India Travel

2010-02-14T20:29:00.000-08:00

Posting today's and last post together (right below).

Last post I told you about how I didn't make it to Haridwar on the 12th and missed the sadhus. Yesterday we went back to Haridwar and found their camps and got some great shots.

When we took their shots, many of them requested to have a copy of their pictures and of their leaders (of whom they only had some old photographs). In fact, one sadhu wouldn't let me take a picture unless I gave him a copy right there and then - my explanations of how that wasn't quite possible didn't really matter much to him.

We went to the main town after this and had the prints made. They were even able to crop their leader out of a small photo, enlarge that and make a 8x10 print of that - right there on the spot.

Here's one:

We went back to the camp and ran into two police men (there is a lot of military and cops around due to Kumbh). These two guys figured they can make some money from us since we were sort of far away from everything - so we got harassed. They wanted our ID, wrote down everything, and then the guy pulled out one of those old (very old) Nokia phones and took our pictures - all in an attempt to scare us and make some money off of us. My cousin Anjul had left already for Muzaffarnagar so it was just me and my other cousin Sumit (who was named after me). This dumbass asked at least 15 times how two people can have the same name. After having his mugshot taken, my cousin being a smartass remarked - "Did it come out alright?" Needless to say, we weren't scared and he didn't have anything on us, so eventually they let us go and we went our way, dropped off the pictures to the sadhus and made it back to Rishikesh.

At another police checking we got off quickly because they figured we were the media - people here often think we are the media, since there are usually two or three of us and we are carrying a huge camera. This obviously has its benefits to the point that once I get to Delhi I am going to have a "Press Pass" made.

There are many great things about India and I have never written anything negative, but I guess I should write everything. The other negative aspect is that most of these sadhu's are getting high off weed (ganja, hash) and other drugs. Them being the sadhu's gives them full freedom to abuse drugs and they are immune from the law due to their status. I wonder how many are in it for that very reason. There were a lot of foreigners who were in these areas mainly to get high with the Sadhu's.

Lastly, there is massive racism in certain areas that cater to foreigners - like Rishikesh and Mcleod Ganj (where I was last time). They won't give rooms to Indians and will tell them no availability, etc. Usually I have to go in there when my cousins cannot get a room and speak to them in English and that usually works. This seems to be a horrible trend in certain regions in India.

We are now headed back to Muzaffarnagar to join up with Anjul and then to Delhi. Sorry for the unedited post, wrote it quickly because not sure when will be able to write again. Keep the comments coming.

2010-02-13T21:17:00.000-08:00

My phone number in India is 01191 9555222065 (but works only sometimes) and I will be checking my email periodically.

I am now sitting here at a Cliffside café (Freedom Café) overlooking the Ganges in Rishikesh, just north of Hardiwar.

Last I wrote about how we were headed to Haridwar for the Kumbh Mela. On our way to Muzaffarnagar, we stopped off at a fair in Surajkund. This festival happens yearly in which different regions come to celebrate their cultures. Here I found some performers – magician and tight rope walkers. This turned into some good photo opportunities. We ate here and headed to Muzaffarnagar.

We got to Muzaffaranagar and our plan was to spend the night there and head to Haridwar the morning of the 12th for Maha Shivratri, one of the reasons I headed to India. I went to bed around 3:30 a.m. and awoke around 4 with a massive stomach ache – I had food poisioning. The rest of the night and next morning consisted of vomiting. Needless to say, I wasn’t able to make it to Haridwar on the 12th.

On the 13th we headed to Haridwar, which was at this time empty in comparison. I did manage to get some good shots, but did not find the naga-sadhu’s that I wanted to photograph. These sadhus are rarely seen – will have to come back to Kumbh in 3 years I guess.

Now we are at Rishikesh and will spend some time here today and head back to Haridwar for a bit more photography and then back to Delhi.

Landing

2010-02-12T04:49:00.000-08:00

The madness started on Sunday. I got up and tried to take care of the pending things and get packed. I finally got into the city and to B&H to buy the rest of the photo equipment. I ran so late that I never made it to my sister’s in Jersey (where I was supposed to do laundry and pack). Instead, I had her and her husband drive to the airport to pick up my car and I ended up packing at a McDonald’s. Such is my life.

Airport. Benadryl. Knocked out. Woke up. Watched Gangs of New York. Landed. My uncle picked me up and after my cousins called multiple times, he dropped me off at Shilpa’s engagement party. The rest of the night we sat there chatting and watched Shilpa get her Mehndi put on for the wedding.

Photo Tips: This shot was tough, there was only one little lightbulb in this entire room. So I had to shoot with the 50 mm (f 1.8). Her hands were sitting on a newspaper, which I later changed to a white sheet, it took me a while to realize that her pants would act as the proper background for this.

It was about 4 a.m. when Anjul got the brilliant idea of going to the Sabji Mandi (vegetable market) to take some pictures. People told us we were crazy – who the hell goes to take pictures of the vegetable market. We got there real early and took pictures outside for a bit. Here we met Badriprasad at a sidewalk cart selling odds and ends. The man used to be a construction worker, but after a construction accident in which he lost some use of his right side, he had to resort to this and now makes his living this way. The man was dedicated to be out there so early in the morning. Here he is:

Sabji Mandi was in full swing even this early in the morning. It was photography heaven and I got some amazing shots. The new camera and lens are simply amazing. Posting just a couple of samples for your enjoying pleasure (I don’t have a way to process the images here) – rest I will sort through when I get back.

This is by far my favorite shot of the ones I have taken thus far. I had only a brief moment to take this and this was the only shot I took – he became shy and wouldn’t let me take more pics.

We crashed for a few hours at 10 am, but then had to get up to help everyone get ready and off to the wedding. The wedding was fun. We were up again all night and finally got to sleep around 6:30 am but had to get up at 8:30 to vacate the house the wedding party was renting. We drove to Anjul’s house in Gurgaon and crashed for a few hours again. We got up a few hours later, went to dinner and roamed around a bit more to get some more shots of street side café’s.

We were both exhausted – I hadn’t slept a full night for 3 days now. So we drove home, but instead of sleeping, we chatted about photography and what to cover until 3 a..m. At which point, we both crashed and now its about 6 am and I am writing away – refreshed and ready for more. Today, we will head to Muzaffarnagar to see my aunt on our way to Haridwar for the Kumbh Mela.

India and Kumbh Mela - here i come.

2010-02-06T15:20:00.000-08:00

It's been about a year and a half since I've been back from India. Since that time - intern year flew by, I moved to New York, started a new life, learned that radiology residency is awesome and scary due to the amount of material one must learn, got married - therefore it is time for me to head back to the motherland once again (you can click on older posts at the bottom to see posts from the last trip). Before I get emails about why you weren't invited to the wedding - realize its a joke, it never happened.

Heading out tomorrow evening if the snowstorms agree with those plans. The goal this time is to do some serious photography. Last time I shot with a canon rebel that I had borrowed from my uncle. Now that he is in California and I am more than a drive from there, I had to purchase my own camera (here is a pic from the new camera - CLICK ME.). The rebel is a very beginner camera, but I am going with mildly serious equipment this time - credit cards to the rescue. I have a Canon 5D (next time it will be a 5D mark II, but damn thing is way too expensive) and a canon 24-70 mm f/2.8L. That just means that this is a serious lens - one of the best canon makes. It cost more than the damn camera.

Today as I started to think about this trip (I don't plan too much, it interferes with my relaxing way of life and I was so busy that I didn't even have time to think about it until yet), I realized that I might have to shoot from afar so I should have a longer zoom lens. That runs about $2000, and since that's out of the question as even my credit card company is going to call me crazy at this point, the other option was to rent one. But it was too late to rent one online, where prices are somewhat decent. And the big camera stores in NYC are closed on saturdays! Go figure. So in a last minute effort, I called a bunch of places, found one that was open and then when he quoted me more than twice the online price, I swallowed hard and negotiated down the price almost 50% - so I now have the canon 70-200 mm f/2.8 IS L also. It's on! ---For those who are going, Oh Sumit! (you know who you are) - believe me things always work out in the end (usually).

Tomorrow I will pick up the knick-knacks - hard drive, rain cover, filter, etc. and then cry a bit about the amount this damn stuff cost me. I did call my insurance company today and insured everything just in case a brother in the motherland "borrows" my stuff (god I hope not).

So what's on the Agenda this time:

First off is a marriage - Shilpa. She is technically my cousin's cousin. In fact, she is cousins with all my cousins, from my mom's side and my dad's side, but is technically not my cousin. Its really weird. And yet no blood marriages anywhere - one day I am going to have to diagram the complex relationships out.

The very next day (feb 10th) I am headed to the Kumbh Mela - what is that? Kumbh Mela is a holy festival, which is celebrated when Jupiter moves into the zodiac sign of Aquarius (and I am an Aquarius, so I should go, that's my simple logic). It is the largest gathering of people anywhere in the world and happens every 3 years rotating through 4 different Ganges bordering cities. The Maha Kumbh Mela (every 144 years) was back in 2001 and over 60 million people decided to show up. Damn! The holy pilgrimage has been happening since at least 600 A.D. and continues. Wiki it! This time its in Haridwar and the Kumbh mela goes from Jan 14th to April 28th. For the record, this is the festival in which the two brothers are always lost during childhood in many old Indian films and are reunited 20 years later because of the matching necklace they both wore right before they were separated. Classic!

Feb 12 is a big day - Maha Shivratri (Lord Shiva's favorite day and the first Royal Bath at the Kumbh Mela). What this means is that about 5 million people will be in this small little town. I couldn't even get the train tickets to go to Haridwar and the roads may be closed from what I hear - so not exactly sure how I will get there just yet. But I will be there - we'll just have to see how. And hopefully will find a place to sleep (though my cousin says he may have a place arranged for me) - that will be a plus. Hopefully all this will work out too! Jai Ho! (now go watch slumdog millionaire if you have not seen it).

At the end of the trip, my plan is to hit up Holi - the festival of colors. I am going to go to Mathura and Vrindavan, where Lord Krishna was born and spent his childhood. In Vrindavan, the people get started with the festivities a week ahead of time, because - why not?

In the middle of the trip, I will travel to Calcutta (yes its kolkata now, whatever). I will just move around Calcutta and do a lot of photography - still need to research all this out. The rest of the middle is unplanned, I will let the wind take me where it may.

So that's it for now. Hopefully, I will be able to post while on the road. I suppose I have to pack now (or maybe tomorrow, yes tomorrow) - this is my least favorite part of any trip. I do have a suitcase already so I am a lot further ahead than usual (thanks sis).

I will leave you with these two quotes (Abraham Lincoln & Elbert Hubbard) - "And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." "Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive."

April 29 - May 9th

2008-05-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

I realize I am running a bit behind now. Internet access is limited these days, but let me get you quickly caught up on April 29 - May 9th. I also graduate tomorrow from Business school - woohoo. I think I will wear my marshall t-shirt tomorrow and my Keck school of medicine t-shirt on monday to celebrate both of those.

April 29th we reached Jaipur. Took care of business that I had for my uncle and we made it back to Delhi safely. I left my last post saying headed to Jaipur and just a couple of days ago there were some bomb blasts in Jaipur - I am safe and far away from Jaipur (though not from terrorists - on that later). Thanks for the emails. Deb - I think your Jaipur plans are probably cancelled now, unless you are still up for it - I am. I figure that's probably the safest place now - I figure the terrorist ran as far away from that as possible. I mean would you stick around afterwards? I'd be gone.

I spent a lot of time in Delhi since I had to take care of many things there. This will kill some travel time later (I think the south is out this time). Here are some things that happened in Delhi:

*Visited family.
*Visited Sonepat - this is the small town where I was born (pics soon). As I get bigger, the town seems smaller every time I visit.
*Started work on a new photography website (I figured I do one productive thing this vacation - this is it - coming soon folks).
*Visited my friends family (talked about him in an old post).
*Had lunch with Pinki (my aunt in relation, but younger than me) - see you did make it on here finally.
*Had several cancelled trips due to my cousin Meetu not being able to get off from work.

Delhi is a very loud city - I think you will understand what I mean if and when you visit. Therefore, Chintu (my cousin) and I took an early morning drive thru Delhi and it was amazing. It was quiet - not dead though. People were carrying on with their work even at 3 am. We even found some roadside shops open. A drive through the streets of Delhi at night is definitely worth it.

I have thought about writing this several times, but it hasn't made it on here yet. I keep showing pics of old things, poor people, culture, etc. In this I have neglected the vast development going on around India. Next to Delhi is a place called Gurgaon. The city is developing like crazy and supports major companies such as Dell, Ernst & Young, Ericsson, etc. The housing values are thru the roof - with apartments hitting over 300,000 USD. It may be a New York in the making. Investing in property here maybe a good idea - there's your financial advice of the day. But seriously, search Gurgaon and see this for yourself.

I am keeping this post short so that you get caught up (currently in Srinagar). I love reading the comments so please keep them coming. In the next installment, I will tell you how I made it to Srinagar and how terrorism affected plans. Not only that, but I was almost attacked by a monkey (sort of my fault). The adventure continues.

Day 3 (April 28, 2008)

2008-05-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

Our alarm was set for 7:30 but neither of us made it out of bed at that time. Anjul runs on IST anyways – that’s Indian Standard Time. In his defense, he is very chill and willing to go along with whatever happens. He’s also tagged along with me everywhere and helped me with everything I needed to get done. We finally made it out of the hotel around 9:30 or so and I wasted a few hours trying to solve the computer problems at an Internet café. The Internet café across from where we were was called Sumit’s Cyber Café (I figured I just throw that tidbit in).

Nothing significant was accomplished at the Internet Café (damn Apple) and by the time we got out of there, we were already running late. Earlier we had learned that to get to Udaipur we would have to go through Jodhpur (on train) or take a bus. Since Rajasthan is starting to heat up like crazy, we decided that we should skip the rest of Rajasthan (Jaisalmer was the key spot) and head back to Delhi (our initial plan included more cities). Delhi is quite far from Jaisalmer and Jaipur falls along the way. I needed to take care of some business (the conversation with my uncle last night) in Jaipur, so we decided to stopover on our way to Delhi. We reserved some sleeper seats on this bus that left Jaisalmer at 4:30 pm and will arrive into Jaipur tomorrow morning. That’s right – a long bus ride and it is only 7pm right now. And we just hit a car as I write this – that’s adventure baby. Some fighting going on outside – will be back soon.

I didn't get back to writing this until now – it has been 3-4 days since I wrote the line above and I have been kicking it in Delhi. Let me get you caught up on everything else.

So the accident was no big deal. The bus staff went outside and yelled at the driver that the bus had rear-ended. Since the bus had more people doing the yelling, the poor guy moved his car out of the way and we went on our way. None of this insurance hassle, etc. As soon as the earth had rotated out of the axis of the sun’s ray (ok fine – As soon as the sun had gone down), it cooled down significantly and the journey became much more pleasant.

Let’s back up and talk about the day before we got onto this bus in the first place. We only had a few hours left between the time we wasted at the Café and the time that we had to catch our bus and we still had not seen Jaisalmer itself. We hired an auto rickshaw for the day to see some six points and were on our way. While we were touring, our autorickshaw driver Vishnu from Jodhpur called us on the phone - guess where he was? That's right - he went to go see Karan Jadugar.

The first stop was Gadsisar Lake. I liked this place – you can probably chill here for an entire day.

Then it was off to several Havelis (old mansions). These were boring and so I didn’t take any pictures. One of the places we saw was Hotel Mandir Palace (by the way I am researching these names on the net because I have forgotten the names already). This is a 200 year old Haveli with exquisite architecture. This is a must stay if you make it to Jaisalmer – the rooms run around a $100 a night. This was definitely a highlight.

Last stop was an impressive Fort that sits atop the city of Jaisalmer. Unlike other forts in Rajasthan, this fort is completely inhabited and supports different colonies inside. Once you are inside it feels like a small town and it is hard to tell that you are inside of a massive fort guarding the entire city.

So that was the day and then we were on the bus. When I traveled four years ago, my mode of transportation was planes. This time I am trying to do more ground travel so that I can see India. I sat on the bus and stared out the window for hours and watched the scenery change. At one stop, I bought bananas from the bus window – it’s the little things that you remember and enjoy the most. Here are some shots from the bus window.

Just sitting there staring out the window makes you really think about life. This is so removed from daily life and you soon realize that on a long enough time scale, nothing we are doing or worrying about really matters. At some point, I got hungry and purchased some Kachoris off the side of the road (my first meal on the streets since I had been careful up to this point). It was a damn good Kachori. I sat there staring out the window, eating my Kachori as Anjul snapped away on the camera. It was a beautiful ride.

Day 2

2008-05-03T12:11:00.000-07:00

No one came to wake us up on the train. The train stopped in Jaisalmer around 6 am and everyone was asleep. Eventually people started waking up and realized that we had made it to Jaisalmer. We got up in a hurry and exited. Immediately we were bombarded with offers for autos and hotels. We took a ride to a hotel called Hotel Golden Palace (or something like that). These people were serious crooks – if you make it here – avoid this place.

The hotel representative and we had agreed on a price at the railway station. Anjul did not like the place when we got there and so we told the guy that we would check out some other places to get an idea of what’s around and then come back. The places we saw were mediocre, the only nice place we found was completely booked (wedding party – this is wedding season in India by the way). So we came back. The guy we had made the deal with initially was not there. The other guy there wanted us to pay double what we had agreed. Before we had left, we had also checked the price for the camel safari from this place. They had quoted us Rs. 2500 per person. I figured asking the price of the safari was a good way to judge if this guy was trying to rip us off. He quoted Rs. 6500 for both – an immediate increase of Rs. 1500. There were two female travelers (my guess is from London) who had already booked this safari and this guy was trying to use them as a selling point. We decided it was a good idea to get out of there fast. We later checked the prices around town – the consensus was that a good safari with overnight stay in hut, dinner and a dance show etc. would run about Rs. 1200 per person.

The safari that these guys were trying to sell us included staying in the desert overnight (no hut, no dance). Since it is off-season the tents owned by this hotel had been removed and we would be sleeping on the ground (they had showed us pics of this). We found out later that this was a bad idea because there are storms in the desert at night during these months (which is why the tents are taken down). Some companies do own huts and one can stay in those, but there is no electricity, etc. at night. Most advised us that staying in the desert was not wise. We decided to stay in the desert anyways – just kidding – that would be stupid. We did feel sorry for those two chicks that got taken by these thugs.

We found a modest hotel called Hotel Payal. We were both dead tired and so we crashed for a few hours and woke up around 1pm. We went around town, ate, worked on some computer stuff and found a safari for the evening. We got a good deal that included a car ride into and out of the desert and a camel safari (Rs. 300 each). On the way we stopped and saw a temple and enjoyed some drinks at a shop in the middle of absolutely nowhere. I got a great pic of a guy who lives out here:

The camel safari was great. We rode for about an hour on the camels. The camels took us from the desert to the area where the sand dunes started (this is at the beginning of the Thar Desert). The locals make their money by selling drinks, snacks, etc. to the tourists and hoping that the tourists also buy drinks for the staff. We bought snacks and drinks for everyone that was with us. I did get some okay pics here, but there were some clouds at the horizon and so the sunset was not as impressive as I was hoping for. Even though it was off-season, there were still lots of camels working away.

Two people can ride on a camel, but we had booked two camels. There were two kids (Salim and Ali) that worked with the camels and since the seats behind us were empty, they decided to hop onto those. In speaking with them we learned that the camel Anjul was on was named Hrithik Roshan (Indian actor) and mine was Michael Jackson (no jokes allowed).

The camels have a metal piece running through their nose and there is a rope tied to that metal piece. At some point, Anjul asked Salim what that metal thing is that runs through the camel’s nose. With all seriousness and in his heavy Indian accent, he answered – Steering. We both laughed hard, but the kid couldn’t figure out what we found so funny. The other question Anjul asked – does the camel throw people off sometimes. The kid answered with a yes. Anjul asked what one should do if that happens. Again with all seriousness, he answered – go see a doctor.

Here is a sunset shot - I am including a big one in case someone needs a new wallpaper for their desktop for a few days.

We got back to town and ate at a place called Desert Dhani – it was another romantic dinner. We figured we had good luck last night with a similar setting, so we decided to give it a shot. The food was mediocre. We went back to the hotel. I was almost out when my uncle called – Anjul and I spoke to him about some business for quite a while and then we both passed out again a little before midnight.

Day 1

2008-05-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

Life in India has been hectic so far – I have been running around from one place to the next with minimal rest. I finally did get my computer up and running, but there are still some software compatibility issues regarding pictures – I will process the images once I get back to Delhi and use a different strategy for the pictures from now on (currently taking them in raw format, but will switch to jpg+raw format).

Right now I am on a bus from Jaisalmer to Jaipur and now that the computer is working, I can jot some stuff down. We are in the middle of the desert and it is scorching hot (this bus has no AC) and it is the bumpiest ride ever. The computer is bouncing about a feet into the air at times.

Here is some info regarding taking pictures in India (Dr. K asked about this). People in India love having their pictures taken (not exactly sure why Indians are so fascinated by this – any guesses?). In fact, when I am shooting pictures, people will gather around and will want to have their picture taken (adults as well as kids). I think I can start a collection from such pics alone. Here’s one:

click on pic.

I always ask for permission before I take the pictures (exceptions to this are pictures taken from afar for practical reasons). Rarely have people refused (I think twice now). If it is a beggar, then I do give them some money, but otherwise I do not. Tourists often give a few Rs. for taking pictures and in tourist areas this has created a hustling mentality among the natives. Some demand exorbitant amounts to have their pictures taken. Since some tourists will shell out this kind of money, the practice continues. Lastly, one still has to be careful about taking pictures of women in India.

I think I am going to have to come back with more time and during winter months (this is off-season in Rajasthan due to the heat) to get the shots I need. Deb - be thankful that I changed my itinerary around (initially I was planning on traveling this with Deb in June – yes the desert sounds like a bad idea in that kind of heat).

DAY 1
If you remember, Anjul and I left Delhi in a hurry and boarded an overnight train to Jodhpur. I did post before we went around the town of Jodhpur – here is the rest of the day. In Jodhpur, we visited the Umaid Bhavan Palace. Part of the fort has been converted into a hotel. This is where Elizabeth Hurley got married. I hear the maharaja suite runs about $3600 per night, in case some of you are interested in that. Who’s getting married next? Here is a pic of the area from the outside – the hotel area is on the other side.

click on pics

Afterwards we visited the Mehrangarh fort. This is one of the largest fort in India and is quite impressive. Wikipedia has some nice information on it – here.

click on pic

After visiting Mehrangarh fort, we were suppose to visit a temple in the same area, but since it was almost 3:30, we decided to go see Karan Jadugar. We watched the show from the front row – compliments of Karan Jadugar (I think those tickets were about $4). The show consisted of one illusion after another with some comedy thrown in. I found the entire thing to be pretty funny – the costumes, the dances, performances, etc. were amateurish and added a different character to the show. Overall it was entertaining in a different sort of way. There was an intermission about 2 hours into the show. During the intermission, I went and thanked Karan Jadugar for his hospitality and we left to go grab some food and see if we could get out of Jodhpur the same night. We did find a train that left around 11 pm that would get us to Jaisalmer around 5-6 am the next morning. We bought tickets early – no need to continue bribing TT’s.

After buying the tickets, it was time for dinner. Anjul and I enjoyed a romantic dinner for two at a place called On the Rocks. It was the best food I have had so far in India. It was an outdoor area with the lights underneath the tables, the wires were hidden in the white pebbles that were on the ground – Marisa this is an idea for the books.

click on pic

We were seated under a tree and every so often a flower would fall on Anjul and he would jump out of his seat thinking it was a spider or something (past conditioning). For some odd reason, all the flowers fell on Anjul, I got to enjoy the food comfortably. This place is a definite must if you ever make it to Jodhpur.

I had said jokingly before that I was going to be roughing it, but I think I actually am roughing it a bit on this trip. I have a big backpack that I have to carry around and the travel is hectic. I had not shaved for a week or so and finally got a chance to do so at the railway station in Jodhpur. We boarded the train and I fell asleep immediately since I was exhausted.

Made it to Jodhpur!

2008-04-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

I just posted something from a couple days ago (computer crashed at the time and just got to it now). Go below this post and read first.

So you probably noticed that there is still no itinerary up for this trip. Well it got a little too complicated and I was busy with family. Apparently I have more relatives than I knew.

Since the planning got too complicated, last night we decided that it was time to start the trip. We got back from Muzaffarnagar yesterday and decided to leave for Rajasthan. It was completely last minute, I packed in about 10 min and we ran out the door and barely caught the train. Couldn't even find a ticket as everything was booked, so we bought a regular ticket and boarded. The only train we found was going to Jodhpur, so that is where we ended up this morning about an hour ago.

In the train, we had to bribe the TT to get two beds so we could sleep. I say bribe, but the extra charge is more of a routine and expected. We paid 400 Rs + the ticket price. Afterwards, I explained to the TT that this deal is over, but that I am going to have to travel for another month and to explain to me how this system works. He told me how much extra I would have to pay on trains to TT's and that it would depend on the area. And some other tips that I am sure are illegal and so we will skip them here.

We got to Jodhpur and realized that I left the tripod in the train. We ran back and the train was still there. Our good old TT had kept it for us - so I guess that 400 Rs. really did pay off.

We just got to Jodhpur and immediately saw a poster for a magic show. So being an enthusiast I went straight to the theater and ran into Karan Jadugar (magician) outside. We will go watch his show at 4pm tonight. Now off to see stuff in Jodhpur (we hired an auto rickshaw for the day). Will either stay in Jodhpur tonight or head out to Jaisalmer on the night train. Look at the map and find Rajasthan and these are the locations we will visit before we make it back to Delhi - Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Ajmer, Pushkar. Not sure when and how we will get there, but Anjul and I have a backpack, some cash, and time. Not sure when I will find another internet cafe, but until then, keep the comments coming.

Will post more pics soon - brought my laptop but will have to get it up and running somewhere on the road.

Dr. K - will post about how picture stuff works next time. Deb - no worries, the bull running is out of my system - no need to go to Spain anymore.

Visting Friends and Family

2008-04-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a chance to post for a while - so here is a quick summary of some of what has happened in the past few days. Will post pics soon.

The best slogan I saw (and quite politically incorrect) was at a restaurant - Eat Indian Feel British Pay Chinese. I offered the guy some Yuan but he refused :-).

Took a ride in an auto rikshaw through Delhi for about an hour - that was fun. I hear they will be removed from the road by 2010.

Today I am visiting my aunt and cousin in Muzaffarnagar. My cousin Lovey brought me to the Internet cafe so I could finally post something. This is the first time I am spending anytime with him (we moved to US the year he was born and I briefly saw him once 1995). I did manage to get a few good shots here. Tomorrow back to Delhi and then the plan is to head out onto the Rajasthan trip at night. The planning of the trip has become quite a chore and so for now I am only planning this week out. Will head out and see how it goes. Be back in Delhi in about a week and then maybe plan the next part out. I will try to post something while traveling in Rajasthan (not sure if that will be possible, if not I will keep a journal and post it when I return to Delhi).

I know the locations we will visit in Rajasthan. Not sure how we are getting there yet and which route (yes its tomorrow) - but here is a tentative route for now.

This happened a few days ago:
I always enjoy visiting areas in which I grew up. I went on one excursion in Delhi to find an old friend. My mom told me the name of the area where we once lived (in mid-80's - god i feel old) and that is all the information I had. My cousin, whose name is also Sumit (nickname Chintu)drove me around for hours but we couldn't find the place. Finally we decide to just park and head out on foot. We walked through an alley and we stopped at a small shop. In conversation, the shopkeeper indicated that he has lived here for 35 years. I drew him a map of the area I remember to see if it would jog his memory of where this place may be (the entire area is much more developed today). He wasn't able to recognize anything on my map so I started with the names of the people I knew. One of them happened to be Ravi - soon as he heard that name - he said that is his brother. We phoned Ravi and I spoke to him (he didn't remember who I was and had moved away a long time ago), but he understood the area I was describing. It was actually the very next alley. I went and carefully looked around and was able to identify where we once lived - the houses had been rebuild, all the empty spaces now had homes and the area just held a bare resemblance to what it was twenty years ago. I finally did find my friend's old home, but found out from his neighbors that they had moved away. A little background - when my father was sick (from cancer), my sister and I would stay with these friends whenever my mom was in the hospital. I did get a number from the neighbor. I was able to get a hold of my friend's family. I found out that my friend died in a car accident 6 years ago. I plan to visit his family after the Rajasthan trip.

Made it to India!

2008-04-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

Didn't have Internet access until now so here is a quick update of the last few days - very eventful. And yes made it alive Dr. Mateo - and even met a cute girl at the gym today (she said she is a fashion model).

One thing I always wonder at the airport is if I will run into someone I might know. Well I didn't. But when I boarded the plane, the first person I ran into was a med school classmate, Sharon, who was headed to Korea. What are the odds of that? Someone smart calculate that and get back to me (comon you math majors).

So the first flight was somewhat eventful. Each seat has a little screen on it, but the interactive part wasn't working - so we were on our own for 13 hours. Therefore, my entertainment were the people around. The guy in front of me was drinking wine and eventually the hostess told him that she could not give him anymore. Well he didn't really like that answer and there was some serious discussion around that issue. He called the manager over and explained how he has been flying this airline for 20 years, etc. - it was entertaining. I barely made the second flight and ran across the entire Seoul airport to catch it. There was a sardarji (guy with turban - Sikh) on the flight. The little lights above the seats malfunctioned and started turning on automatically for a few seconds before turning off - this drove him crazy and he couldn't figure out what was going on - it was hilarious. Those that have heard of my movie script idea (Sardar in America) could appreciate this a bit more and I will have to add this into the script.

I landed in India and the first thing that happened was that my cousin's car didn't start. So we ended up having to push the car - that was my welcome to India! I even took some pictures of us pushing the car, but my cousin was mad at that one and he eventually got a hold of my camera and erased those pictures. The car did start once we figured out the problem. There is now CNG (compressed natural gas) in India. The cars run on both fuel and CNG, which is a cheaper cleaner alternative (maybe we need this stuff back home). He had CNG installed that very day and the new installation wasn't working properly and we switched the button back to regular fuel and it worked fine.

Today we drove around Delhi and took pictures (slideshow of these at end). There was a little girl carrying her sibling around the market, so I took some pictures of her.

Afterwards we stopped at a shop to buy a cellular phone. It was my 2 cousins (Anjul and Lucky). Anjul and I stood on the right side in the little shop. Lucky walked to the left and stood next to some random guy. He was looking the other way and a moment later his arm was around the random guy. Both Anjul and I looked at each other wondering what was going on - we figured he may know the guy. Then Lucky started playing with his ear, we tried hard to keep from bursting out into laughter to let this play out. Lucky thought he was standing next to Anjul until he looked over and was amply surprised. The guy didn't jump either - he couldn't see Lucky's face and he figured it might be some good friend of his. I think it could have even been better if it had been some random girl. I am sure he would have gotten a good beating from the crowd - if so, Anjul and I would have jumped in also and given him a slap with "behave yourself in public young man."

A few moments ago Lucky and I almost got killed by a bull. We were just standing in the alley and all of a sudden a bull came charging. The bull was chasing us, the dogs were chasing the bull, and I am not why the dogs were going crazy. Lucky ran and jumped into the bushes and I ran into the mechanic shop and jumped on this mechanic who was sitting there. Anything can happen at anytime here.

Ready to Go

2008-04-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

Last two days were hectic. Took care of all the school paperwork (since won't be back for graduation or anything - yes it's sad, I'm trying to get over it, let's move forward), signed my life away to Harbor-UCLA and then to New York (by the way that is where I am going for residency - I just realized I still have not had a chance to call and tell some of you). So will be in LA for one year and then moving to the Big Apple for 4 years.

Finished shopping.

Took me forever to find a magic kit for Arnav, my little cousin, in India. He's asked me many a times to mail him a "jadu ki chadi" (magic stick). There was no way I was going to land in India without one, I think he would have me back on the next plane - so four Targets later I found one.

I am headed to the airport in about an hour and a half with Pinky (she is my friend from high school). Will catch up with her and take-off from LAX at 1:30 pm via Asiana Airlines. There is a quick stopover in Seoul and reaching India 12:05 am on April 17 (sometime early afternoon tomorrow). I would have posted this info earlier except I just found out myself (that whole hectic thing) and now you are the second to know. This means that I should probably call India and tell them too so they can pick me up from the airport! - gotta go.

Will talk from far away next time.

Map

2008-04-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

After a lot of work, I have been able to add a fully functional google map (you can move around on the map, zoom in, etc.). I also figured out how to add a line on the map showing the itinerary - I will add that once I pick a route. Research is ongoing on where I will travel - hopefully I have this figured out before I leave.

To see Aurangabad on the map (that is where Ajanta and Ellora caves are located - pics in first post) - click + on map once to zoom in and then look to the right and slightly above Mumbai.

It's time for a trip!

2008-04-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

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