It's time for a trip!

After quite a bit of research (and wasted time), I have finally set up a blog. I tried to find a simple one that also looked good - hopefully this fits the bill.

This is a travel journal and I will just post random stuff about my trip. This trip is spontaneous (aka lack of planning) so who knows what may show up. This is your chance to travel virtually with me (or feel free to join me at any point along the way - so far Deborah is the only taker on this offer). More on that later.

So how did this trip come about? I made it out to India about 4 years ago (after first year of med school) to visit family. After a week in India, I thought about how I had never traveled India. So on the spur of the moment I took a 12 day trip around India. I walked into a travel agency and half an hour later had tickets to destinations I had never heard of. No hotels, no plans, nothing. I went. It was phenomenal. So now that school is over (yay), I am headed out to India for 7 weeks to see India properly. Will visit with family for about 2 weeks and then head out to explore India once again. My cousin may come along and Deborah will join me at the end.

I am still trying to figure out an itinerary for this trip - I know I want to hit up north (Himalayas) again. Last time I visited Leh, Ladakh - it is the entrance to Tibet. I went up 16,000 feet on the first night (I later learned that this is a bad idea). Since one should only ascend 1000-2000 feet daily, this was a bit too much. My anemia (thalassemia minor - so don't worry) didn't help much. I was sick - for 3 days I didn't sleep much, I didn't eat much, and had an insane headache. This is acute mountain sickness (they didn't teach that in the first year of med school). But it was so beautiful, I didn't want to leave. Some pics are below for your viewing pleasure (the actual prints are better, I used a cheap scanner to get these on here - this trip is all digital so pics should be even better).

The best part of that last trip was visiting Ellora caves in Aurangabad (look at a detailed map of India - find mumbai and look east). Some of you have heard me go on and on about this place, so to make it quick and easy - it is the best thing I have seen in my life. Others who have seen it would argue the same. My plan this trip is to go back here with Deborah and do some more photography. Do some research and you will see I am not exaggerating (search "Ajanta & Ellora Caves" in google). And here is an article - Ellora. Now some pics:

Will try to post up a tentative itinerary in the next few days. The thing that will keep me motivated to write and post stuff is if people are actually reading this - so email me and let me know if you are. Also you are able to post comments - see the link below (underneath this post) - I have made it so anyone can post a comment - no need to login etc. So post one whenever you feel like saying hello. Your job is to keep me motivated, mine is to give you a virtual tour of India. So join me - it'll be fun and educational. And if you have any requests - let me know!

I leave Wednesday - April 16, 2008.

Sumit