is usually quite warm and from what we’ve read we anticipate that we will be dealing with high teens/ low 20’s in the north, with some rain, and as we go south it will climb to low/mid 30’s.   Packing was a bit of a challenge as we’re taking backpacks, have to be prepared for rain, good walking shoes and sandals and enough clothes for six weeks – mostly light weight stuff so not going over the maximum weight for carry-on was easy.

People around me are starting to stir and I see the Air Canada agent at the counter so I better wrap things up and gather my belongings together.  From what I can see this is going to be a packed plane as the place is blocked, mainly with Indians, many families, loads of people in wheelchairs, and many others much more elderly than us.  Not really sure what to expect in India with regard to wifi as I have read lots of conflicting info about internet availability and many negatives about the electrical system and how it can blow your iPad, computer or iphone.   This, of course, means if my iPad gets blown early on then this first blog might be the last blog – gotta wait and see.  Hoping to get some sleep on the plane so that when we arrive in Delhi 15 hours from now I will be able to fight off all the people that I have been told swarm you as you leave the airport!!!!   So excited, anxious and tired – where’s that melatonin?

(16 hours later)    Holy crap – Tidnish to Delhi, why wouldn’t I expect to be shocked?   First of all there’s the crowds and although it’s close to midnight it looks as if it is the middle of the day with people everywhere, noise and traffic all over the place.  Fortunately we had the foresight to arrange to be picked up at the airport and brought to our hotel……But so did everyone else!  There were signs everywhere with names on them, so many that when you looked you couldn’t even read them for the chaos and the haze.   We had to check a few times before we saw Mr. James Murdoch and of course I was looking for my name forgetting that we were in India.   Once we met our driver we got a second wind and we sure did need it as the drive out of the airport was bumper to bumper, four lanes wide and crrrrrrrazzzzzy………even at midnight!   Eyes wide open as we drove for about 40 minutes with traffic that never let up, cars, tuk tuks, horse and wagons, bikes……you name it, we saw it.   Finally the driver started to slow down a little and I can see out the window and know that we’re in the slums and the noise continues. At this point I started to pray “Oh Lord don’t let him stop here, please don’t let him stop” and he carried on for a little bit longer and then happily said “we’re here” and I thought Oh God, what are we in for?   Up the steps of the Sunstar  Heritage Hotel we go, welcomed by the concierge who opened the door into this wonderful little lobby which was spectacularly clean, and I then let out a sigh of relief.   Next thing you know the door opened and out come Dawn and Yves with big smiles on their faces to welcome us as well as they had asked for a wake up call when we arrived.  Check in was swift and of course we had a nightcap in our very clean room with a wonderful bathroom………and I thought this is going to be OK.  Before too long we crashed and agreed to meet for breakfast to plan our day.

Morning came much too quickly and shortly after breakfast we were off to meet our Tuk tuk drivers who, as it turned out, were our transportation for the next two days.  Most of the time I was holding on pretty tight but it’s amazing how you come to trust the youngster behind the wheel as they both were in their early twenties.  Dawn compared the driving to bumper cars as everyone was  constantly changing positions, looking to be in first place but unfortunately so were the thousands of cars, school and tour buses, transport trucks, motorbikes, bicycles and rickshaw drivers.  It was absolutely amazing and by day two I became a little more comfortable.  Our 23 year old driver, when he heard Dawn and Yves were from BC, said his friend lived in Vancouver and then laughed because he said his friend told him you had to drive between the lines there – clearly not the case in India, and he laughed again.  We didn’t do a lot of street walking in Delhi because of how unsafe we felt, and because it was not safe!  For those of you who have been here, or other places in Asia, then you know how crazy it can be.   Just imagine that by ten times, with no exaggeration!!  Old Delhi was both amazing and scary at the same time and it was here that we visited Jama Masjid Mosque which is India’s largest and can hold up to 25,000 people. .  

Above – View of Old Delhi from Mosque   Below – an electrician’s nightmare; if you look closely you will see the monkey on the wires

Bahai house of worship designed by Iranian-Canadian architect named Shaba in 1986

Gotta be young to drive the streets of Delhi in. Tuktuk…….or an army truck

Above – captivating view from our rooftop terrace

Having  said all that, touring around the city by tuk tuk sure opened our eyes to the city of Delhi, how some people live, the poverty, the filth, the constant noise and at times the beauty of the tree lined boulevards, the parks, the gardens and as Jim pointed out it is a city of contrasts.  From our brief observations the people did not seemed to be stressed, nobody curses/swears when they are cut off in traffic , which is constant – they simply honk their horn and get on with it.  Some of the places we wanted to see we couldn’t because they were closed on Mondays and our Tuesday was already full so we did what we could.   Delhi is an unbelievable city and we all agreed we are so glad we came but I, and I think the others, are so ready to leave.   Our accommodation was great and the people so far have been wonderful as has the food.  Headed to Varanasi next so will touch base from there and hope internet service improves as it’s been difficult to connect at times and hard to download pictures…….but hey life goes on and already this place makes me realize I’ve got nothing to complain about.

The flight to Mumbai was uneventful, thank the Lord, and as soon as we stepped off the plane we were hit with the heat………at least I was!   34 degrees and we’re grateful that our Hotel Emerald was just around the corner from this fabulous beach with a great breeze.   We weren’t walking for long when we came upon many people enjoying the sand and the water which our guidebook described as toxic and our cab driver told us not to go into because of skin disease – needless to say we didn’t!  The beach was fairly clean and went on for 7km so we walked a couple and then returned via a very busy street – back to the city and the honking horns!    Mumbai, known as Bombay until 1995, is India’s largest city with  a population of over 18 million,  is the entertainment capital of India as well as the financial and commercial capital.  It is also reported to be the wealthiest city in India and has the highest number of billionaires and millionaires and yet by some estimates 40% of its population live in slums……..mind you some of those slums have satellite dishes.   While walking along the beach we were approached by several little children about 3-4 years old who seemed to be on their own.  They would run up to us, tag on our clothes, hold their hands out and be very persistent – very difficult to ignore but if you didn’t you would be bombarded by many and the government asks you not to give money so as to discourage begging.   No child protection services here it seems!   Right, I was working on leaving those NAVs behind………pretty difficult at times like these.

Our hotel is in north Mumbai so we decided to take a taxi into south Mumbai as that’s where the historical sites are and I guess where all the tourists hang out.   We didn’t really want to hang with the tourists but we didn’t want to miss anything either.  While in India we have mainly used tuktuks to get around the city as they are so cheap and convenient.  However when I heard it was going to be 35degrees and about an hour and a half drive to India Gate that threw the tuktuk idea out the window and an air conditioned taxi it was………no one argued!   We spent about four hours wandering the sites with Jim as our tour guide or as our absent travelling companion, Marilyn, calls him ‘mapman’.  We couldn’t find a map of the area so he used Yves Lonely Planet guide and sketched a rough draft of where we were hoping to go.    Overall it worked out pretty good with him and Yves consulting with each other and the guidebook, asking people on the street and getting many bobble-head answers.   We spent a little while chatting it up with a 77 year old woman who was on her way to catch the bus to visit her 92 year old sister.   She was delightful, had been to Montreal, Toronto and the USA and still had family in Florida but was hoping they’d leave due to the new US president.   She was pretty sharp, was a volunteer with the police department and warned us to keep our belongings close to us at all times.  When I asked her what she did to keep herself so spry she said yoga, tai chi, helping others and eating right – too bad she had to take off for the bus because I am sure she would have added chocolate and red wine!  Anyway here’s a few pictures of our ‘taste of Mumbai’.

India Gate, Mumbai

The last three pictures are of the old railway station – what a beautiful building!  Time to say good-bye to Mumbai, which we totally enjoyed, and that was quite a pleasant surprise.  On the way to the airport there was a lot of traffic and we noticed that there was a backpack in the middle of the road that everyone was swerving around but no one was stopping  to pick it up and move it.  Someone said out loud “Oh no, must have fell out of a tuktuk” to which our driver responded “dangerous to pick it up” because in the very same area a while back a bomb was planted by terrorists and killed many people so no one ever picks up packages, or stray knapsacks, that are not theirs.  He said since then security has tightened up everywhere and not to worry, so I won’t but we’re outta here and looking forward to our next stop, Kochi/Cochin which is a 2 1/2 plane ride away.

KOCHI, or Cochin, is in the state of Kerala and has a population of around 600,000.   It is known as the Queen of the Arabian Sea because of its history of spice trading so hoping to update my spice cabinet while we’re here.  We actually stayed in Fort Kochi(Ballard Bungalows) which was very close to the Chinese fishing nets which are a real draw for tourists…….that’s us!

They invite you to try to pull the nets – it took two of them but four of us and NO fish

Once you get past the activity around the fishing nets there’s a great beach walk with a wonderful breeze and I truly wanted to hang out here all day as it is terribly hot, 35 degrees, which Jim loves but not this old Newfie broad  who’s used to the breeze with no heat.   Anyway I think of the snow and know I’ll be OK.  After a wonderful day touring around we decided to attend a cultural event which was called Kathakali – traditional Indian art form.  It began at 5pm and for an hour we watched the three main characters put on their makeup, then another character explained to us in hard to understand English about how the communication would be non-verbal using mainly eye movements and facial expressions.   It was basically a romantic tale – bad guy, good guy and the girl!   Like everything in India timing was an issue – we were told it started at 5pm and would be over around 6:30.    Not the case, however, and it didn’t end until 7:30 so it was a little long but overall quite enjoyable.  As you can see the make up was fabulous and apparently only coconut oil and vegetable/fruit products were used.

The good guy who saved the day

 The bad guy and the princess

I work daily to leave those old NAVs behind but with regard to yoga this has been very difficult……..but I shake it off quickly and remind myself where we are.  As I mentioned earlier in the blog one of the reasons we booked accommodation in Varanasi at the Yoga House was because they had daily yoga.  However due to a festival and horrendously loud music playing right outside from 7am to 11pm it was cancelled while we were there.  Disappointed, yes, but no big deal as there would be loads of other opportunities.   Another of our hotels also offered daily yoga so thought I would wait until then rather than trying to find yoga classes down long, dark allies.   But guess what?  As soon as we arrived I asked what time yoga was only to be told that the yoga teacher’s visa expired and she had to leave the country to renew it.   Interesting to note she was from Canada and had come to India 20 years ago, fell in love with it and decided to stay but always has to leave India and go to another country for visa renewal.  She was to return the day after we left!  No worries, next stop, although there was no yoga offered at this hotel but there was down the street so off I go but nope teacher not available, not sure why!  Now I am beginning to think yoga classes in India, for me at least, might not happen.   While we’re in India my sister, Wilhelmina, and her husband Michael are in South Africa on a safari hunting wild animals(with their eyes, not guns) and I feel as if I’m in India on a yoga class hunt.  But wait, next stop there’s private yoga lessons offered at the fancy hotel about a block away and I am in luck.   I walk over, sign up, have to pay in advance and am told that the only time available is 6:30am – not to worry, I pay my money and before bed set the alarm for 6am just to ensure I don’t miss it.   Next morning at 6:15 I walk to the fancy hotel in the dark, sit there all alone waiting and then the young man on the desk comes over to me and says “You here for yoga mam”.  I smile and say “Yes” at which time he smiles wider and says “Sorry mam, no yoga today mam”.   But I registered yesterday and paid my money I tell him.   “Yes, sorry mam, I give you money back mam.”  Why, I asked?  “Master’s lady sick mam, he no come”.   So I took my money and walked home as the sun came up and thought, maybe tomorrow.  And guess what!  Later that day I found another place, the cultural center, where Hatha yoga is offered daily from 8-9am.      But we’re leaving tomorrow with breakfast at 8, checkout at 9 and are being picked up for the next leg of our journey at 9:30.  To hell with breakfast I think, it’s not that great anyway so I paid my money in advance again and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.  So this is India………and the yoga hunt continues!

Poet Preseren has quite the presence and adored throughout Slovenia

After dropping George and Gerry off at the airport we travelled on for about an hour to Kamniska Bistrica as Jim had read about the great hiking in the area. Time was a bit of an issue as we had other places to visit and fit in that day, so we decided to do a 90 minute morning hike to a woodland hunting lodge that was built in 1932 for the Yugoslav King Aleksander 1 ………later it was used by Tito and his crew and today it seems can be rented out for events. Quite a stunning location that the pictures below will not do justice.

From there we travelled on to Velika Plenina, one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen.   We travelled up the hill by cable car, which is the world’s fourth-longest unsupported cable car(Whistler has the longest), that provides access to the 1,666 m high Velika Planina.  From there we went onto a double chairlift which carried us further up the mountain.  What an amazing place that was not only peaceful but took your breath away – a piece of heaven on earth for sure!  The view of the Kamnisko-Savinjske Alps is second to none and the area is popular for skiing in winter and walking in summer and fall.  During the summer local herdsmen migrate here to graze cattle on the meadows and the unique shingle-roofed wooden huts were rebuilt after they were destroyed during the Second World War.  A few days after our visit we met a young physician who said that she and her young family, along with her brother’s family, went there for Christmas/New years a couple of years ago.  You have to hike the last 45 minutes carrying everything you need for the week and just hope for good winter weather, which they had but unfortunately her husband broke his ankle while in there and is not keen to return.  She, however, highly recommended it but not this trip!

Following a full day of spectacular beauty we headed north to our next air bnb in a little village called Visole and fortunately arrived before dark as we would never have found it if we had been later.   It was a tiny house that the owners used to live in before they had two little boys and built a larger one on the same property.  We read on Alenka’s site that she would cook a meal for tenants if they wished, so we thought “here’s our chance to get that traditional Slovenian meal we had all been craving!”  so we asked her if she could cook us dinner, something traditionally Slovenian, the next day and she agreed.  We spent the morning hiking a trail Alenka had recommended, which was fabulous, and in the afternoon visited Maribor, Slovenia’s second largest city.  Here we had a long walk along the river followed by a glass of wine in the sunshine  and were so glad we had ordered supper and didn’t have to cook or go out that evening.  At 6:30 Alenka arrived with the four pots, explained what it all was, and left us to devour it.  Unfortunately, however, that’s not how it went down!   Suffice it to say that part of it was inedible, at least for us.  We each ate a sausage, boiled potatoes and some of the hot pickled turnip which was OK but not great.  The rest of the meal was basically a blood pudding which, when I tasted it, I immediately had to take it out of my mouth and thank God she wasn’t there as Marilyn and Jim had the same reaction……..so there was all kinds of leftovers.  Dessert was a not too sweet cake with ground nuts that was tasty and was eaten over the next couple of days.  Anyway we thanked her a great deal and told her we just weren’t that hungry…..no doubt she realized we were lying but she gave me a big hug and just smiled.  The next day she said “sorry you didn’t like that part” and I just said we were too full and she informed she hated it as well but it was a “traditional Slovenian dish” and that her husband loved it.   Glad he did because he was going to be eating it for a while and of course the moral of the story is “be careful what you wish for!”

View from our little house

Hike through the forest to ‘black lake’

From Visole we went to Ptuj, founded in AD 69 and known as the oldest town in Slovenia, and then moved on south through rolling hills and white wine country and finally ended up in a small town call Dom. Toplice – and guess what?   We finally got that great Slovenian meal and it was by pure accident.   There weren’t too many choices for dinner in this little town so we picked what looked like the best…..and it was!   No sausages for us although Jim did have pork done in a gravy with traditional mashed potatoes with bacon, I believe, and other vegetables that were cooked to perfection.  Marilyn and I both had trout, which is an unusual choice for me, but so glad I chose it as it was served on a Purée that was a potato/carrot mixture, plus a side dish of veggies that were second to none.   The wine was also great, as was the dessert, and we left feeling satisfied and fulfilled as food up until now had not been fulfilling.

The next day the weather changed and it became a little cooler so we had a few small stops before heading back to Ljubljana to spend our last couple of days in Slovenia.   One day of sunshine and one day of rain and as Slovenian people kept saying “it’s November, it’s what we expect”…………and so did we!   For dinner on our last night we ate at a wonderful Bosnian restaurant close to our apartment and all were thrilled it was excellent – first time we ate Bosnian!

What a great country with such wonderful people -always helpful, always interested in where you’re from and when you say Canada they just smile!   Also there’s an excitement that the next First Lady of the US might be Slovenian……..mainly we see this on some of the tabloids and I choose to downplay hoping this is not possible.   We have met very few Americans on this Journey but the few we did meet were definitely leaving before Nov. 6 in order to be home for the election………..so are we!   Looking forward to seeing, or touching base with you all soon and thanks for following………..put  Slovenia on your short list!

Ptuj castle

Marilyn and Jim at Ptuj castle………Jim and Donna checking out the wine country and

as always, looking forward to returning home!